In 1938 , at the outbreak of World War II , which had a larger population , the Western Allies ( United Kingdom , France , Poland and British Dominions ) or the European Axis ( Germany and Italy )
It generally includes the British Empire , the United States , France and various other European and Latin American countries , but excludes China , the Russian Empire and the Soviet Union , and the Kingdom of Serbia and Kingdom of Montenegro and their successor state , Yugoslavia due to different economic , geographic and political circumstances , some of which arose after the wars .