Axis powers
The Axis powers,[nb 1] originally called the Rome–Berlin Axis[1] and also Rome–Berlin–Tokyo Axis, was a military coalition that initiated World War II and fought against the Allies. Its principal members were Nazi Germany, the Kingdom of Italy and the Empire of Japan. The Axis were united in their far-right positions and general opposition to the Allies, but otherwise lacked comparable coordination and ideological cohesion.
"The Axis" and "Rome-Berlin Axis" redirect here. For the book, see The Rome–Berlin Axis. For other uses, see Axis (disambiguation).
Axis powers
The Axis grew out of successive diplomatic efforts by Germany, Italy, and Japan to secure their own specific expansionist interests in the mid-1930s. The first step was the protocol signed by Germany and Italy in October 1936, after which Italian leader Benito Mussolini declared that all other European countries would thereafter rotate on the Rome–Berlin axis, thus creating the term "Axis".[2] The following November saw the ratification of the Anti-Comintern Pact, an anti-communist treaty between Germany and Japan; Italy joined the Pact in 1937, followed by Hungary and Spain in 1939. The "Rome–Berlin Axis" became a military alliance in 1939 under the so-called "Pact of Steel", with the Tripartite Pact of 1940 formally integrating the military aims of Germany, Italy, Japan, and later followed by other nations. The three pacts formed the foundation of the Axis alliance.[3]
At its zenith in 1942, the Axis presided over large parts of Europe, North Africa, and East Asia, either through occupation, annexation, or puppet states. In contrast to the Allies,[4] there were no three-way summit meetings, and cooperation and coordination were minimal; on occasion, the interests of the major Axis powers were even at variance with each other.[5] The Axis ultimately came to an end with its defeat in 1945.
Particularly within Europe, the use of the term "the Axis" sometimes refers solely to the alliance between Italy and Germany, though outside Europe it is normally understood as including Japan.[6]
Ideology
The Axis powers' primary goal was territorial expansion at the expense of their neighbors.[33] In ideological terms, the Axis described their goals as breaking the hegemony of the plutocratic Western powers and defending civilization from Communism. The Axis championed a number of variants on fascism, militarism, conservatism and autarky.[34] Creation of territorially contiguous autarkic empires was a common goal of all three major Axis powers.[6]
Economic resources
The Axis population in 1938 was 258.9 million, while the Allied population (excluding the Soviet Union and the United States, which later joined the Allies) was 689.7 million.[35] Thus the Allied powers outnumbered the Axis powers by 2.7 to 1.[36] The leading Axis states had the following domestic populations: Germany 75.5 million (including 6.8 million from recently annexed Austria), Japan 71.9 million (excluding its colonies), and Italy 43.4 million (excluding its colonies). The United Kingdom (excluding its colonies) had a population of 47.5 million and France (excluding its colonies) 42 million.[35]
The wartime gross domestic product (GDP) of the Axis was $911 billion at its highest in 1941 in international dollars by 1990 prices.[37] The GDP of the Allied powers was $1,798 billion. The United States stood at $1,094 billion, more than the Axis combined.[38]
The burden of the war upon participating countries has been measured through the percentage of gross national product (GNP) devoted to military expenditures.[39] Nearly one-quarter of Germany's GNP was committed to the war effort in 1939, and this rose to three-quarters of GNP in 1944, prior to the collapse of the economy.[39] In 1939, Japan committed 22 percent of its GNP to its war effort in China; this rose to three-quarters of GNP in 1944.[39] Italy did not mobilize its economy; its GNP committed to the war effort remained at prewar levels.[39]
Italy and Japan lacked industrial capacity; their economies were small, dependent on international trade, external sources of fuel and other industrial resources.[39] As a result, Italian and Japanese mobilization remained low, even by 1943.[39]
Among the three major Axis powers, Japan had the lowest per capita income, while Germany and Italy had an income level comparable to the United Kingdom.[40]
Romania's oil gave the country a disproportionate importance in the global conflict. In 1940 and 1941, Romania supplied 94% and 75% of Germany's oil imports respectively. Italy - which lacked both natural and synthetic output - was even more reliant on Romanian oil than Germany. The loss of Romania's oil - following the country's defection from the Axis in August 1944 - resulted in Hitler's first admission that the war was lost.[41]
Italian pilots of a Savoia-Marchetti SM.75 long-range cargo aircraft meeting with Japanese officials upon arriving in East Asia in 1942
German and Japanese direct spheres of influence at their greatest extents in Autumn 1942. Arrows show planned movements to an agreed demarcation line at 70° E, which was, however, never approximated.
