Free World (World War II)

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For other uses see Free world (disambiguation)

Although the term Free World had its vogue during the Cold War, it had been used before, at least occasionally, to refer to the nations fighting against the Axis Powers in the Second World War. Such use may have included the Soviet Union by implication.

One of the earliest uses of the term Free World as a politically significant term occurs in Frank Capra's World War II propaganda film series Why We Fight. In Prelude to War, the first film of that series, the "free world" is portrayed as a white planet, dramatically contrasted with the black planet that is the "slave world," in the words of the narration. The film depicts the free world as the Western Hemisphere, led by the United States and Western Europe, and the slave world as the Eastern Hemisphere, dominated by Nazi Germany and the Japanese Empire. The films portray the Soviet Union as an ally of the "Free World", which it was, from the perspective of nations fighting Germany in World War II.