World War II by country World War II by country Nearly every country and territory in the world participated in World War II, with the exception of only a few nations which remained neutral. The Second World War pitted two alliances against each other, the Axis powers and the Allied powers. The leading Axis powers were Nazi Germany, the Kingdom of Italy and the Empire of Japan; while the United Kingdom, the United States, the Soviet Union and China were the "Big Four" Allied powers. The countries involved in or affected by World War II are listed here alphabetically, with a description of their role
World War Two: 1941 and the Man of Steel World War Two: 1941 and the Man of Steel World War Two: 1941 and the Man of Steel is a feature-length BBC TV programme, presented by the historian David Reynolds and directed by Russell Barnes. First broadcast on BBC Four on 13 June 2011, it marked the 70th anniversary of Operation Barbarossa, the Third Reich’s invasion of the USSR. The programme re-assesses Joseph Stalin’s erratic response to the military threat posed by Hitler and examines the moral dilemma for the Western Allies of an alliance with a dictator arguably as brutal as the enemy. The programme received critical praise and