In order to explain the extent to which World War II was a war against global domination, this essay will attempt to present and evaluate evidence that takes into account how the world's territory was divided before the start of the war and the interests of the Allied and Axis Powers in securing the world's territory. Furthermore, this essay will attempt to demonstrate that generally accepted views of World War II do not accurately represent what actually happened during the war by presenting evidence to suggest that the end of the Holocaust was not considered a priority by the political leaders of the Allied Powers. In the years before World War II, global dominance in terms of area and population had been largely assured by the Allied Powers. The term Allied Powers refers to all countries or states opposed to Germany, but the main and most powerful Allied countries were Great Britain, France, Russia and the United States of America. In 1921, the British Empire was home to almost a quarter of the world's land mass and about a quarter of the world's population. Britain built its empire by claiming foreign territories through invasion and colonialism and its lands stretched from Europe to the Americas, Africa and Asia. The French empire was at its peak between 1919 and 1939 and at that time claimed approximately 8.5% of the world's landmass. France had also built its empire through invasion and colonialism and had territories in South America, the Caribbean, Africa, Asia and the Middle East. Russia (at the time known as the USSR) held approximately one-sixth of the world's land mass. Russia initially supported the Axis powers, but after Hitler invaded Russia in a surprise strike, Russia joined Poland's middle of the paper. Chamberlain's response was that Britain would declare war on Germany if it attacked Poland, but because Chamberlain had handed over Czechoslovakia so easily, Hitler did not believe he would actually declare war. Hitler sent his troops to Poland in September 1939, and Britain immediately declared war on Germany. The Allied and Axis powers were involved in negotiations and conflicts for control of world territory and territories belonging to smaller, less powerful nations and made decisions without regard for the consequences for the people living there. Winston Churchill (British Prime Minister 1940–1945) had openly supported appeasement in other situations and expressed approval of dictatorship and fear of communism, but he was not willing to appease the Nazis and did not want to negotiate with them at any price.