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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... effort , such as the intelligence - gathering operations centred on Bletchley and the activities of the Special Operations Executive ( SOE ) , also depended on base facilities in the Empire and the wider world . British imperial forces ...
... effort , a massive strain was placed on the imperial system and upon the fundamental bulwark of local political cooperation and popular acquiescence on which the Empire had come to rest . It was always likely , once Germany , Italy and ...
... effort not to provoke Japan , whilst trying to do at least something to help China . This of course was a tightrope in itself , as aid to China , such as supplying arms via Hong Kong or the newly - opened Burma Road , deeply offended ...
... effort to reach that pitch of power , led ultimately to the Empire's demise . The British Empire had had opportunities to rehearse for truly global warfare on numerous occasions since the Seven Years ' War , and to develop an adminis ...
... 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 war effort , by virtue of their size and resources , was 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 |