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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... China in 1937 drew the British territories of South - East Asia and the Far East into a growing regional conflict long before the British Empire became involved in the Second World War . Given China's proximity , and the large Chinese ...
... China had gone for good . The relationship between Britain and China as allies was always a difficult one , China , on the one hand , undervalued Britain's contribution against the Japanese in Burma and was determined to resist the ...
... China sections of SOE and its American counterpart were ' like the Shanghai Club in exile ' , SOE also being said to ... China , especially in the light of America's economic power and its attitude towards China and Chiang Kai - shek ...