The Axis powers (Germany, Japan, Italy) were on the losing side at the end of World War II; but how successful were they at the height of their success?
I came across a stunning statistic that at their maximum extent during the war, Japan ruled 20% of the world's population, and Germany ruled 13% (reference see this video, from 2:30 - Italy and its empire was not mentioned, but would need to be added).
This means that - during the course of WWII, more than one third of the world's population was ruled by either Japan or Germany!
I found this a very surprising, indeed stunning, statistic; which shows just how very successful the Axis powers were, before their defeat.
