Germania V Axis powers From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia World War Two This article utilized from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia, shows the Axis Powers during World War II. The article shown below does not include the Cossacks, White Russians and Ukrainians that also voluntarily aligned themselves with the Third Reich during World War II, not because they were pro-Nazis, but because they were against the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. When they surrended to the Allies, they were deported to the Soviet Union, where they were all executed. This article is, therefore, about the independent countries (states) that comprised the Axis powers. For information about other countries that took part in World War II, see Participants in World War II. The Axis powers (also known as the Axis alliance, Axis nations, Axis countries, or just the Axis) were those countries that were opposed to the Allies during World War II.[1] The three major Axis powers - Germany, Italy, and Japan - were part of a military alliance on the signing of the Tripartite Pact in September 1940, which officially founded the Axis powers. At their zenith, the Axis powers ruled empires that dominated large parts of Europe, Africa, East and Southeast Asia and the Pacific Ocean, but World War II ended with their total defeat. Like the Allies, membership of the Axis was fluid, and some nations entered and later left the Axis during the course of the war.[2] Contents: 1 Origins 2 Participating nations 2.1 Major Axis powers 2.1.1 Germany 2.1.2 Japan 2.1.3 Italy 2.2 Minor powers 2.2.1 Hungary 2.2.2 Romania 2.2.3 Bulgaria 2.2.4 Yugoslavia 2.3 Co-belligerents 2.3.1 Finland 2.3.2 Iraq 2.3.3 Thailand 2.4 Japanese puppet states 2.4.1 Manchukuo (Manchuria) 2.4.2 Mengjiang (Inner Mongolia) 2.4.3 Wang Jingwei Government 2.4.4 Burma (Ba Maw regime) 2.4.5 Philippines (Second Republic) 2.4.6 India (Provisional Government of Free India) 2.4.7 Vietnam 2.4.8 Cambodia 2.4.9 Laos 2.5 Italian puppet states 2.5.1 Montenegro 2.6 German puppet states 2.6.1 Slovakia (Tiso regime) 2.6.2 Serbia (Nedić Regime) 2.6.3 Italy (Salò regime) 2.6.4 Albania (under German control) 2.6.5 Hungary (Szálasi regime) 2.7 Joint German-Italian puppet states 2.7.1 Croatia 2.7.2 Greece 2.7.3 Pindus and Macedonia 2.8 Axis collaborator states 2.8.1 France (Vichy regime) 2.9 Controversial cases 2.9.1 Denmark 2.9.2 Soviet Union 2.9.3 Spain 3 German, Italian and Japanese World War II cooperation 3.1 Germany's and Italy's declaration of war against the United States 3.2 Yanagi Missions 3.3 Joint Operations in the Indian Ocean 4 See also 5 Citations and notes 6 References 7 External links Origins: Tripartite Pact signing. Seated on the left starting with Saburo Kurusu, Galeazzo Ciano and Adolf Hitler.Main article: Tripartite Pact Hungary's fascist prime minister Gyula Gömbös who advocated an alliance of Germany, Hungary, and Italy and worked as an intermediary between Germany and Italy to lessen differences between the two countries to achieve such an alliance.[3] Gömbös' sudden death in 1936 while negotiating with Germany in Munich and the arrival of a non- fascist successor to him ended Hungary's initial involvement in pursuing a trilateral axis, but the lessening of differences between Germany and Italy would lead to a bilateral axis being formed.[3] In November 1936, the term "axis" was first officially used by Italian dictator Benito Mussolini when he spoke of a Rome- Berlin axis arising out of the treaty of friendship signed between Italy and Germany on 25 October 1936, around which the other states of Europe (and of the world) would revolve. This treaty was forged when Italy, originally opposed to Nazi Germany, was faced with opposition to its war in Abyssinia from the League of Nations and received support from Germany. Later, in May 1939, this relationship transformed into an alliance, called by Mussolini the "Pact of Steel". The "Axis powers" formally took the name after the Tripartite Pact was signed by Germany, Italy and Japan on September 27, 1940 in Berlin, Germany. The pact was subsequently joined by Hungary (November 20, 1940), Romania (November 23, 1940), Slovakia (November 24, 1940) and Bulgaria (March 1, 1941). The Italian name Roberto briefly acquired a new meaning from "Rome-Berlin-Tokyo" between 1940 and 1945. Its most militarily powerful members were Germany and Japan. These two nations had also signed the Anti-Comintern Pact with each other as allies before the Tripartite Pact in 1936. Participating nations - Major Axis powers: Three major Axis powers were the original signatories to the Tripartite Pact: Nazi Germany: Greater German ReichGermany was unofficially the leader of the Axis powers as it had the largest and most technologically- advanced armed forces of the Axis powers. Germany was ruled at this time by Adolf Hitler and his National Socialist German Workers' Party (a.k.a. the Nazi Party). German citizens felt that their country had been humiliated as a result of the Treaty of Versailles at the end of World War I in which Germany was forced to pay enormous reparations payments, and forfeit German-populated territories and its colonies. German nationalists blamed the country's defeat on pacifists, Communists, and Jews. The Germans had to pay large reparations which placed pressure on the German economy leading to hyperinflation during the early 1920s. In 1923, the French occupied the Ruhr region as a result of late payments leading to greater feelings of discontent. Although Germany began to improve economically in the mid-1920s, the Great Depression created more economic hardship and a rise in political forces that advocated radical solutions to Germany's woes. The Nazis under Adolf Hitler followed and promoted the nationalist belief that Germany had been betrayed by Jews and Communists and promised to rebuild Germany as a major power and to create a Greater Germany which would include Alsace-Lorraine, Austria, Sudetenland, and other German-populated territories in Europe. In addition to this, the Nazis aimed to occupy non-German territory of Poland, Baltic countries, and the Soviet Union to colonize with Germans as part of the Nazi policy of seeking Lebensraum ("living space") in eastern Europe. Germany renounced the Versailles treaty in 1935 and began to rearm. The Rhineland was remilitarised. Germany later annexed Austria in 1938, the Sudetenland from Czechoslovakia and Memel from Lithuania in 1939. Germany then invaded the rest of Czechoslovakia in 1939, creating the Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia and Slovakia as a country. On August 23, 1939, Germany and the Soviet Union signed the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact, which contained a secret protocol dividing eastern Europe into spheres of influence.[4] Germany's invasion of its part of Poland under the Pact eight days later[5] led to the subsequent beginning of World War II. By 1941, Germany occupied most of Europe and its military forces were fighting the Soviet Union, nearly capturing its capital of Moscow. However, crushing defeats at the Battle of Stalingrad and the Battle of Kursk devastated the German armed forces. This combined with Western Allied landings in France and Italy led to a three-front war which depleted Germany's armed forces resulting in Germany's defeat in 1945. (Initially, The Third Reich and the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, were allies, both contributing to the dissection of Poland - Russia taking the eastern half and Germany taking the western half. As it happened, a double-agent found out that Russia was poised to invade Germany before daybreak and knowing this, brought in a large contingent of troops consisting of several divisions. Taken by complete surprise, the Russians, disoriented and surprised, were vanguished. The Germans starting an Eastern Front, pushed the Russians further and further back into Russian proper. The regular German Army (not the S.S.) pushed their way through occupied Poland and stopped at a Polish farm requesting from the father (Patriach) a place to rest their soldiers and to have some food and water. The farmer complied. A woman in New York City who worked as a "cleaning woman" in one of the buildings, was a young girl when the German soldiers arrived at the farm and reiterated that the soldiers and their supeious were well-behaved gentlemen and did not in any way even attempt to molest the farmer's daughters. Had they, their Commander would have exectuted the soldier on the spot. I spoke with this woman at length and she reiterated that what she said was true. It should be added that the 2nd world war was actually an addition to world war I. If everything that was said by the media and others, why, then, was it necessary to cover-up facts, when the Germans were defeated in World War II. If the Germans were so bad, it seems to me, that a cover-up of the facts, was hardly necessary. It is also interesting to note: "Why was the S.S. troops led by completely different generals and leaders; when the regular German forces were led by other commanders. All members of their armed forces had to take an oath of allegiance to the Third Reich; but not one of the regular forces commanders were not themselves "Nazis". This was proven when they tried to kill Hitler in 1944, and when they failed, 5,000 members of these generals families, friends and acquaintences were all tortured and murdered by the S.S. and the Gestapo. Empire of Japan: Empire of Greater JapanJapan was the principal Axis power in Asia and the Pacific. The Empire of Japan, commonly referred to as Imperial Japan, was a constitutional monarchy ruled by Emperor Shōwa. The constitution prescribed that "The Emperor is the head of the Empire, combining in Himself the rights of sovereignty, and exercises them, according to the provisions of the present Constitution" (article 4) and that "The Emperor has the supreme command of the Army and the Navy" (article 11). Under the imperial institution were a political cabinet and Imperial General Headquarters with two chiefs of staff. At its height, Japan's Greater East Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere included Manchuria, Inner Mongolia, large parts of China, Malaysia, French Indochina, Dutch East Indies, The Philippines, Burma, some of India, and various other Pacific Islands - specifically in the central Pacific. As a result of the internal discord and economic downturn of the 1920s, militaristic elements set Japan on a path of expansionism. Japan had plans to establish its hegemony in Asia and thus become self-sufficient, as the Japanese home islands lacked natural resources needed for growth, by acquiring areas with abundant natural resources. Japan's expansionist policies alienated it from other countries in the League of Nations and by the mid-1930s brought it closer to Germany and Italy which both had pursued similar expansionist policies which resulted in condemnation by a number of countries. Initial steps of Japan aligning itself militarily with Germany began with the Anti-Comintern Pact, in which the two countries agreed to ally with each other to challenge any attack by the Soviet Union. Japan's first major belligerent action was against the Chinese in 1937. The subsequent Japanese invasion and occupation of parts of China resulted in numerous atrocities against civilians such as the Nanking massacre and the Three Alls Policy. The Japanese also fought skirmishes with Soviet Union forces in Manchukuo in 1938 & 1939. Japan sought to avoid potential war with the Soviet Union by signing a non- aggression pact with the Soviet Union later in 1941. With European colonial powers focused on the war in Europe, Japan sought to acquire their colonies. In 1940 Japan responded to the collapse of France to the Germans, by sending the Japanese forces to occupy French Indochina. The regime of Vichy France, a de-facto ally of Germany, accepted Japan's takeover of Indochina. Allied forces did not respond with war. However, with the continuing war in China, the United States instituted in 1941 an embargo against Japan cutting off the supply of scrap metal and oil needed for its industry and war effort. In order to isolate American forces in the Philippines and American naval power, the Imperial General Headquarters ordered the Imperial Japanese Navy to attack the U.S. Naval Base at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii on December 7, 1941. The Japanese also invaded Malaysia and Hong Kong. The Japanese initially were able to inflict a series of defeats against the allies, however by 1943 American industrial strength was made apparent and the Japanese were pushed back towards the home islands. The Pacific War lasted until the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki in 1945. The Soviets formally declared war in August, 1945 and engaged Japanese forces in Manchuria and northeast China. Kingdom of Italy (1861–1946): The Kingdom of Italy was under the leadership of the fascist dictator Benito Mussolini in the name of King Victor Emmanuel III. During World War I, Italy had entered the war against Germany and Austria-Hungary. At the end Italy made only minor gains rather than the large concessions promised by the London Pact. The London pact was nullified with the treaty of Versailles, Italian nationalists and the public saw this as an injustice and an outrage; there had been over 600,000 Italian casualties. This resentment together with internal discontent and an economic downturn allowed the Italian Fascists under Benito Mussolini to rise to power in 1922. In the late 19th century after the reunification, a nationalist movement grew around the concept of Italia irredenta which advocated the incorporation of Italian-speaking areas under foreign rule into Italy; there was a desire to annex Italian speaking areas in Dalmatia. Italy's Fascist regime's intention was to create a "New Roman Empire" in which Italy would dominate the Mediterranean Sea. In 1935-1936, Italy invaded and annexed Ethiopia. The League of Nations protested, however no serious action was taken, though Italy faced diplomatic isolation by many countries. In 1937 Italy left the League of Nations and in the same year joined the Anti- Comintern Pact which was signed by Germany and Japan the preceding year. In March/April 1939 Italian troops invaded and annexed Albania. Germany and Italy signed the Pact of Steel on May 22. Italy entered World War II on June 10, 1940.[citation needed] In September 1940 Germany, Italy and Japan signed the Tripartite Pact. By 1941, however, the Italians had suffered multiple military defeats; in Greece and against the British in Egypt. It was only through German intervention in Yugoslavia, the Balkans and North Africa that Italy managed to avert a major military collapse. By 1943 the Italian people had lost faith in Mussolini and no longer supported the war; Italy had lost its colonies, the allies had taken North Africa in May and Sicily had been invaded in July. On July 25, 1943, King Victor Emmanuel III dismissed Mussolini, placed him under arrest, and began secret negotiations with the Allies. Italy then signed an armistice with the Allies on September 8, 1943 and later joined the Western Allies as a co-belligerent. On September 12, 1943, Mussolini was rescued by the Germans in Operation Oak and a puppet state was formed in northern Italy (see "German puppet states" below), although it exercised little real power and Italy continued as a member of the Axis Tripartite Pact in name only. This resurrected Fascist state was referred to as Repubblica di Salò or the Italian Social Republic (Repubblica Sociale Italiana/RSI). Minor powers: Several minor powers formally adhered to the Tripartite Pact between Germany, Italy and Japan in this order: Hungary during the Second World War: Kingdom of Hungary was ruled by Regent Admiral Miklós Horthy. Hungary was the first country apart from Germany, Italy, and Japan to adhere to the Tripartite Pact, signing the agreement on 20 November 1940. In the late 1910s and early 1920s, political instability plagued the country until a regency was established by Miklos Horthy. Horthy, who was a Hungarian nobleman and Austro-Hungarian naval officer, became Regent in 1920. In Hungary, nationalism was strong, as was anti-Semitism, which drew Hungarian nationalists to support the Nazi regime in Germany. There was a desire by Hungarian nationalists to recover the territories lost through the Trianon Treaty. Hungary drew closer to Germany and Italy largely because of the shared desire to revise the peace settlements made after the First World War. Because of its pro-German stance, the Hungarians received favourable territorial settlements in the form of territory from German annexed Czechoslovakia in 1939 and Northern Transylvania from Romania in the Vienna Awards of 1940. During the invasion of Yugoslavia, the Hungarians permitted German troops to transit through their territory and Hungarian forces also took part in the invasion. Parts of Yugoslavia were annexed to Hungary; in response, the United Kingdom immediately broke off diplomatic relations. Although Hungary did not participate initially in the German invasion of the Soviet Union, on 27 June, Hungary declared war on the Soviet Union. Over 500,000 troops served in the Eastern Front. All five of Hungary's field armies ultimately participated in the war against the Soviet Union; the largest and the most significant contribution was made by the Second Army. On 25 November 1941, Hungary was one of thirteen signatories to the revived Anti-Comintern Pact. Hungarian troops like their other Axis counterparts were involved in numerous actions against the Soviets. By the end of 1943, however, the Soviets had gained the upper hand while the Germans found themselves in retreat. The Hungarian Second Army was destroyed in fighting near Voronezh, on the banks of the Don River. In 1944, with Soviet troops advancing toward Hungary, Horthy attempted to reach an armistice with the allies. However, the Germans replaced the existing regime with a new one. Eventually Budapest was taken by the Soviets, after fierce fighting. A number of pro-German Hungarians retreated to Italy and Germany where they fought until the end of the war. Romania during World War II: Kingdom of RomaniaWhen war erupted in Europe in 1939, Romania was pro-British and was allied to the Poles. However following the invasion of Poland by Germany and the Soviet Union, and the German conquest of France and the low countries, Romania found itself increasingly isolated. Pro- German and pro-fascist elements began to grow. The August 1939 Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact between Germany and the Soviet Union contained a secret protocol ceding Bessarabia, part of northern Romania, to the Soviet Union.[4] On June 28, 1940, the Soviet Union occupied and annexed Bessarabia, as well as Northern Bukovina and Hertza County.[6] On August 30, 1940, Germany forced Romania to cede Northern Transylvania to Hungary as a result of the second Vienna Award. Southern Dobruja was also ceded to Bulgaria in September 1940. In an effort to appease the Fascist elements with the country and obtain German protection, King Carol II appointed the General Ion Antonescu as Prime Minister on September 6, 1940. Two days later, Antonescu forced the king to abdicate and installed the king's young son Michael on the throne, then declared himself Conducător (Leader) with dictatorial powers. Under King Mihai I and the military government of Antonescu, Romania signed the Tripartite Pact on November 23, 1940. German troops entered the country in 1941 and used the country as platform for invasions of both Yugoslavia and the Soviet Union. Romania was also a key supplier of resources, especially oil and grain. Romania joined the German led invasion of the Soviet Union on June 22, 1941. Nearly 800,000 Romanian troops fought on the Eastern front. Areas that were annexed by the Soviets were reincorporated into Romania. By 1943, the tide began to turn and the Soviets pushed further west closer to Romania. Foreseeing the fall of Nazi Germany, Romania switched sides during King Michael's Coup on 23 August 1944. Romanian troops then fought alongside the Soviet Army until the end of war, reaching as far as Czechoslovakia and Austria. Military history of Bulgaria during World War II: Tsardom of BulgariaBulgaria was ruled by King Boris III when the country signed the Tripartite Pact on March 1, 1941. Bulgaria had been an ally of Germany in the First World War and like Germany, sought a return of lost territory, specifically Macedonia and Aegean Thrace. During the 1930s, because of traditional right-wing elements Bulgaria drew closer to Nazi Germany. In 1940, under the terms of the Treaty of Craiova, Germany pressured Romania to return Southern Dobrudja to Bulgaria which was ceded in 1913. Bulgaria participated in the German invasion of Yugoslavia and Greece, and annexed Vardar Banovina from Yugoslavia and eastern Greek Macedonia and Western Thrace from Greece. Bulgarian forces garrisoned in the Balkans fought various resistance movements. Despite German pressure, Bulgaria did not join the German invasion of the Soviet Union and never declared war on this country. However, despite the lack of official declarations of war by both sides, the Bulgarian Navy was involved in a number of skirmishes with the Soviet Black Sea Fleet, which attacked Bulgarian shipping. The Bulgarian government declared war on the Western Allies. However, this turned into a disaster for the citizens of Sofia and other major Bulgarian cities, which were heavily bombed by the USAAF and RAF in 1943 and 1944. As the Red Army approached the Bulgarian border, on September 2, 1944, a coup brought to power a new government which sought peace with the Allies. However, on September 5 the Soviet Union declared war on Bulgaria and the Red Army marched into the country, meeting no resistance. During the coup d'état of 9 September 1944, a new government of the Fatherland Front took power and Bulgarian troops fought on the Allies' side throughout the rest of the war. Bulgaria kept Southern Dobrudja but lost the occupied parts of the Aegean region and Vardar Macedonia resulting in 150,000 Bulgarians being expelled from Western Thrace. Yugoslavia: Kingdom of YugoslaviaFor about two days in 1941, the Kingdom of Yugoslavia (Kraljevina Jugoslavija) was briefly a member of the Axis. On 25 March 1941, fearing that Yugoslavia would be invaded otherwise, Regent Prince Paul signed the Tripartite Pact with Germany, Italy, and Japan. The relations between Yugoslavia and Germany's major ally, Italy were cold and adversarial based on historical tensions. In 1925, Benito Mussolini and the Yugoslav government signed the Treaty of Nettuno after Mussolini pressured Yugoslavia with the threat of war to allow Italians to freely move into Dalmatia. [7] Yugoslavs saw this as a submission to effective Italian colonization of Dalmatia and opposed this. The political situation between Italians and Yugoslavs in the Italian Adriatic coastal enclave of Zadar (Zara) became hostile after reports were released of an Italian veterans association in Zadar which chanted anti-Yugoslav songs calling Yugoslavs "pigs" and the association announced that Italy should annex Dalmatia. These actions and attitudes resulted in rage by Yugoslavs towards Italy, as in large protests in Yugoslavia in 1928 where Yugoslavs shouted "Down with Mussolini!", "Death to Fascismo!", and "Down with the Treaty of Nettuno!" and "Long live King Alexander!", accusations of treason against the Yugoslav government and violence between opposition and government members in the Yugoslav parliament.[7] These were followed by Yugoslavs storming the Italian embassies in Zagreb, Dubrovnik, and Split, tearing down and burning pictures of Mussolini, along with burning and tearing Italian flags at the embassies.[7] Two days after signing the alliance in 1941, after uprisings in the streets, Prince Paul was removed from office by a coup d'état. 17-year-old Prince Peter was proclaimed to be of age and crowned king. The new Yugoslavian government under King Peter II, still fearful of invasion, attempted to indicate that it would remain bound by the Tripartite Pact. But German dictator Adolf Hitler suspected that the British were behind the coup against Prince Paul and vowed to destroy the country. The German invasion began on 6 April 1941. Yugoslavia was a country with a multi-religious people from its creation and was heavily dominated by people of the Eastern Orthodox religion. It also had unresolved questions of national identity so even the resistance to Nazi occupation wasn't united until major resistance groups like the Partizani and Chetniks (The Chetniks were known to collaborate with occupying forces and attacked Axis forces only periodically. See Chetnik movement for more details.) began forming and making offenses in the Balkans. Resistance crumbled in less than two weeks and an unconditional surrender was signed in Belgrade on 17 April. By this time, King Peter II and much of the Yugoslavian government had already fled. While the Kingdom of Yugoslavia was no longer capable of being a member of the Axis, several Axis-aligned puppet states emerged after the kingdom was dissolved. Local governments were set up in Serbia, Croatia, and Montenegro. The remainder of Yugoslavia was divided among the other Axis powers. Germany annexed Slovenia. Italy annexed south- western Slovenia, coastal parts of Croatia (Dalmatia and the islands), and attached Kosovo to Albania (occupied since 1939). Hungary annexed several border territories. Bulgaria annexed Macedonia. Ivan Mihailov's faction of the Internal Macedonian Revolutionary Organization (IMRO) welcomed the Bulgarian annexation of Vardar Macedonia. In early September 1944, when the Bulgarian government left the Axis, Germany offered Mihailov support in establishing an independent Macedonian state, but he declined. Co-belligerents: Military history of Finland during World War II: Republic of Finland: Although Finland never signed the Tripartite Pact and legally (de jure) was not a part of the Axis, it was Axis aligned in its fight against the Soviet Union.[8] The common term used in that kind of relationship is co- belligerence. Finland signed the revived Anti-Comintern Pact of November 1941. The August 1939 Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact between Germany and the Soviet Union contained a secret protocol dividing much of eastern Europe and assigning Finland to the Soviet sphere of influence.[4][9] After unsuccessfully attempting to force territorial and other concessions on the Finns, in November 1939, the Soviet Union invaded Finland during the Winter War with the intention of establishing a communist puppet government in Finland. [10][11] Thereafter, Finland sought protection and support from the United Kingdom[12][13] and neutral Sweden,[14] but was thwarted by Soviet and German actions. Despite Finnish resistance, a peace treaty was signed in March 1940. This resulted in Finland being drawn closer to Germany, first with the intent of enlisting German support as a counterweight to thwart continuing Soviet pressure and later to help regain lost territories. The Finns did not know that Germany had covertly ceded Finland to the Soviet Union because the secret protocols of the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact had not then been published. The Germans had not wanted hostilities to break out between Finland and the Soviet Union, which was against German interests. The conflict threatened Germany's iron-ore supplies and offered the prospect of Allied interference in the region.[15] In the opening days of Operation Barbarossa, which marked Germany's breaking of the Pact by invading the Soviet Union, Finland permitted German planes returning from bombing runs over Leningrad to refuel at Finnish airfields before returning to bases in East Prussia. In retaliation the Soviet Union launched a major air offensive against Finnish airfields and towns, which resulted in a Finnish declaration of war against the Soviet Union on June 25, 1941. The Finnish conflict with the Soviet Union is generally referred as the Continuation War. The main objective of Finland was to regain the territory lost to the Soviet Union in the Winter War. However, on July 10, 1941, Field Marshal Carl Gustaf Emil Mannerheim issued an Order of the Day which contained a formulation that was understood internationally as a Finnish territorial interest in Russian Karelia. Diplomatic relations between the United Kingdom and Finland were severed on August 1, 1941, after the British bombed German forces in the Finnish city of Petsamo. The United Kingdom repeatedly called on Finland to cease its offensive against the Soviet Union, and on December 6, 1941, declared war on Finland, although no other military operations followed. War was never declared between Finland and the United States. Unlike other Axis powers, Finland maintained command of its armed forces and pursued its war objectives independently of Germany. Finland refused German requests to participate in the Siege of Leningrad, and also granted asylum to Jews, while Jewish soldiers continued to serve in her army. The relationship between Finland and Germany more closely resembled an alliance during the six weeks of the Ryti- Ribbentrop Agreement, which was presented as a German condition for help with munitions and air support, as the Soviet offensive coordinated with D-Day threatened Finland with complete occupation. The agreement, signed by President Risto Ryti, but never ratified by the Finnish Parliament, bound Finland not to seek a separate peace. After Soviet offensives were fought to a standstill, Ryti's successor as president, Marshall Mannerheim, dismissed the agreement and opened secret negotiations with the Soviets, which resulted a ceasefire at September 4 and the Moscow Armistice on September 19, 1944. Under the terms of the armistice, Finland was obligated to expel German troops from Finnish territory, which resulted in the Lapland War. In 1947, Finland signed a peace treaty with the Allied powers. Iraq: Kingdom of Iraq - Iraq was a co-belligerent of the Axis, fighting the United Kingdom in the Anglo- Iraqi War of 1941. Anti-British sentiments were widespread in Iraq prior to 1941. Seizing power on April 3, 1941, the nationalist government of Iraqi Prime Minister Rashid Ali repudiated the Anglo-Iraqi Treaty of 1930 and demanded that the British abandon their military bases and withdraw from the country. Ali sought support from Germany and Italy in expelling British forces from Iraq. In early May 1941, Mohammad Amin al-Husayni, the Mufti of Jerusalem and associate of Ali, declared "holy war" against the British and called on Arabs throughout the Middle East to rise up against British rule. On May 25, 1941, the Germans stepped up offensive operations. Hitler issued Order 30, “ "The Arab Freedom Movement in the Middle East is our natural ally against England. In this connection special importance is attached to the liberation of Iraq... I have therefore decided to move forward in the Middle East by supporting Iraq." ” Hostilities between the Iraqi and British forces began on April 18, 1941, with heavy fighting at the RAF air base at Lake Habbaniya. The Germans and Italians dispatched aircraft and aircrew to Iraq. The Germans and Italians utilized Vichy French bases in Syria, which would later invoke fighting between British and Vichy French forces in Syria. The Germans planned to coordinate a combined German- Italian offensive against the British in Egypt, Palestine and Iraq. Iraqi military resistance, however, ended by May 31, 1941. Rashid Ali and the Mufti of Jerusalem fled to Persia, then Turkey, Italy and finally Germany where Ali was welcomed by Hitler as head of the Iraqi government-in-exile in Berlin. In propaganda broadcasts from Berlin, the Mufti continued to call on Arabs to rise up against the British and aid German and Italian forces. He also helped recruit Muslim volunteers in the Balkans for the Waffen SS. Thailand Kingdom of Thailand - Thailand became a formal ally of Japan from January 25, 1942. In the immediate aftermath of the attack on Pearl Harbor, Japanese forces invaded Thailand's territory on the morning of December 8, 1941. Only hours after the invasion, the then prime minister Field Marshal Phibunsongkhram, ordered the cessation of resistance against the Japanese. On December 21, 1941, a military alliance with Japan was signed and Thailand declared war on Britain and the United States. The Thai ambassador to the United States, Mom Rajawongse Seni Pramoj did not deliver his copy of the declaration of war, so although the British reciprocated by declaring war on Thailand and consequently considered it a hostile country, the United States did not. On May 10, 1942, the Thai Phayap Army entered Burma's Shan State, at one time in the past the area had been part of the Ayutthaya Kingdom. The boundary between the Japanese and Thai operations was generally the Salween. However, the area south of the Shan States known as Karenni States, the homeland of the Karens, was specifically retained under Japanese control. Three Thai infantry and one cavalry division, spearheaded by armoured reconnaissance groups and supported by the air force engaged the retreating Chinese 93rd Division. Kengtung, the main objective, was captured on May 27. Renewed offensives in June and November evicted the Chinese into Yunnan.[16] The area containing the Shan States and Kengtung was annexed by Thailand in 1942. After the war, in 1946, the areas were ceded back to Burma. The Free Thai Movement ("Seri Thai") was established during these first few months, parallel Free Thai organisations were also established in the United Kingdom and inside Thailand. Queen Ramphaiphanni was the nominal head of the British- based organisation, and Pridi Phanomyong, the regent, headed its largest contingent, which was operating within the country. Aided by elements of the military, secret airfields and training camps were established while OSS and Force 136 agents fluidly slipped in and out of the country. As the war dragged on, the Thai population came to resent the Japanese presence. In June 1944, Phibun was overthrown in a coup d'état. The new civilian government under Khuang Aphaiwong attempted to aid the resistance while at the same time maintaining cordial relations with the Japanese. After the war, U.S. influence prevented Thailand from being treated as an Axis country, but the British demanded three million tons of rice as reparations and the return of areas annexed from the colony of Malaya during the war. Thailand also returned the portions of British Burma and French Indochina that had been annexed. Phibun and a number of his associates were put on trial on charges of having committed war crimes and of collaborating with the Axis powers. However, the charges were dropped due to intense public pressure. Public opinion was favourable to Phibun, since he was thought to have done his best to protect Thai interests. Japanese puppet states: The Empire of Japan created a number of puppet states in the areas occupied by its military, beginning with the creation of Manchukuo in 1932. These puppet states achieved varying degrees of international recognition. Manchukuo (Manchuria): Great Empire of ManchuriaManchukuo was a Japanese puppet state in Manchuria, the northeast region of China. It was nominally ruled by Puyi, the last emperor of the Qing Dynasty, but in fact controlled by the Japanese military, in particular the Kwantung Army. While Manchukuo ostensibly meant a state for ethnic Manchus, the region had a Han Chinese majority. Following the Japanese invasion of Manchuria in 1931, the independence of Manchukuo was proclaimed on February 18, 1932, with Puyi as "Head of State." He was proclaimed the Emperor of Manchukuo a year later. Twenty three of the League of Nations' eighty members recognised the new Manchu nation, but the League itself declared in 1934 that Manchuria lawfully remained a part of China. This precipitated Japanese withdrawal from the League. Germany, Italy, and the Soviet Union were among the major powers who recognised Manchukuo, other countries who recognised the state were the Dominican Republic, Costa Rica, El Salvador, and the Vatican. Manchukuo was also recognised by the other Japanese allies and puppet states, including Mengjiang, the Burmese government of Ba Maw, Thailand, the Wang Jingwei regime, and the Indian government of Subhas Chandra Bose. The Manchukuoan state ceased to exist after the Soviet invasion of Manchuria in 1945. Mengjiang (Inner Mongolia): Mengjiang United Autonomous GovernmentMengjiang (alternatively spelled Mengchiang) was a Japanese puppet state in Inner Mongolia. It was nominally ruled by Prince Demchugdongrub, a Mongol nobleman descended from Genghis Khan, but was in fact controlled by the Japanese military. Mengjiang's independence was proclaimed on February 18, 1936, following the Japanese occupation of the region. The Inner Mongolians had several grievances against the central Chinese government in Nanking, with the most important one being the policy of allowing unlimited migration of Han Chinese to this vast region of open plains and desert. Several of the young princes of Inner Mongolia began to agitate for greater freedom from the central government, and it was through these men that Japanese saw their best chance of exploiting Pan-Mongol nationalism and eventually seizing control of Outer Mongolia from the Soviet Union. Japan created Mengjiang to exploit tensions between ethnic Mongolians and the central government of China which in theory ruled Inner Mongolia. The Japanese hoped to use pan- Mongolism to create a Mongolian ally in Asia and eventually conquer all of Mongolia from the Soviet Union. When the various puppet governments of China were unified under the Wang Jingwei government in March 1940, Mengjiang retained its separate identity as an autonomous federation. Although under the firm control of the Japanese Imperial Army which occupied its territory, Prince Demchugdongrub had his own army that was, in theory, independent. Mengjiang vanished in 1945 following Japan's defeat ending World War II and the invasion of Soviet and Red Mongol Armies. As the huge Soviet forces advanced into Inner Mongolia, they met limited resistance from small detachments of Mongolian cavalry, which, like the rest of the army, were quickly brushed aside. Wang Jingwei Government: Republic of China-NanjingA short-lived state was founded on March 29, 1940 by Wang Jingwei, who became Head of State of this Japanese supported collaborationist government based in Nanking. During the Second Sino-Japanese War, Japan advanced from its bases in Manchuria to occupy much of East and Central China. Several Japanese puppet states were organised in areas occupied by the Japanese Army, including the Provisional Government of the Republic of China at Peking which was formed in 1937 and the Reformed Government of the Republic of China at Nanking which was formed in 1938. These governments were merged into the Reorganised Government of the Republic of China at Nanking in 1940. The government (known as the Wang Jingwei Government) was to be run along the same lines as the Nationalist regime and adopted symbols of the latter. The Nanking Government had no real power, and its main role was to act as a propaganda tool for the Japanese. The Nanking Government concluded agreements with Japan and Manchukuo, authorising Japanese occupation of China and recognising the independence of Manchukuo under Japanese protection. The Nanking Government signed the Anti- Comintern Pact of 1941 and declared war on the United States and the United Kingdom on January 9, 1943. The government had a strained relationship with the Japanese from the beginning. Wang's insistence on his regime being the true Nationalist government of China and in replicating all the symbols of the Kuomintang (KMT) led to frequent conflicts with the Japanese, the most prominent being the issue of the regime's flag, which was identical to that of the Republic of China. The worsening situation for Japan from 1943 onwards meant that the Nanking Army was given a more substantial role in the defence of occupied China than the Japanese had initially envisaged. The army was almost continuously employed against the communist New Fourth Army. Wang Jingwei died in a Nagoya hospital on November 10, 1944, and was succeeded by his deputy Chen Gongbo. Chen had little influence and the real power behind the regime was Zhou Fohai, the mayor of Shanghai. Wang's death dispelled what little legitimacy the regime had. The state stuttered on for another year and continued the display and show of a fascist regime. On September 9, 1945, following the defeat of Japan, the area was surrendered to General He Yingqin, a nationalist general loyal to Chiang Kai-shek. The Nanking Army generals quickly declared their alliance to the Generalissimo, and were subsequently ordered to resist Communist attempts to fill the vacuum left by the Japanese surrender. Chen Gongbo was tried and executed in 1946. Burma (Ba Maw regime): State of BurmaMain article: Japanese occupation of Burma The Japanese Army seized control of Burma from the United Kingdom during 1942. A Japanese puppet state in Burma was then formed on August 1 under the Burmese nationalist leader Ba Maw. The Ba Maw regime established the Burma Defence Army (later renamed the Burma National Army), which was commanded by Aung San. Philippines (Second Republic): Republic of the PhilippinesThe Japanese established a puppet state in the Philippine Islands in 1942. In 1943, the Philippine National Assembly declared the Philippines an independent republic and elected Jose P. Laurel as President of the Second Republic of the Philippines. There was never widespread support for the state, largely because of the anti-Japanese attitude of the people. The Second Philippine Republic ended with the Japanese surrender. Laurel was arrested and charged with treason by the US government, but was granted amnesty and continued being involved in politics, ultimately winning a seat in the Philippine Senate. India (Provisional Government of Free India): Provisional Government of Free IndiaThe Provisional Government of Free India was a shadow government led by Subhas Chandra Bose, an Indian nationalist who rejected Gandhi's nonviolent methods for achieving independence. Its authority existed only in those parts of India which came under Japanese control.[17] One of the most prominent leaders of the Indian independence movement of the time and former president of the Indian National Congress, Bose was arrested by British authorities at the outset of the Second World War. In January 1941 he escaped from house arrest, eventually reaching Germany and then in 1942 to Japan where he formed the Indian National Army, made up largely from Indian prisoners of war. Bose and A.M. Sahay, another local leader, received ideological support from Mitsuru Toyama, chief of the Dark Ocean Society along with Japanese Army advisers.[18] Other Indian thinkers in favour of the Axis cause were Asit Krishna Mukherji, a friend of Bose and his wife Savitri Devi, a French writer who admired Hitler. [19] Bose was helped by Rash Behari Bose, founder of the Indian Independence League in Japan. Bose declared India's independence on October 21, 1943. The Japanese Army assigned to the Indian National Army a number of military advisors, among them Hideo Iwakuro and Saburo Isoda. The provisional capital was located at Port Blair on the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, these islands fallen to the Japanese. The government would last two more years until August 18, 1945, when it officially became defunct. During its existence it received recognition from nine governments: Germany, Japan, Italy, Croatia, Manchukuo, China (under the Nanking Government of Wang Jingwei), Thailand, Burma (under the regime of Burmese nationalist leader Ba Maw, and the Philippines under de facto (and later de jure) president José Laurel. The Indian National Army saw plenty of action (as did their Burmese equivalent). The highlight of the force's campaign in Burma was the planting of the Indian national flag by the "Bose Battalion" during the battle of Frontier Hill in 1944, although it was Japanese troops from the 55th Cavalry, 1/29th Infantry and 2/143rd Infantry who did most of the fighting. [citation needed] This battle also had the curious incidence of three Sikh companies of the Bose Battalion exchanging insults and fire with two Sikh companies of the 7/16th Punjab Regiment (British Indian Army)[citation needed]. The Indian National Army was encountered again during the Second Arakan Campaign, where they deserted in large numbers back to their old "imperial oppressors" and again during the crossing of the Irrawaddy in 1945, where a couple of companies put up token resistance before leaving their Japanese comrades to fight off the assault crossing by 7th Indian Division.[citation needed] It subsequently held the area around Mount Popa, protected Kimura's flank while the latter attempted to retake Meiktilla Vietnam: Empire of VietnamThe Empire of Vietnam was a short-lived Japanese puppet state that lasted from March 11 to August 23, 1945. When the Japanese seized control of French Indochina, they allowed Vichy French administrators to remain in nominal control. This ruling ended on March 9, 1945 when the Japanese officially took control of the government. Soon after, Emperor Bảo Đại voided the 1884 treaty with France and Trần Trọng Kim, a historian, became prime minister. Despite the state's short existence, it suffered through a famine (see Vietnamese Famine of 1945) as well as succeeding in replacing French-speaking schools with Vietnamese language schools taught by Vietnamese scholars. Cambodia: Kingdom of CambodiaThe Kingdom of Cambodia was a short- lived Japanese puppet state that lasted from March 9, 1945 to April 15, 1945. In mid-1941, the Japanese entered Cambodia, but allowed Vichy French officials to remain in administrative posts. The Japanese calls of an "Asia for the Asiatics" won over many Cambodian nationalists, despite Tokyo's policy of keeping the colonial government in nominal control. This policy changed during the last months of the war. The Japanese wanted to gain local support, so they dissolved French colonial rule and pressured Cambodia to declare its independence within the Greater East Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere. Four days later, King Sihanouk declared Kampuchea (the original Khmer pronunciation of Cambodia) independent. Co-editor of the Nagaravatta, Son Ngoc Thanh, returned from Tokyo in May and was appointed foreign minister. On the date of Japanese surrender, a new government was proclaimed with Son Ngoc Thah as prime minister. However, in October, when the Allies occupied Phnom Penh, Son Ngoc Thanh was arrested for collaborating with the Japanese and was exiled to France. Some of his supporters went to north- western Cambodia, which had been under Thai control since the French-Thai War of 1940, where they banded together as one faction in the Khmer Issarak movement, originally formed with Thai encouragement in the 1940s. Laos: Kingdom of LaosFears of Thai irredentism led to the formation of the first Lao nationalist organization, the Movement for National Renovation, in January 1941, led by Prince Phetxarāt and supported by local French officials, though not by the Vichy authorities in Hanoi. This group wrote the current Lao national anthem and designed the current Lao flag, while paradoxically pledging support for France. The country declared its independence in 1945. There matters rested until the liberation of France in 1944, bringing Charles de Gaulle to power. This meant the end of the alliance between Japan and the Vichy French administration in Indochina. The Japanese had no intention of allowing the Gaullists to take over, and in late 1944 they staged a military coup in Hanoi. Some French units fled over the mountains to Laos, pursued by the Japanese, who occupied Viang Chan in March 1945 and Luang Phrabāng in April. King Sīsavāngvong was detained by the Japanese, but his son Crown Prince Savāngvatthanā called on all Lao to assist the French, and many Lao died fighting against the Japanese occupiers. Prince Phetxarāt, however, opposed this position, and thought that Lao independence could be gained by siding with the Japanese, who made him Prime Minister of Luang Phrabāng, though not of Laos as a whole. In practice the country was in chaos and Phetxarāt's government had no real authority. Another Lao group, the Lao Sēri (Free Lao), received unofficial support from the Free Thai movement in the Isan region. Italian puppet states: Montenegro: Kingdom of Montenegro - Sekula Drljević - and the core of the Montenegrin Federalist Party formed the Provisional Administrative Committee of Montenegro on July 12, 1941, and proclaimed on the Saint Peter's Congress the "Kingdom of Montenegro" under protectorate of the Fascist Kingdom of Italy. The country served Italy as part of its goal fragmenting the former Kingdom of Yugoslavia, expanding the Italian Empire throughout the Adriatic Sea, and both Italy's and Germany's drive to end pan-Slavism. The country was mostly caught by the rebellion of the Yugoslav Army in the Fatherland and Drljevic was already in October 1941 expelled from Montenegro which became under direct Italian control with the remainder of the Montenegrin collaborators. In 1943 with the Italian capitulation, Montenegro became a direct sector of occupation of Nazi Germany. In 1944, Drljević formed a pro-Ustaše Montenegrin State Council in exile based in the Independent State of Croatia with the aims of restoring rule over Montenegro. It subsequently formed a Montenegrin People's Army out of various Montenegrin nationalist troops. By then the Partisans already liberated most of Montenegro, which became a Federal Unit of the Democratic Federal Yugoslavia. Montenegro endured intense air bombing by the Allied air forces in 1944. German puppet states: Slovakia (Tiso regime): Slovak RepublicThe Slovak Republic under President Josef Tiso signed the Tripartite Pact on November 24, 1940. Slovakia had been closely aligned with Germany almost immediately from its declaration of independence from Czechoslovakia on March 14, 1939. Slovakia entered into a treaty of protection with Germany on March 23, 1939. Slovak troops joined the German invasion of Poland, having interest in Spiš and Orava. Those two regions (alongside with Cieszyn Silesia) were divided and disputed between Poland and Czechoslovakia since 1918, until the Poles fully annexed them following the Munich agreement. After the September Campaign, Slovakia reclaimed control of those territories. Slovakia declared war on the Soviet Union in 1941 and signed the revived Anti-Comintern Pact of 1941. Slovak troops fought on Germany's Eastern Front, with Slovakia furnishing Germany with two divisions totalling 20,000 men. Slovakia declared war on the United Kingdom and the United States of America in 1942. Slovakia was spared German military occupation until the Slovak National Uprising, which began on August 29, 1944, and was almost immediately crushed by the Waffen SS and Slovak troops loyal to Josef Tiso, the Catholic priest-turned- dictator of Slovakia. After the war, Tiso was executed and Slovakia was rejoined with Czechoslovakia. The border with Poland was shifted back to the pre-war state. Slovakia and the Czech Republic finally separated into independent states in 1993. Serbia (Nedić Regime) Serbia (1941-1944): Military Administration of SerbiaIn April 1941, Germany invaded and occupied Yugoslavia. On April 30, a pro-German Serbian administration was formed under Milan Aćimović.[20] In 1941, after the invasion of the Soviet Union, a guerilla campaign against the Germans and Italians was launched by the communist Partisans under Josip Broz Tito. The uprising became a serious concern for the Germans as most of their forces were deployed to Russia; only three divisions of which were in the country. On August 13, 546 Serbs, including many of the country's most prominent and influential leaders, issued an appeal to the Serbian nation which called for loyalty to the Nazis and condemned the Partisan resistance as unpatriotic.[21] Two weeks after the appeal, with the Partisan insurgency beginning to gain momentum, seventy five prominent Serbs convened a meeting in Belgrade where it was decided to form a Government of National Salvation under Serbian General Milan Nedić to replace the existing Serbian administration.[22] On August 29, the German authorities installed General Nedić and his government in power.[22] Nedić would serve as Prime Minister, while the former Yugoslavian Regent, Prince Paul, would be recognized as its head of state. The Germans were short of police and military forces in Serbia, as a result the Germans came to rely on armed Serbian formations to maintain order[23] By October, 1941, Serbian forces under German supervision became increasingly effective against the resistance.[24] These Serbian formations were German armed and equipped. Nedić's forces included the Serbian State Guards and the Serbian Volunteer Corps, which were initially largely members of the fascist Yugoslav National Movement "Zbor" (Jugoslovenski narodni pokret "Zbor", or ZBOR) party. Some of these formations wore the uniform of the Royal Yugoslav Army as well as helmets and uniforms purchased from Italy, while others from Germany.[25] These forces were involved, either directly or indirectly, in the mass killings of not only Croats, Muslims and Jews but also Serbs who sided with any anti-German resistance or were suspects of being a member of such.[26] After the war, the Serbian involvement in many of these events and the issue of Serbian collaboration were subject to historical revisionism.[27] “ The apparatus of the German occupying forces in Serbia was supposed to maintain order and peace in this region and to exploit its industrial and other riches, necessary for the Germany war economy. But, however well organised, it could have not realized its plans successfully if the old apparatus of state power, the organs of state administration, the gendarmes, and the Police had not been at its service.[28] ” Several concentration camps were formed in Serbia and at the 1942 Anti-Freemason Exhibition in Belgrade the city was pronounced to be free of Jews (Judenfrei). On 1 April 1942, a Serbian Gestapo was formed. Italy (Salò regime): Italian Social RepublicItalian Fascist leader Benito Mussolini formed the Italian Social Republic (Repubblica Sociale Italiana in Italian) on September 23, 1943, succeeding the Kingdom of Italy as a member of the Axis. Mussolini had been removed from office and arrested by King Victor Emmanuel III on July 25, 1943. The King publicly reaffirmed his loyalty to Germany, but authorized secret armistice negotiations with the Allies. In a spectacular raid led by German paratrooper Otto Skorzeny, Mussolini was rescued from arrest. Once safely ensconced in German occupied Salò, Mussolini declared that the King was deposed, that Italy was a republic and that he was the new president. He functioned as a German puppet for the duration of the war. With the creation of the German-backed puppet Italian Social Republic, about 20% of Italy's Jews were killed, despite the Fascist government's initial refusal to deport Jews to Nazi death camps[citation needed]. Albania (under German control): Albanian KingdomMain article: Military history of Albania during World War II.... After Benito Mussolini was overthrown by his own Italian Grand Council, a void of power opened up in Albania. The Italian occupying forces could do nothing as the National Liberation Movement (NLM) took control of the south and National Front (Balli Kombëtar) took control of the north. Albanians in the Italian army scurried to join the guerrilla forces. In September 1943, the guerrillas moved to take the capital of Tirana, but before they could, German paratroopers dropped into the city. Soon after a long fight,German High Command announced that they would recognize the independence of a neutral Albania and organized an Albanian government, police, and military. The country retained the official name the Albanian Kingdom and existed in borders set by Italy in 1941. Since King Zog I was in absentia, a High Council of Regency was created to carry out the functions of a head of state, while the government was headed mainly by Albanian conservative politicians. The Germans did not exert heavy control over Albania's administration. Instead, they attempted to gain popular appeal by giving the Albanians want they wanted. Albania is unique in that it is the only European country occupied by the Axis powers that ended World War II with a larger Jewish population than before the War.[29]Given their autonomy, the Albanian government refused to hand over their Jewish population. Instead they provided the Jewish families with forged documents and helped them disperse in the Albanian population.[30][31] However, the Axis powers did have success in cooperating with some Balli Kombëtar units in suppressing the communists. In addition, several Balli Kombëtar leaders held positions in the regime. Albania was completely liberated on November 28, 1944. Hungary (Szálasi regime): Hungarian StateAfter relations between Germany and the regency of Miklos Horthy collapsed in Hungary in 1944, Horthy was forced to abdicate after German armed forces held his son hostage. Following Horthy's abdication, Hungary was politically reorganized into a totalitarian fascist country called the Hungarian State in December 1944 led by Ferenc Szálasi who had been Prime Minister of Hungary since October 1944 and was leader of the anti-Semitic fascist Arrow Cross Party. In power, his government was a Quisling regime with little authority other than to obey Germany's orders. Also, days after its inception, the capital of Budapest was surrounded by the Soviet Red Army. German and fascist Hungarian forces tried in vain to hold off the Soviet advance but failed. In March 1945, Szálasi fled Hungary for Germany to run the state in exile until the surrender of Germany in May 1945. Joint German-Italian puppet states: Croatia: Independent State of CroatiaOn 10 April 1941, the Independent State of Croatia (Nezavisna Država Hrvatska, or NDH) was declared to be a member of the Axis. The NDH remained a member of the Axis until the end of Second World War, its forces fighting for Germany even after NDH had been overrun by Yugoslav Partisans. On 24 April 1941, Ante Pavelić, a Croatian nationalist and one of the founders of the Croatian Uprising (Ustaše) Movement, was proclaimed Leader (Poglavnik) of the new state. The Ustaše was actively supported by the Fascist regime of Benito Mussolini in Italy which gave the movement training grounds to prepare for war against Yugoslavia as well as accepting Pavelić as an exile and allowed him to reside in Rome. Italy intended to use the movement to destroy Yugoslavia, which would allow Italy to expand its power through the Adriatic Sea. In Germany, the idea of creating any Slavic puppet state was not welcomed by Hitler who saw all Slavs, including Croats as racially inferior. Also Hitler did not want to engage in a war in the Balkans until the Soviet Union was defeated. But the Italian occupation of Greece was performing badly, Mussolini wanted Germany to invade Yugoslavia to save the Italian forces in Greece. Hitler reluctantly submitted and Yugoslavia was invaded, and the Italian agenda to set up a puppet Croatian state was achieved with the creation of the Independent State of Croatia. Relations between Germany and Croatia would improve as the Ustaše proved effective at violently repressing Serb Chetniks and the communist Yugoslav Partisans of Joseph Broz Tito. Pavelić led a Croatian delegation to Rome and offered the crown of Croatia to an Italian prince of the House of Savoy, who was crowned Tomislav II, King of Croatia, Prince of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Voivode of Dalmatia, Tuzla and Temun, Prince of Cisterna and of Belriguardo, Marquess of Voghera, and Count of Ponderano. The next day, Pavelić signed the Contracts of Rome with Mussolini, ceding Dalmatia to Italy and fixing the permanent borders between Croatia and Italy. Furthermore, Italian armed forces were allowed to control all of Croatia's coastline, effectively giving Italy total control of the Adriatic Sea coastline. Its ruling fascist Ustaše movement utilized the motive that Croatians had been oppressed by the Serb-dominated Kingdom of Yugoslavia, and that Croatians deserved to have an independent nation after years of domination by foreign empires, to draw support to their radical agenda. The Ustaše perceived Serbs to be racially inferior to Croats and saw them as infiltrators who were occupying Croatian lands, and saw the extermination of Serbs as necessary to racially purify Croatia. While in Yugoslavia, many Croatian nationalists violently opposed the Serb-dominated Yugoslav monarchy and assassinated Yugoslavia's King Alexander together with Macedonian VMRO organization. The regime enjoyed support amongst radical Croatian nationalists. Ustashe forces fought against Serbian Chetnik and communist Yugoslav Partisan guerrillas throughout the war. Regular forces Croatian Home Guard (domobran) usually fought against Serbian Chetnik and often joined or surrendered with weapons to antifascist Partisans. Upon coming to power, Pavelić formed the Croatian Home Guard (Hrvatsko domobranstvo) as the official military force of Croatia. Originally authorized at 16,000 men, it grew to a peak fighting force of 130,000. The Croatian Home Guard included a small air force and navy, although its navy was restricted in size by the Contracts of Rome. In addition to the Croatian Home Guard, Pavelić also commanded the Ustaše militia. Some Croats also volunteered for the German Waffen SS. The Ustaše government declared war on the Soviet Union, signed the Anti-Comintern Pact of 1941 and sent troops to Germany's Eastern Front. Ustaše militia garrisoned the Balkans, battling the Partisans. During the time of its existence, the Ustaše government applied racial laws on Serbs, Jews and Romas, and after June 1941 deported them to the Jasenovac concentration camp (or to camps in Poland). The exact number of victims of the Ustaše regime is uncertain due to the destruction of documents and varying numbers given by various historians vying for political clout. The estimates of the total number of victims in Jasenovac is from between 56,000 and 97,000 to 700,000 or more.[32] The racial laws were enforced by the Ustaše militia. Although Ustaše had some support in all parts of Croatia, their wide popular support was limited to the traditionally most strongly nationalistic regions. Greece: Hellenic StateMain article: Axis occupation of Greece during World War II: The Hellenic State was formed in May 1941 as a puppet state of both Italy and Germany. Initially, Italy had wished to annex Greece, but pressure from Germany to avoid civil unrest such as occurred in Bulgarian-annexed areas, resulted in Italy accepting to create a puppet regime with the support of Germany. Although Italy had been assured by Hitler of "prepoderanza" in Greece, and most of the country was held by Italian forces, strategic locations such as Central Macedonia, parts of Attica and Crete were held by the Germans, who in addition seized most of the country's economic assets, and effectively controlled the collaborationist government. The puppet regime never commanded much real authority, neither did it gain the allegiance of the people, although it was somewhat successful in preventing secessionist movements like the "Principality of Pindus" (see below) from establishing themselves. By mid-1943, the Greek Resistance had liberated large parts of the mountainous interior ("Free Greece"), setting up a separate administration there. After the Italian armistice, the Italian occupation zone was taken over by the German armed forces, who remained in charge of the country until their withdrawal in autumn 1944. In some Aegean islands however, German garrisons were left behind, and surrendered only after the end of the war. Pindus and Macedonia: Principality of Pindus and later the Voivodship of MacedoniaThe Principality of Pindus and the Voivodship of Macedonia were Italian-sponsored attempts at forming client states in the regions of northern Greece (parts of Epirus, Thessaly and West Macedonia) inhabited by ethnic Aromanians and Slavic Macedonians.[33] Axis collaborator states: France (Vichy regime): French StateFrance and its colonial empire, under the so- called Vichy regime of Marshal Pétain, collaborated with the Axis from 1940 until 1944 when the regime was dissolved. Pétain became the last Prime Minister of the French Third Republic on June 16, 1940 as the battle of France following the German invasion army entering Paris on June 14. Pétain sued for peace with Germany and six days later, on June 22, 1940, his government concluded an armistice with Hitler. Under the terms of the agreement, Germany occupied approximately two thirds of metropolitan France, including Paris. Pétain was permitted to keep an "armistice army" of 100,000 men within the unoccupied southern zone. This number included neither the army based in French colonial empire nor the French fleet. In French North Africa and French Equatorial Africa, the Vichy were permitted to maintain 127,000 men under arms after the colony of Gabon defected to the Free French.[34] The French also maintained substantial garrisons at the French mandated territory of Syria and Lebanon, the French colony of Madagascar and in the French Somaliland. After the armistice, relations between the vichy French and the British quickly deteriorated. Fearful that the powerful French fleet might fall into German hands, the British launched several naval attacks, most notable of which was against the Algerian harbour of Mers el-Kebir on July 3, 1940. Though Churchill defended his controversial decisions to attack the French Fleet, the French people themselves were less accepting of these actions. German propaganda was able to trumpet these actions as an absolute betrayal of the French people by their former allies. France broke relations with the United Kingdom after the attack and considered declaring war. On July 10, 1940, Petain was given emergency "full powers" by a majority vote of the French National Assembly. The following day approval of the new constitution by the Assembly effectively created the French State (l'État Français) replacing the French Republic with the unofficial Vichy France; for the resort town of Vichy where Petain chose to maintain his seat of government. The new government continued to be recognised as the lawful government of France by the United States until 1942. Racial laws were introduced in France and its colonies and many French Jews were deported to Germany. Albert Lebrun, last President of the Republic, did not leave the presidential office when he moved to Vizille in July 10, 1940. By April 25, 1945, during Petain's trial, Lebrun argued he thought he would be able to return to power after the fall of Germany since he had not resigned.[35] In September 1940, Vichy France allowed Japan to occupy French Indochina, a federation of the French colonial possessions and protectorates roughly encompassing the territory of modern day Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia. The Vichy regime continued to administer the colony under Japanese military occupation. French Indochina was the base for the Japanese invasions of Thailand, Malaya and Borneo. In 1945, under Japanese sponsorship, the Empire of Vietnam and the Kingdom of Cambodia were proclaimed as Japanese puppet states. The British permitted French General Charles de Gaulle to headquarter his Free French movement in London in a largely unsuccessful effort to win over the French colonial empire. On September 26, 1940, de Gaulle led an attack by Allied forces on the Vichy port of Dakar in French West Africa. Forces loyal to Pétain fired on de Gaulle and repulsed the attack after two days of heavy fighting. Public opinion in vichy France was further outraged, and Vichy France drew closer to Germany. Vichy France assisted Iraq in the Anglo-Iraqi War of 1941, allowing Germany and Italy to utilize air bases in the French mandate of Syria to support the Iraqi revolt against the British. Allied forces responded by attacking Syria and Lebanon in 1941. In 1942, Allied forces attacked the French colony of Madagascar. Vichy France was staunchly anti-Communist and enthusiastically sided with Germany in its war with the Soviet Union, and also signed the Anti-Comintern Pact of 1941. Almost 7,000 volunteers joined the anti-communist Légion des Volontaires Français (LVF) from 1941 to 1944 and some 7,500 formed the Division Charlemagne, a Waffen-SS unit, from 1944 to 1945. Both the LVF and the Division Charlemagne fought on the eastern front. Hitler never accepted that France could become a full military partner,[36] and constantly prevented the buildup of Vichy's military strength. Other than political, Vichy's collaboration with Germany essentially was industrial, with French factories providing many vehicles to the German armed forces. In November 1942, Vichy French troops briefly but fiercely resisted the landing of Allied troops in French North Africa, but were unable to prevail. Admiral François Darlan negotiated a local ceasefire with the Allies. In response to the landings, and Vichy's inability to defend itself, German troops occupied southern France and Tunisia, a French protectorate that formed part of French North Africa. The Bey of Tunis formed a government friendly to the Germans. In mid-1943, former Vichy authorities in North Africa came to an agreement with the Free French and setup a temporary French government in Algiers, known as the Comité Français de Libération Nationale, with De Gaulle eventually emerging as the leader. The CFLN raised new troops, and re-organized, re- trained and re-equipped the French military under Allied supervision. However, the Vichy government continued to function in mainland France until late 1944, but had lost most of its territorial sovereignty and military assets, with the exception of the forces stationed in French Indochina. Controversial cases: See also: Cases of controversial relations with the Axis of World War II: States listed in this section were not officially members of Axis, but had controversial relations with one or more Axis members at some point during the war. Denmark: Occupation of Denmark: Kingdom of Denmark - On May 31, 1939, Denmark and Germany signed a treaty of non-aggression, which did not contain any military obligations for either party.[37] On April 9, 1940, citing intended British mining of Norwegian and Danish waters as a pretext, Germany invaded both countries. King Christian X and the Danish government, worried about German bombings if they resisted occupation, accepted "protection by the Reich" in exchange for nominal independence under German military occupation. Three successive Prime Ministers, Thorvald Stauning, Vilhelm Buhl and Erik Scavenius, maintained this samarbejdspolitik ("cooperation policy") of collaborating with Germany. Denmark coordinated its foreign policy with Germany, extending diplomatic recognition to Axis collaborator and puppet regimes and breaking diplomatic relations with the "governments-in-exile" formed by countries occupied by Germany. Denmark broke diplomatic relations with the Soviet Union and signed the Anti-Comintern Pact of 1941.[38] In 1941, a Danish military corps, Frikorps Danmark was created at the initiative of the SS and the Danish Nazi Party, to fight alongside the Wehrmacht on Germany's Eastern Front. The government's following statement was widely interpreted as a sanctioning of the corps.[39] Frikorps Danmark was open to members of the Danish Royal Army and those who had completed their service within the last ten years.[40] Between 4,000 and 10,000 Danish citizens joined the Frikorps Danmark, including 77 officers of the Royal Danish Army. An estimated 3,900 of these soldiers died fighting for Germany during the Second World War. Denmark transferred six torpedo boats to Germany in 1941, although the bulk of its navy remained under Danish command until the declaration of martial law in 1943. Denmark supplied agricultural and industrial products to Germany as well as loans for armaments and fortifications. The German presence in Denmark, including the construction of the Danish part of the Atlantic Wall fortifications, was paid from an account in Denmark's central bank, Nationalbanken. The Danish government had been promised that these expenses would be repaid later, but this never happened. The construction of the Atlantic Wall fortifications in Jutland cost 5 billion Danish kroner. The Danish protectorate government lasted until August 29, 1943, when the cabinet resigned following a declaration of martial law by occupying German military officials. The Danish navy managed to scuttle 32 of its larger ships to prevent their use by Germany. Germany succeeded in seizing 14 of the larger and 50 of the smaller vessels and later to raise and refit 15 of the sunken vessels. During the scuttling of the Danish fleet, a number of vessels were ordered to attempt an escape to Swedish waters, and 13 vessels succeeded in this attempt, four of which were larger ships.[41][42] By the autumn of 1944, these ships officially formed a Danish naval flotilla in exile[43] In 1943, Swedish authorities allowed 500 Danish soldiers in Sweden to train themselves as "police troops". By the autumn of 1944, Sweden raised this number to 4,800 and recognized the entire unit as a Danish military brigade in exile. [44] Danish collaboration continued on an administrative level, with the Danish bureaucracy functioning under German command. Active resistance to the German occupation among the populace, virtually nonexistent before 1943, increased after the declaration of martial law. The intelligence operations of the Danish resistance was described as "second to none" by Field Marshal Bernard Law Montgomery after the liberation of Denmark.[45] Soviet Union: See also: Soviet-German relations before 1941 and German–Soviet Axis talks: Union of Soviet Socialist RepublicsRelations between the Soviet Union and the major Axis powers were generally hostile before 1939. In the Spanish Civil War, the Soviet Union gave military aid to the Second Spanish Republic, against Spanish Nationalist forces, which were assisted by Germany and Italy. However, the Nationalist forces were victorious. In 1938 and 1939, the USSR fought and defeated Japan in two separate border wars, at Lake Khasan and Khalkhin Gol. The Soviets suffered another political defeat when an ally, Czechoslovakia, was partitioned and partially annexed, by Germany, Hungary and Poland — with the agreement of the UK and France — in 1938-39. The Soviet Union talked with both a Britain-France contingent and Germany regarding alliances.[46][47] On August 23, 1939, the Soviet Union and Germany signed the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact, which included a secret protocol whereby the independent countries of Finland, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland and Romania were divided into spheres of interest of the parties.[4] On September 1, barely a week after the pact had been signed, the partition of Poland commenced with the German invasion. The Soviet Union invaded Poland from the east on September 17 and on September 28 signed secret treaty with Nazi Germany on joint coordination in fight against any potential Polish resistance.[48] Soon after that, the Soviet Union occupied Baltic countries Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania,[6][49] in addition, it annexed Bessarabia and Northern Bukovina from Romania. The Soviet Union attacked Finland on November 30, 1939 which started the Winter War.[11] Finnish defence prevented an all-out invasion, resulting in an interim peace, but Finland was forced to cede an strategically important border areas near Leningrad. The Soviet Union supported Germany in the war effort against Western Europe through the 1939 German-Soviet Commercial Agreement and 1940 German-Soviet Commercial Agreement with exports of raw materials (phosphates, chromium and iron ore, mineral oil, grain, cotton, rubber). These and other export goods were being transported through Soviet and occupied Polish territories and allowed Germany to circumvent the British naval blockade. In October and November 1940, the Soviet Union approached Germany about the potential of joining the Axis, with extensive discussions talking place in Berlin.[50][51] Joseph Stalin later personally countered with a separate proposal in a letter later in November that contained several secret protocols, including that "the area south of Batum and Baku in the general direction of the Persian Gulf is recognized as the center of aspirations of the Soviet Union", referring to an area approximating present day Iraq and Iran, and a Soviet claim to Bulgaria.[51][52] Hitler never returned Stalin's letter. [53][54] Shortly thereafter, Hitler issued a secret directive on the eventual attempts to invade the Soviet Union.[52][55] Germany ended the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact by invading the Soviet Union in Operation Barbarossa on June 22, 1941.[5] That resulted in the Soviet Union becoming one of the main members of Allies. Germany then revived its Anti-Comintern Pact, enlisting many European and Asian countries in opposition to the Soviet Union. The Soviet Union and Japan remained neutral towards each other for most of the war by the Soviet-Japanese Neutrality Pact. The Soviet Union ended the Soviet-Japanese Neutrality Pact by invading Manchukuo on August 8, 1945. Spain: Spain in World War II: Spanish StateGeneralísimo Francisco Franco's Spanish State gave moral, economic, and military assistance to the Axis powers, while nominally maintaining neutrality. Franco described Spain as a "nonbelligerent" member of the Axis and signed the Anti-Comintern Pact of 1941 with Hitler and Mussolini. Franco had won the Spanish Civil War with the help of Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy both of which were eager to establish another fascist state in Europe. Spain owed Germany over $212 million for supplies of matériel during the Spanish Civil War, and Italian combat troops had actually fought in Spain on the side of Franco's Nationalists. When Germany invaded the Soviet Union in 1941, Franco immediately offered to form a unit of military volunteers to join the invasion. This was accepted by Hitler and, within two weeks, there were more than enough volunteers to form a division - the Blue Division (División Azul in Spanish) under General Agustín Muñoz Grandes. Additionally, over 100,000 Spanish civilian workers were sent to Germany to help maintain industrial production to free able- bodied German men for military service. German, Italian and Japanese World War II cooperation: This article may contain original research or unverified claims. Please improve the article by adding references. See the talk page for details. (August 2008) This article may require cleanup to meet Wikipedia's quality standards. Please improve this article if you can. (August 2008) Yosuke Matsuoka visits Adolf Hitler in Berlin on March 1941Nazi Germany and Imperial Japan's cooperation was largely twofold during and little before World War II. First cooperation was the opposition to communism through the Anti-Comintern Pact and second one is on military alliance through the Tripartite Pact. Both nations had been adversaries during World War I and these agreements settled previous animosity between the nations through Yosuke Matsuoka's visit to Berlin, a German delegation sent to Tokyo to celebrate the Tripartite Pact's signing, and through the Japanese ambassador to Germany Hiroshi Oshima among others correspondences. Germany's declaration of war further solidified German- Japanese relations and showed Germany's solidarity with Japan and encouraged Japanese cooperation against the British. Both envisioned a partnered linkage running across the Indian subcontinent that would allow for the transfer of weaponry as well as other possibilities. The failed Indian revolt against British rule and a deteriorating Axis position forced exchanges to be made across the high seas. While it is likely that the Germans expected little reciprocation in the Soviet Far East, eyes were focused directly on India, the Middle East and the Mediterranean region, all vital to the British war effort. Earlier Nazi Germany's government included the Japanese people after the Anti-Comintern Pact in their concept of "honorary Aryans".[56] There was general mistrust between the two countries because of the ideological differences[citation needed] and political reasons as it would further probably antagonize and create mistrust with the Americans, British and the Dutch, and therefore several prominent Japanese military commanders were reluctant to an alliance, for instance being Fleet Admiral and navy commander in chief Isoroku Yamamoto, Lieutenant- General Tadamichi Kuribayashi, etc. However, in the beginning of the worldwide conflict, most of the militant leaders were in top position, one of the most prominent being Prime Minister and General Hideki Tojo. In the end Japan and Germany might have viewed each other as capable nations and military allies in "struggle" (as is termed in the Tripartite Pact and Anti-Comintern Pact) against the United States and the United Kingdom. Both nations had been humiliated by the Treaty of Versailles[citation needed] and subsequent post-war agreements which stripped Germany of its military power and forced Japan to cede its gains in the Pacific. Both nations desired overseas empires and both lacked the resources or international prestige to pursue these ambitions. Neither country had militarily or economically powerful allies. Many German and Japanese statesmen viewed the Western democracies as their chief obstacle to attaining national glory. The ruling classes in Berlin and Tokyo, even before the rise of fascism, feared Communist influence, and people in both countries had been indoctrinated with a strict sense of nationalism, even under democratic rule. Politicians in both nations played on a sense of victimization that justified national aggression and war. Confronted with the international influence of the British and French, the great wealth of the United States, and the ideological aggression of the Soviet Union, Germany and Japan were really natural allies[citation needed]. International sanctions imposed once they began their march toward world power, such as the Anschluss or the occupation of Manchuria, only reinforced this perception. For instance according to Fumimaro Konoe, the Prime Minister of Japan earlier at that time said: “ The peace that the Anglo-American leaders are urging on us amounts to no more than maintaining a status quo that suits their interests. ... The true nature of the present conflict [WWI] is a struggle between the established powers and powers not yet established.... At an early stage, the UK and France colonized the ‘less civilized’ regions of the world, and monopolized their exploitation. As a result, Germany and all the late-coming nations also, were left with no land to acquire and no space to expand...Should their policy prevail, Japan, which is small, resource-poor, and unable to consume all its own industrial products, would have no resort but to destroy the status quo for the sake of self-preservation, just like Germany. ... We must require all the powers to open the doors of their colonies to others, so that all nations will have equal access to the markets and natural resources of the colonial areas. ” Germany's and Italy's declaration of war against the United States: Hitler declaring war on the United States on 11 December 1941On December 7, Japan attacked the naval bases in Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. According to the stipulation of the Tripartite Pact, Nazi-Germany was required to come to the defense of her allies only if they were attacked. Since Japan had made the first move and attacked, Germany and Italy were not obliged to aid her until the United States counterattacked on December 11, after having declared war on Japan on the 8th and attacking several Japanese outposts along the Pacific. Hitler ordered the Reichstag to formally declare war on the United States along with Italy. Hitler made a speech in the Reichstag on December 11, 1941 three days after the United States declaration of war on the Empire of Japan saying that “ The fact that the Japanese Government, which has been negotiating for years with this man [ Franklin D. Roosevelt ], has at last become tired of being mocked by him in such an unworthy way, fills us all, the German people, and all other decent people in the world, with deep satisfaction...Germany and Italy have been finally compelled, in view of this, and in loyalty to the Tri-Partite Pact, to carry on the struggle against the U.S.A. and England jointly and side by side with Japan for the defense and thus for the maintenance of the liberty and independence of their nations and empires...As a consequence of the further extension of President Roosevelt's policy, which is aimed at unrestricted world domination and dictatorship, the U.S.A. together with England have not hesitated from using any means to dispute the rights of the German, Italian and Japanese nations to the basis of their natural existence...Not only because we are the ally of Japan, but also because Germany and Italy have enough insight and strength to comprehend that, in these historic times, the existence or non-existence of the nations, is being decided perhaps forever.[57] ” This declaration of war against the United States is believed to be one of the most disastrous mistakes made by the Axis powers[58] as it allowed the United States to join the United Kingdom and the Soviet Union in war against Germany without any limitation. Consequently, Americans participated in both the strategic bombardment of Germany and the invasion of the continent, effectively ending German domination in Western Europe. However, Hitler was aware of such plans and skeptical of American Neutrality even before the war began. Based on the information at their disposal, the Germans were well aware of Rainbow Five and the proposed American military buildup that was issued at the start of the war. As a result, the Germans expected war with the United States no later than 1943. A large naval expansion program also was initiated.[59] As was the case in 1917[citation needed], American war industries were already engaged in keeping the UK supplied in 1941[citation needed], the same year that mass military recruitment also commenced. Still, Germany's and Italy's early war policy reflected the belief that it was good strategy to avoid confrontation with the United States. Every effort was made to prevent a potential Lusitania and incite the American public. However, the isolationists gradually lost their hold over the country due in large part to the influence of the media. Hitler's decision to declare war may have been nothing more than a showing of solidarity with Japan within the context of a seemingly inevitable future conflict with the United States. It was also widely believed that it would take some time for the Americans to mobilize and make a greater contribution to the war than they had thus far. At the time of Pearl Harbor, a quick victory over the Soviet Union also still seemed likely. Victory in the Soviet Union would have led to a Eurasian sphere of influence greatly dominated by Japan, Germany, and little by Italy due to location. Supposedly Hitler wanted to finish conquering Europe first to establish a balance of power and then eventually confront the United States after a victory over the Soviet Union among others, and he was not pleased that the US was now a full combatant in the war at the same time that the war was going on with the Soviet Union. Baron Hiroshi Oshima - Hitler awarded Japanese ambassador to Nazi Germany Hiroshi Oshima the Grand Cross of the Order of the German Eagle (1st class) after the attack on Pearl Harbor. On this occasion he said: “ You gave the right declaration of war. This method is the only proper one. Japan pursued it formerly and it corresponds with his own system, that is, to negotiate as long as possible. But if one sees that the other is interested only in putting one off, in shaming and humiliating one, and is not willing to come to an agreement, then one should strike as hard as possible, and not waste time declaring war.[60] ” Yanagi Missions: The I-8 arriving in Brest, France, in 1943.These Yanagi (Willow) were missions enabled under the Tripartite Pact to provide for an exchange of strategic materials and manufactured goods between Germany and Japan.[61] The allies often sought to exchange knowledge and other raw materials. Germany needed rubber, metals such as copper and bismuth, and medicines such as quinine while Japan needed steel, mercury and optical glass. In addition, the two nations were interested in each other’s latest military hardware, including prototypes of the latest weapons and blueprints for research.[62] Initially, cargo ships were used in these exchanges, but when this was no longer possible, submarines were used. The missions were extremely perilous with a number of vessels being lost to allied anti-submarine patrols.[63] Joint Operations in the Indian Ocean: Monsun Gruppe: Japanese and German submarines operated together against British shipping in the Indian Ocean. Citations and notes: This article cites its sources but does not provide page references. You can help to improve it by introducing citations that are more precise. ^ the coalition headed by Germany, Italy, and Japan that opposed the Allied Powers in World War II. The alliance originated in a series of agreements between Germany and Italy, followed by the proclamation of an “axis” binding Rome and Berlin (October 25, 1936), with the two powers claiming that the world would henceforth rotate on the Rome-Berlin axis. This was followed by the German-Japanese Anti- Comintern Pact against the Soviet Union (November 25, 1936). The connection was strengthened by a full military and political alliance between Germany and Italy (the Pact of Steel, May 22, 1939), and the Tripartite Pact signed by all three powers on September 27, 1940, Encyclopedia Britannica, Axis Powers, 2008 ^ Hakim, Joy (1995). A History of Us: War, Peace and all that Jazz. New York: Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-19-509514-6. ^ a b Sinor, Denis. 1959. History of Hungary. Woking and London: George Allen and Unwin Ltd. Pp. 291 ^ a b c d Text of the Nazi–Soviet Non-Aggression Pact, executed August 23, 1939 ^ a b Roberts 2006, p. 82 ^ a b Senn, Alfred Erich, Lithuania 1940 : revolution from above, Amsterdam, New York, Rodopi, 2007 ISBN 9789042022256 ^ a b c [1] ^ Kirby 1979, p. 134 ^ Kirby 1979, p. 120 ^ Kirby 1979, p. 120-1 ^ a b Kennedy-Pipe, Caroline, Stalin's Cold War, New York : Manchester University Press, 1995, ISBN 0719042011 ^ Seppinen, Ilkka: Suomen ulkomaankaupan ehdot 1939-1940 (Conditions of Finnish foreign trade 1939-1940), 1983, ISBN 951-9254-48-X ^ British Foreign Office Archive, 371/24809/461-556 ^ Jokipii, Mauno: Jatkosodan synty (Birth of the Continuation War), 1987, ISBN 951-1-08799-1 ^ Kirby 1979, p. 123 ^ Thailand and the Second World War ^ Fay 1993, p. 212-213 ^ Lebra, Joyce C (1970). The Indian National Army and Japan. Singapore: Institute of Southeast Asian Studies. pp. 49-54. ISBN 9812308067, 9789812308061. http://books.google. com/books?id=BhgRuCapxGEC. ^ Goodrick-Clarke, Nicholas (1988). Hitler's Priestess: Savitri Devi, the Hindu-Aryan Myth, and Occult Neo-Nazism. New York University Press. ^ Cohen, Phillip J., p.31 ^ Cohen, Phillip J., p.32 ^ a b Cohen, Phillip J., p.33 ^ Cohen, Phillip J., p.34 ^ Cohen, Phillip J., p.35 ^ Cohen, Phillip J., p.38 ^ Cohen, Phillip J., various pages ^ Cohen, Phillip J. Serbia's Secret War: Propaganda and the Deceit of History ^ Cohen, Phillip J., p.61 ^ Sarner. Rescue in Albania: One Hundred Percent of Jews in Albania Rescued from the Holocaust, 1997. ^ Shoah Research Center - Albania. ^ What's New at Yad Vashem ^ Jasenovac United States Holocaust Memorial Museum web site ^ Poulton, Hugh. 2000. Who are the Macedonians? Indiana University Press. p. 111 ^ Christian Bachelier, L'armée française entre la victoire et la défaite, in La France des années noires, dir. Azéma & Bédarida, Le Seuil, édition 2000, coll. points-histoire, Tome 1, p.98 ^ Albert Lebrun's biography, French Republic Presidential official website ^ Robert O. Paxton, 1993, "La Collaboration d'État" in La France des Années Noires, Ed. J. P. Azéma & François Bédarida, Éditions du Seuil, Paris ^ http://www.navalhistory. dk/Danish/Historien/1939_1945/IkkeAngrebsPagt.htm (Danish) ^ Trommer, Aage. ""Denmark". The Occupation 1940-45". Foreign Ministry of Denmark. http://www.um. dk/Publikationer/UM/English/Denmark/kap6/6-15.asp. Retrieved on 2006-09-20. ^ Lidegaard, Bo (2003). Dansk Udenrigspolitisk Historie, vol. 4. Copenhagen: Gyldendal. pp. 461–463. ISBN 87-7789-093-0. (Danish) ^ "Danish Legion Military and Feldpost History". http://axis101. bizland.com/DanishFeldpost.htm. Retrieved on 2006-09-20. ^ Søværnets mærkedage - August ^ Flåden efter 29. august 1943 ^ Den danske Flotille 1944-1945 ^ Den Danske Brigade DANFORCE - Den Danske Brigade "DANFORCE" Sverige 1943-45 ^ http://befrielsen1945.emu.dk/temaer/befrielsen/jubel/index. html (Danish) ^ Nekrich, Aleksandr Moiseevich; Ulam, Adam Bruno; Freeze, Gregory L. (1997), Pariahs, Partners, Predators: German- Soviet Relations, 1922-1941, Columbia University Press, pp. 112-20, ISBN 0231106769 ^ Shirer, William L. (1990), The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich: A History of Nazi Germany, Simon and Schuster, 447- 502, ISBN 0671728687 ^ http://www.yale.edu/lawweb/avalon/nazsov/sesupp1.htm ^ Wettig, Gerhard, Stalin and the Cold War in Europe, Rowman & Littlefield, Landham, Md, 2008, ISBN 0742555429, page 20-21 ^ Roberts 2006, p. 58 ^ a b Brackman, Roman, The Secret File of Joseph Stalin: A Hidden Life, London and Portland, Frank Cass Publishers, 2001, ISBN 0714650501, page 341-3 ^ a b Nekrich, Ulam & Freeze 1997, p. 202-205 ^ Donaldson, Robert H. and Joseph L. Nogee, The Foreign Policy of Russia: Changing Systems, Enduring Interests, M.E. Sharpe, 2005, ISBN 0765615681, pages 65-66 ^ Churchill, Winston, The Second World War, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 1953, ISBN 0395410568, pages 520-21 ^ Roberts 2006, p. 59 ^ http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/GERhitler.htm ^ German Declaration of War ^ AJP Taylor (1974), History of World War II, Octopus Books Limited ^ United States Navy and WW2 ^ Trial transcripts at Nuremberg 11 December 1945. More details of the exchanges at the meeting are available online at nizkor.org ^ Felton Mark (2005),Yanagi: The Secret Underwater Trade between Germany and Japan 1942-1945, Leo Cooper Ltd ^ German-Japanese Co-operation ^ Uboats in the Far East References: Weinberg, Gerhard L. (2005). A World at Arms: A Global History of World War II (2nd edition ed.). NY: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 0521853168. Provides a scholarly overview. Dear, Ian C. B.; Foot, Michael; Richard Daniell (eds.) (2005). The Oxford Companion to World War II. Oxford University Press. ISBN 019280670X. A reference book with encyclopedic coverage of all military, political and economic topics. Kirby, D. G. (1979), Finland in the Twentieth Century: A History and an Interpretation, C. Hurst & Co. Publishers, ISBN 0-90-5838157 Kirschbaum, Stanislav (1995). A History of Slovakia: The Struggle for Survival. New York: St. Martin's Press. ISBN 0- 312-10403-0. Entails Slovakia's involvement during World War II. Nekrich, Aleksandr Moiseevich; Adam Bruno Ulam & Gregory L. Freeze (1997), Pariahs, Partners, Predators: German-Soviet Relations, 1922-1941, Columbia University Press, ISBN 0231106769 Cohen, Philip J.; David Riesman (1996). Serbia's Secret War: Propaganda and the Deceit of History. New York: Texas A&M University Press. ISBN 0890967601. Roberts, Geoffrey (1992), "Infamous Encounter? The Merekalov-Weizsacker Meeting of 17 April 1939", The Historical Journal 35 (4), <http://www.jstor.org/stable/2639445> [edit] External links Look up Axis Powers in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. Axis History Factbook Full text of The Tripartite Pact Silent movie of the signing of The Tripartite Pact [show]v • d • eWorld War II Western Europe · Eastern Europe · Africa · Mediterranean · Asia and the Pacific · Atlantic Military engagements · Topics · Conferences · Commanders Participants Allied Powers (Leaders) China · Czechoslovakia · Poland · United Kingdom · India · France · Australia · New Zealand · South Africa · Canada · Norway · Belgium · Netherlands · Greece · Yugoslavia · Soviet Union · United States · Philippines · Mexico · Brazil · Italy · Romania · Bulgaria · Finland Axis and Axis-aligned (Leaders) Japan · Germany · Slovakia · Italy · Bulgaria · Croatia · Finland · Hungary · Iraq · Romania · Thailand · Italian Social Republic Resistance Austria · Baltic States · Czech lands · Denmark · Estonia · Ethiopia · France · Germany · Greece · Italy · Jewish · Korea · Latvia · Netherlands · Norway · Philippines · Poland · Thailand · Soviet Union · Slovakia · Western Ukraine · Vietnam · Yugoslavia (Partisans, Chetniks) Timeline Prelude Asia · Europe: 1939 Invasion of Poland · Phoney War · Winter War · Battle of the Atlantic 1940 Denmark and Norway · Battle of France · Battle of Britain · Libya and Egypt · British Somaliland · Baltic states · Bessarabia and Bukovina · Invasion of French Indochina · Invasion of Greece 1941 East Africa Campaign · Invasion of Yugoslavia · Battle of Greece · Battle of Crete · Invasion of the Soviet Union · Continuation War · Middle East Campaign · Battle of Kiev · Siege of Leningrad · Battle of Moscow · Siege of Sevastopol · Attack on Pearl Harbor 1942 Battle of Midway · Battle of Stalingrad · Second Battle of El Alamein · Operation Torch · Guadalcanal Campaign 1943 End in Africa · Battle of Kursk · Battle of Smolensk · Solomon Islands · Invasion of Sicily · Lower Dnieper Offensive · Invasion of Italy · Gilbert and Marshall Islands 1944 Cassino and Anzio · Invasion of Normandy · Mariana and Palau Islands · Operation Bagration · Lvov–Sandomierz Offensive · Warsaw Uprising · Jassy–Kishinev Offensive · Belgrade Offensive · Liberation of Paris · Gothic Line · Operation Market Garden · Operation Crossbow · Operation Pointblank · Lapland War · Budapest Offensive · Battle of Leyte Gulf · Battle of the Bulge 1945 Vistula–Oder Offensive · Battle of Iwo Jima · Battle of Okinawa · Final offensive in Italy · Battle of Berlin · Prague Offensive · Battle of Budapest · Surrender of Germany · Soviet invasion of Manchuria · Battle of Manila · Atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki · Surrender of Japan Aspects General Attacks on North America · Blitzkrieg · Comparative military ranks · Cryptography · Home front · Military awards · Military equipment · Military production · Nazi plunder · Technology · Total war Aftermath Effects · Casualties · Expulsion of Germans · Operation Paperclip · Occupation of Germany · Morgenthau Plan · Territorial changes · Soviet occupations: Romania, Poland, Hungary, Baltic States · Occupation of Japan · First Indochina War · Cold War · Contemporary culture Civilian impact Allied war crimes · German war crimes · Italian war crimes · Japanese war crimes · Soviet war crimes · War crimes committed by the United States · The Holocaust · Bombing of civilians Category · Portal World War II at Wiktionary WWII textbooks at Wikibooks WWII quotes at Wikiquote WWII source texts at Wikisource WWII media at Commons WWII news stories at Wikinews [show]v • d • eFascism Theory Core tenets: Nationalism · Imperialism · Authoritarianism · Single party state · Dictatorship · Social Darwinism · Social interventionism · Indoctrination · Propaganda · Anti-intellectualism · Eugenics · Heroism · Militarism · Economic interventionism Topics: Definitions · Economics · Fascism and ideology · Fascism worldwide · Symbolism Ideas: Actual Idealism · Class collaboration · Corporatism · Heroic capitalism · National Socialism · National syndicalism · State capitalism · State socialism · Supercapitalism · Third Position · Totalitarianism Movements South Africa: Greyshirts · Ossewabrandwag Asia: Brit HaBirionim · Ganap Party · Taisei Yokusankai · Statism in Shōwa Japan · Syrian Social Nationalist Party · Tōhōkai Western Europe: Action Française · Black Front (Netherlands) · Breton Social-National Workers' Movement · British Fascists · British People's Party (1939) · British Union of Fascists · La Cagoule · Clerical People's Party · Estado Novo · Faisceau · Falange · Flemish National Union · General Dutch Fascist League · Imperial Fascist League · National Fascisti · National Front (Switzerland) · Nationalist Party (Iceland) · National Socialist Dutch Workers Party · National Socialist League · National Socialist Movement in the Netherlands · National Socialist Movement of Norway · National Syndicalists (Portugal) · National Union (Portugal) · New Party (UK) · Parti Populaire Français · Rexism Central Europe: 4th of August Regime · Arrow Cross Party · Austrian National Socialism · Fatherland's Front · Greater German People's Party · Greek National Socialist Party · Hungarian National Socialist Party · Italian Fascism · Italian Social Republic · Kingdom of Italy · Nasjonal Samling · National Fascist Community · National Fascist Party · National Socialist Bloc · National Socialist Workers' Party (Sweden) · Nazism · Nazi Party · Nazi Germany · Patriotic People's Movement (Finland) · Pērkonkrusts · Sudeten German Party Eastern Europe: Albanian Fascist Party · Crusade of Romanianism · Iron Guard · Lapua Movement · National Fascist Movement · National Italo-Romanian Cultural and Economic Movement · National Social Movement (Bulgaria) · National Radical Camp · National Radical Camp Falanga · National Romanian Fascia · Romanian Front · Russian Fascist Party · Slovak People's Party · Union of Bulgarian National Legions · Ustaše · ZBOR North America: Fascism in Canada · Canadian Union of Fascists · Parti national social chrétien South America: Falangism in Latin America · Brazilian Integralism · Bolivian Socialist Falange · National Socialist Movement of Chile Persons Abba Ahimeir · Ion Antonescu · Sadao Araki · Zoltán Böszörmény · Corneliu Zelea Codreanu · Marcelo Caetano · Gustavs Celmiņš · Enrico Corradini · Marcel Déat · Léon Degrelle · Engelbert Dollfuss · Giovanni Gentile · Tojo Hideki · Adolf Hitler · Ikki Kita · Dimitrije Ljotić · Arnold Leese · Ioannis Metaxas · Oswald Mosley · Benito Mussolini · Eoin O'Duffy · Ante Pavelić · William Dudley Pelley · Vidkun Quisling · José Antonio Primo de Rivera · Konstantin Rodzaevsky · António de Oliveira Salazar · Plínio Salgado · Ferenc Szálasi · Anastasy Vonsyatsky Works Sculpture: Allach (porcelain) Film: Der Sieg des Glaubens · Tag der Freiheit: Unsere Wehrmacht · Triumph of the Will Literature: The Doctrine of Fascism · Fascist manifesto · Manifesto of the Fascist Intellectuals · Mein Kampf · My Life · The Myth of the Twentieth Century · Revolt Against the Modern World Periodicals: La Conquista del Estado · Das Reich (newspaper) · Der Angriff · Deutsche Allgemeine Zeitung · Deutsche Zeitung in Norwegen · Deutsche Zeitung in den Niederlanden · Figli d'Italia · Fronten · Gândirea · Gioventù Fascista · Je suis partout · La france au travail · Münchener Beobachter · Novopress · NS Månedshefte · Norsk-Tysk Tidsskrift · Das Schwarze Korps · Der Stürmer · Il Popolo d'Italia · Sfarmă- Piatră · Signal (magazine) · Vlajka · Völkischer Beobachter Related topics: Art of the Third Reich · Fascist architecture · Heroic realism · Nazi architecture · Nazism and cinema · Nazi plunder Organizations Institutional: Chamber of Fasci and Corporations · Grand Council of Fascism · Imperial Way Faction · Italian Nationalist Association · Nationalsozialistischer Reichsbund für Leibesübungen · Quadrumvirs Activist: German American Bund · Russian Fascist Organization Paramilitary: Albanian Militia · Black Brigades · Blackshirts · Blueshirts · Einsatzgruppen · Gold shirts · Greenshirts · Greyshirts · Hitler Youth · Heimwehr · Iron Wolf (Lithuania) · Red Shirts (Mexico) · Silver Legion of America · Schutzstaffel · Sturmabteilung · Lăncieri · National Union (Portugal) · Makapili · Mocidade Portuguesa · Waffen-SS · Werwolf International: Axis powers · NSDAP/AO History 1910s: Arditi · Fascio 1920s: Aventine Secession · Acerbo Law · March on Rome · Beer Hall Putsch · Italian economic battles 1930-1938: March of the Iron Will · 6 February 1934 crisis · 1934 Montreux Fascist conference 1939-1946: World War II · The Holocaust · Congress of Verona · Denazification · Nuremberg Trials Lists Anti-fascists · Books about Hitler · British fascist parties · Fascist movements by country (A-F · G-M · N-T · U-Z) · Nazi ideologues · Nazi leaders · Speeches by Hitler · SS personnel Related topics Anti-fascism · Anti-Nazi League · Christofascism · Clerical fascism · Cryptofascism · Ecofascism · Esoteric Nazism · Fascist (epithet) · Glossary of Nazi Germany · Hitler salute · Italianization · Italianization of South Tyrol · Ku Klux Klan · Left-wing fascism · Neo-fascism · Neo-Nazism · Roman salute · Social fascism · Unite Against Fascism · Völkisch movement Category · Portal Fair Use Notice: This web site may contain copyrighted material the use of which has not always been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. We are making such material available in our efforts to advance the understanding of humanity's problems and hopefully to help find solutions for those problems. We believe this constitutes a 'fair use' of any such copyrighted material as provided for in section 107 of the US Copyright Law. In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, the material on this site is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes. A click on a hyperlink is a request for information. Consistent with this notice you are welcome to make 'fair use' of anything you find on this website. However, if you wish to use copyrighted material from this site for purposes of your own that go beyond 'fair use', you must obtain permission from the copyright owner. You can read more about 'fair use' and US Copyright Law at the Legal Information Institute of Cornell Law School. This notice was modified from a similar notice at Common Dreams. ------------------------------------------------------------------ 1945 Death of a City, called Danzig Apocalypse Two Throughout WW II the ancient City of Danzig suffered relative little damage from enemy attacks. Even a bombing raid, as carried out by more than1000 American B 52 flying fortresses on October 1944, only targeted the ship-building facilities, but left the City proper untouched. Towards the end of the War, Russian artillery bombardments, and concentrated allied bombs raining down on the City, especially during the whole of the Easter period at the end of March 1945, whilst causing a great loss of life among the civilian population, and the many refugees that had fled the ferocious Soviets, such bombardments did cause only some damage to the inner City, but not serious enough to her ancient buildings. The willful destruction of the City however started in earnest well after the German soldiers defending the City had left at the end of March 1945, and had declared the City open. Meaning, after all War related hostilities had ceased, and long after the " Liberators" had taken possession of ancient Danzig City. And here we need to remember that Germany capitulated on May 08, 1945. First, the "liberators", Soviets and others, had their beastly fun in raping, ravishing and violating all females, from babies to grandmothers. Females of all ages were mercilessly hunted down! "Frau komm, Frau komm," was their cry! And Uri, Uri, Uri… (Wrist watches they were after) The 'Liberators* (there was little, if anything, to distinguish Russians and other Partisans in their respective Uniforms except their caps, perhaps) then went onto a wild looting spree, engaged in wholesale robbing, plundering and stealing of everything and anything of worth that was not nailed down. It was only sometimes after the bloody orgies of plunder and rape, that continued unabated, had somehow quieted down, that the ancient City was set on fire. Was set on fire according to a diabolical Master plan. A Master plan that had the clear intention to root-out, and exterminate the German population by means of brutal expurgation! The City was set on fire on all four corners simultaneously, and the 700 years old City, some of the buildings, like the Krantor (Crane-gate) entirely made out of centuries dried out timber, burnt especially beautifully. The inferno that followed, the heat of the fire, was so fierce that the bells of St. Katharinen, St. Johan, St. Brigitten, Barbara, Elisabeth, Peter and Paul, that of Trinitatis, and Corpus Christy churches melted in the belfries, and dropped down without a clang. St. Mary's church, that mighty, 72 meter towering brick building burned from the inside, as the great fire jumped easily from one end to the other, helped by closeness of all the buildings to each other, all the small and narrow Gassen. (Alleys) No attempt at all was made by the Polish authorities to extinguish any of the flames. They just looked on in glee, and let the City burn. And burn it did, for nearly 4 weeks, until the fire had consumed itself, with the dark smoke, and smell, hanging around the devastated City for much longer. Whereas atrocities galore committed by the Russians were bad enough already, the Poles toped such atrocities by far, making a much better job of it! Systematically, with the fires still burning, with German speaking population of the City caught up in the inferno, robbed of any shelter, fleeing in a panic, ferocious Poles rounded up all the survivors, and robbed them even of the rest of their meager possessions. And herded them, like cattle, into hastily made up Concentration camps. In those concentration camps, the infamous Narvik camp in particular, indiscriminate killings and maiming really began, more in a subtle manner by starving them slowly to death! Soon all kinds of deceases broke out among the unfortunate women and children, the elderly and infirm, killing them like flies. The denial of food and water, of medical care and supplies to the countless desperados in those camps, and all over the territory of the Free State of Danzig, can only be described as a crime against all of humanity. And then the great expulsions of the, still surviving, rest of the entire Danzig population (what was left of them) to war-torn, devastated and defeated Germany started. They were brutally driven out at the point of the Gun. That atrociously wicked and cruel act was, and still is, a War crime of horrendous proportion. The smoking Gun, the telltale sign, the real explanation to the burning question of: Who had set fire to the ancient City of Danzig, who had the motivation, the interest, the impelling reason and overwhelming need and desire to commit that horrible Crime! This very question Poland answered most emphatically; by eradicating later on, all and every trace of German culture, heritage and other documentation that existed within the boundaries of the territory of Danzig, in order to create the Myth, and to make it appear, to all the World, that Danzig was, since feudal times immemorial, Polish throughout! With this in mind, Poland removed all, and every inscription in the German language from every public building, school and institution from inside and out. And replaced any such inscriptions with Polish symbols. Destroyed German books and documents, and much more. In short, everything that spoke of German language and tradition was extirpated. Poland then had the audacity to steal our 'Coat of Arms' and made it her own, and with it, made it part of her own folklore and national history. Even our Motto, dating back to Danzig's maritime belonging to the Hanseatic League: "Nec temire, Nec timide" was hijacked. Poland wantonly, and with intent, vandalized and destroyed all monuments, and every other documentary evidence of Danzig's history, every book and scripture, and did not even spare the cemeteries, left no gravestone untouched that bore a German name. With the help of the United Nations, Poland made also sure of the very name of Danzig is rubbed out from history books, and removed from all World maps. In order to do that, systematically, the former inhabitants of the territory of Danzig were stripped of their dignity, discredited, then robbed, not only of their personal possessions, but also of their identities, all their properties, all landholdings, titles and patrimony. All of that was confiscated, and made the property of the Polish state! Furthermore, the Marxist- catholic Church of Poland, then took the opportunity and invoked the doctrine of the "Counter Reformation", meaning; every church that was Lutheran before, destroyed or not, was turned into a "holy catholic Church." Having thus eradicated any traces of German culture and heritage, and of the autochthonous people who had lived there, Polish official propaganda then spoke, and still speaks, to this very Day, of the City of Danzig, as an "eternal Polish City!" And of our rightful Homeland and soil, as "holy Polish soil." By doing so, Poland then smeared the names of the cosmopolitan people of German culture and heritage, labeled all of them as Nazis, and keeps on demeaning and demonizing us to this very Day! The City of Danzig has been re-built in a fashion. Re-building started slowly in the burnt out city of Danzig, unlike the reconstruction of all of the totally destroyed German cities that were rebuilt and totally modernized in less than 7 years after the War had ended in 1945. In Danzig reconstruction started in the late, from about 1960 onwards, and that was only possible, ironically, with the help of German, and foreign Monies. Yes, Germany had to pay for, Poland made absolutely sure of that. Yet, even now, in the year of the Lord 2006, many a ruin still can be found. The ruins of, what once was an ancient City with a glorious past, still speaks our language, ever such stone does. The City has another name, and is, at best, a poor imitation and shadow of the former. The new City has no character anymore, and has no soul, and no spirit, as all of it, with the brutal removal of all her former, autochthonous inhabitants, has gone, forever. --------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
