World War II by country

This is a list of all the participants of the Second World War on both the Allied and Axis side.

Almost every country participated in World War II. A few countries managed to remain neutral to the end. It was the deadliest war ever in history with 70-85 million casualties. The war was fought by two alliances fighting against each other. The main Axis powers were Nazi Germany, the Empire of Japan, and the Kingdom of Italy; while the United Kingdom, the United States, the Soviet Union, and China were the "Big Four" Allied powers..

Before you see the list:

• The main countries are in bold.
• The list starts in 1937 and not 1939.

Allies

1942

 Mexico (from May 22 1942)

 Brazil (from August 22 1942)

 Australia (from October 9 1942)

Balli Kombëtar (from November 1942-October 1 1943)

Axis and Collaborators

1937

 Japan (from July 7 1937)

•  Manchukuo (1931-1945)
•  East Hebei Autonomous Government (1935-1938)
•  Provisional Government of the Republic of China (1937-1940)
•  Mengjiang (1939-1941)
•  Recognised National Government of China (1940-1945)
•  State of Burma (1943-1945)
•  Azad Hind (1943-1945)
•  Second Philippine Republic (1943-1945)
• Empire of Vietnam (1945)
• Kingdom of Kampuchea (1945)
• Kingdom of Luang Prabang (1945)

1943

Balli Kombëtar (from October 1 1943 - 1945)

Participated in the war but not part of the Allied or Axis powers

Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (1939-1941)

• Russia
•  Ukraine
• Belarus

 Finland (1939-1940)

 Thailand (1940-1941)

Provisional Government of Lithuania (1941)

Ukrainian Insurgent Army (1941-1944)

Organisation of Ukrainian Nationalists (1941-1944)

Belarusian nationalists (1941-1944)

 Iran (1941)

Forest Brothers (1944-1945)

Neutral

  Switzerland

 Lithuania (annexed by the USSR in 1940)

 Latvia (annexed by the USSR in 1940)

 Estonia (annexed by the USSR in 1940)

 Ireland

Spanish Empire

•  Spain
• Ifni
• Sp. Sahara
• Sp. Guinea
• Morocco
  • Tangier

Portuguese Empire

•  Portugal
• Angola
• Mozambique
• Timor (invaded by the Japanese in 1942)
• Pt. India
• Cape Verde
• Macau
• São Tomé and Príncipe

 Sweden

 Yemen

Afghanistan

Tibet

 Danzig^[source?]

 Andorra

 Monaco

 Liechtenstein

  Vatican City

 San Marino

 Iceland

 Indonesia

 Tuva (Soviet satellite state, annexed by the USSR in 1944)

Xinjiang (annexed by China in 1944)

 East Turkestan

References

1. ↑ Sainsbury, Keith (1986). The Turning Point: Roosevelt, Stalin, Churchill, and Chiang Kai-Shek, 1943: The Moscow, Cairo, and Teheran Conferences. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
2. ↑ As a government-in-exile after the Invasion of Poland in 1939.
3. ↑ Non-communist partisans.
4. ↑ When France fell to Germany, almost all of the french colonies became colonies to the puppet state Vichy France. All the colonies were liberated by the allies from 1940-1943 (except for French Indochina who was invaded by Japan in 1940).
5. ↑ With the formation of Vichy France.
6. ↑ As a condominium of the French Third Republic and the United Kingdom.
7. ↑ Occupied by the french from 1942 to 1951.
8. ↑ Australia gained Self-governance in 1942.
9. ↑ As a condominium of the United Kingdom and the Kingdom of Egypt.
10. ↑ under British suzerainty.
11. ↑ As a condominium of the United Kingdom and the United States.
12. ↑ As a condominium of the French Third Republic and the United Kingdom.
13. ↑ The SOE helped resistance movements all across Axis-occupied Europe.
14. ↑ Iraq was occupied by the British after an invasion in 1941.
15. ↑ Iran was occupied by the allies after an allied invasion in 1941 to protect the supply line that went through Iran.
16. ↑ Occupied after the end of the East African Campaign.
17. ↑ Occupied after the end of the East African Campaign.
18. ↑ Occupied after the end of the North African Campaign.
19. ↑ As a government-in-exile after the German invasion of Norway in 1940 untill the liberation of Norway in 1945.
20. ↑ Denmark was invaded by Germany in 6 hours on 9 April 1940. on 4 May 1945, German forces in Denmark surrendered to the British. Officially liberating Denmark from Germany.
21. ↑ As a government-in-exile after the invasion in 1940 until the liberation of Luxembourg in 1944.
22. ↑ As a government-in-exile after the invasion in 1940 until the liberation of the Netherlands in 1945.
23. ↑ As a government-in-exile after the invasion in 1940 until the liberation of Belgium in 1944.
24. ↑ A a government-in-exile after the invasion in 1941 until the liberation of Greece in 1944.
25. ↑ Joined the allies due to a coup against the axis and formed an allied government (and then being invaded by the axis the next month).
26. ↑ As a government-in-exile after the Invasion of Yugoslavia in 1941 until joining the Yugoslav Committee of National Liberation to form the Provisional Government of the Democratic Federal Yugoslavia in 1945.
27. ↑ Merger of the Yugoslav government-in-exile and the Yugoslav Committee of National Liberation.
28. ↑ At the start of the occupation, the Chetniks fought with the Yugoslav Partisans against the Axis Powers. But in late 1941, the Chetniks started to collaborate with the axis against Tito’s partisans. And they continued to do so until the end of the war.
29. ↑ Democratic Republic of Vietnam declared on 2 September 1945 (the same day World War II ended).
30. ↑ Before Operation Barbarossa in 1941, the Soviets invaded Poland in 1939. 2 weeks after Germany invaded. Then the Soviets invaded Finland a few months later (but they didn’t annex all of Finland). Then the Soviets annexed Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia, and Bessarabia in august 1940.
31. ↑ Willy Wolff (1976) [1973]. An der Seite der Roten Armee На стороне Красной армии.
32. ↑ Kampfgruppen was an Anti-fascist resistance group formed in the USSR and some time engaged in battles with the Red Army
33. ↑ Gosztony, Peter. Stalins Fremde Heere, Bernard & Graefe Verlag, 1991. ISBN 3-7637-5889-5
34. ↑ Иностранные войска, созданные Советским Союзом для борьбы с нацизмом (in Russian). Центрполиграф. 2024. ISBN 9785046032826.
35. ↑ https://theorangefiles.hu/the-provisional-national-government-1945/
36. ↑ Debrecen government [ru] operated in the Soviet-occupied territory of Hungary, while the Nazi-backed government in Budapest continued the war on the side of Germany..
37. ↑ Communist partisans.
38. ↑ From 6 January 1942 – 1 January 1944.
39. ↑ From 1 January 1944 – 29 July 1944.
40. ↑ From May 1943.
41. ↑ Iran was occupied by the allies after an allied invasion in 1941 to protect the supply line that went through Iran.
42. ↑ After being liberated by the British in 1941.
43. ↑ As a government-in-exile after the invasion in 1941 until the liberation of the Philippines in 1945.
44. ↑ As a condominium of the United Kingdom and the United States.
45. ↑ The Iroquois Confederacy was the only Native American nation to have officially declared war on the Axis powers separately from the United States.
46. ↑ The Czechoslovak government would return to Czechoslovakia after the country’s liberation in 1945.
47. ↑ Australia gained Self-governance in 1942.
48. ↑ Balli Kombëtar had differences with the Communist LANÇ and later allied with Germany to fight LANÇ in October.
49. ↑ At this point, Iraq was occupied by the British after an invasion in 1941.
50. ↑ At this point, Iran was occupied by the allies after an allied invasion in 1941 to protect the supply line that went through Iran.
51. ↑ Joined the allies due to the allied invasion that month. A few months earlier Mussolini was deposed from power. Italy signed peace with the allies and formed in allied government (and going under allied occupation).
52. ↑ Joined the allies due to the Soviet operation in august. With Ion Antonescu (the leader of Romania) being arrested and Romania forming an allied government (and going under Soviet occupation).
53. ↑ Joined the allies due to the soviet invasion in September. With a coup by the Bulgarian resistance and Bulgaria forming an allied government (and going under Soviet occupation).
54. ↑ Joined the allies due a soviet operation that had been going on for months.
55. ↑ As a condominium of the United Kingdom and the Kingdom of Egypt.
56. ↑ Protectorate and partially-annexed territory of Nazi Germany.
57. ↑ Occupied by Germany after the Slovak National Uprising.
58. ↑ Protectorate and partially-annexed territory of Nazi Germany
59. ↑ During operation torch, (the allied invasion of french North Africa) the axis invaded Vichy France. But Pétain stayed in power until 1944 when France was liberated by the allies.
60. ↑ When France fell to Germany, almost all of the french colonies became colonies to the puppet state Vichy France. All the colonies were liberated by the allies from 1940-1943 (except for French Indochina who was invaded by Japan in 1940).
61. ↑ As a puppet state.
62. ↑ Even though the puppet government in Serbia ended in October 1944 after the Belgrade offensive, remnants of its paramilitary groups continued to fight for the Axis and even fought in the Race for Trieste in May 1945.
63. ↑ Joint puppet state of Germany and Italy (until 1943).
64. ↑ "Lokot Autonomy - Pax Historia". www.paxhistoria.co. Retrieved 2026-08-26.
65. ↑ Co-existed with Reichskommissariat Norwegen.
66. ↑ Remnants of the Vichy government located in Germany from September 1944 to April 1945.
67. ↑ Hungary became a German puppet state in 1944 after a pro axis coup (Operation Panzerfaust).
68. ↑ Co-existed with the Quisling Regime from 1942.
69. ↑ Joined the allies due to the allied invasion that month. A few months earlier Mussolini was deposed from power. Italy signed peace with the allies and formed in allied government (and going under allied occupation).
70. ↑ As a protectorate.
71. ↑ Joint puppet state of Germany and Italy.
72. ↑ Hungary became a German puppet state in 1944 after a pro axis coup (Operation Panzerfaust).
73. ↑ Joined the allies due to the Soviet operation in august. With Ion Antonescu (the leader of Romania) being arrested and Romania forming an allied government (and going under Soviet occupation).
74. ↑ Joined the allies due to the soviet invasion in September. With a coup by the Bulgarian resistance and Bulgaria forming an allied government (and going under Soviet occupation).
75. ↑ Joined the allies due to a coup against the axis and formed an allied government (and then being invaded by the axis the next month).
76. ↑ At the start of the occupation, the Chetniks fought with the Yugoslav Partisans against the Axis Powers. But in late 1941, the Chetniks started to collaborate with the axis against Tito’s partisans. And they continued to do so until the end of the war.
77. ↑ Before Operation Barbarossa in 1941, Finland was involved in the Winter War with the Soviets in 1939 and lost some land to them. And Finland was never officially part of the axis powers.
78. ↑ Joined the allies due a soviet operation that had been going on for months.
79. ↑ Balli Kombëtar had differences with the Communist LANÇ and later allied with Germany to fight LANÇ in October.
80. ↑ Before Operation Barbarossa in 1941, the Soviets invaded Poland in 1939. 2 weeks after Germany invaded. Then the Soviets invaded Finland a few months later (but they didn’t annex all of Finland). Then the Soviets annexed Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia, and Bessarabia in august 1940.
81. ↑ Before Operation Barbarossa in 1941, Finland was involved in the Winter War with the Soviets in 1939 and lost some land to them. And Finland was never officially part of the axis powers.
82. ↑ Took part in the June Uprising meant to restore the independence of the country.
83. ↑ Fought against Nazi Germany and the USSR.
84. ↑ Fought against Nazi Germany and the USSR.
85. ↑ Fought against Nazi Germany and the USSR.
86. ↑ Fought against the USSR after German forces were kicked out of the Baltics.
87. ↑ See Blue Division [en]
88. ↑ Occupied by Italy and then Germany from 1942-1944.
89. ↑ Occupied by Germany from 17 - 20 September 1944.
90. ↑ After Denmark fell in 1940, the allies occupied Iceland and in 1944 Iceland gained independence from Denmark.
91. ↑ Declared independence from the Netherlands on 17 August 1945.
92. ↑ Some sources say that Tuva declared war on Germany on June 25th 1941.
93. ↑ In 1937, Xinjiang won independence from china after the Soviets invaded.
94. ↑ The Soviets supplied rebel forces after xinjiang was annexed back into china.