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Origins and Formation
Diplomatic Roots
The Axis powers emerged from a series of diplomatic alignments in the mid-1930s, driven by the expansionist ambitions of Germany, Italy, and Japan. The initial step was the 1936 Italo-German protocol, which led Mussolini to declare the "Rome-Berlin axis," signifying a new geopolitical alignment.
Anti-Comintern Pact
The Anti-Comintern Pact, signed between Germany and Japan in 1936, aimed to counter the influence of the Comintern. Italy joined in 1937, followed by Hungary and Spain, solidifying a bloc against perceived communist threats, though its primary drivers were nationalistic and expansionist goals.
Pact of Steel and Tripartite Pact
The "Rome-Berlin Axis" formalized into a military alliance with the Pact of Steel in 1939. The Tripartite Pact of 1940 officially integrated the military objectives of Germany, Italy, and Japan, later joined by other nations, establishing the foundational framework of the Axis alliance.
Core Ideologies
Nationalism and Expansionism
A defining characteristic of the Axis powers was their fervent nationalism and aggressive expansionist agenda. Each sought to establish territorial empires—Germany aiming for Lebensraum in Eastern Europe, Italy for a "New Roman Empire" in the Mediterranean, and Japan for a Greater East Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere.
Militarism and Authoritarianism
Militarism permeated Axis societies, glorifying military strength and action. Politically, they embraced authoritarian and totalitarian models, characterized by one-party states, cults of personality, and suppression of dissent, prioritizing the state above individual liberties.
Anti-Western and Anti-Communist Stance
The Axis powers positioned themselves against the perceived hegemony of Western plutocracies and the threat of communism. They advocated for a new world order, free from the influence of established global powers, and often employed propaganda to justify their actions as defensive or civilizing missions.
Economic Capabilities
Population and GDP Disparity
In 1938, the Axis powers had a combined population of approximately 258.9 million, significantly outnumbered by the Allied powers (689.7 million). Their combined GDP was estimated at $911 billion (1990 international dollars), substantially less than the $1,798 billion GDP of the Allies, highlighting a critical resource disadvantage.
Industrial Capacity and Mobilization
Germany possessed the strongest industrial base among the Axis. Italy and Japan, however, had smaller economies heavily reliant on international trade and external resources. This limited their capacity for sustained, large-scale military mobilization compared to the industrial might of the United States and the British Commonwealth.
Strategic Resources
The Axis powers faced significant challenges regarding strategic resources, particularly oil. Romania's oil production was crucial for Germany and Italy. Japan's dependence on U.S. petroleum imports led directly to its aggressive expansion into resource-rich Southeast Asia, a key factor in its entry into World War II.
Major Axis Powers
Germany
Led by Adolf Hitler, Nazi Germany was the primary Axis power in Europe. Its ideology centered on racial supremacy, territorial expansion (Lebensraum), and the destruction of perceived enemies like communism and Jewry. Germany's military prowess and industrial capacity were central to the Axis war effort.
Italy
Under Benito Mussolini, Fascist Italy sought to re-establish a Mediterranean empire. Despite its ideological alignment and participation in key pacts, Italy's military performance was often hampered by inadequate preparation, limited resources, and internal divisions, leading to increasing dependence on Germany.
Japan
Imperial Japan pursued a policy of expansionism in Asia and the Pacific, aiming to create a Greater East Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere. Driven by militarism and a need for resources, Japan's actions, including the attack on Pearl Harbor, brought it into direct conflict with the United States and the Allied powers.
Historical Trajectory
Rise to Power
The Axis powers rose to prominence through aggressive foreign policies and the exploitation of post-World War I instability and economic crises. Germany's remilitarization, annexation of Austria and Czechoslovakia, and invasion of Poland marked escalating aggression, triggering World War II.
Global Conflict
The Tripartite Pact formalized the alliance, leading to coordinated military actions across multiple theaters. However, the Axis powers' strategic coordination was often lacking, and their expansionist goals ultimately led to a global conflict against a coalition of increasingly powerful Allied nations.
Defeat and Collapse
Facing overwhelming industrial and military might from the Allies, coupled with internal strategic weaknesses and resource limitations, the Axis powers were systematically defeated. Germany surrendered in May 1945, followed by Japan's surrender in September 1945 after the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
Occupied Territories
Europe
Axis powers occupied or annexed vast territories in Europe. Germany established protectorates in Bohemia and Moravia, and the General Government in Poland, alongside direct annexations. Italy occupied Albania and Montenegro, and its colonial territories in Africa.
Asia and Pacific
Japan established a vast sphere of influence across Asia and the Pacific, including Manchuria, parts of China, Southeast Asia, and numerous Pacific islands. These territories were often subjected to harsh military rule and resource exploitation.
Administration and Resistance
Axis-occupied territories were administered through various means, including direct annexation, puppet regimes (e.g., Quisling in Norway), and military governments. These occupations often faced significant resistance movements, contributing to the eventual Allied victory.
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References
References
- Germany, Italy, and Japan are typically described as being the "major" (or similar) countries amongst the Axis powers (see e.g., Global Strategy, Momah, p. 71, or Encyclopedia of World War II, Tucker & Roberts, p. 102).
- Puppet state installed by the Axis powers (see e.g., Axis Rule in Occupied Europe, Lemkin, p. 11).
- Declared war on the United Kingdom and United States in alliance with Japan on 25 January 1942, generally considered to be a member of the Axis (e.g. Bowman, p. 432).
- Martin-Dietrich Glessgen and Günter Holtus, eds., Genesi e dimensioni di un vocabolario etimologico, Lessico Etimologico Italiano: Etymologie und Wortgeschichte des Italienischen (Ludwig Reichert, 1992), p. 63.
- D. C. Watt, "The RomeâBerlin Axis, 1936â1940: Myth and Reality", The Review of Politics, 22: 4 (1960), pp. 530â531.
- John Gooch. Mussolini and His Generals: The Armed Forces and Fascist Foreign Policy, 1922â1940. Cambridge University Press, 2007. p. 11.
- Gerhard Schreiber, Bern Stegemann, Detlef Vogel. Germany and the Second World War. Oxford University Press, 1995. p. 113.
- Gordon Martel. Origins of Second World War Reconsidered: A. J. P. Taylor and Historians. Digital Printing edition. Routledge, 2003. p. 179.
- Gordon Martel. Austrian Foreign Policy in Historical Context. New Brunswick, New Jersey, US: Transaction Publishers, 2006. p. 179.
- Stanley G. Payne. A History of Fascism, 1914â1945. Madison: University of Wisconsin Press, 1995. p. 379.
- Lewis Copeland, Lawrence W. Lamm, Stephen J. McKenna. The World's Great Speeches: Fourth Enlarged (1999) Edition. p. 485.
- Jan Karski. The Great Powers and Poland: From Versailles to Yalta. Rowman & Littlefield, 2014. p. 197.
- Maria WardzyÅska, "ByÅ rok 1939. Operacja niemieckiej policji bezpieczeÅstwa w Polsce Intelligenzaktion Instytut PamiÄci Narodowej, IPN 2009
- William Young. German Diplomatic Relations 1871â1945: The Wilhelmstrasse and the Formulation of Foreign Policy. iUniverse, 2006. p. 271.
- Gabrielle Kirk McDonald. Documents and Cases, Volumes 1â2. The Hague, Netherlands: Kluwer Law International, 2000. p. 649.
- Geoffrey A. Hosking. Rulers And Victims: The Russians in the Soviet Union. Harvard University Press, 2006 p. 213.
- Catherine Andreyev. Vlasov and the Russian Liberation Movement: Soviet Reality and Emigré Theories. First paperback edition. Cambridge, England: Cambridge University Press, 1989. pp. 53, 61.
- Randall Bennett Woods. A Changing of the Guard: Anglo-American Relations, 1941â1946. University of North Carolina Press, 1990. p. 200.
- MolotovâRibbentrop Pact 1939.
- Jozo Tomasevich. War and Revolution in Yugoslavia, 1941â1945: Occupation and Collaboration. pp. 30â31.
- Samuel W. Mitcham: Rommel's Desert War: The Life and Death of the Afrika Korps. Stackpole Books, 2007. p. 16.
- Stephen L. W. Kavanaugh. Hitler's Malta Option: A Comparison of the Invasion of Crete (Operation Merkur) and the Proposed Invasion of Malta (Nimble Books LLC, 2010). p. 20.
- Mussolini Unleashed, 1939â1941: Politics and Strategy in Fascist Italy's Last War. pp. 284â285.
- Davide Rodogno. Fascism's European Empire: Italian Occupation during the Second World War. Cambridge, England: Cambridge University Press, 2006. p. 30.
- John Lukacs. The Last European War: September 1939 â December 1941. Yale University Press, 2001. p. 364.
- Albania: A Country Study: Italian Occupation, Library of Congress. Last accessed 14 February 2015.
- Barak Kushner. The Thought War: Japanese Imperial Propaganda. University of Hawaii Press, p. 119.
- Hilary Conroy, Harry Wray. Pearl Harbor Reexamined: Prologue to the Pacific War. University of Hawaii Press, 1990. p. 21.
- Euan Graham. Japan's sea lane security, 1940â2004: a matter of life and death? Oxon, England; New York: Routledge, 2006. p. 77.
- Hilary Conroy, Harry Wray. Pearl Harbor Reexamined: Prologue to the Pacific War. University of Hawaii Press, 1990. p. 60.
- Li Narangoa, R. B. Cribb. Imperial Japan and National Identities in Asia, 1895â1945. Psychology Press, 2003. pp. 15â16.
- Seamus Dunn, T.G. Fraser. Europe and Ethnicity: The First World War and Contemporary Ethnic Conflict. Routledge, 1996. p. 97.
- Craig Stockings, Eleanor Hancock, Swastika over the Acropolis: Re-interpreting the Nazi Invasion of Greece in World War II, p. 37
- Carlile Aylmer Macartney, October Fifteenth: A History of Modern Hungary, 1929â1945, Vol. 1, p. 481
- Robert D. Kaplan, In Europe's Shadow: Two Cold Wars and a Thirty-Year Journey Through Romania and Beyond, p. 134
- David T. Zabecki, World War II in Europe: An Encyclopedia, p. 1421
- Axworthy 1995, pp. 152â153, 158, 174, 217, 219, 229â232, 236, 249 and 265â266.
- Jasenovac United States Holocaust Memorial Museum web site
- "Den Dansk-Tyske Ikke-Angrebstraktat af 1939". Flådens Historie. (in Danish)
- William L. Langer and S. Everett Gleason, The Undeclared War, 1940â1941 (1953), pp. 172â173, 424â431, 575â578
- Kent Forster, "Finland's Foreign Policy 1940â1941: An Ongoing Historiographic Controversy," Scandinavian Studies (1979) 51#2 pp. 109â123
- Eastern Europe, Russia and Central Asia 2004, Vol. 4. London, England: Europa Publications, 2003. pp. 138â139.
- Geoffrey C. Gunn, Monarchical Manipulation in Cambodia: France, Japan, and the Sihanouk Crusade for Independence, Copenhagen: Nordic Institute for Asian Studies, 2018, Part V
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