Allies

     From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

In general, allies are people or groups that have joined an alliance. In general English usage, a formal treaty is not required for being perceived as an ally - co-belligerence, to fight alongside someone, is enough. According to this usage, allies become allies not when concluding an alliance treaty but when struck by war.

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. The term is generally used in the generic sense of "all who opposed the enemy". In addition, it is usually used in a strict dichotomy of them vs. us, reflecting wartime propaganda, with no account taken of nuances of countries that were occupied as neutrals, changed sides or participated in concurrent wars.

Table of contents

1 World War I 1.1 Major Allies 1.2 Minor Allies 2 World War II 2.3 Major Allies 2.4 Minor Allies 2.5 Non-fighting ("moral support") Allies

World War I

Major Allies

• France
• United Kingdom
• Russia (until 1917)
• Italy (from May 23, 1915)
• United States (from April 6, 1917)

(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

• Australia
• Belgium
• Canada
• India
• Japan
• Greece
• Montenegro
• Newfoundland
• New Zealand
• Romania
• Serbia
• South Africa

(Norway is at times referred to as The Neutral Ally. While theoretically a neutral country, British pressure and anti-german sentiment in the population enabled the goverment to highly favour Britain in matters concerning the large Norwegian shipping fleet and vast fish supplies.) 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 the later Axis member Romania after Italy's conquest of Albania on April 7, 1939.

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.

Major Allies

(later: permanent members of the UN Security Council)

• China
• France - (after 1940) Free France
• United Kingdom
• Soviet Union (invaded by Nazi Germany June 22, 1941 - before that on the side of the Axis)
• United States (from 7 December 1941)

Minor Allies

British, Dutch and French colonies fought alongside their mother countries, and continued their contribution also when the mother countries were defeated.

Most countries occupied by Nazi Germany continued the fight with resistance movements under governments in exile:

• Belgium (invaded May 10, 1940)
• Greece (invaded October 28, 1940)
• Luxembourg (invaded May 10, 1940)
• Netherlands (invaded May 10, 1940)
• Norway (invaded April 9, 1940)
• Poland (invaded 1 September 1939)
• Yugoslavia (invaded April 6, 1941)

Furthermore, most countries of the British Commonwealth were considered as Minor allies, notably:

• Australia
• Canada entered on September 10, 1939.
• India entered on September 3, 1939.
• New Zealand
• South Africa

From July 1944 a Brazilian Expeditionary Force (with at most 25,000 men) participated in the Allied invasion of Italy.

Non-fighting ("moral support") Allies

The regions of South America and Latin America are often considered to have been not only on the side of the Allied, but among the Allied.