Who Were the Axis Powers of World War Two?

One of the top questions about World War Two is about what nations were fighting in the Second World War.  Here we answer the questions that many students of the Second World War ask about the Axis Powers.

Our format is simple. We will post World War Two questions about the Axis Powers and then provide the answers.

Who were the Axis Powers of World War Two?

1. Germany
2. Italy
3. Japan
4. Hungary
5. Bulgaria
6. Romania

Who Were the Axis Powers?

Steps Toward Creation of the Axis Powers of WW2:

1. Germany and Italy signed an alliance on October 25, 1936, and Mussolini, the Italian dictator, soon boasted that Europe would rotate around the “Rome-Berlin Axis.” 
2. The Anti-Comintern Pact between Germany and Japan was signed on November 26, 1936 as an anti-Communist alliance against the Soviet Union.
3. The Pact of Steel agreement was signed by Germany and Italy on May 22, 1939. The alliance was specifically to counter the British-French alliance.
4. Germany, Italy, and Japan signed the Tripartite Pact on September 27, 1940. Following this the German-Italian-Japanese alliance began being called “The Axis Powers.”

Did Other Nations Join the Axis Powers of WW2?

Yes, several other nations officially signed the Tripartite Pact and became members of the Axis.

1. Hungary joined the Axis on September 27, 1940.
2. Romania joined the Axis on November 23, 1940.
3. Slovakia joined the Axis on November 24, 1940 (Slovakia was a “client” state Germany, only coming into existence after the German occupation of Czechoslovakia in 1939. Because of this, Slovakia or the “Slovak State” is not always considered a full Axis member).
4. Bulgaria joined the Axis on March 1, 1941.
5. *Yugoslavia signed the Tripartite Pact on March 25, 1941, but two days later, the pro-Axis government was overthrown, and Yugoslavia left the Axis. Yugoslavia was then invaded and conquered by Germany, Italy, and Hungary.

What Other Nations Were Allied With the Axis in the Second World War?

While no other nations officially joined the Axis Powers by signing the Tripartite Pact, several countries did fight on the same side as the Axis as “co-belligerents.”

1. Finland fought the Soviet Union alongside the Germans in retaliation for the Soviet attack on Finland in 1939-1940. Finland declared war on Russia on June 25, 1941, three days after Germany invaded the Soviets.
2. Iraq fought the British in the Anglo-Iraqi War of 1941 after a pro-German coup overthrew the pro-British Iraqi government.  Despite German air strikes in support of the Iraqis, British forces invaded and conquered Iraq.
3. Thailand joined with the Japanese to fight the British in Burma and Malaya on January 25, 1942 when it declared war on Britain.  Previous to this, Thailand had attacked French forces in Indochina in 1940 after the German conquest of France.

Was Spain an Axis Power in World War Two?

It should be noted that, while officially neutral in World War Two, the Fascist government of Spain, ruled by Francisco Franco, did assist the Axis, even to the point of forming a Spanish army of volunteers that fought the Soviets on the Axis Eastern Front in the war.  Also, during World War Two, Spain occupied the Tangier International Zone, which had been jointly run by Spain, France, and Britain. The Spanish occupation of Tangier lasted from April, 1940 to October, 1945.

World War Two was a truly global war as Germany, Italy, and Japan, along with the minor Axis Powers of Hungary, Romania, and Bulgaria, along with Slovakia, and the Axis aligned governments of Finland, Iraq, and Thailand waged war against the Allies.