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
Results 6-10 of 91
... Italy's blatantly illegal aggression . Britain could not respond effectively , however , simply for fear that Italian ill will would threaten prime imperial interests in the eastern Mediterranean , and perhaps lead to the loss of ...
Ashley Jackson. Royal Navy was quite capable of pulverizing the Italian navy , and , by closing the Suez Canal to Italian vessels , Britain could have destroyed Italy's ability to rein- force and supply its army in Abyssinia . There was ...
... Italian and Japanese aggression and trouble - making were determined by imperial defence concerns and the unwill ... Italy in 1935–36 , at the Dominions Conference of 1937 South Africa favoured neutrality in a future war and Canada ...
... Italian soldiers off to Abyssinia . Baden - Powell told his young audience that Italy had nearly gone to war with Britain because of the latter's opposition to Mussolini's Abyssinian invasion : Had she done so , we should have stopped ...
... Italian Soma- liland , in Abyssinia , in Greece , in Crete , in Iraq , in Syria , in Iran , in Malaya , in the Dutch East Indies , in Burma [ and ] in Arakan.33 The most visible contribution of the Empire to the air war was the ...
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 |