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. |
From inside the book
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... Japan brought the war suddenly to the doorstep of Ceylon and engulfed Malaya and the great ' fortress ' of Singapore , in which so many hollow inter - war security hopes had reposed . Losses to Japan also escalated the demand for ...
... Japan . It was just that , as a sated power , recovering from the First World War and the effects of the depres- sion , with a population that would not hear of another war and that elected governments only too pleased to translate this ...
... Japanese capital ships fell from 20:10 to 15 : 9 . Working with these figures , if Britain had to retain six battleships in home waters to deal with the German threat , there would only be nine to send to deter Japan in the Far East ...
... Japan in the Far East , simultaneously . But politically Britain was not in a position to devote massive sums to rearmament at a time when it was supposed to be setting a global example in the other direction . It was heads or tails ...
... Japan declared war . Unfortunately for the British , although Italy was being destroyed as a political and military power in Africa during the winter of 1940-41 , when chances of an early knockout looked reasonable , the Germans ...
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 |