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. |
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... Colonial Office responsibility and thus a part of the Colonial Empire . This Colonial Empire consisted primarily of Crown Colonies and Protectorates . India was a separate imperial entity , an empire within an empire , ruled by a ...
... colony , but not one ruled by the 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 ...
... Colonial Empire . This is not surprising , given the lengthy delay before Britain's great power allies came onto the scene . For nearly two years the American alliance remained strictly non - combatant and , after a little over six ...
... colonial army that it was thought would soon be needed when French and British colonies began to fall like ripe fruits from the African empire tree.5 The British government even considered handing over some African colonies to Germany ...
... colonial powers could muster the strength to return . The war effort of India and the Dominions dominate accounts of the Second World War that give space to the imperial contribution . This is not surprising . Their contribution to 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 |