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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... once it had been able to appropriate British and French territories . Japan's resource - rich eastern empire would stretch from northern China to South - East Asia and the East Indies , built on the wreckage of centuries of British ...
... once . So Mountbatten's plan for an amphibious fleet assault on the Andamans , known as Operation Buccaneer , was stillborn and Allied conferences in Cairo and Tehran finally ended the plan to invade the islands . ( Stalin's insis ...
... once the war had ended , once the superpowers had arisen and once South Asia had achieved independence . We must also guard against telescoping time . In real time , 1945 was a world away from 1955 , as 1955 was from 1960. The ...