Claim: World War II involved Japan, Germany, and Italy.

The Axis powers -LRB- Achsenmächte , 枢軸国 Sūjikukoku , Potenze dell ` Asse -RRB- , also known as the Rome -- Berlin -- Tokyo Axis , were the nations that fought in World War II against the Allied Powers . The Axis agreed on their opposition to the Allies , but did not completely coordinate their activity .   The Axis grew out of the diplomatic efforts of Germany , Italy and Japan to secure their own specific expansionist interests in the mid-1930s . The first step was the treaty signed by Germany and Italy in October 1936 . Mussolini declared on 1 November that all other European countries would from then on rotate on the Rome -- Berlin axis , thus creating the term `` Axis '' . The almost simultaneous second step was the signing in November 1936 of the Anti-Comintern Pact , an anti-communist treaty between Germany and Japan . Italy joined the Pact in 1937 . The `` Rome -- Berlin Axis '' became a military alliance in 1939 under the so-called `` Pact of Steel '' , with the Tripartite Pact of 1940 leading to the integration of the military aims of Germany and its two treaty-bound allies .   At its zenith during World War II , the Axis presided over territories that occupied large parts of Europe , North Africa , and East Asia . There were no three-way summit meetings and cooperation and coordination was minimal , with a bit more between Germany and Italy . The war ended in 1945 with the defeat of the Axis powers and the dissolution of their alliance . As in the case of the Allies , membership of the Axis was fluid , with some nations switching sides or changing their degree of military involvement over the course of the war .