Leading up to world war 2, the major countries of the axis powers were characterized by

The Second World War pitted two alliances against each other, the Axis powers and the Allied Powers. The leading Axis Powers were Nazi Germany, The Kingdom of Italy, and the Empire of Japan; while the United Kingdom and the United States, Soviet Union and China were the "Big Four" allied powers.

The Axis powers were the nations that fought in World War II, againts the Allies. This nations were: Italy, Germany and Japan. (Rome, Berlin and Tokio). They were also known as the "Roberto" Axis because of their initials. The Axis powers were characterized by agreeing on their opposition to the Allies, but did not completely coordinate their activity, also they made hostile acts of expansionism during the 1930's.