The Axis powers (, "Sūjikukoku", ), also known as the Axis and the Rome–Berlin–Tokyo Axis, were the nations that fought in World War II against the Allied forces. The Axis powers agreed on their opposition to the Allies, but did not completely coordinate their activity. 

The Axis grew out of the diplomatic efforts of Germany, Italy, and Japan to secure their own specific expansionist interests in the mid-1930s. The first step was the treaty signed by Germany and Italy in October 1936. Benito Mussolini declared on 1 November that all other European countries would from then on rotate on the Rome–Berlin axis, thus creating the term "Axis". The almost simultaneous second step was the signing in November 1936 of the Anti-Comintern Pact, an anti-communist treaty between Germany and Japan. Italy joined the Pact in 1937. The "Rome–Berlin Axis" became a military alliance in 1939 under the so-called "Pact of Steel", with the Tripartite Pact of 1940 leading to the integration of the military aims of Germany, Italy and Japan. 

At its zenith during World War II, the Axis presided over territories that occupied large parts of Europe, North Africa, and East Asia. There were no three-way summit meetings and cooperation and coordination was minimal, with a bit more between Germany and Italy. The war ended in 1945 with the defeat of the Axis powers and the dissolution of their alliance. As in the case of the Allies, membership of the Axis was fluid, with some nations switching sides or changing their degree of military involvement over the course of the war. The term "axis" was first applied to the Italo-German relationship by the Italian prime minister Benito Mussolini in September 1923, when he wrote in the preface to Roberto Suster's "Germania Repubblica" that "there is no doubt that in this moment the axis of European history passes through Berlin" ("non v'ha dubbio che in questo momento l'asse della storia europea passa per Berlino"). At the time he was seeking an alliance with the Weimar Republic against Yugoslavia and France in the dispute over the Free State of Fiume. QUESTIONS:

Q1:
1. What is another term for Sūjikukoku?
2. What does Sūjikukoku mean?
3. 
Q2:
1. What do the Axis powers refer to?
2. What is the meaning of the Axis powers?
3. 
Q3:
1. Did the Axis powers work together?
2. Were the Axis powers allied with one another?
3. 
Q4:
1. When did the Axis powers begin?
2. When was the alliance of the Axis powers founded?
3. 
Q5:
1. Who began the Axis powers?
2. Who were the first members of the Axis powers?
3. 
Q6:
1. What took place in 1937?
2. What in 1937 affected the Axis powers?
3. 
Q7:
1. Was there a lack of rigidity in Axis membership?
2. Would people come and go from the Axis powers?
3. 
Q8:
1. What was the year of the Pact of Steel?
2. In what year did the Pact of Steel take place?
3. 
Q9:
1. What parts of the world did the Axis powers control?
2. What global regions fell under the purview of the Axis powers?
3. 
Q10:
1. Did the Axis powers win the war?
2. Were the Axis powers victorious at the end of the war?
3. 
Q11:
1. When did the Axis powers lose the war?
2. What was the year of the Axis powers' defeat?
3. 
Q12:
1. What war did the Axis powers lose?
2. In what war were the Axis powers defeated?
3. 
