[[Media:Link title]] For information about other countries that took part in World War II, see Participants in World War II. The Axis powers were those states opposed to the Allies during the Second World War. The three major Axis Powers, Nazi Germany, Fascist Italy and the Empire of Japan were part of an alliance. At their zenith, the Axis Powers ruled empires that dominated large parts of Europe, Asia, Africa and the Pacific Ocean, but the Second World War ended with their total defeat. Like the Allies, membership of the Axis was fluid, and some nations entered and later left the Axis during the course of the war.