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From: jwebb@hydra.unm.edu (James Webb)
Newsgroups: sci.military
Subject: WWII
Summary: Nations Involved
Message-ID: <10624@cbnews.ATT.COM>
Date: 26 Oct 89 01:28:12 GMT
Sender: military@cbnews.ATT.COM
Organization: University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, NM
Lines: 46
Approved: military@att.att.com



From: jwebb@hydra.unm.edu (James Webb)
   Recently on a radio station the question was posed:
    "How many nations were involved in WWII?"
   I was wondering what the answer was, and if anyone could give a listing of
all of the nations involved.

[mod.note:  I'll take all the easy ones, and leave the readers to pick out
what I've missed.  That way, I won't get so many duplicate answers...

The short answer is "All of them", as the entire world was affected. 
Limiting to belligerents, though:

	First, take a map of Europe, and circle it.  Cross out Switzerland
and Sweden...  8-)

North America:  Canada, USA (2)  (Does Jamaica make 3, or were they a
	Possession of Britain at the time ?)
South America: (& Central America, excluding Panama Canal Zone, US)
	All neutral, I believe
Europe: Norway, Finland, USSR, Britain, Denmark, France, Belgium, Germany
	Netherlands, Luxembourg, Poland, Hungary, Rumania, Bulgaria, Greece,
	Yugoslavia, Italy.  I separate Latvia, Lithuania, and Estonia,
	along with Czechoslavokia, Albania, and Austria as having been
	"peacefully" absorbed into other nations before involvement.  Turkey,
	Sweden, Switzerland, Spain, and Portugal were neutral.  17, 23
	including those taken over before hostilities.
Asia: USSR (already counted), China, Mongolia, Japan, Korea, Siam,
        Federated Malay States, Burma, India, Australia, New Zealand.
	I consider Manchuria/Manchutikuo part of China, though I'm
	uncertain of Korea's status prior to Japanese occupation.
	Indochina was a French possession, I think.  Nepal supplied
	Ghurkas to the British/Indian army, but I believe was neutral.
	Also, did Iran get somehow involved ?  I recall British supplies
	getting to Russia via Iran. Finally, I'm iffy on the national 
	status of the islands in the Philippine/New Guinea/Sumatra region.
	10, give or take.  
Asia Minor: All neutral, I think, though partly controlled by France
	and Britain (Syria and Palestine/Transjordan, respectively)
Africa: Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, Libya, Egypt, Ethiopia, Italian
	Somaliland, South Africa.  Most of the rest of Africa were colonies
	of the belligerents, but I know of no fighting there.  Call it 8.


43, by my first estimate.  - Bill ]