Countries Which Fought on Both Sides During World War II

World War II was fought between the Axis Powers and the Allies. The axis powers comprised military regimes of Germany, Japan and Italy. Key Leaders of this side were German dictator Adolf Hitler, Prime Minister  Benito Mussolini and Japan Prime Minister Hideki Tojo.

The allies were made up of the Soviet Union, United States and Great Britain. The rest of the countries chose to side with the countries based on whose ideology they closely identified along with the economic benefit that would come their way if the respective side won the war. There are few countries that changed sides during the World War II, lets find out which were these countries.

Italy 

Italy began the war on the side of Axis Power. It was in the year 1943 when Italy’s economy had crashed miserably after the heavy losses in the war. Operation Husky by the allied forces forced Italy to face the Allies. On July 25th it was decided that Mussolini would be stripped of his powers. 

But in 1943 Germany managed to help Mussolini escape and wanted to restore the dictatorship. The official Italian government declared opposition against Mussolini and joined hands with the allies. They continued to fight the rest of the war on the Allies' side. 

Romania 

Romania began the war on the side of Axis Power. In August 1944, allies had managed to reach the German-Romanian front, leading to no possible protection from Nazi forces for Romania. Romania had provided the maximum military forces to the German army which caused a huge loss of 150,000 men from their country. 

King Michael I decided to end his support towards the German Nazi and join hands with the Allies. According to historians, the switching of sides by Romania shortened the war by six months helping in the defeat of Nazi forces. 

Bulgaria 

Bulgaria began the war on the side of Axis Power. When the Societ Union finally reached the Bulgarian border, Bulgaria thought declaring a neutral stance would save them from further attacks but the Soviet Union did not back down.

The Soviet Union declared war and the new government sided with the Allies in the rest of the war. 

Finland 

In June 1944 when the Soviet Army decided to knock out Finland from the war, the Finland President Risto Ryti made a plea with Adolf Hitler that they would keep their stance with the Axis Power.

When German soldiers were on the way to overpower Finland, Finland had no choice but to fight with their original side. This in turn sparked the Lapland War.