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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... became a presence in peoples lives , through official propaganda , the media and educational and work environments . ' Hitler ' became a bogeyman figure , his name invoked in order to cajole naughty children . With palm kernel ...
... became the head- quarters and assembly point for the British imperial task force formed to invade Vichy Madagascar . South Africa , along with Ceylon , became an important repair and maintenance facility for warships and merchant ...
... became the preferred and cheapest method of projecting British power in its Middle Eastern domains . " 7 Thus Aden , like Iraq and Trans - Jordan , became an Air Command in 1927. With the end of Indian rule in 1937 , Aden became a crown ...