Allied Powers

Allied Powers

 or Allies

Nations allied in opposition to the Central Powers in World War I or to the Axis Powers in World War II. The original Allies in World War I—the British Empire, France, and the Russian Empire—were later joined by many other countries, including Portugal, Japan, and Italy. Other nations joining the Allies, including the U.S. after 1917, were called Associated Powers, a term emphasized by Pres. Woodrow Wilson to preserve the U.S.'s free hand in the war. In World War II the major Allied Powers were Britain, France, the Soviet Union, the U.S., and China. More generally, the Allies included all the wartime members of the United Nations, the 1942 signatories to the Declaration of the UN.