Allies of World War II

The Allies,(formally referred to as the United Nations) were a group of nations that fought against the Axis countries in World War II. They were successful in defeating the Axis nations. The war ended in 1945. The group of nations was later named the United Nations by U.S. President Franklin Roosevelt. The main great powers, sometimes called "The Big Three", were the United Kingdom, the United States, and the Soviet Union. Sometimes China was added to the list, making a "Big Four".

Members

The Big Three:

United Kingdom (September 1939)

Soviet Union (June 1941)

United States (from December 1941)

Allied combatants with governments-in-exile:

Other Allied combatant states:

Former Axis powers

Italy (from September 1943)

Romania (from August 1944)

Bulgaria (from September 1944)

Finland (from September 1944)

Declaration by the United Nations

The alliance was formalised in the Declaration by United Nations signed on 1 January 1942. There were the 26 original signatories of the declaration; the Big Four were listed first:

Timeline of allied nations entering the war

The following list denotes dates on which states declared war on the Axis powers, or on which an Axis power declared war on them. The Indian Empire had a status less independent than the Dominions.

1939

Poland (September 1 1939)

France (September 3 1939)

United Kingdom (September 3 1939)

British India

Australia (September 3 1939)

New Zealand (September 3 1939)

Nepal (September 4 1939)

South Africa (September 6 1939)

Canada (September 10 1939)

Oman (September 10 1939)

1940

Norway (April 8 1940)

Denmark (April 9 1940)

Belgium (May 10 1940)

Luxembourg (May 10 1940)

Netherlands (May 10 1940)

Greece (October 28 1940)

1941

Yugoslavia (April 6 1941)

Soviet Union (June 22 1941)

Panama (December 7 1941)

United States (December 8 1941)

Philippines

Costa Rica (December 8 1941)

Dominican Republic (December 8 1941)

El Salvador (December 8 1941)

Haiti (December 8 1941)

Honduras (December 8 1941)

Nicaragua (December 8 1941)

Republic of China (December 9 1941)

Cuba (December 9 1941)

Guatemala (December 9 1941)

1942

Mexico (May 22 1942)

Brazil (August 22 1942)

Ethiopia ( December 14 1942)

1943

Iraq (January 16 1943)

Bolivia (April 7 1943)

Colombia (July 26 1943)

Iran (September 9 1943)

Italy (October 10 1943)

1944

Liberia (January 27 1944)

Romania (August 25 1944)

Bulgaria (September 8 1944)

1945

Ecuador (February 2 1945)

Paraguay (February 7 1945)

Peru (February 12 1945)

Uruguay (February 15 1945)

Venezuela (February 15 1945)

Turkey (February 23 1945)

Egypt (February 24 1945)

Syria (February 26 1945)

Lebanon (February 27 1945)

Saudi Arabia (March 1 1945)

Finland (March 3 1945)

Argentina (March 27 1945)

Chile (April 11 1945)

Mongolia (August 10 1945)

References

↑ France declared war on Germany on 3 September 1939, two days after the German invasion of Poland. It was a member of the Allies until its defeat in the German invasion of France in June 1940. Unlike the other governments-in-exile in London, which were legitimate governments that had escaped their respective countries and continued the fight, France had surrendered to the Axis. The "Free French Forces" were a section of the French army which refused to recognize the armistice and continued to fight with the Allies. They worked towards France being seen and treated as a major allied power, as opposed to a defeated and then liberated nation. They struggled with legitimacy vis-a-vis the German client state "Vichy France", which was the internationally recognized government of France even among the Allies. A National Liberation Committee was formed by the Free French after the gradual liberation of Vichy colonial territory, which led to the full German occupation of Vichy France in 1942. This started a shift in Allied policy from trying to improve relations with the Vichy regime into full support to what was now the Provisional Government of the French Republic.
↑ The Polish Underground State was allied with United Kingdom and United States. It fought against Axis Powers (mostly Germany), Soviet Union and the Polish Committee of National Liberation (PKWN). However the PKWN was allied with the Soviet Union and fought against Germany and the Polish Underground State.
↑ Edvard Beneš, president of the First Czechoslovak Republic, fled the country after the 1938 Munich Agreement saw the Sudetenland region annexed by Germany. In 1939 a German sponsored Slovak Republic seceded from the post-Munich Second Czechoslovak Republic, providing justification for the establishment of a German protectorate over the remaining Czech lands (the rump Carpathian Ruthenia region being annexed by Hungary). Following the outbreak of war later the same year, Beneš, in his exile, formed a Czechoslovak National Liberation Committee which after some months of negotiations regarding its legitimacy became regarded as the Czechoslovak government-in-exile by the Allies.
↑ The Ethiopian Empire was invaded by Italy on 3 October 1935. On 2 May 1936, Emperor Haile Selassie I fled into exile, just before the Italian occupation on 7 May. After the outbreak of World War II, the United Kingdom recognized Haile Selassie as the Emperor of Ethiopia in July 1940 and his Ethiopian exile government cooperated with the British during their invasion of Italian East Africa in 1941. Through the invasion Haile Selassie returned to Ethiopia on 18 January, with the liberation of the country being completed by November the same year.

[FFF-1] France declared war on Germany on 3 September 1939, two days after the German invasion of Poland. It was a member of the Allies until its defeat in the German invasion of France in June 1940. Unlike the other governments-in-exile in London, which were legitimate governments that had escaped their respective countries and continued the fight, France had surrendered to the Axis. The "Free French Forces" were a section of the French army which refused to recognize the armistice and continued to fight with the Allies. They worked towards France being seen and treated as a major allied power, as opposed to a defeated and then liberated nation. They struggled with legitimacy vis-a-vis the German client state "Vichy France", which was the internationally recognized government of France even among the Allies. A National Liberation Committee was formed by the Free French after the gradual liberation of Vichy colonial territory, which led to the full German occupation of Vichy France in 1942. This started a shift in Allied policy from trying to improve relations with the Vichy regime into full support to what was now the Provisional Government of the French Republic.

[PL-2] The Polish Underground State was allied with United Kingdom and United States. It fought against Axis Powers (mostly Germany), Soviet Union and the Polish Committee of National Liberation (PKWN). However the PKWN was allied with the Soviet Union and fought against Germany and the Polish Underground State.

[CS-3] Edvard Beneš, president of the First Czechoslovak Republic, fled the country after the 1938 Munich Agreement saw the Sudetenland region annexed by Germany. In 1939 a German sponsored Slovak Republic seceded from the post-Munich Second Czechoslovak Republic, providing justification for the establishment of a German protectorate over the remaining Czech lands (the rump Carpathian Ruthenia region being annexed by Hungary). Following the outbreak of war later the same year, Beneš, in his exile, formed a Czechoslovak National Liberation Committee which after some months of negotiations regarding its legitimacy became regarded as the Czechoslovak government-in-exile by the Allies.

[EE-4] The Ethiopian Empire was invaded by Italy on 3 October 1935. On 2 May 1936, Emperor Haile Selassie I fled into exile, just before the Italian occupation on 7 May. After the outbreak of World War II, the United Kingdom recognized Haile Selassie as the Emperor of Ethiopia in July 1940 and his Ethiopian exile government cooperated with the British during their invasion of Italian East Africa in 1941. Through the invasion Haile Selassie returned to Ethiopia on 18 January, with the liberation of the country being completed by November the same year.

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