# Axis and Allies

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/axis-and-allies/111245>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [May 28, 2002, 10:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/axis-and-allies/111245 "2002-05-28T22:39:57Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 3\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![heptapod](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/a88e4f/32.png) [@heptapod](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/heptapod)\
**Post date:** [May 28, 2002, 10:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/axis-and-allies/111245/1 "2002-05-28T22:39:57Z")

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Did the Axis powers in WWII actually call themselves “The Axis” or was this just a name attributed to those allied powers? Just thinking that if the Axis had won WWII I’m sure they would’ve called themselves like the Allies or UberPals or something less vague and menacing.

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**Author:** ![Tuckerfan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/eada6e/32.png) [@Tuckerfan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tuckerfan)\
**Post date:** [May 28, 2002, 10:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/axis-and-allies/111245/2 "2002-05-28T22:53:58Z")

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They actually called themselves “Axis,” IIRC it had to do with where the treaty was signed that declared them to be allies of one another. Another bad PR move on the part of the bad guys.

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**Author:** ![RadioWave](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/91b2a8/32.png) [@RadioWave](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RadioWave)\
**Post date:** [May 28, 2002, 11:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/axis-and-allies/111245/3 "2002-05-28T23:10:38Z")

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Yup. Germany and Italy were supposed to be the axis around which the rest of Europe would collaborate. It appears poor sentence structure was another of Benito’s weaknesses. [Cite](http://motlc.wiesenthal.com/pages/t004/t00404.html) and [Cite](http://www.hungary.com/corvinus/lib/montgo/montgo23.htm)