Allies
In general, allies are people or groups that have joined an alliance. When spelt with a capital A, Allies usually denotes the countries that fought together against the Central Powers in World War I and against the Axis powers in World War II.
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2 World War II |
A formal military alliance was concluded between the UK, France and Poland on April 6th, 1939, whereafter also the Soviet Union initiated alliance negotiations, although unsuccessfully. The Soviet Union would instead agree with Nazi-Germany in the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact of August 1939.
The dates given below are for entry into the war.
World War I
Major Allies
(US President Woodrow Wilson and his administration was however keen not to define USA as an allied. America entered the war as an "associated power" rather than as an ally of France and Britain, and maintained that distance through the war and the Paris Peace Conference, 1919.)Minor Allies
World War II
After Nazi-Germany in March 1939 had occupied the remains of Czechoslovakia, the British ambassador was recalled from Berlin and Neville Chamberlain declared that if Hitler attacked Poland, considered next in turn for an assault by the Third Reich, then the UK 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.Major Allies
(later: permanent members of the UN Security Council)
Minor Allies
British, Dutch and French colonies fought alongside their parent countries. Most countries occupied by Nazi Germany continued to fight as governments in exile. Non-fighting ("moral support") Allies
