Axis powers
 The Allies depicted in green (those in light green entered after the Attack on Pearl Harbor), the Axis Powers in orange, and neutral countries in grey. |
The Axis Powers were those states opposed to the Allies during the Second World War. The three major Axis Powers, Nazi Germany, Fascist Italy and the Empire of Japan were part of an alliance. At their zenith, the Axis Powers ruled empires that dominated large parts of Europe, Asia, Africa and the Pacific Ocean, but the Second World War ended with their total defeat. Like the Allies, membership of the Axis was fluid, and some nations entered and later left the Axis during the course of the war.
Origins
The term was first used by Benito Mussolini, in November 1936, when he spoke of a Rome-Berlin axis arising out of the treaty of friendship signed between Italy and Germany on October 25, 1936. Mussolini declared that the two countries would form an "axis" around which the other states of Europe would revolve. This treaty was forged when Italy, originally opposed to Germany, was faced with opposition to its war in Abyssinia from the League of Nations and received support from Germany. Later, in May 1939, this relationship transformed into an alliance, called by Mussolini the "Pact of Steel". An Axis was declared between Germany and Italy by Galeazzo Ciano, foreign minister of Fascist dictator Benito Mussolini on October 25, 1936.
The term "Axis Powers" formally took the name after the Tripartite Treaty was signed by Germany, Italy and Japan on September 27, 1940 in Berlin, Germany. The pact was subsequently joined by Hungary (November 20, 1940), Romania (November 23, 1940), Slovakia (November 24, 1940) and Bulgaria (March 1, 1941). The Italian name Roberto briefly acquired a new meaning from "Rome-Berlin-Tokyo" between 1940 and 1945. Its most militarily powerful members were the Germany and Japan. These two nations also have signed Anti-Comintern Pact with each other as allies before the Tripartite Pact in 1936.
Major Axis Powers
The three major Axis powers were the original signatories to the Tripartite Pact:
Nazi Germany
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Germany was the principal Axis power in Europe. Its official name was Deutsches Reich meaning German Empire, and after 1943, Grossdeutsches Reich meaning Greater German Empire, but during this period is most commonly known as Nazi Germany after its ruling National Socialist party.
Germany was headed by Führer Adolf Hitler, and during the last days of the war, President Karl Dönitz and Chancellor Lutz Graf Schwerin von Krosigk.
At the start of the Second World War, Germany included Austria, with which it was united in 1938 and the Sudetenland, which was ceded by Czechoslovakia in 1938, and Memelland which was ceded by Lithuania in 1939. The Protectorate of Bohemia-Moravia, created in 1939, was de facto part of Germany, although technically a Czech state under German protection.
Germany annexed additional territory during the course of the Second World War. On September 2, 1939, the day after the German invasion of Poland, the pro-Nazi government of the Free City of Danzig voted to reunite with Germany. On October 10, 1939, after the defeat and occupation of Poland, Hitler issued decrees annexing the Polish Corridor, West Prussia and Upper Silesia, formerly German territories lost to Poland under the terms of the Treaty of Versailles. The remainder of the country was organised into the "Government General for the Occupied Polish Territories".
On its western frontier, Germany made additional annexations after its defeat of France and occupation of Belgium, Netherlands and Luxembourg in 1940. Germany immediately annexed the predominately German Eupen-Malmedy from Belgium in 1940, placing the rest of the country under military occupation. Luxembourg, an independent grand duchy formerly associated with Germany, was formally annexed in 1942.Alsace-Lorraine, a region claimed by both Germany and France for centuries, was likewise annexed in 1942. In the Balkans, Slovenia was annexed in 1941 from the former Yugoslavia.
After the German invasion of the Soviet Union in 1941, Greater Germany was enlarged to include parts of Poland occupied by the USSR in 1939. Other territories occupied by the Germans were subject to separate civilian commissariats or to direct military rule.
Fascist Italy
Fascist Italy was the other European power member of the Axis, belonging to the Axis in two incarnations, both under the leadership of Il Duce Benito Mussolini. Its first incarnation was officially known as Regno d'Italia meaning Kingdom of Italy.
The Kingdom of Italy was ruled by Mussolini in the name of King Victor Emmanuel III. Victor Emmanuel III was additionally Emperor of Abyssinia and King of Albania. Abyssinia had been occupied by Italian troops in 1936 and incorporated into the Italian colony of Italian East Africa. Albania was occupied by Italian troops in 1939 and joined in "personal union" with Italy when Victory Emmanuel III was offered the Albanian crown. Other Italian colonies included Libya and the Dodacenese Islands.
The second incarnation of Fascist Italy was officially known as Repubblica Sociale Italiana meaning Italian Social Republic. On July 25, 1943, after Italy had lost control of its African colonies and been subjected to Anglo-American invasion of its mainland, King Victor Emmanuel III dismissed Mussolini, placed him under arrest and began secret negotiations with the Allies. When Italy switched sides in the war in September 1943, Mussolini was rescued by the Germans, and later announced the formation of the Italian Social Republic in Northern Italy.
Imperial Japan
Japan was the principal Axis power in Asia and the Pacific. Its official name was Dai Nippon Teikoku meaning Empire of Great Japan, known commonly as Imperial Japan for its imperial ambitions toward Asia and the Pacific. Japan was ruled by Emperor Hirohito and Prime Minister Hideki Tojo, and during the last days of the war, Prime Ministers Kuniaki Koiso and Kantaro Suzuki. Imperial Japan was the enemy of both the Americans fighting in the Pacific War and also the British Fourteenth Army fighting in Burma, or Myanmar. Japan's first involvement in World War II was a strike against the Republic of China, headed by General Chaing Kai Shek. Even though not officially involved, many Americans rushed to help the Chinese Air Force. This may have helped to solicit a Japanese strike on Pearl Harbor Naval Base in Hawaii, on Dec 7, 1941. This attack was actually not meant as as a surprise attack; a message declaring war had been sent by Japan but was lost at sea. The following day FDR asked Congress to declare war on Japan, saying that Dec. 7 would be "a day that will go down in infamy." Congress willingly complied, and the Pacific War began, lasting until the nuclear bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki in 1945. Japan's empire included at its height Manchuria, Inner Mongolia, some of China, Malaysia, French Indochina, Dutch East Indies, the Phillipenes, Burma, some of India, and various other Pacific Islands (Iwo Jima, Okinawa).
Minor Powers
Several minor powers formally adhered to the Tripartite Pact between Germany, Italy and Japan in this order:
Hungary
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Hungary, ruled by Admiral Miklos Horthy as Regent, was the first power to adhere to the Tripartite Pact of Germany, Italy and Japan, signing the agreement on November 20, 1940.
Hungary was allied to Germany during the First World War by virtue of her being a constituent kingdom of the Austro-Hungarian Monarchy. Hungary suffered much the same fate as Germany, with the victorious powers stripping the kingdom of more than 70 percent of her pre-war sovereign territory, which was then distributed to neighbouring states, some newly created, largely on the basis of ethnicity, in accordance with the Treaty of Trianon. Horthy, a Hungarian nobleman and Austro-Hungarian naval officer, became Regent in 1920, ruling the kingdom in the absence of an acknowledged king.
Hungary’s foreign policy under Horthy was driven by the ambition to recover the territories lost through the imposition on her of the Trianon Treaty. Hungary drew closer to Germany and Italy largely because of the shared desire to revise the peace settlements made after the First World War.
Hungary participated in the German partition of Czechoslovakia, signed the Tripartite Pact, and was rewarded by Germany in the Vienna Awards which restored some of the territories taken from her by the Trianon Treaty.
Following political upheaval in Yugoslavia which threatened its continued membership in the Tripartite Pact, Hungary permitted German troops to transit its territory for a military invasion and occupation of that country. On April 11, 1941, five days after Germany invaded Yugoslavia and had largely destroyed the Yugoslav army, Hungary invaded Yugoslavia, occupying border territories. Hungary participated in the partition of Yugoslavia. Great Britain immediately broke off diplomatic relations with Hungary.
Hungary was not asked to participate in the German invasion of the Soviet Union, which began on June 22, 1941 with attacks from German, Finnish and Romanian forces as well as a declaration of war by Italy. Currying favour with Germany, Hungary declared war on the Soviet Union five days later on June 27, 1941. Hungary raised over 200,000 troops for Eastern Front, and all three of its field armies participated in the war against the Soviet Union, although by far the largest and the most significant was the Hungarian Second Army.
On November 26, 1941, Hungary was one of 13 signatories to the revived Anti-Comintern Pact. The other sigatories were: Germany, Japan, Italy, Spain, Manchukuo, Bulgaria, Croatia, Denmark, Finland, Romania, Slovakia, and the Nanking regime of Wang Chingwei.
On December 6, 1941, Great Britain declared war on Hungary. Several days later, Hungary declared war on Great Britain and the United States of America. The United States declared war on Hungary in 1942.
Hungarian troops advanced far into Soviet territory, but in the Soviet counteroffensive of 1943, the Hungarian Second Army was almost completely annihilated in fighting near Voronezh on the banks of the Don River.
In 1944, as Soviet troops neared Hungarian territory, German troops occupied Hungary. After the German occupation of Hungary, Horthy was forced to abdicate after his son was kidnapped by the Germans. Hitler and Horthy had disagreed on the way to handle Hungarian Jews. In Horthy's place Ferenc Szalasi head of the Fascist Arrow Cross was put in control of Hungary. When Soviet troops entered Budapest he fled to Austria and in 1946 was returned to Hungary and hung for war crimes.
The Hungarian First Army continued to fight the Red Army even after Hungary had been completely occupied by the Soviet Union, not disbanding until May 8, 1945.
Romania
Romania, under King Michael and the military government of Ion Antonescu, adhered to the Tripartite Pact on November 23, 1940.
Romania entered the First World War in 1916 on the Allied side but was quickly defeated, its territory overrun by troops from Germany, Austria-Hungary and Bulgaria. Romania became a German vassal under the Treaty of Bucharest, but when Germany itself suffered defeat in the West, the Treaty of Bucharest was voided. Romania then saw its borders greatly enlarged in the peace treaties imposed on Germany and her allies.
The Soviet Union, Hungary and Bulgaria exploited the Fall of France to revise the terms of those peace treaties, reducing Romania in size. On June 28, 1940, the Soviet Union occupied and annexed Moldova. Germany forced Romania to relinquish Transylvania to Hungary on August 30, 1940 in the second Vienna Award. On September 5, 1940, Germany forced Romania to cede Southern Dobruja to Bulgaria.
In an effort to please Hitler and obtain German protection, King Carol II named the General Ion Antonescu as prime minister on September 6, 1940. Two days later, Antonescu forced the king to abdicate, installed his young son Michael on the throne, and declared himself Conducător (Leader) with dictatorial powers.
German troops entered the country in 1941, and used it as a base for both its invasions of both Yugoslavia and the Soviet Union. Romania was also a key supplier of resources, especially oil and grain.
Romania joined Germany in invading the Soviet Union on June 22, 1941. Not only was Romania a base for the invasion, Romania contributed nearly 300,000 troops - more than any other minor Axis power - to the war against the Soviet Union. German and Romanian troops quickly regained Moldova, which was annexed by Romania. Romania made additional annexations of Soviet territory as far east as Odessa.
After the Soviets turned back the German invasion and prepared to attack Romania, Romania switched to the Allied side on August 23, 1944.
Slovakia
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Slovakia under President Jozef Tiso signed the Tripartite Pact on November 24, 1940.
Slovakia had been closely aligned with Germany almost immediately from its declaration of independence from Czechoslovakia on March 14, 1939. Slovakia entered into a treaty of protection with Germany on March 23, 1939. Slovak troops joined the German invasion of Poland, fighting to reclaim territories lost in 1918.
Slovakia declared war on the Soviet Union in 1941 and signed the revived Anti-Comintern Pact of 1941. Slovak troops fought on Germany's Eastern Front, with Slovakia furnishing Germany with two divisions totalling 20,000 men. Slovakia declared war on Great Britain and the United States of America in 1942.
Slovakia was spared German military occupation until the Slovak National Uprising, which began on August 29, 1944 and was almost immediately crushed by the Waffen SS and Slovak troops loyal to Tiso.
After the war, Tiso was executed and Slovakia was forcibly rejoined with Czechoslovakia. Slovakia regained its independence in 1993.
Bulgaria
Bulgaria, under its king Tsar Boris III, signed the Tripartite Pact on March 1, 1941. Bulgaria had been an ally of Germany in the First World War, and like Germany and Hungary, sought a revision of the peace terms, specifically the restoration of the San Stefano Treaty lands.
Like the other Balkan nations, Bulgaria drew closer to Nazi Germany during the 1930s. In 1940, under the terms of the Treaty of Craiova, Germany forced Romania to cede Southern Dobrudja to Bulgaria. In 1941, shortly after signing the Tripartite Pact, Bulgaria joined Germany in invading Yugoslavia and Greece.
Bulgaria annexed Vardar Banovina from Yugoslavia and Western Thrace from Greece. Bulgaria did not join the German invasion of the Soviet Union, but its armed forces garrisoned the Balkans and battled various resistance groups.
As the Red Army approached the Bulgarian border, on September 9 1944, a coup brought to power a new government of the pro-Allied Fatherland Front. Bulgaria switched sides and was permitted to keep Southern Dobrudja after the war.
Yugoslavia
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The Kingdom of Yugoslavia, under the regency of Prince Paul, was a member of the Axis for almost two days in 1941.
Prince Paul adhered to the Tripartite Pact on March 25, 1941, but was removed from office two days later by a coup that ended his regency and the treaty.
The German invasion began on April 6, 1941, and after two weeks of resistance, the country was completely occupied. Croatian nationalists declared the independence of Croatia on April 10, 1941 as the "Independent State of Croatia." The government of Serbia was reorganised as the "National Government of Salvation" under General Milan Nedić on September 1, 1941, primarily as an (unsuccessful) attempt to protect its citizens from Holocaust, which included massacres over Serbs such as the Kragujevac massacre, massacre in Jasenovac concentration camp etc.
The remainder of Yugoslavia was divided among the other Axis powers. Germany annexed Slovenia. Italy annexed Dalmatia, and Albania annexed Montenegro. Hungary annexed border territories, and Bulgaria annexed Macedonia.
Ivan Mihailov's Internal Macedonian Revolutionary Organization (IMRO) welcomed the Bulgarian annexation of Vardar Macedonia. In early September 1944, when the Bulgarian government left the Axis, Germany offered Mihailov support to declare Macedonia's independence, but he declined.
Co-Belligerents
Thailand
Thailand signed a treaty to be an ally of Japan under the following contitions, -Thai citizens are not to be harmed -The Thai armed forces are not to be used to aid Japan in any way -Japan may ocupy and use Bangkok as a base
In the immediate aftermath of the attack on Pearl Harbor, Japan invaded Thailand on the morning of December 8, 1941. Only hours after the invasion, Field Marshal Phibunsongkhram, the prime minister, ordered the cessation of resistance. On December 21, 1941, a military alliance with Japan was signed and on January 25, 1942 Thailand declared war on Britain and the United States of America. The Thai ambassador to the United States, Mom Rajawongse Seni Pramoj did not deliver his copy of the declaration of war, so although the British reciprocated by declaring war on Thailand and consequently considered it a hostile country, the United States did not.
On May 10, 1942, the Thai Phayap Army entered Burma's Shan State. At one time in the past the area had been part of the Ayutthaya Kingdom. The boundary between the Japanese and Thai operations was generally the Salween. However, that area south of the Shan States known as Karenni States, the homeland of the Karens, was specifically retained under Japanese control.
Three Thai infantry and one cavalry division, spearheaded by armoured reconnaissance groups and supported ably by the air force, started their advance on May 10, and engaged the retreating Chinese 93rd Division. Kengtung, the main objective, was captured on May 27. Renewed offensives in June and November evicted the Chinese into Yunnan.
As the war dragged on, the Thai population came to resent the Japanese presence. In June 1944, Phibun was overthrown in a coup d'état. The new civilian government under Khuang Aphaiwong attempted to aid the resistance while at the same time maintaining cordial relations with the Japanese.
The Free Thai Movement ("Seri Thai") was established during these first few months. Parallel Free Thai organisations were established in Britain and inside Thailand. Queen Ramphaiphanni was the nominal head of the Britain-based organisation, and Pridi Phanomyong, the regent, headed its largest contingent, which was operating within the country. Aided by elements of the military, secret airfields and training camps were established while OSS and Force 136 agents fluidly slipped in and out of the country.
After the war, U.S. influence prevented Thailand from being treated as an Axis country, but Britain demanded three million tons of rice as reparations and the return of areas annexed from the British colony of Malaya during the war and invasion. Thailand also had to return the portions of British Burma and French Indochina that had been taken.
Phibun and a number of his associates were put on trial on charges of having committed war crimes, mainly that of collaborating with the Axis powers. However, the charges were dropped due to intense public pressure. Public opinion was favourable to Phibun, since he was thought to have done his best to protect Thai interests.
Thailand, however never wanted war with nor the allies or the axis powers, Thailand simply signed the treaty with Japan but for one reason, so that Thai civilians did not take any casualtys, the countries. During the war Thailand maintained secret contact with the Untited States and reported daily about the Japanese, the Thai armed forces never aided the Japanese in any way.
Finland
Finland was a co-belligerent with Germany in its war against the Soviet Union. Finland allowed Germany to use Finnish territory as a base for Operation Barbarossa.
In his proclamation of war against the Soviet Union issued June 22, 1941, German Chancellor Adolf Hitler declared that Germany was joined by Finland and Romania. However, Finland did not declare war until June 25, after the Soviet Union bombed Finnish airfields and civilian targets in 15 towns, the most widely known civilian target was medieval Turku castle, which burned down.
According to Hitler's Directive 21, "The mass of the Finnish army will have the task, in accordance with the advance made by the northern wing of the German armies, of tying up maximum Russian strength by attacking to the west, or on both sides, of Lake Ladoga. The Finns will also capture Hanko." The directive was given December 18, 1940, over two months before Finnish High Command or civilian leadership received the first tentative hints to upcoming invasion.
Finns refer to the conflict with the Soviet Union as the Continuation War, viewing it as continuation of the Winter War that the Soviets had waged against the Finns. The Finns maintain that their sole objective was to regain the territory lost to the Soviet Union in the Winter War, but on July 10, 1941, Field Marshal Carl Gustaf Emil Mannerheim issued an Order of the Day declaring that the war aim of the Finns was "to expel the Bolsheviks out of East-Karelia, to liberate the Karelian nations and to accord to Finland a great future."
Mannerheim's order echoed his Order of the Day issued February 23, 1918, during the Finnish War of Independence, known as the Sword Scabbard Declaration, in which Mannerheim declared he "would not put his sword into the scabbard until East Karelia was free of Lenin's warriors and houligans." Conquest of Karelia was an historic dream of Finnish nationalists advocating Greater Finland.
Finland mobilized over 250,000 men for Germany's Eastern Front against the Soviet Union, a contribution second only to Rumania among minor Axis powers. Additionally, 1,400 Finnish volunteers served in the Waffen SS. About 1,700 volunteers from Sweden and 2,600 from Estonia served in the Finnish army. Many of the Swedish volunteers had also fought for Finland in the Winter War.
The diplomatic relations between Great Britain and Finland broke down at August 1, after the British air raid to Petsamo[1]. Great Britain also repeatedly called on Finland to cease its hostilities against the Soviet Union, and on December 6, 1941, declared war on Finland. War was never declared between Finland and the United States.
Finland was not a signatory to the Tripartite Treaty, although it did sign the Anti-Comintern Pact of 1941. Unlike other Axis powers, Finland maintained command of its armed forces and pursued its war objectives independently of Germany. Finland refused German requests to participate in the Siege of Leningrad, stating that capturing Leningrad was not among its war aims. Leningrad, now St. Petersburg, lies outside the territory of Karelia claimed for Finland by Mannerheim.
The relationship between Finland and Germany more closely resembled an alliance during the six weeks of the Ryti-Ribbentrop Agreement, which was presented as a German condition for help with munitions and air support as the Soviet offensive coordinated with D-Day threatened Finland with complete occupation. The agreement, signed by President Risto Ryti but never ratified by the Finnish Parliament, bound Finland not to seek a separate peace.
Ryti's successor, President Mannerheim, declared the agreement void upon taking office as President on August 4, 1944. Mannerheim opened secret negotiations with the Soviets and on September 19, 1944, signed an armistice with the Soviet Union and Great Britain. Under the terms of the armistice, Finland attepted to expel German troops from Finnish territory. Finns refer to the skirmishes that followed as the Lapland War. Finland signed a peace treaty with the Soviet Union, Great Britain and several British Commonwealth nations in 1947 acknowledging its "alliance with Hitlerite Germany" and agreeing to reparations.
Japanese puppet states
Japan created a number of puppet states in the areas occupied by its military, beginning with the creation of Manchukuo in 1932. These puppet states achieved varying degrees of international recognition.
Manchukuo (Manchuria)
Manchukuo, meaning "Great Manchu State", was a Japanese puppet state in Manchuria. It was nominally ruled by the former Chinese emperor, Puyi, the last emperor of the Quing dynasty, but in fact controlled by the Japanese military.
Following the Japanese occupation of Manchuria, the independence of Manchukuo was proclaimed on February 18, 1932 with Puyi as "Head of State." He was proclaimed Emperor of Manchukuo a year later. Twenty three of the League of Nations's eighty members recognised the new Manchu nation, but the League itself declared in 1934 that Manchuria lawfully remained a part of China, precipitating Japanese withdrawl from the League. Germany, Italy, and the Soviet Union were among the major powers recognising Manchukuo. The county was also recognised by Costa Rica, El Salvador, and the Vatican. Manchukuo was also recognised by the other Japanese allies and puppet states, including Mengjiang, the Burmese government of Ba Maw, Thailand, the Wang Chingwei regime, and the Indian government of Subhas Chandra Bose.
The armed forces of Manchukuo numbered between 200,000 and 220,000 men, according to the Soviet intelligence estimates. The Manchukuo Army garrisoned Manchukuo under the command of the Japanese Army. The Manchukuo Navy, including river patrol and coastal defense, were under the direct command of the Japanese Third Fleet. The Manchukuo Imperial Guard, numbering 200 men, was under the direct command of the Emperor and served as his bodyguard.
Mengjiang (Inner Mongolia)
Mengjiang (alternatively spelled Mengchiang) was a Japanese puppet state in Inner Mongolia. It was nominally ruled by Prince Demchugdongrub, a Mongol nobleman descended from Ghengis Khan, but was in fact controlled by the Japanese military. Mengjiang's independence was proclaimed on February 18, 1936 following the Japanese occupation of the region.
The Inner Mongolians had several grievances against the central Chinese government in Nanking, with the most important one being the policy of allowing unlimited migration of Han Chinese to this vast region of open plains and desert. Several of the young princes of Inner Mongolia began to agitate for greater freedom from the central government, and it was through these men that Japanese saw their best chance of exploiting Pan-Mongol nationalism and eventually seizing control of Outer Mongolia from the Soviet Union.
Japan created Mengjiang to exploit tensions between ethnic Mongolians and the central government of China which in theory ruled Inner Mongolia. The Japanese hoped to use pan-Mongolism to create a Mongolian ally in Asia and eventually conquer all of Mongolia from the Soviet Union.
When the various puppet governments of China were unified under the Wang Chingwei government in March 1940, Mengjiang retained its separate identity as an autonomous federation. Although under the firm control of the Japanese Imperial Army which occupied its territory, Prince Demchugdongrub had his own army that was, in theory, independent.
Mengjiang vanished in 1945 following Japan's defeat ending World War II and the invasion of Soviet and Red Mongol Armies. As the huge Soviet forces advanced into Inner Mongolia, they met limited resistance from small detachments of Mongolian cavalry, which, like the rest of the army, were quickly brushed aside.
China (Reformed Government of the Republic of China at Nanking)
A short-lived state was founded on March 29, 1940 by Wang Chingwei, who became Head of State of this Japanese supported collaborationist government based in Nanking. The government was to be run along the same lines as the Nationalist regime.
During the Second Sino-Japanese War, Japan advanced from its bases in Manchuria to occupy much of China. Several Japanese puppet states were organised in areas occupied by the Japanese Army, including the Provisional Government of the Republic of China at Peking which was formed in 1937 and the Reformed Government of the Republic of China at Nanking which was formed in 1938. These governments were merged into the Reorganised Government of the Republic of China at Nanking in 1940. The government was to be run along the same lines as the Nationalist regime.
The Nanking Government had no real power, and its main role was to act as a propaganda tool for the Japanese. The Nanking Government concluded agreements with Japan and Manchukuo, authorising Japanese occupation of China and recognising the independence of Manchukuo under Japanese protection. The Nanking Government signed the Anti-Comintern Pact of 1941 and declared war on the United States and Great Britain on January 9, 1943.
The government had a strained relationship with the Japanese from the beginning. Wang's insistence on his regime being the true Nationalist government of China and in replicating all the symbols of the Kuomintang led to frequent conflicts with the Japanese, the most prominent being the issue of the regime's flag, which was identical to that of the Republic of China.
The worsening situation for Japan from 1943 onwards meant that the Nanking Army was given a more substantial role in the defence of occupied China than the Japanese had initially envisaged. The army was almost continuously employed against the communist New Fourth Army.
Wang Chingwei died in a Tokyo clinic on November 10, 1944, and was succeeded by his deputy Ch'en Kung-po. Ch'en had little influence and the real power behind the regime was Chou Fou-hai, the mayor of Shanghai. Wang's death dispelled what little legitimacy the regime had. The state stuttered on for another year and continued the display and show of a fascist regime.
On September 9, 1945, following the defeat of Japan in World War II, the area was surrendered to General Ho Ying-ching, a Nationalist General loyal to Chiang Kai-shek. The Nanking Army generals quickly declared their alliance to the Generalissimo, and were subsequently ordered to resist Communist attempts to fill the vacuum left by the Japanese surrender. Ch'en Kung-po was tried and executed in 1946.
Burma (Ba Maw regime)
Burmese nationalist leader Ba Maw formed a Japanese puppet state in Burma on August 1, 1942 after the Japanese Army seized control of the nation from Great Britain. The Ba Maw regime organised the Burma Defence Army (later renamed the Burma National Army), which was commanded by Aung San.
Philippines (Second Republic)
Jose P. Laurel was the President of the Second Republic of the Philippines, a Japanese puppet state organised on the Philippine Islands in 1942. In 1943, the Philippine National Assembly declared the Philippines a republic, under the Japanese's control, and elected Laurel as President against his own will. The Second Republic ended in with the Japanese surrender. Laurel was arrested and charged with treason by the US government, but was granted amnesty and continued playing politics, ultimately winning a seat in the Philippine Senate.
India (Provisional Government of Free India)
The Provisional Government of Free India was a shadow government led by Subhas Chandra Bose, an Indian nationalist who rejected Gandhi's nonviolent methods for achieving independence. It operated only in those parts of India which came under Japanese control.
A former president of the India National Congress, Bose was arrested by British authorities at the outset of the Second World War. He escaped to Germany and then to Japan where he formed the Indian National Army, mostly from Indian prisoners of war formerly in the service of the British Empire.
Bose and A.M.Sahay, another local leader, received ideological support from Mitsuru Toyama, chief of the Dark Ocean Society along with Japanese Army advisers. Other Indian thinkers in favour of the Axis cause were Asit Krishna Mukherji, a friend of Bose and husband of Savitri Devi Mukherji, one of the women thinkers in support of the German cause, and the Pandit Rajwade of Poona. Bose was helped by Rash Behari Bose, founder of the Indian Independence League in Japan. Bose declared India's independence on October 21 1943. The Japanese Army assigned to the Indian National Army a number of military advisors, among them Hideo Iwakuro and Major-General Isoda.
With its provisional capital at Port Blair on the Andaman and Nicobar Islands after they fell to the Japanese, the state would last two more years until August 18, 1945 when it officially became defunct. In its existence it would receive recognition from nine governments: Germany, Japan, Italy, Croatia, Manchukuo, China (under the Nanking Government of Wang Chingwei), Thailand, Burma (under the regime of Burmese nationalist leader Ba Maw), and the Philippines under de facto (and later de jure) president José Laurel.
The Indian National Army saw plenty of action (as did their Burmese equivalent). The highlight of the force's campaign in Burma was the planting of the Indian national flag by the 'Bose Battalion' during the battle of Frontier Hill in 1944, although it was Japanese troops from the 55th Cavalry, 1/29th Infantry and 2/143rd Infantry who did most of the fighting. This battle also had the curious incidence of three Sikh companies of the Bose Battalion exchanging insults and fire with two Sikh companies of the 7/16th Punjab Regiment (British Indian Army).
The Indian National Army was encountered again during the Second Arakan Campaign, where they deserted in large numbers back to their old 'imperial oppressors' and again during the crossing of the Irrawaddy in 1945, where a couple of companies put up token resistance before leaving their Japanese comrades to fight off the assault crossing by 7th Indian Division.
Italian puppet state
Albania
Albania was an Italian puppet state, joined in personal union with Italy under the kingship of Victor Emmanuel III, whose full title was King of Italy, Emperor of Abyssinia and King of Albania. Albania was a constituent of the New Roman Empire envisioned by Italy's fascist dictator, Il Duce Benito Mussolini.
Albania had been in Italian orbit since the First World War when it was occupied by Italy as a "protectorate" in accordance with the London Pact. Italian troops were withdrawn after the war, but throughout the 1920s and 1930s, Albania became increasingly dependent on Italy. The Albanian government and economy were subsidised by Italian loans, the Albanian army was trained by Italian instructors, and Italian settlement was encouraged.
With the major powers of Europe distracted by Germany's occupation of Czechoslovakia, Mussolini sent an ultimatium to the Albanian King Zog on March 25, 1939, demanding that Zog permit the country to be occupied by Italy as a protectorate. On April 7, 1939, Italian troops landed in Albania. Zog, his wife and newborn son immediately fled the country. Five days after the invasion, on April 12, the Albanian parliament voted to depose Zog and join the nation to Italy "in personal union" by offering the Albanian crown to Victor Emmanuel III. The parliament elected Albania's largest landowner, Shefqet Bey Verlaci, as Prime Minister. Verlaci additionally served as head of state for five days until Victor Emmanuel III formally accepted the Albanian crown in a ceremony at the Quirinale place in Rome. Victor Emmanuel III appointed Francesco Jacomoni di San Savino as Lieutenant-General to represent him in Albania as viceroy.
On April 15, 1939, Albania withdrew from the League of Nations, which Italy had abandoned in 1937. On June 3, 1939, the Albanian foreign ministry was merged into the Italian foreign ministry, and the Albanian Foreign Minister, Xhemil Bej Dino, was given the rank of an Italian ambassador.
The Albanian military was placed under Italian command and formally merged into the Italian Army in 1940. Additionally, the Italian Blackshirts formed four legions of Albanian Militia.
Albania followed Italy into war with Britain and France on June 10, 1940. Albania served as the base for the Italian invasion of Greece in 1941, and Albanian troops participated in the Greek campaign. Albania was enlarged by the annexation of Montenegro from the former Yugoslavia in 1941. Victor Emmanuel III as "King of Albania" declared war on the Soviet Union in 1941 and the United States in 1942. Some Albanian volunteers served in the SS Skanderberg Division.
Victor Emmanuel III abdicated as King of Albania in 1943 when Italy left the Axis to join the Allies as a co-belligerent against Germany. Nevertheless, Albania had a great partisan movement which fiercely resisted the Fascist and Nazi regime, as a result Albania was the state that alone managed to liberate itself from the German Nazis.
German puppet states
Serbia
The minor Axis power of the National Government of Salvation was formed in German-occupied Serbia with general Milan Nedić as prime minister on September 1, 1941.
Several concentration camps were formed in Serbia and at the 1942 Anti-Freemason Exhibition in Belgrade the city was pronounced Judenfrei. A Serbian Gestapo was formed, while the Serbian State Guards and the Serbian Volunteer Corps were the state's main armed forces. Their chief concern was fighting the Yugoslav Partisan forces as well as arresting Jews, Roma, and Communists who were sent to the nation's concentration camps.
Italian Social Republic
The Italian Social Republic (Repubblica Sociale Italiana in Italian) succeeded the Kingdom of Italy as a member of the Axis in 1943. On July 25 1943, King Victor Emmanuel III, in agreement with Fascist leaders, dismissed Benito Mussolini from office and had him arrested upon leaving the palace. The Kingdom of Italy then switched sides declaring war on Germany, and began negotiating peace or even an alliance with the Allies. In a spectacular raid led by Otto Skorzeny, Mussolini was freed. The northern half of Italy was occupied by the German Wehrmacht and on September 23 1943, Mussolini proclaimed the Italian Social Republic. This state, centred at Salò, decreased in territory as the Western Allied forces advanced north and eventually came to an end in 1945, when the last German forces on Italian soil capitulated and withdrew or surrendered, while Mussolini was lynched by Italian partisans.
Axis collaborator states
Independent State of Croatia
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Declared on April 10, 1941, the Independent State of Croatia (Nezavisna Država Hrvatska or NDH) was a member of the Axis powers until the end of Second World War, its forces fighting for Germany even after Croatia had been overrun by the Soviets. Ante Pavelić, a Croatian nationalist and one of the founders of the Croatian Uprising (Ustaše) Movement, was proclaimed Leader (Poglavnik) of the new state on April 24, 1941.
Pavelic led a Croatian delegation to Rome and offered the crown of Croatia to an Italian prince of the House of Savoy, who was crowned Tomislav II, King of Croatia, Prince of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Voivode of Dalmatia, Tuzla and Temun, Prince of Cisterna and of Belriguardo, Marquess of Voghera, and Count of Ponderano. The next day, Pavelic signed the Contracts of Rome with Mussolini, ceding Dalmatia to Italy and fixing the permanent borders between Croatia and Italy. He was also received by the Pope.
Pavelić formed the Croatian Home Guard (Hrvatsko domobranstvo) as the official military force of Croatia. Originally authorized at 16,000 men, it grew to a peak fighting force of 130,000. The Croatian Home Guard included a small air force and navy, although its navy was restricted in size by the Contracts of Rome. In addition to the Croatian Home Guard, Pavelić also commanded the Ustaše militia. A number of Croats also volunteered for the German Waffen SS.
Croatia declared war on the Soviet Union, signed the Anti-Comintern Pact of 1941 and sent troops to Germany's Eastern Front. Croatian troops garrisoned the Balkans, battled the Yugoslav Partisans and freed up German and Italian forces to fight elsewhere.
During the time of its existence, the Ustaše government applied racial laws on Serbs, Jews and Romas, and after June 1941 deported them to the concentration camp at Jasenovac (or to camps in Poland). The number of victims of the Ustaše regime is a mystery due to numbers given by various historians vying for political clout. The number of total victims is between 300,000 and 1,000,000. The racial laws were enforced by the Ustaše militia.
France (Vichy regime)
Marshal Henri Philippe Pétain was named Chief of State of France after its surrender on June 22 1940. Under the terms of the armistice, Germany occupied approximately two thirds of France, including Paris. Petain established his seat of government at the resort town of Vichy in the unoccupied zone.
Great Britain feared that the French fleet would fall into German hands and launched several attacks, including one attack leading to the destruction of much of the French Fleet at Mers-el-Kebir on July 3 1940. The Vichy regime broke relations with Britain after the attack and considered declaring war.
The Vichy government maintained control of much of the French colonial empire and continued to be recognised as a lawful government of France by the United States until 1942. Racial laws were introduced in France and its colonies and many French Jews were deported to Germany.
Vichy Regime was opposed by the Free French headquartered in London under the command of Charles de Gaulle.
Allied forces (including Free French forces) also attacked Vichy forces in West Africa in 1940, Syria and Lebanon in 1941 and the Madagascar in 1942. The Vichy government signed the Anti-Comintern Pact and sent French volunteers to fight the Soviet Union. Vichy controlled colonies were often used as bases for Axis attacks.
Japan occupied French Indochina, which became the starting point for the Japanese invasions of Thailand, Malaya and Borneo. The colony also fought a brief war with Thailand in late 1940.
German troops occupied southern France and the Vichy colony of Tunisia in 1942, after Allied forces landed in North Africa. Though Churchill would defend his controversial decisions on sinking the French Fleet and invading French Syria to his death, the French people themselves were less confident in the validity of these decisions. Though the Allies treated the Vichy French forces with great respect following their defeat in Syria, German propaganda was able to trumpet these actions as an absolute betrayal of the French people by their former allies.
The case of Denmark
On 9 April 1940, Germany invaded Denmark in violation of the German-Danish treaty of non-aggression signed 31 May 1939. Although Denmark was allowed to remain technically neutral, the Danish government was forced, under threat of bombing, to accept "protection by the Reich" on 9 April 1940 and allow German occupation. Three successive Prime Ministers, Thorvald Stauning, Vilhelm Buhl and Erik Scavenius, maintained this samarbejdspolitik ("cooperation policy") of collaborating with Germany.
- Denmark coordinated its foreign policy with Germany, extending diplomatic recogition to Axis collaborator and puppet regimes and breaking diplomatic relations with the "governments-in-exile" formed by countries occupied by Germany. Denmark broke diplomatic relations with the Soviet Union and signed the Anti-Comintern Pact of 1941.[2]
- In 1941, a Danish military corps, Frikorps Danmark was created at the initiative of the SS and the Danish Nazi Party, to fight alongside the Wehrmacht on Germany's Eastern Front. The government's following statement was widely interpreted as a sanctioning of the corps.[3] Frikorps Danmark was open to members of the Danish Royal Army and those who had completed their service within the last ten years. [4] Between 4,000 and 10,000 Danes joined the Frikorps Danmark, including 77 officers of the Royal Danish Army. An estimated 3,900 Danes died fighting for Germany during the Second World War.
- Denmark also diverted agricultural and industrial products to Germany. Denmark's central bank, Nationalbanken, financed Germany's construction of the Danish part of the Atlantic Wall fortifications at a cost of 5 billion kroner. Six torpedo boats were transferred to Germany in 1941. When martial law was introduced in August 1943, the Danish navy managed to sink most of its ships and hence prevented the Germans from using them.
The protectorate government lasted until 29 August 1943, when the cabinet resigned following a series of anti-German strikes organised by the resistance movement that arose after the SOE established contact with the Danish resistance providing weapons and agents. Several major attacks were launched against companies that collaborated with the Germans. In addition to this the resistance conducted a sabotage campaign against the Danish railroad system which caused great problems for any major transports of soldiers out of Denmark. The Danish resistance movement was called "second to none" by Field Marshal Bernard Law Montgomery after the liberation of Denmark.
The case of Spain
While officially neutral, General Franco's Spanish State gave considerable material, economic, and military assistance to the Axis Powers. Individual Spaniards and exiled Republicans, meanwhile, contributed significantly to the Allied cause, especially at the side of the Soviet Union.
Apart from a shared ideology, Spain - destroyed and ruined by the Spanish Civil War - had a debt to Germany of $212 million for supplies of matériel during the Spanish Civil War. After some consideration both Germany and Spain agreed that it was more useful to remain neutral than to actively join the war, despite previous German pressure to enter on the side of the Axis.
During the war, Franco's Spain was an escape route for several thousands of, mainly Western European, Jews fleeing occupied France to evade deportation to concentration camps. There has been debate about Spain's wartime attitude towards refugees. Francoist Spain, despite its aversion to Zionism and what it saw as "Judeo"-Freemasonry, does not appear to have shared the rabid anti-Semitic ideology promoted by the Nazis. Certainly, at least 25,000 to 35,000 refugees, mainly Jews, were allowed to transit through Spain to Portugal and beyond. About 5,000 Sephardic Jews, possibly many more too, in occupied Europe benefitted from protection by the diplomats of Spain.
Some historians argue that these facts demonstrate the humane attitude of Franco's regime, others point out that Spain only permitted transit and did not wish to increase its own small Jewish population. Refusal to admit refugees would also have further damaged its fragile relations with the Allies.
When Germany invaded the Soviet Union in 1941, Franco immediately offered Spanish manpower to help in civilian warwork and military volunteers to fight against the Bolsheviks. This was accepted by Hitler and, within two weeks, there were more than enough volunteers to form a division - the Blue Division or División Azul under Agustín Muñoz Grandes - including an air force squadron - the Blue Squadron.
About 100,000 Spanish civilian workers were sent to Germany to help maintain industrial production, mainly focusing thereby on the battle against Communism.
As long as Spain permitted it, the Abwehr, the German intelligence organisation, was able to operate in Spain and Spanish Morocco, often with cooperation of the Franco regime. In early 1944, the situation changed. The Allies were clearly gaining the advantage over Germany and one double agent had provided enough information for Britain to make a detailed protest to the Spanish government. As a result, the Spanish government declared its "strict neutrality" and the Abwehr operation in southern Spain was consequently closed down.
Various resources were still either funnelled through Spain to Germany, or some limited resources were produced there and sent to Germany so it might continue its war against Stalin's Soviet Union.
In mid-1944 Spain opened its naval bases and waters to Allied ships and submarines, thereby indirectly crushing German U-Boat resistance in the Mediterranean Sea.
References
- ^ For example http://www.fleetairarmarchive.net/RollofHonour/Battlehonour_crewlists/Petsamo_Kirkenes_1941.html This remained the only hostile act between the countries for the whole duration of the war, and it happened even several months before the declaration of war.
- ^ Trommer, Aage. ""Denmark". The Occupation 1940-45". Foreign Ministry of Denmark. Retrieved 2006-09-20.
- ^ Lidegaard, Bo (2003). Dansk Udenrigspolitisk Historie, vol. 4. Copenhagen: Gyldendal. pp. 461–463. ISBN 87-7789-093-0. Template:Da icon
- ^ "Danish Legion Military and Feldpost History". Retrieved 2006-09-20.
- Gerhard L. Weinberg. A World at Arms: A Global History of World War II.(NY: Cambridge University Press, 2nd edition, 2005) provides a scholarly overview.
- I. C. B. Dear and M. R. D. Foot, eds. The Oxford Companion to World War II. (2001) is a reference book with encyclopedic coverage of all military, political and economic topics.
- Kirschbaum, Stanislav (1995) A History of Slovakia: The Struggle for Survival. St. Martin’s Press. ISBN 0-312-10403-0 entails Slovakia's involvement during the World War II.
See also
General information
- World War II
- Allies of World War II
- Participants in World War II
- List of Pro-Axis Leaders and Governments or Direct Control in Occupied Territories
- Expansion plans of the Axis
- Expansion operations and planning of the Axis Powers
Pacts and treaties
External links
- Axis History Factbook
- Full text of The Tripartite Pact
- Full text of The Pact of Steel
- Silent movie of the signing of The Tripartite Pact
