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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... Colonial Office . It was administered by the Foreign Office and a specialist Sudan Political Service . The New Hebrides was a Condominium jointly ruled by Britain and France , with an appointee of the King of Spain refereeing disputes ...
... Colonial Office initiative was launched to defend the Empire from Amer- ican encroachment and to persuade Americans that the British Empire was not a nefarious threat that needed to be swept away along with the dictators . ' The war ...
... colonial governments the world over . The shipyards of America , Australia , Britain and Canada worked tirelessly to ... Office regularized the position and created the Maritime Anti - Aircraft Regiment of the Royal Artillery ( Maritime ...
... colonial system that had never before had the same pressing need to talk to ... Office , for example , financed a Moslem centre in Cardiff , a mosque in ... Colonial Office was ' the mobilization of all the potential resources of the ...
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 |