Western Allies

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The Western Allies were the democracies and their colonial peoples, within the broader coalition of Allies during World War II. The term is generally understood to refer to the countries of the British Commonwealth of Nations and part of the military of Poland (from 1939), exiled forces from Occupied Europe (from 1940), the United States, (from 1941), France and a few other countries. This term therefore excludes the Soviet Union and China, which were also Allies but employed socialist forms of government.

Throughout World War II, the Western Allies were in opposition to the Axis powers of Germany, Italy, and Japan, who were working to spread fascist forms of government. With the widespread globalization of their alliance, the Allies had greater access to terrain, goods, and industry giving their alliance great advantage. Combined with fascist opposition from occupied European countries and powerful military production and invention, such as the atomic bomb, from the Western Allies, the military prowess of the Axis powers could not compete and eventually failed.

The end of the war brought about great settlements of territories and governments including the decision to create a four-way occupation of previously fascist Germany and its capital, Berlin. The Western Allies merged their zones into a West German state based on democracy while the former Soviet allies controlled their zone with communism. The clash of these political ideals created much tension leading to the Cold War. The term Western Allies continued to refer to the American, British, and French forces stationed in West Berlin from 1945 to 1994, through the Cold War and fall of the Berlin Wall. From 1942 onwards, the entire military forces of the Western Allies were overseen by the U.S.- British Combined Chiefs of Staff, based in Washington, D.C..

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History of the Western Allies in Berlin

Hunt, Lynn, Thomas R. Martin, Barbara H. Rosenwein, R. Po-chia Hsia, and Bonnie G. Smith. The Making of the West: People and Cultures. 3rd ed. Boston: Bedford/St. Martin’s, 2009.