Wiktionary
n. The alliance (in effect before and during World War II) of Nazi Germany, fascist Italy, imperial Japan(,) and a few other countries, which opposed the Allied Powers.
Wikipedia
The Axis Powers (, Sūjikukoku, ), also known as the Axis and the Rome–Berlin–Tokyo Axis, were the nations that fought in World War II against the Allied forces. The Axis Powers 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.
Usage examples of "axis powers".
I know that makes me a minority of one, but the Axis powers don’.
The old bastard had signed a cease-fire with Hitler and withdrawn from any hostilities against the Axis powers, suddenly freeing up the Nazi war machine to have another try at Great Britain.
Tagomi, the protagonist, somehow is carried over to our world, in which the Axis powers lost.
The Vatican now has diplomatic relations with all the Axis powers and -- I think -- with none of the Allies.
As the Allied and Axis powers battled in Europe and Japan, Ho fought his own war in the jungles of Vietnamthen French Indochinausing ambushes in place of howitzers, and sabotage instead of bombers.
It was a nice phrase with overtones of the World War II Axis powers.
Their war aim, as was announced publicly at the end of the conference, would be nothing less than the unconditional surrender of the Axis powers.
When coupled with his ties to the CAS in general, and to Beijing in particular, the situation has the potential of developing into a bigger threat to the United States than the Axis powers of World War II, or the Soviet Union of the Cold War era.
Worst, Argentina gets in a war with Brazil and becomes a de facto if not de jure member of the Axis powers.
This was an audacious plot to assassinate Field-Marshal Smuts, and in the ensuing confusion to seize control of the armed forces, declare South Africa a republic, and throw in their lot with Adolf Hitler and the Axis powers.
It was assumed that the Axis Powers had spies in all the Allied capitals, but the leaders still managed to sneak away and meet.
This is because the British censorship is very strict, so I cannot even mention the weather here, or describe London, or tell you about my business dealings, in case the censor decides that it might give the Axis powers some useful information.