Following the World War I model, all states at war with, or occupied by, the Axis powers became known during World War II as the Allies. The principal member states were China, France, Britain (also known as the United Kingdom) and its empire and commonwealth, the Soviet Union, and the United States. Because the Western Allies and the Soviet Union conducted entirely separate war efforts, in common speech the term Allies sometimes referred only to the West. When making a point of including the Soviet Union, the term Grand Alliance was frequently used. The Allies were also called the United Nations well before the United Nations organization was formed in 1945.
