On 1 November 1936, Benito Mussolini gave a speech in Milan regarding the Italian-German relationship. The New York Times ran a translation of the speech the following day, which spawned the popular use of the term Axis: "This Berlin-Rome protocol is not a barrier, it is rather an axis around which all European States animated by a desire for peace may collaborate on troubles..."

The name stuck even before the formal Tripartite Pact military alliance, with American headlines like AXIS POWERS SIGN TEN-YEAR ALLIANCE TO REMAKE EUROPE and AXIS POWERS AT VENICE run in the New York Times (and other major papers).

From the outset of the war, "Allies" was the de facto name for all those aligned with France or Britain. There was no formal declaration of "We are the Allies", and in fact they officially became the "United Nations" in a declaration in 1942, a theme repeated in many propaganda posters, but the "Allies" stuck in period reporting.