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
... significance or meaning for many of them . As the war progressed , more Britons had cause to contemplate the Empire , as sons or husbands wrote from distant jungles or islands , as children were evacuated to Canada , as hundreds of ...
... significantly to alter the map of the world . As Sir Halford Mackinder , a pioneer of geopolitics , predicted , a ... significant frailties vis - à - vis their opponents , particularly the armies of Germany and Japan . The Indian Army ...
... significant amounts of military hardware , from armoured cars in India and South Africa to bombers in Canada , Bren gun carriers in New Zealand and minesweepers in Australia . Early in the war these imperial sources of armaments were ...
... blind to the importance of the Empire during the war , or of the war's significance for the Empire's future . Winston Churchill was acutely aware of the imperial nature of Britain's fight , and the Empire was rarely IMPERIAL WAR 25.
... significant part in the fighting and in providing base facilities for American forces . Iran was invaded in order to shore up Britain's position in the Middle East and secure the oil supplies upon which its war effort depended . 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 |