The Axis powers are the coalition of countries that fought against the allies during World War II . These were Germany , Italy and the Empire of Japan , united by the Tripartite Pact, to which Hungary, Romania and Bulgaria later joined .

Among the reasons that led to the alliance between these States are ideological coincidences, feeling harmed by the League of Nations, and the desire to conquer territories to ensure the provision of raw materials and fuels.

The first time the word “axis” was used was in 1936, when the Italian leader Benito Mussolini claimed that Italy and Germany formed an axis around which the whole of Europe revolved.

The rapprochement between Germans and Italians was accentuated during the Spanish civil war and was reflected in the signing of the Pact of Steel , on May 22, 1939.

This mutual aid and assistance treaty incorporated Japan on September 27, 1940 , when the Tripartite Pact was signed in Berlin. In this way, the coalition that faced the allies was formed.

During the war, states such as Finland, Iraq, and Iran supported the Axis powers, as did the puppet governments of Croatia, Slovakia, and Manchukuo, among others.

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Axis Powers

Germany

From 1933 Germany was governed by the National Socialist German Workers Party, known as the Nazi Party . Its leader was Adolf Hitler , who used his position as chancellor to appropriate all the springs of power in the German state.

Hitler promoted an expansionist policy that led to the annexation of Austria and Czechoslovakia and the alliance with Italy and Japan.

The invasion of Poland on September 1, 1939, triggered World War II, during which Germany came to dominate much of Europe and North Africa.

Germany’s defeat was consummated in May 1945, when the Allies occupied Berlin after Hitler’s suicide on April 30 of that year.

Italy

From 1900 it was governed by Victor Emmanuel III, of the House of Savoy. In 1922, after the march on Rome , the king appointed Benito Mussolini as president of the Council of Ministers of the kingdom.

Mussolini, who was the leader of the National Fascist Party , promoted an expansionist policy that led him to occupy Somalia, Abyssinia and Albania, and forge an alliance with Nazi Germany .

Italy’s entry into World War II took place in June 1940, when Mussolini declared war on France and Great Britain. Italian troops fought in France, the Balkans, North Africa, and the Soviet Union .

On July 25, 1943, Mussolini was replaced by a government headed by Pietro Badoglio, who signed an armistice with the Allies. In September, the Germans invaded northern Italy and liberated Mussolini, who established the Italian Social Republic. However, before the constant advance from the south of the allied troops, on April 28, 1945 Mussolini tried to flee to Switzerland but was assassinated by members of the Italian resistance of communist affiliation. Shortly after, Victor Emmanuel III abdicated in his son Humberto II, who ruled until the proclamation of the republic in 1946.

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Japan

Japan was an empire since 1868, when the Meiji Restoration took place. In 1926 Emperor Hirohito ascended to the throne , who led a militaristic and expansionist policy that led Japan to invade Manchuria in 1931 and China in 1937.

Japan’s entry into World War II occurred in December 1941, after the attack on Pearl Harbor , in the Hawaiian Islands.

During its greatest expansion, in 1942, Japan came to dominate Korea, Manchuria, eastern China, the Philippine Islands, French Indochina, British Malaysia, Singapore, the Dutch East Indies, New Guinea, and several Pacific archipelagos.

Japan signed its surrender on September 2, 1945, after the United States dropped atomic bombs on the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki .

Hungary

Since 1920 Hungary was ruled by Admiral Miklós Horthy , who led a fascist government . In November 1940, Horthy joined the Tripartite Pact signed by Germany, Italy, and Japan.

Hungarian troops participated in the invasions of Yugoslavia and the Soviet Union, in exchange for which Hungary regained part of the territories it had lost after the First World War .

In 1944 Horthy set out to sign an armistice with the Soviets, but his treachery was discovered by Hitler, who ordered his arrest. In this way it was replaced by a government led by the Philogerman Ferenc Szálasi.

After the battle of Budapest, in February 1945, Hungary was occupied by the Soviets and, Szálasi, executed by the new communist authorities.

Romania

On September 6, 1940, a coup led by General Ion Antonescu overthrew King Carol II, who was forced to abdicate. Antonescu was supported by the Iron Guard, a fascist and pro-German group.

In November 1940 Antonescu joined the Tripartite Pact and allowed German troops to enter the country.

In August 1944, a coup d’état overthrew Antonescu and brought King Michael I to power, who signed an armistice with the Soviet Union. Antonescu was executed by the Communists, who abolished the monarchy in 1947.

Bulgaria

Since 1930 the kingdom of Bulgaria was ruled by Tsar Boris III . The Tsar was a Germanophile and wanted to regain territories lost by his country during the First World War.

In March 1941, Boris III joined the Tripartite Pact and allowed the entry of German forces that invaded Yugoslavia and Greece. He was rewarded by Hitler with the cession of territories that belonged to both countries.

Boris III died in 1943 and was succeeded by a Regency Council, due to the minority of his successor, Simeon II.

In September 1944, before the imminence of the Soviet invasion, the regents were deposed and a new government changed sides, so Bulgaria began to fight against Germany.