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The Axis powers (German: Achsenmächte, Italian: Potenze dell'Asse, Japanese: 枢軸国 (Sūjikukoku?)), also known as the Axis alliance, Axis nations, Axis countries, or just the Axis, was the alignment of powerful nations that fought in the Second World War against the Allied forces. The alliance can be traced back to 1936, when Germany signed treaties with Italy and Japan. The "Rome-Berlin Axis" became a military alliance in 1939 under the 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 their zenith during the course of World War II, the Axis powers presided over empires that occupied large parts of Europe, Africa, East and Southeast Asia, and the Pacific Ocean, before the war finally ended with their total defeat and dissolution. Like the Allies, membership of the Axis was fluid, and other nations entered and later left the Axis during the course of the war.[1]