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Allies of World War II

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This article is about the independent states that comprised the Allies. For information about other countries that took part in World War II, see Participants in World War II.
The "Big Three": Joseph Stalin, Franklin D. Roosevelt and Winston Churchill meeting at the Tehran Conference to discuss the European Theatre in 1943.

The Allies of World War II were the countries officially opposed to the Axis powers during the Second World War. Within the ranks of the Allied powers, the British Empire, the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, and the United States of America were known as "The Big Three." U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt referred to the Big Three and China as the "Four Policemen". France, before its defeat in 1940 and after Operation Torch was considered as a major ally (as free France, fighting France and French force of the interior then as a full nation), though, Poland's commitment was, in fact, larger.

During December 1941, Roosevelt devised the name "United Nations" for the Allies, and the Declaration by United Nations, on 1 January, 1942, was the basis of the modern UN.[1] At the Potsdam Conference of July-August 1945, Roosevelt's successor, Harry S. Truman, proposed that the foreign ministers of China, France, the Soviet Union, the United Kingdom and the United States "should draft the peace treaties and boundary settlements of Europe," which led to the creation of the Council of Foreign Ministers.[2]

Dates on which independent states joined the Allies

The Allied leaders of the Asian and Pacific Theatres: Generalissimo Chiang Kai-shek, Franklin D. Roosevelt, and Winston Churchill meeting at the Cairo Conference in 1943.

Following the German invasion of Poland

Further information: Invasion of Poland (1939)

After the Phoney War

Further information: Phoney War

After the invasion of the USSR

Further information: Operation Barbarossa

After the attack on Pearl Harbor

Further information: attack on Pearl Harbor


After the Declaration by United Nations

Main article: Declaration by United Nations

After D-Day & Operation Bagration

Main articles: Battle of Normandy and Operation Bagration

After the Atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki

Further information: Atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki

History

China

Main article: Second Sino-Japanese War

When World War II began, China had been fighting the Empire of Japan since -1937.

During the 1920s, the Kuomintang (KMT) government led by Generalissimo Chiang Kai-shek was aided by the Soviet Union, which helped to reorganise the party, superficially at least, along Leninist lines: a unification of party, state, and army. However, following the nominal unification of China in 1928, Chiang Kai-shek purged leftists from his party and fought against the Chinese Communist Party, former warlords, and other militarist factions. A fragmented China provided easy opportunities for Japan to gain territories piece by piece without engaging in total war. Following the 1931 Mukden Incident, the puppet state of Manchukuo was established. Throughout the early to mid 1930s, Chiang's anti-communist and anti-militarist campaigns continued while he fought small, incessant conflicts against Japan, usually followed by unfavorable settlements and concessions.

In the early 1930s, Germany and China became close partners in military and industrial matters. Nazi Germany provided the largest proportion of Chinese arms imports and technical expertise. Following the Marco Polo Bridge Incident of 7 July, 1937, China and Japan became embroiled in a full-scale war which continued until 1945. Initially, Germany denounced Japanese war crimes in China, such as the Nanking Massacre of 1937. However Germany also recognised that Japan would be a more capable ally against the Soviet Union and broke off the cooperation with China in May 1938. The Soviet Union, wishing to keep China in the fight against Japan, supplied China with some military assistance until 1941, until it made peace with Japan to prepare for the war against Germany.

Even though China had been fighting the longest among all the Allied powers, it only officially joined the Allies after the attack on Pearl Harbor, on 7 December 1941. Chiang Kai-shek felt Allied victory was assured with the entrance of the United States into the war, and he declared war on Germany and the other Axis nations. However, Allied aid remained low because the Burma Road was closed and the Allies suffered a series of military defeats against Japan early on in the campaign. The bulk of military aid did not arrive until the spring of 1945. More than 1.5 million Japanese troops were trapped in the China Theatre; troops that otherwise could have been deployed elsewhere had China collapsed and made a separate peace with Japan.

Key alliances are formed

On 1 September 1939, the German invasion of Poland began World War II. The United Kingdom and France declared war on Germany on the third of September. The British declaration also covered the Indian Empire and other states which were British Crown Colonies at the time.

Following the Statute of Westminster in 1931, the Dominions of the British Commonwealth had independence in foreign policy. Australia and New Zealand accepted and reiterated the British declaration. Nepal, another independent member of the Commonwealth, declared war on Germany on 4 September. The South African Prime Minister, Barry Hertzog, refused to declare war, leading to the collapse of his coalition government on 6 September; the new Prime Minister, Jan Smuts, declared war that same day. Canada declared war on Germany on 10 September; this was necessary as Canada had ratified the Statute of Westminster.

On 17 September, the USSR invaded Poland from the East, and on 30 November, the Soviet Union attacked Finland. The following year the USSR annexed the Baltic states — Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania — together with parts of Romania. The German-Soviet agreement was brought to an end by The German invasion of the USSR on 22 June 1941.

The United States of America joined the Allies following the attack on Pearl Harbor, on 7 December 1941. The Declaration by United Nations, on 1 January 1942, officially united 26 nations as Allies. 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.

Formal alliances during the war

Original Allies

The original Allies were those states that declared war on Nazi Germany following the German invasion of Poland in September 1939.

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 Polish-British Common Defence Pact, signed on 25 August 1939, contained promises of mutual military assistance between the nations in the event either was attacked by Nazi Germany.

Poland

Poland is sometimes considered a major Ally,[5] since it never officially surrendered to the Third Reich, and the Polish government in exile after 1939 continued the Polish contribution to World War II on several fronts with hundreds of thousands of members in the Polish Armed Forces in the West in France and the United Kingdom, as well as the Home Army in occupied Poland. Resistance organizations provided most of the intelligence that enabled successful operations later in the war. The Soviet Union recognised the London-based government but broke diplomatic relations after revealing the truth about the Katyn massacre, and in 1943 organised the Polish People's Army under Zygmunt Berling, around which it constructed the post-war successor state People's Republic of Poland in 1952.'

British Commonwealth/British Empire

The United Kingdom and territories controlled by the Colonial Office (the Crown Colonies) and the British Indian Empire[6] were controlled politically by Britain and therefore also entered hostilities with Britain's declaration of war.

Apart from these were the independent members of the British Commonwealth — the official name in 1926-49 — known as the Dominions. These declared war on Germany separately, either on the same day, or soon afterwards. These countries were: Australia, Canada, New Zealand and South Africa. Newfoundland had given up self-rule and was at the time under effective rule from the UK; it did not become part of Canada until 1949.

The British Indian Empire contributed about 2,500,000 personnel. It suffered 1,500,000 civilian casualties (more than the United Kingdom) 87,000 military casualties (more than any Commonwealth country but less than the United Kingdom).

France

Main article: Military history of France during World War II

France experienced several major phases of action during World War II:

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 30 November 1939 [7]. Later Finland and the Kingdom of Denmark officially joined the Axis Anti-Comintern Pact. The Kingdom of Sweden remained officially neutral. Following the Moscow armistice of September 1944, Finland effectively joined the Allies and expelled German forces. This led to a series of armed clashes called the Lapland War.

Denmark was invaded by Germany on 9 April 1940. The Danish government did not declare war and it surrendered the same day, on the understanding that it retain control of domestic affairs. No government-in-exile was formed. Danes fought with both Allied and Axis forces. Iceland, Faroe Islands and Greenland, which were respectively in union with Denmark and a Danish colony, were occupied by the Allies for most of the war. British forces took control in Iceland on May 10, 1940, and it was used to facilitate the movement of Lend Lease equipment. Forces from the United States, although they were officially neutral at the time, occupied Greenland on 9 April 1941. The U.S. also took over in Iceland on 7 July 1941. Iceland declared full independence from Denmark in 1944 but never declared war on any of the Axis powers.

Portugal

Although Portugal remained officially neutral, the Anglo-Portuguese Alliance — the world's oldest military alliance (1373) — was activated by the United Kingdom during World War II, leading to the establishment of an Allied base in the Azores. Portugal protested the occupation of Portuguese Timor by Allied forces in 1942 but did not actively resist. The colony was subsequently occupied by Japan. Timorese and Portuguese civilians assisted Allied commandos in resisting the Japanese. Portuguese Macau was also occupied by Japan.

Pan American Union

The members of the Pan American Union, who were all neutral in 1939-41, formed a mutual defence pact at a conference of foreign ministers at Havana, on 21 July-30 July 1940. The "Declaration on Reciprocal Assistance and Cooperation for the Defense of the Nations of the Americas" was part of the Final Act of the Second Meeting of the Ministers of Foreign Affairs of the American Republics at Havana, Cuba, July 30, 1940.[8] There were 21 signatories:

From July 1944, a Brazilian Expeditionary Force of 25,000 personnel joined the Allies in the Italian campaign. In 1945, the Mexican Air Force's Escuadrón 201 was attached to the U.S. Far East Air Force, during the Philippines campaign. The other countries in this group contributed support units, small combat forces, or to lesser degrees.

Comintern

The following socialist and pro-Soviet forces fought against the Axis powers before or during the Second World War:

Atlantic Charter

The Atlantic Charter was negotiated at the Atlantic Conference by British Prime Minister Winston Churchill and U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt, aboard warships in a secure anchorage at NS Argentia, Newfoundland (located on Placentia Bay) and was issued as a joint declaration on 14 August 1941.

The Atlantic Charter established a vision for a post-World War II world, despite the fact the United States had yet to enter the war.

In brief, the nine points were:

  1. no territorial gains sought by the United States or the United Kingdom;
  2. territorial adjustments must be in accord with wishes of the people;
  3. the right to self-determination of peoples;
  4. trade barriers lowered;
  5. global economic cooperation and advancement of social welfare;
  6. freedom from want and fear;
  7. freedom of the seas;
  8. disarmament of aggressor nations, postwar common disarmament
  9. defeat of Germany and other Axis powers

The Atlantic Charter proved to be one of the first steps towards the formation of the United Nations.

United Nations

Declaration by United Nations

Wartime poster for the United Nations, created in 1943 by the U.S. Office of War Information.
Main article: Declaration by United Nations

The alliance was formalised in the Declaration by United Nations on 1 January 1942. There were 26 signatories, as follows:

  • Australia
  • Belgium
  • Republic of China
  • Canada
  • Costa Rica
  • Cuba
  • Czechoslovakia
  • Dominican Republic
  • El Salvador
  • Greece
  • Guatemala
  • Haiti
  • Honduras
  • India
  • Luxembourg
  • Netherlands
  • New Zealand
  • Nicaragua
  • Norway
  • Panama
  • Poland
  • South Africa
  • United Kingdom
  • Union of Soviet Socialist Republics
  • United States
  • Yugoslavia

Later in 1942, Mexico, The Philippines and Ethiopia adhered to the declaration. During 1943, it was signed by Iraq, Iran, Brazil, Bolivia and Colombia. In 1944, Liberia and France signed . During the early part of 1945, Peru, Chile, Paraguay, Venezuela, Uruguay, Turkey, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Lebanon, Syria and Ecuador became signatories.

Charter of the United Nations

Main article: Charter of the United Nations

The Charter of the United Nations was agreed to during the war at the United Nations Conference on International Organization, held between April and July 1945. The Charter was signed by 50 nations on 26 June (Poland had its place reserved and later became the 51st "original" signatory), and was formally ratified shortly after the war on 24 October 1945. The five leading Allied nations, namely China, France, the Soviet Union, the United Kingdom, and the United States met repeatedly during the war, such as at the 1944 conference at Dumbarton Oaks where the formation and permanent seats of the United Nations Security Council were decided. The Security Council met for the first time in the immediate aftermath of war on 17 January 1946.[9]

The first version of the UN flag, introduced in April 1945.

These are the original 51 signatories (Permanent members are indicated with -. Security Council members are indicated in bold):

Iran

On 29 January 1946, the United Kingdom and the Soviet Union agreed to end their occupation of Iran, six months after the end of the war. The Tripartite Treaty of Alliance also formalised Iran's assistance to the Allies. [1]

See also

Footnotes

  1. ^ Douglas Brinkley, FDR & the Making of the U.N.
  2. ^ Churchill, Winston S. (1981) [1953]. The Second World War, Volume VI: Triumph and Tragedy. Houghton-Mifflin Company. p. 561.
  3. ^ Democratic Federal Yugoslavia was founded on November 29, 1943, by the Yugoslav Partisans, who were recognised as an Ally at the Tehran Conference.
  4. ^ effectively the British Empire but excluding the Dominions.
  5. ^ Kwan Yuk Pan, Polish veterans to take pride of place in victory parade, Financial Times, July 5 2005. Access date: March 31, 2006.
  6. ^ including the areas covered by the later Republic of India, Pakistan and Bangladesh
  7. ^ LEAGUE OF NATIONS' EXPULSION OF THE U.S.S.R., DECEMBER 14, 1939
  8. ^ [http://www.ibiblio.org/pha/7-2-188/188-26.html; http://www.yale.edu/lawweb/avalon/decade/decad058.htm
  9. ^ United Nations Security Council: Official Records: First Year, First Series, First Meeting
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