History glossary
Axis Powers
the wartime coalition led by Nazi Germany, Fascist Italy, and Imperial Japan.
- Category
- Military alliance
- Region
- Global
- Date range
- 1930s-1945
What it means
The Axis Powers were the Second World War coalition led by Nazi Germany, Fascist Italy, and Imperial Japan. They fought to expand empires and overturn the existing international order, but their goals and coordination differed by region.
Related terms
Stories using this term
Operation Barbarossa
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The Aztec Empire
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The Rise and Fall of Yugoslavia
Yugoslavia fractured through crisis, nationalism, and war, collapsing violently in the 1990s.
The Soviets
From revolution to superpower, the Soviet Union rose, struggled internally, and collapsed in 1991.
The Causes of the Second World War
From the flawed peace of 1919 to the invasion of Poland in 1939, this story traces the interlocking causes of the Second World War across two decades of crisis, ideology, and failed deterrence.
The Second World War
From fragile peace to global war, WWII reshaped the world through conflict, genocide, and new power orders.
The Pacific War
From imperial expansion in Manchuria to surrender in 1945, the Pacific War remade Asia through conquest, occupation, naval warfare, and devastating defeat.
