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Revision as of 08:27, 1 September 2005

The group of countries known as the Allies of World War II came together as World War II unfolded and progressed.

Although China commenced full-scale hostilities against the Empire of Japan on July 7, 1937, following the Marco Polo Bridge Incident, and these continued until 1945, this conflict (prior to December 7, 1941), is usually regarded as the Second Sino-Japanese War.

World War II is generally considered to have begun in Europe. Nazi Germany and Poland, occupied the remains of Czechoslovakia in March 1939 and the British ambassador was recalled from Berlin. Neville Chamberlain declared that if Hitler attacked Poland, considered next in turn for an assault by the Third Reich, then Britain and France would give Poland "all support in their power", a promise soon also given to Greece and Romania after Italy's conquest of Albania on April 7, 1939.

A formal military alliance was concluded between the UK, France and Poland on April 6, 1939, after which the Soviet Union initiated alliance negotiations, without success, with France and Britain. The USSR instead signed the German-Soviet non-aggression pact, on August 23, 1939, prior to the German invasion of Poland on September 1 that began World War II.

Britain, France, Australia and New Zealand all declared war on Germany on September 3. South Africa and Canada followed within days.

The Soviets invaded Poland three weeks later. They later annexed Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania, attacked Finland and invaded Romania the following year. Less then two years later the German-Soviet agreement came to an end by the German invasion of the USSR on June 22, 1941.

The United States of America joined the Allies following the attack on Pearl Harbor, on December 7, 1941. The Declaration by United Nations of January 1, 1942, officially united 26 of the Allied nations. (This Declaration later formed part of the basis for today's United Nations, formed in 1945.) The informal "Big 3" alliance of the United Kingdom, the Soviet Union, and the United States emerged in the latter half of the war, and their decisions determined Allied strategy around the world.

Original Allies

These countries were allied to each other by a net of common defence pacts and military alliance pacts signed before the war. The Franco-British Alliance dated back to the Entente Cordiale of 1904 and the Triple Entente of 1907, active during the World War I. The Franco-Polish Alliance was signed in 1921 and then amended in 1927 and 1939. The original allies were the states that declared war on Nazi Germany in September of 1939, thus starting World War II.

The Commonwealth

In addition to Britain, several independent members of the Commonwealth of Nations, known as the Dominions, declared war on Germany separately, either on the same day, or soon afterwards. The exception was Éire, which was both a Dominion and a member of the Commonwealth at the time.

India and many other crown colonies were under direct rule by the United Kingdom, and were therefore considered to be at war from the same date as the UK.

Éire was sometimes referred to as "a neutral ally". While theoretically a neutral country, pro-Allied and anti-Axis sentiment in the population enabled the government to covertly favor the Allies in matters including supplies, shipping, and use of ports and airfields. However, a few elements of the IRA actively supported Germany due to hostility towards Britain. Public opinion favoured the Allies. It is estimated that 70,000 people from Éire served in various Allied armed forces, whereas almost none served with Axis forces.

The Oslo Group

The Oslo Group was an organisation of officially neutral countries. Four members later joined the Allies, as governments in exile: the Kingdom of Norway, the Kingdom of the Netherlands, the Kingdom of Belgium and the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg.

The Republic of Finland was invaded by the USSR on November 30 1939 . Later Finland and the Kingdom of Denmark officially joined the Axis Anti-Comintern Pact. The Kingdom of Sweden remained officially neutral. Iceland, over which Denmark had exercised some political control, was occupied by the Allies in 1940 and declared full independence in 1944.

=== Atlantic Charter === The Atlantic Conference: Resolution of September 24, 1941

The dates given below are for entry into the war.

The Polish government in exile after 1939 continued the Polish contribution to World War II on several fronts with hundreds of thousand of members in the Polish Army in France and UK, as well as the Home Army in occupied Poland. The Soviet Union however, did not recognize the government and in 1943 organized the Polish People's Army under Rokossovsky, around which eventually it constructed the post-war successor state.

British, Dutch and French colonies fought alongside their metropolitan countries, and many continued their contribution also when the mother countries were occupied.

Comintern

Declaration by United Nations

Declaration by United Nations, January 1, 1942
(26 signatories)

(Note: During 1942 the declaration was adhered to by Mexico, the Commonwealth of the Philippines, and Ethiopia; in the first four months of 1943, it was adhered to by Iraq, Brazil, and Bolivia.

===Tripartite Treaty of Alliance === 29 January 1942

=== Pan American Union === (21 members)

(Final Act of the Second Meeting of the Ministers of Foreign Affairs of the American Republics at Habana, Cuba, July 30, 1940)

From July 1944, a Brazilian Expeditionary Force of 25,000 personnel joined the Allies in the Italian campaign. The other countries in this group contributed support units, small combat forces, or to lesser degrees.

See also

External link

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