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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... exports inevitably also decided the way in which Britain's enemies sought to defeat it , most notably by seeking to cut the sea routes on which Britain depended . London , the nerve centre of a global Empire , had to coordinate the war ...
... exports to Britain and the provisions of the Lend - Lease Bill came fully on stream in 1941 , Commonwealth production was invaluable , and throughout the war troops , food and raw mate- rials from across the Empire and Commonwealth were ...
... export , and food to feed the home population , required the large - scale mobilization of the civilian population , as did construction of military facilities as enlarged garrisons and naval and air forces proliferated . The invasion ...
... export , and to increase the production of other commodities needed for the war effort . Thus chiefs used their traditional powers in Bechuanaland to get people - male and female - to contribute agricultural labour to the warlands ...
... limit within the sterling area during the war , without exporting goods in compensation , and the Crown Colonies lent Britain the whole of their currency reserves . In 1941 the Colonial Secretary , Lord Moyne , sent THE HOME FRONT 47.
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 |