World War II | Facts, Summary, History, Dates, Combatants, & Causes
World War II was a conflict that involved virtually every part of the world during 1939–45. The main combatants were the Axis powers ...
Allies
The main combatants were the Axis powers (Germany, Italy, and Japan) and the <anchor>Allies</anchor> (France, Great Britain, the United States, the Soviet Union, and, to a lesser extent, China).
Allied powers | History & Facts | Britannica
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[Allied powers](https://www.britannica.com/topic/Allied-Powers-international-alliance)

Table of Contents


Introduction
[References & Edit History](https://www.britannica.com/topic/Allied-Powers-international-alliance/additional-info) [Quick Facts & Related Topics](/facts/Allied-Powers-international-alliance)

[Images & Videos](https://www.britannica.com/topic/Allied-Powers-international-alliance/images-videos)

[![World War I: Allied troops on the Gallipoli Peninsula](https://cdn.britannica.com/46/65946-004-7EE27531/ANZAC-Cove-troops-shore-Allied-Dardanelles-Campaign.jpg)](https://cdn.britannica.com/46/65946-050-042872CB/ANZAC-Cove-troops-shore-Allied-Dardanelles-Campaign.jpg)[![Learn how the Triple Entente and Triple Alliance evolved into the Allies and Central Powers in World War I](https://cdn.britannica.com/26/72926-138-9275A298/Europeans-fronts-war-1917.jpg?w=400&h=225&c=crop)](/video/72926/Europeans-fronts-war-1917)[![Winston Churchill, Franklin D. Roosevelt, and Joseph Stalin](https://cdn.britannica.com/47/5247-004-2D2C07FE/Winston-Churchill-officers-Franklin-D-Roosevelt-Joseph-1945.jpg)](https://cdn.britannica.com/47/5247-050-03B77453/Winston-Churchill-officers-Franklin-D-Roosevelt-Joseph-1945.jpg)

Quizzes


[![Encyclopaedia Britannica thistle graphic to be used with a Mendel/Consumer quiz in place of a photograph.](https://cdn.britannica.com/05/215905-131-626D860A/Encyclopaedia-Britannica-thistle-graphic-logo.jpg?w=200&h=200&c=crop)](/quiz/43-questions-about-politics-law-and-government-compiled-from-britannicas-quizzes)

[43 Questions About Politics (Mostly in the United States) Compiled from Britannica’s Quizzes](/quiz/43-questions-about-politics-law-and-government-compiled-from-britannicas-quizzes)

Read Next


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[14 Questions About Government in the United States Answered](/list/14-questions-about-government-in-the-united-states-answered)

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[U.S. Death Toll During Major Events](/story/us-death-toll-during-major-events)

[![The Battle of New Orleans, by E. Percy Moran, c. 1910. Andrew Jackson, War of 1812.](https://cdn.britannica.com/94/159994-131-8E828D22/Battle-of-New-Orleans-oil-painting-E-1910.jpg?w=200&h=200&c=crop)](/story/25-decade-defining-events-in-us-history)

[26 Decade-Defining Events in U.S. History](/story/25-decade-defining-events-in-us-history)

[![Groups of depositors in front of the closed American Union Bank, New York City. April 26, 1932. Great Depression run on bank crowd](https://cdn.britannica.com/45/197245-131-26E0911C/Depositors-American-Union-Bank-New-York-York-1932.jpg?w=200&h=200&c=crop)](/story/causes-of-the-great-depression)

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[![Andrew Jackson delivering a speech while on his way to Washington, D.C., for his inauguration in 1829. From Harper's Weekly, 1881.](https://cdn.britannica.com/94/182194-131-A1441287/Andrew-Jackson-town-supporters-inauguration-way-1829.jpg?w=200&h=200&c=crop)](/list/5-remarkably-close-us-presidential-elections)

[5 Remarkably Close U.S. Presidential Elections](/list/5-remarkably-close-us-presidential-elections)

[![King Cobra snake in Malaysia. (reptile)](https://cdn.britannica.com/68/152568-131-E6B869A4/King-cobra-world-snake.jpg?w=200&h=200&c=crop)](/list/9-of-the-worlds-deadliest-snakes)

[9 of the World’s Deadliest Snakes](/list/9-of-the-worlds-deadliest-snakes)

[![Ice Sledge Hockey, Hockey Canada Cup, USA (left) vs Canada,  2009. UBC Thunderbird Arena, Vancouver, BC, competition site for Olympic ice hockey and Paralympic ice sledge hockey. Vancouver 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games, Vancouver Olympics](https://cdn.britannica.com/13/134913-131-D9520745/Ice-Sledge-Hockey-Canada-Cup-USA-ice-2010.jpg?w=200&h=200&c=crop)](/list/10-best-hockey-players-of-all-time)

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[6 of the World's Most Dangerous Birds](/list/6-of-the-worlds-most-dangerous-birds)

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[26 Decade-Defining Events in U.S. History](/story/25-decade-defining-events-in-us-history)

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[Why Is a Baker’s Dozen 13?](/story/why-is-a-bakers-dozen-13)


Contents


[Politics, Law & Government](/browse/Politics-Law-Government)[International Relations](/browse/International-Relations)

# Allied powers

international alliance



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Also known as: Allies


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Table of Contents


[![World War I: Allied troops on the Gallipoli Peninsula](https://cdn.britannica.com/46/65946-050-042872CB/ANZAC-Cove-troops-shore-Allied-Dardanelles-Campaign.jpg?w=400&h=300&c=crop)](https://cdn.britannica.com/46/65946-050-042872CB/ANZAC-Cove-troops-shore-Allied-Dardanelles-Campaign.jpg)

World War I: Allied troops on the Gallipoli Peninsula

[See all media](https://www.britannica.com/topic/Allied-Powers-international-alliance/images-videos)

Also called: Allies_(Show more)_

Date: 1915 - 19181939 - 1945_(Show more)_

[See all related content →](/facts/Allied-Powers-international-alliance)

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**Allied powers**, those countries allied in opposition to the [Central Powers](https://www.britannica.com/topic/Central-Powers) ( [Germany](https://www.britannica.com/place/Germany), [Austria-Hungary](https://www.britannica.com/place/Austria-Hungary), and [Turkey](https://www.britannica.com/place/Turkey)) in [World War I](https://www.britannica.com/event/World-War-I) or to the [Axis powers](https://www.britannica.com/topic/Axis-Powers) (Germany, [Italy](https://www.britannica.com/place/Italy), and [Japan](https://www.britannica.com/place/Japan)) in [World War II](https://www.britannica.com/event/World-War-II).

The major [Allied powers](https://www.britannica.com/topic/Allied-powers-World-War-I) in World War I were [Great Britain](https://www.britannica.com/place/United-Kingdom) (and the [British Empire](https://www.britannica.com/place/British-Empire)), [France](https://www.britannica.com/place/France), and the [Russian Empire](https://www.britannica.com/place/Russia), formally linked by the [Treaty of London](https://www.britannica.com/topic/Treaties-of-London) of September 5, 1914. Other countries that had been, or came to be, allied by treaty to one or more of those powers were also called Allies: Portugal and Japan by treaty with Britain; Italy by the [Treaty of London](https://www.britannica.com/event/Treaty-of-London) of April 26, 1915, with all three powers. Other countries—including the [United States](https://www.britannica.com/place/United-States) after its entry on April 6, 1917—that were [arrayed](https://www.britannica.com/dictionary/arrayed) against the Central Powers were called “Associated Powers,” not Allied powers; U.S. Pres. [Woodrow Wilson](https://www.britannica.com/biography/Woodrow-Wilson) emphasized that distinction to preserve America’s free hand. The [Treaty of Versailles](https://www.britannica.com/event/Treaty-of-Versailles-1919) (June 28, 1919) concluding the war listed 27 “Allied and Associated Powers”: [Belgium](https://www.britannica.com/place/Belgium), [Bolivia](https://www.britannica.com/place/Bolivia), [Brazil](https://www.britannica.com/place/Brazil), the British Empire, [China](https://www.britannica.com/place/China), [Cuba](https://www.britannica.com/place/Cuba), [Czechoslovakia](https://www.britannica.com/topic/Czechoslovak-history), [Ecuador](https://www.britannica.com/place/Ecuador), France, [Greece](https://www.britannica.com/place/Greece), [Guatemala](https://www.britannica.com/place/Guatemala), [Haiti](https://www.britannica.com/place/Haiti), the [Hejaz](https://www.britannica.com/place/Hejaz), [Honduras](https://www.britannica.com/place/Honduras), Italy, Japan, [Liberia](https://www.britannica.com/place/Liberia), [Nicaragua](https://www.britannica.com/place/Nicaragua), [Panama](https://www.britannica.com/place/Panama), [Peru](https://www.britannica.com/place/Peru), [Poland](https://www.britannica.com/place/Poland), [Portugal](https://www.britannica.com/place/Portugal), [Romania](https://www.britannica.com/place/Romania), [Serb-Croat-Slovene State](https://www.britannica.com/place/Kingdom-of-Serbs-Croats-and-Slovenes), [Siam](https://www.britannica.com/place/Thailand), the United States, and [Uruguay](https://www.britannica.com/place/Uruguay).

[![](https://cdn.britannica.com/47/5247-050-03B77453/Winston-Churchill-officers-Franklin-D-Roosevelt-Joseph-1945.jpg?w=300)](https://cdn.britannica.com/47/5247-050-03B77453/Winston-Churchill-officers-Franklin-D-Roosevelt-Joseph-1945.jpg)

[Winston Churchill, Franklin D. Roosevelt, and Joseph Stalin](https://cdn.britannica.com/47/5247-050-03B77453/Winston-Churchill-officers-Franklin-D-Roosevelt-Joseph-1945.jpg)(From left) Winston Churchill, Franklin D. Roosevelt, and Joseph Stalin posing with Allied officers at the Yalta Conference, 1945.(more)

[![Encyclopaedia Britannica thistle graphic to be used with a Mendel/Consumer quiz in place of a photograph.](https://cdn.britannica.com/05/215905-131-626D860A/Encyclopaedia-Britannica-thistle-graphic-logo.jpg)\
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Britannica Quiz\
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43 Questions About Politics (Mostly in the United States) Compiled from Britannica’s Quizzes](/quiz/43-questions-about-politics-law-and-government-compiled-from-britannicas-quizzes)

In World War II the chief [Allied powers](https://www.britannica.com/topic/Allied-powers-World-War-II) were Great Britain, France (except during the German occupation, 1940–44), the [Soviet Union](https://www.britannica.com/place/Soviet-Union) (after its entry in June 1941), the United States (after its entry on December 8, 1941), and China. More generally, the Allies included all the wartime members of the [United Nations](https://www.britannica.com/topic/United-Nations), the signatories to the Declaration of the United Nations. The original signers of January 1, 1942, were [Australia](https://www.britannica.com/place/Australia), Belgium, [Canada](https://www.britannica.com/place/Canada), China, [Costa Rica](https://www.britannica.com/place/Costa-Rica), Cuba, Czechoslovakia, the [Dominican Republic](https://www.britannica.com/place/Dominican-Republic), [El Salvador](https://www.britannica.com/place/El-Salvador), Greece, Guatemala, Haiti, Honduras, [India](https://www.britannica.com/place/India), [Luxembourg](https://www.britannica.com/place/Luxembourg), [the Netherlands](https://www.britannica.com/place/Netherlands), [New Zealand](https://www.britannica.com/place/New-Zealand), Nicaragua, [Norway](https://www.britannica.com/place/Norway), Panama, Poland, [South Africa](https://www.britannica.com/place/South-Africa), the Soviet Union, the United Kingdom, the United States, and [Yugoslavia](https://www.britannica.com/place/Yugoslavia-former-federated-nation-1929-2003). [Subsequent](https://www.britannica.com/dictionary/Subsequent) wartime signers were (in chronological order) [Mexico](https://www.britannica.com/place/Mexico), the [Philippines](https://www.britannica.com/place/Philippines), [Ethiopia](https://www.britannica.com/place/Ethiopia), [Iraq](https://www.britannica.com/place/Iraq), Brazil, Bolivia, Iran, Colombia, Liberia, France, Ecuador, Peru, Chile, Paraguay, Venezuela, Uruguay, Turkey, Egypt, Syria, and Lebanon.

[The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica](/editor/The-Editors-of-Encyclopaedia-Britannica/4419)This article was most recently revised and updated by [Jeff Wallenfeldt](/editor/Jeff-Wallenfeldt/6749).