The British Empire and the Second World WarIn 1939 Hitler went to war not just with Great Britain; he also went to war with the whole of the British Empire, the greatest empire that there had ever been. In the years since 1945 that empire has disappeared, and the crucial fact that the British Empire fought together as a whole during the war has been forgotten. All the parts of the empire joined the struggle and were involved in it from the beginning, undergoing huge changes and sometimes suffering great losses as a result. The war in the desert, the defence of Malta and the Malayan campaign, and the contribution of the empire as a whole in terms of supplies, communications and troops, all reflect the strategic importance of Britain's imperial status. Men and women not only from Australia, New Zealand and India but from many parts of Africa and the Middle East all played their part. Winston Churchill saw the war throughout in imperial terms. The British Empire and the Second World War emphasises a central fact about the Second World War that is often forgotten. |
From inside the book
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... overseas expansion on their doorsteps . The battlefields themselves were decided by Britain's imperial history , whether on the sea routes of the Atlantic and the Indian Ocean , in the skies above Iraq and Malta , the deserts of North ...
... overseas expansion . The Second World War was again to see men from north of the border to the fore on battlefields from Europe to Egypt to Hong Kong , as well as imperial units with distinctly Scottish lineage such as South Africa's ...
... overseas battle fronts . The Empire defined Britain's participation in a global war that was an experi- ence of profound significance for colonial societies and economies the world over . The reason why this was so is not difficult to ...
... overseas connections and responsibilities . King George ( along with his brother , Edward VIII , during his short reign ) , had pioneered royal touring since his youth and visited all of the Dominions as well as dozens of the colonies ...
... overseas colonies plucked from its prostrate enemies . Italy would be master of the Mediterranean and Middle East , at least in terms of the size of its territorial holdings , once it had been able to appropriate British and French ...
Contents
1 | |
11 | |
21 | |
41 | |
5 The Atlantic | 53 |
6 The Caribbean | 77 |
7 The Mediterranean | 97 |
8 Iraq Iran and Syria | 145 |
11 The Islands of the Indian Ocean | 307 |
12 India and Burma | 351 |
13 SouthEast Asia and the Far East | 405 |
14 Australia and New Zealand | 463 |
15 The Pacific | 513 |
16 Epilogue | 525 |
Notes | 535 |
Bibliography | 561 |