Post by Tristan Herman on Jul 18, 2012 17:32:10 GMT
"We shall go on to the end. We shall fight in France, we shall fight on the seas and oceans, we shall fight with growing confidence and growing strength in the air, we shall defend our island, whatever the cost may be. We shall fight on the beaches, we shall fight on the landing grounds, we shall fight in the fields and in the streets, we shall fight in the hills; we shall never surrender."
---Prime Minister Winston S. Churchill, addressing the British Empire on the war in Europe
Of all the participants in the second World War, the British peoples and the territories of the Empire are easily the greatest and most shining example of perseverance. However, the Empire entered the war as, perhaps, the least prepared of the major powers to fight a full-scale modern conflict. His majesty's armies were nothing if not ill-equipped and underfunded for the conflict that came upon them.
But make no mistake, the British were nowhere near ready to capitulate the menacing German Reich. On the contrary, it would be more accurate to say that the word "surrender" was practically banned from the spoken word. It was a concept that no one could come to realize. Throughout endless and brutal enemy bombing campaigns that targeted civilians, infrastructure, and industry. Despite bloody, scathing battle in the air. Even as the last free nations of Europe quickly succumbed to the massive German army, and the British became the sole surviving nation to escape the grasps of the Nazis, they refused submission.
The Empire entered the war formally on the first of September, 1939 as the Wehrmacht's Panzer divisions rolled across the Polish border. France jumped to the the country's aid as well, although the republic's fate was sealed in her inability to prepare for war, believing that both the treaty of Versailles and the Maginot line would stop a German invasion. The former was ignored, and the latter simply circumvented through an invasion of Luxembourg, Belgium, and the Netherlands/Holland. It took less than a year for the four countries to fall.
Up until nineteen-forty-two, the British maintained a more or less defensive strategy, trying its best to maintain overseas holdings and defend her allies in India and the Far East (Australia, the Philippines, Malaysia, etc). Not to mention the grueling battle for control of the skies over England, and the battle for control of precious oil fields in North Africa and the Middle East. Not to mention, control of North Africa allowed for a springboard into Italy and further naval control of the Mediterranean.
With the entry of the United States into the war, and assistance from her Canadian brethren across the pond, Great Britain participated in the Normandy landings, and helped lead the charge back into mainland Europe, eventually crushing the Third Reich.
Along with the other Allied factions, Great Britain received an occupation zone in Germany after the war, squaring off against the Soviets in the eventual cold war with other Allied countries.
If you have further questions or inquiries on Great Britain's actions in the second World War, post below, and they will be answered/included in this guide.
