Why Britain DIDN'T stand alone against Nazi Germany

[@MBCGRS]

New Zealand declared war on NAZI Germany the same day Britain did. Our Primeminster stood on the steps of parliament and declared 'Where She goes we go'.... Britian was never alone.

[@marksudlow5083]

Yes, and thank God for the anzacs.. this is why they will always be my family ..

[@andyrob3259]

Oh dear another 5 year old. Look at a map. The term ‘stand alone’ did not mean they didn’t have troops from other areas fighting with them. It meant they were the only nation standing right next door to a facist or occupied Europe 21 miles away. They were the last bit of Democratic Europe apart from Ireland- who were neutral- still standing. Jesus the intelligence of people these days.

[@nigelraporam6917]

@@andyrob3259 you speak about intelligence yet you say ireland and britain were only Democratic nations left have you ever heard of Switzerland, Sweden or Iceland

[@ahorsewithnoname643]

@@BLRSharpLight That is what I understood. New Zealand was at war with Germany before Britain due to being 12 hours ahead of Britain.

[@bnipmnaa]

@@nigelraporam6917 That's rather disingenuous of you... Switzerland and Sweden were in no position to challenge the Nazis, and Britain "invaded" Iceland to protect North Atlantic convoy routes.

[@roberteastwood6937]

Polish and Czech fighter pilots were not from "the Empire" but their contribution was also vital.

[@christinemcclymont269]

Absolutely and after fighting heroically in Middle East, Battle of Britain and Monte Cassino to name a few. Then they were not allowed to march in the VE day parade to appease Stalin. I always feel Uncomfortable about how the brave Poles were treated afterthe war.

[@jk9685]

100% this gets massively over looked!

[@davidwallace4416]

Polish & Czech pilots get all the credit they deserve now and have done for ages, Especially at Battle of Britain Anniversary's....

[@darrenlewis3501]

Britain stood alone in the European theatre when every other country had fallen. If we had of fallen in Europe the war would of had a completely different outcome as Britain was a launch pad to attack Germany throughout the war. Yes we had supplies from around the world but none the less were still alone in Europe taking everything the the Germans could throw at us.

[@dovetonsturdee7033]

@@christinemcclymont269 Indeed. Clem Attlee and the Labour Government have never received the criticism they deserved for their betrayal of the Poles they handed over to genial Uncle Joe.

[@rb239rtr]

Just after Dunkirk, the only completely equipped army division in England was a Canadian division

[@davidgray3321]

Absolutely, the narrator talks as if the British hadn’t thought of resisting the Japanese in the east, they were busy, fighting a Germany that had prepared since the 1920s and had a huge initial advantage, and Italy , and Japan. Quiet a long list.

[@lyndoncmp5751]

There were over a million British Army troops in Britain after Dunkirk. Let's not try and make it seem only the Canadians could have done anything.

[@dscott6629]

@@lyndoncmp5751 Only some 300k trained troops, but all without heavy weapons or equipment. His point is well made, as well as well known AND acknowledged in Churchill's memoirs. WW I showed how well masses of men fair when thrown against machine gun and artillery fire (hint: not well).

[@dovetonsturdee7033]

@@dscott6629 In point of fact, the British army actually recovered quite rapidly after Dunkirk & Aerial, to the extent that by August it was possible to send a large troop convoy to North Africa. By 17 September, there were 34.5 divisions in Britain, of which 20 were allocated to coastal defence, with 14.5 in reserve.

[@eagleowl833]

Sad but true

[@Trebor74]

Britain made the choice to stand,when loss seemed inevitable. Seems pretty praiseworthy.

[@28pbtkh23]

Absolutely. It’s a vital point often overlooked. If the government had sued for peace after the fall of France, the Nazis could have poured many more divisions into Operation Barbarossa, along with more Luftwaffe squadrons. The outcome against the USSR could have been different.

[@michaelmayo3127]

Stand against what? Hitler didn't want war with the UK. Remember the UK and France declared war in Germany.The invasion of France was a pre-emptive move by the Germans.

[@phil8437]

Well said

[@ieuanmorgan5110]

Seems like everyone else is a bit ashamed and embarrassed that they gave in

[@Mister.Weatherbee]

@@michaelmayo3127 Hitler invaded Poland, which had a defence pact with Britain. Not hard to understand. Stop defending Hitler.

[@MillsyLM]

It was fairly well known that there were pilots from other nations (Australia, NZ, Canada, Poland, Czechia, US) to name a few flying in the RAF in the Battle Of Britain when I was at secondary school in the early 80's. It boils down to your own personal definition of what "Stands Alone" means. Personally I've always read that it meant the land mass of Britain rather than the people contained within.

[@whitewolf-xf9ui]

Sabaton aces in exile intensifies

[@van_lichenstein8171]

I believe 1 in 5 RAF pilots were non British.

[@briancarton1804]

That is not how PM Winston Churchill saw it. In his VE day victory speech on the BBC World service he boasted as to how Britain stood alone and criticised the Irish free state (less than 20 years old at the time) for not joining the fight , going on to say if it was not for the friendliness of Northern Ireland we may have perished. In a well flaged reply on Irish radio which Mr Churchill and possibly a few thousand more people in Britain listened to , the Irish leader Eamon De Valera commented on how proud Mr Churchill was of standing alone for a couple of years where as Ireland stood alone against its overbearing bullying neighbour for hundreds of years. Winston Churchill on hearing this said " he got me there. Both speeches are well worth a listen, I don't know if they are on line , I just have some old recordings.

[@squirepraggerstope3591]

@@briancarton1804 TRASH

[@anthonyeaton5153]

Churchill said we stand alone present tense. Britain was the only unconquered nation in Europe. He didn’t say We stood alone, past tense.

[@seanlander9321]

In 1942 Britain turned on Australia when all of the Commonwealth was ordered to refuse Australia any assistance in its war against Japan. Only New Zealand refused and completed the ANZAC Treaty with Australia which omitted Britain. General MacArthur was affronted by Britain’s treachery and ensured that in the Japanese Occupation and the Korean War that Britain (and the other Commonwealth countries) was under Australian command. The end of Empire had truly arrived when Britain’s military was stripped of command by a tiny country at the end of the world.

[@starsailor49]

The Royal Navy was largely intact in 1940, any invasion would have met stiff resistance. Germany failed to subdue the RAF making a proposed invasion almost impossible.

[@michaelmayo3127]

A stiff resistance to what? RAF fighter command was on its knees and thus pose little resistant when Hitler changed his tactic from demolish fighter air fields to bombing UK cities.

[@grolfe3210]

And we would have been twice the size if the French had ordered their fleet to our ports before they surrendered.

[@steveday4797]

@@michaelmayo3127 and the reason why Hitler changed his mind was because churchill had the RAF bomb Berlin, p***ing hitler off big time

[@garrymartin6474]

@@michaelmayo3127 Its clearly demonstrable that the RAF won the battle of Britain and Germany never achieved anything like air superiority over the Channel or UK air space

[@granthughes6738]

So you are saying the contribution of the empire wasn't crucial to the eventual victory?

[@randomobserver8168]

As a Canadian I always just assumed that they meant the whole empire when they said "Britain". Or at least the empire was an adjunct thereto. The old dominions were sort of independent/ish [Canada at least had ratified the Statute of Westminster, though others had not], but same Crown, same nationality [British Subject], and not yet anything like a fully developed sense of being separate nations. "Britain stood alone" means "no foreign allies", and that's true for the time. I have a coworker who get really bent out of shape about British boosterism of this sort, but to me it's meh for the aforementioned reasons. Plus, the old country did have more people than all the original 4 dominions combined. And was the only large part of the empire to be a "frontline state". At least at the start. Only the Indians have a partial grievance here. And nobody ever really forgot them.

[@dscott6629]

Exactly. In WW I all the achievements of the Canadian Corps were announced to the world as "British" victories. All the same it's not hard to see why the Empire fell apart so quickly after the war.

[@paulchandler6575]

@@dscott6629 the empire did not fall apart,prime minister Clement Atlee and his government were anti imperial and allowed any territory that wished to,a vote on indepence ,if they voted to leave they were free to do so,no other empire dissolved itself

[@AudieHolland]

*random observer* Come on, you really mean to say India had a lower population than the United Kingdom in 1939?

[@georgepantazis141]

Australia was there,and on the front in the Pacific.🇭🇲the Rats.

[@persilious81]

​@@AudieHolland He said "original 4 dominions", i.e. Canada, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa. India did not have self-governing Dominion status

[@stevenandrewedwardsedwards3080]

2.5 million Indians may be more and all volunteers. Largest volunteer army in the war.

[@GorgeDawes]

Largest volunteer army in history.

[@AudieHolland]

They were hoping this would allow them their independence after the war was won.

[@garymathison8361]

@Khuaikhema Hnamte sorry but the Indian leaders played a part in that too. Basically they did not trust each. Nerhu got what he demanded. Whether he really wanted it is another matter.

[@georgepantazis141]

For Japan too in the Pacific.🇭🇲

[@sailendrayalamanchili4126]

Many of the people from rural India who enlisted were not really volunteers. They were coerced by the adminstration, who assigned man power quotas for the village head men. Many villages in the Punjab were stripped of most of their able bodied youth in this process. Another advantage of using Indian soldiers was the smaller quantity of rations required by them , as many of them were vegetarian and did not consume meat which was in short supply.

[@solreaver83]

I think ots down to the intent of the message. I as an Australian have always seen it as Britain being the last European nation to survive. Not that it meant they did it without help as the commonwealth nations generally recognised the term british meant all of us in the empire.

[@55vma]

Err! No. My father served in the AIF during the Battle of Britain. In the 18th Australian Infantry Brigade. One thing that honked him, his mates and, family and friends was the lack of recognition of Australian successes. While British Army units and formations were identified, the AIF was lumped as 'British '. Australia, as well as NZ, Canada and others were sovereign independent nations. We declared war on Germany. Britain did not do it for us. We are fiercely independent so why was it too difficult for official communiques and media to identify our forces as Australian, New Zealand, Canadian etc? 🇦🇺🐨🇦🇺

[@tacticalrobloxiansunited7441]

@@55vma you weren’t independent at the time you were dominions and the war deceleration came from the monarch which headed the entire empire as prime ministers don’t have the power to declare war and still don’t to this very day.

[@iiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii7738]

@@55vma Umm Australia was still a British dominion, so whilst yes your Prime Minister chose to also declare war in support of Britain, it’s not unreasonable to list all of the troops from Britain and the Empire as British

[@persilious81]

@@55vma We all appreciate your point but it's a bit of hair spitting. In short, there was the collective British against the Nazis (or Axis after Italy declared war). What's in a name, everyone at the time knew what was meant.

[@ausbrum]

@@iiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii7738 FACT & HISTORY not your thing, apparently? The Statute of Westminster which preceded the outbreak of war in1939 made it clear that the "dominions' were sovereign

[@peterswatton7400]

Due to the international date line, New Zealand technically declared war on Germany before Britain.

[@o00nemesis00o]

No, that's not how it works

[@iainhunneybell]

Would NZ not be behind as NZ is GMT +13 and so in local time, “at the same time” is 13 hours after Britain

[@tonylove4800]

@@iainhunneybell 12 not 13.

[@debayanpal3181]

@@iainhunneybell NZ is towards the east of UK...NZ's time is 12 hours ahead of UK...

[@shanemcdowall]

New Zealand was 10 and a half hours ahead of Britain. Our government found out just before midnight that Britain had been at war since 9:30 pm local time, so our declaration of war was backdated to 9:30pm.

[@Artur_M.]

Look closely at the shoulder of the woman pilot from the Air Transport Auxiliary at 8:32. You can see 'POLAND' written there (I think she actually might be Jadwiga Piłsudska, daughter of Józef Piłsudski himself). It's a remainder that hundreds of thousands of exiled men and women from the occupied European nations also contributed to the defense of Britain and the ultimate victory in many ways. One important example that comes to my mind (aside from many Polish ones) is the Norwegian merchant fleet.

[@viewfromthehillswift6979]

And the Czechs in the RAF. Google Jiri Osolsobe, for example.

[@michaelmayo3127]

The Poles also had a crack at Monte Casino, Churchill's Norway blunder and they fielded a large force at the D-Day landings.To boot, Polish pilots had the highest enemy kill rate during the so called Battle of Britain. In fact they were the only experienced combat pilots that the UK had during the first stages of the conflict.

[@Artur_M.]

Of course, there is a lot of other examples. A good one is the siege of Tobruk (10 April - 27 November 1941), defended most famously by the Anzac troops, but also by Indians, a whole Polish brigade (the Independent Carpathian Rifle Brigade) and a Czechoslovak battalion.

[@tomben6180]

@@michaelmayo3127 The latter part of your post is untrue. 303 squadron did have the highest hit rate and was a Polish unit but only 7.5% of all hits were made by Polish fighters, you mean to tell me the rest were made by untrained fighters? Not that we’re not immensely grateful for their contribution, we are, it’s just “so called Battle of Britain” is an insult to the British fighters who went up day after day to fight the Luftwaffe. All those who defended our island should be honoured.

[@crickcrot]

If Britain And America hadn't faced down the Soviet Union with Armed forces stationed in Europe and then bankrupted them Poland would not be free now and we are still there to put a check on Russia.. and we took in nearly a million of your unemployed.

[@everynamewastakenomg]

Surely this is common knowledge? I thought Britain "standing alone" was hyperbole in reference to Europe after the fall of France.

[@AudieHolland]

You can find a dramatic propaganda image of a lone Tommy standing atop the Cliffs of Dover, stating to the stormy skies: "Very well, alone!" Whenever the British politicians and military referred to 'Britain,' their audience were not hearing "British Empire."

[@HellStr82]

no..the idiots actually thought that. and still to this day they think that

[@stevenrickett4333]

Britain standing alone is and was obviously true and you are obviously wrong. The term Britain included the empire and yes the remnants of some defeated and occupied countries fled to Britain but that doesn't alter the fact. Yes there was trade with USA. Before, after and during the war. That "dependency" is part of normal life. You are dependant on Tesco's.

[@jecos1966]

I always heard the phrase Britain and Its Empire stand alone

[@phil3114]

Even that would be wrong. Not talk about an entity including 25% of the world making the tag "alone" worthwhile to begin with.

[@studentaviator3756]

@@phil3114 I think the idea is that Britain was the only power who still opposed Germany. So stood alone.

[@lostonearth7856]

@@studentaviator3756 Well the only European one in Europe who was not dead.

[@studentaviator3756]

@@lostonearth7856 From June 1940 - June 1941. Britain was the only major power at war with the Axis.

[@HellStr82]

@@studentaviator3756 you mean except the russians... right? so where did britain exactlly stood alone mate?

[@Inkling777]

Don't forget the enormous Norwegian merchant fleet who, with their country occupied, cast their lot with the British. Also, it's not fair to say that Britain had broken its promises to defend SE Asia from Japan. It would have loved to have done so, but lacked the resources. It's ridiculous to say it prioritized its own survival over theirs because, if it had not survived, it would not have aided and eventually freed them from both brutal Japanese rule and its own colonial rule.

[@jonathanwilde5337]

Oh didn't you know Britain was happy to give up colonies? They thought it was grand and it doesn't matter they were fending off a Nazi invasion.... This video has so much spin on it haha

[@davedrewett2196]

In what way did Britain help free Australia and New Zealand from brutal Japanese rule in World War Two ? Britain knew as soon as the Japanese were on the Malay peninsula that it couldn’t defend Singapore. The defences were set up originally for a sea invasion and had nothing to deal with a land invasion. Yet it continued to deceive its Australian allies and allowed a whole Australian division ( the 8th) to be taken captive because it wanted that ally to leave its forces in North Africa for Britain’s empire interests ( Suez Canal to India shipping route) instead of them being moved to Australia for its home defence. Australia realised at that point that Britain was not ever going to help Australia so she provided the US the use of her unsinkable aircraft carrier mainland in the south west pacific theatre of operations.

[@nigelraporam6917]

@@davedrewett2196 the English do have a habit of caring only for their own interests that's why they let germany swallow up austria and czechkoslovakia before they were forced to respond

[@hybrit9881]

@@nigelraporam6917 the austrian invasion wasnt violent and britain and france were desperate to settle the situation with diplomacy, you have to bare in mind that just 20 years earlier britain and france had suffered huge loss of life from WW1. This is a bad example because it was the most reasonable thing to do.

[@hybrit9881]

@@davedrewett2196 the fall of singapore wasnt deliberate and is considered one of the greatest millitary disasters in british history. They werent expecting the japanese to invide over land due to the difficulty of the terrain.

[@kirishima638]

Why is Ireland shown in blue as part of the British Empire? Ireland is/was a completely independent nation and was neutral in the war.

[@operationcreation5583]

They were in the commonwealth however, they were actually the only commonwealth nation to not get involved in the war

[@callumatkins6891]

@@operationcreation5583 shame on Ireland tbh didn’t join the cause to fight for democracy and freedom with all the other allied nations

[@operationcreation5583]

@@callumatkins6891 I do think that Ireland should have joined in the fight against facism, but they were a very poor country at the time and if they had joined might have suffered greatly at the hands of German bombers.

[@williamlanger9229]

@Scott Johnson It is smart to not fight in a war if you believe that your side will win whether you fight or not or if you think that your contribution will be essentially meaningless anyway. saves one's own blood and treasure. People often criticize the US for waiting too long to join both world wars, but they were richer following the wars because they waited to see where the wars would go.

[@yoeltogarmikael3278]

@@callumatkins6891 you mean anglosphere democracy? yeah the most pure and true democracy in the world

[@MrBagpipes]

Britain's lack of gratitude towards Empire people's for saving them is breath taking.

[@CuckFinn]

Cry

[@davesimms8825]

After 1931 Canada was an independent country.

[@張博倫-r2j]

Yep, as a result of the Statute of Westminster 1931 act, along with Australia, New Zealand, and south Africa made them all independent countries, so Churchill had to ask politely for help

[@jwadaow]

@@bfc3057 That's like living in New York and saying you have a foreign city's president as head of state.

[@randalf1126]

They weren’t independent, they were imperial dominions, they governed themselves and had large amounts of autonomy (a little bit like Scotland and Wales in the modern day) but they still were under the British, were obligated to join the war and paid taxes to the British.

[@adamlee2550]

@@bfc3057 It isn't a foreign country's monarch. The queen is the Canadian monarch. The queen is the british monarch. She is no more one than the other. Location doesn't matter.

[@jordanmorris5827]

Canada wasn't fully independent until Canadian Patriation in 1982. Prior to that, Canada could not amend its own constitution without the permission from the British Parliament.

[@gileshalliwell3591]

Interesting that you don’t mention “Lend Lease” and America’s harsh terms for agreeing to help. Also, we were effectively bankrupt in 1940 according to Corelli Barnett in the Collapse of British Power… The opening chapter is worth a read.

[@nickdanger3802]

Interesting that you don't mention Britain stiffed the USA for 4.4 Billion 1934 USD in WW I debt or the USA wrote off 21 Billion 1945 USD of Britains' Lend Lease debt or the USA gave Britain 2.7 Billion USD under the Marshall Plan (ERP) 1948-52. Britain was broke in 1941 because it did not have a Fort Knox type of Treasury with billions in gold. The Bank of England did not become a part of HMG until 1946. In the first 18 months Britain spent just over one Billion USD a month. Less than one third went to the USA and it was for high dollar items like aircraft.

[@bnipmnaa]

The USA operated a "Cash & Carrry" policy in the early years of the war, they required cash payment for war goods or e.g. long leases on naval bases in the Caribbean in exchange for the 50 obsolete destroyers. Lend-Lease didn't really get started until mid-1942.

[@nickdanger3802]

@@bnipmnaa When Britain and France declared war on Germany they were automatically prohibited from buying anything from the USA due to the Neutrality Act. It was amended in November 1939 to allow Cash and Carry and Lend Lease was approved for Britain and Greece in March 1941. So your "years" were actually about 16 months. The first Neutrality Act was passed in 1935 after Britain and France stiffed the USA for WWI debt and it prohibited loans and later the sale of anything to any nation in a declared war. In 1941 the USA shipped approx one million TONS of food to Britain and British aircraft carriers, battleships, cruisers and merchant ships were repaired and upgraded in US yards and Lend Leased ten Lake class cutters and one escort carrier. The USA seized 105 Axis and neutral ships and made them available to Britain.

[@nickdanger3802]

"we were effectively bankrupt in 1940" SPAIN (BRITISH LOAN) 22 April 1941 Mr. Mander asked the Minister of Economic Warfare what action he is taking to prevent the export of large quantities of iron ore from Bilbao to Germany; and whether this question was taken into consideration when the recent loan of £2,500,000 by Great Britain to Spain was made? api.parliament.uk/historic-hansard/commons/1941/apr/22/spain-british-loan

[@lyndoncmp5751]

Lend Lease didn't become practically effective until the USA was in the war. By then, Britain was no longer the only power against the European Axis. Reverse Lend Lease later provided the US with about 30%, of its requirements in the the European theatre of operations 1942-44 at least.

[@Laura55sere]

I don’t think we ever thought we were alone , our allies were plastered all over the newsreels of the time, we had a lot of weapon help from America and it took 60 years to pay them back.

[@bl00dhoney]

you might think that but many people today do and they're not watching newsreels from 80 years ago

[@LBGirl1988]

And we (USA) were glad to help. I’m so sorry that we came in almost three years later. The US had lost too many in the first war over European power struggles. Parents didn’t want to have their children die over a cousins war. (WWII clearly was not a cousins war but at first blush, the average American was not sure.) But I hope Britain knows that the US would have joined the war eventually no matter what. No matter how dismissive the Imperial War Museum is of our support of Britain before we came into the war, the US loves Britain and we were supporting those plants and sending our industrialists into Canada to assist you all before we worked out lend/lease. But I am sorry that we came in December 1941. I wish that FDR would have pushed for a program not only to help you all sooner but enter sooner. And despite what these anti-American videos from the IWM seem to imply, Churchill and leaders living it at the time knew that the US was your greatest support. And happy we were and always will be to support Britain.

[@hitime2405]

@@nickdanger3802 wow, they wrote off that much, what a fantastic Allie and friend, I am so grateful, thank you USA!!!!!

[@Poliss95]

@@LBGirl1988 There was no guarantee that the US would ever enter the war against Germany. The America First Committee had a very large following and they wanted to keep the USA out of any foreign wars. Roosevelt only got elected because he promised to keep America out of the war. America didn't declare war on Germany on December 7th. It wasn't until December 11th, when Germany declared war on the USA, that the USA joined the war against Germany.

[@CheapSquierBassPlayer]

@@LBGirl1988 It wasn't three years late, we were never supposed to fight for a foreign nation.

[@shay3355]

New Zealanders/Australians/Canadians : fighting in the comments who helped Britain the most.. Meanwhile African Colonies and India : *That's great*

[@anglojojo]

lol

[@edwardtsoukalidis2071]

Thank you. As a person from the Commonwealth, I have always questioned the assumption that Britain was on its own. There were many from the conquered European nations who managed to make their way to Britain to fight in the various armed services. And then there was Greece that had been fighting the Italians even before 1939. They continued to fight for a few years keeping the Italians busy, before British tactics brought the Germans in invasion force.

[@peterdollins3610]

The Germans were always going to come in when their ally Italy failed & were held by the Greeks.

[@MrDaiseymay]

CHURCHILLS SPEECH WAS THE DAY AFTER THE DUNKIRK MIRACLE, THERE WAS NO, ORGANISED OPPOSITION OF ANY KIND, WE HAD NO--HEAVY GROUND WEAPONS WORTH CONSIDERING. IF IT WEREN'T FOR HITLER LOSING HIS NERVE, AND CALLING OFF THE LUFTWAFFE, , WE'D BE TRULY STUFFED.

[@punkndisorderly2381]

Britain was on it's own, should have been allied with the Germans in ww2 though

[@camrenwick]

Churchill said: "Alone, if necessary" and Britain alone in Europe refused to surrender to Nazism. Britain thought they were the next to be invaded. Of course they expected the help from other nations, but would have fought alone, if need be.

[@jaypalchudasama4040]

2.5 million soldiers bro. Thats is almost the size of Germany's Barbarossa expirement. Without the empire Britain would have died in before America even joins the war

[@umutpiynarr]

@@jaypalchudasama4040 yeah without the BRITISH EMPIRE LMAO

[@rome316ae3]

@@jaypalchudasama4040 nice propaganda. They have large empire so their colonies can fight with them

[@rome316ae3]

@@umutpiynarr nah even without British empire they can win . But u know back then empire were important

[@livethefuture2492]

He also mentions in the very same speech "our empire beyond the seas...will carry on the struggle, until in god's good time the new world with all its power and might will step forward to the rescue and the liberation of the old. (Meaning the United States)"

[@johnpritchard5410]

I recall a 1940 cartoon, in which a soldier says, "Yes, we're alone now, all 500 million of us."

[@jayvpandey]

Just for the record, India was forced into the war without any consultations with the Indians. There were provincial governments, being run with some degree of freedom, at this time in saurabh with the government of India act of 1935.

[@davidhomewood3047]

Britain was alone from a European perspective .The Germans had swept across the continent and it was only Britain that put up a solid defence thanks to the RAF and the Royal Navy . Britain was lucky enough to have an empire that could supply manpower and resources to help in the fight to defend Britain from invasion. Until the US joined Britain stood alone but lets not forget that at that time Britain was an industrial and military superpower with the backing of the empire.

[@rolandreegan3665]

YES..ABSOLUTELY TRUE 🇬🇧🇬🇧🇬🇧🇬🇧🇬🇧🇬🇧🇬🇧🇬🇧🇬🇧🇬🇧👸🇬🇧🇬🇧🇬🇧🇬🇧🇬🇧🇬🇧🇬🇧🇬🇧🇬🇧🇬🇧🇬🇧

[@torbenjohansen6955]

@@rolandreegan3665 LOL hadent it been for the Norwegian Tanker Fleet GB wouldent have had any Petrol in GB. ( Norway had the worlds largest and newest tanker fleet in 1940 and they all joined GB ) hadent it been for that fleet GB wouldent have had any petrol for the Battle of Britain. Also the 2 best RAF fighter squadrons where made up of Polish Pilots. GB wasen't alone back then. they are now but not back then.

[@steveosborne2297]

Yeah alone apart from the entire empire and the free Poles , Czechs , French , Norwegian , Americans and I know of at least one Israeli who were pilots during the Battle of Britain ! Sorry if I’ve missed anyone

[@burtvhulberthyhbn7583]

England was our unsinkable aircraft carrier. The last piece of land in Europe from which to fight the Nazis. The empire kept it afloat just long enough for us Americans to get off our non-interventionist asses and get into the fight.

[@davedrewett2196]

You weren’t fighting on your own you had independent countries helping you with men and resources like Australia , Canada , South Africa , Rhodesia and New Zealand. Also non independent countries like India, Malaysia and many others. So in reality you were supported by other countries.

[@lewis3520]

" British was not alone " "British had the British empire " the fact is if you had any understanding of ww2 u would realize British, along with its empire,it did stand alone but the empire is , at this time British

[@anthonyeaton5153]

Standing alone meant the only country unconquered in almost all of Europe was Britain. Nothing to do with the Empire at the time.

[@anthonyeaton5153]

Lewis Churchill said was amongst the nation's of Europe Britain stood alone unconquered. He said it to boost the morale of the British people and to show defiance. I have studied WW2 for more than 50 years and I lived thru it from 39-45 and was once bombed out.

[@erich2432]

And hardly did anything in Europe apart from Battle of Britain. Lost in Crete, Greece, Leros, Market Garden and Arnhem. Western allies took 3 years to make the drop in France and by that time Soviets already pushed Germans out of the SU to Poland. Britain and US bombed Germany when Germany was already defeated and on its deathbed. Americans did more in Battle of Bulge and Normandy than the Commonwealth. Though German teenagers gave Americans a run for their money in Bulge and defeated Americans in Hürtgen. Western Front was a joke and the "greatest generation" term is overrated. If your prime target is Germany, what's the use of focusing on Africa and Italy? Germany was the leader of axis. Britain did nothing in Europe. The war was over by Kürsk. By February 43, the Germans were retreating from Stalingrad. All Britain did was a wrap up of things. The war would have ended on the same date even without bombing campaigns in Dresden and Hamburg etc. Germany bombed Britain when Britain was still powerful enough to defend its turf. The west prolonged the war with unnecessary campaigns like Africa and Italy when the main command centre was Berlin. Though I respect them for fighting in South East Asia against the Japanese. But, the main priority was Europe and allies would have won the war anyway without Britain. Soviet did the job in Europe.

[@fusionreactor7179]

Lmao Britain=/=the hundreds of millions of people britiain enslaved. Do you even know what a metropole is lmao

[@bluerock4456]

No, it was the British Commonwealth, which had some independent nations on it, such as Canada. The British were merely used to saying the British Empire.

[@Mute040404]

It's a geographical fact that for a while Britain did stand alone (other than neutral European countries) Why do people misinterpret this as 'The British stood alone' which NO ONE said ? There isn't a Brit that doesn't appreciate our Commonwealth cousins coming to protect the mother country & our European allies that joined forces

[@persilious81]

Well said, fully agree

[@persilious81]

@@allstarscope Exactly, wartime debts to USA did not get paid off until into 21st Century. Still, as it's said, US has made up for being late for WW1 and WW2 by starting every one they've been involved in since. except Korea.

[@matthewq4b]

The Neutral European Countries did not stand at all, they stepped aside and chose to let the Nazi's march all over Europe with no intervention.

[@MrSensible2]

Some of us do understand the reality of what happened & will be forever grateful to ALL of those people, from wherever & of whatever skin colour, who helped out in those desperate days. It truly makes me spit to see this country hijacked by vile, obnoxious people who push essentially the same nasty, bigoted views as the people we were fighting against in 1940!

[@Boric78]

Indeed.

[@radiosnail]

Really needs to be said.

[@Asking-cn6wb]

Well said

[@paulwilson2651]

Exactly!

[@michaelmayo3127]

"this country hijacked by vile" So you don't like the Tories?

[@VidarLund-k5q]

Why not mention the 1000 ships strong Norwegian merchant marine that carried 40 percent of the oil needed in the UK during the first year of the war, and vital supplies of all kinds during the duration?

[@richardscanlan3167]

BRITAIN STANDS ALONE - except for having access to the entire Commonwealth - particularly NZ,AUS,CAN,SA,and oc India/Nepal ( Ghurkas). These countries supplied manpower for her military,and food to feed her people.Without these people,Britain probably would have lost.

[@張博倫-r2j]

Plus minerals from SA, Australia, and Canada that were used in ship and aircraft production

[@andyrob3259]

Oh dear another one that must be 5 years old. In those days Britain incorporated the dominions and empire automatically as ‘British’ people. Oh and if you look at the map, no Dominion was actually in danger of invasion at that point by the Nazis - The island of Britain was just 21 miles away.

[@anthonyeaton5153]

O one ever suggested that Britain stood alone for the entire war but for the first-year Britain did when Germany was all conquering.

[@oliverbourne9599]

@@張博倫-r2j They weren't free gifts to us. It was a World war, everybody fought and knew what they were fighting against

[@mann536]

@@張博倫-r2j they were british

[@spaceman6215]

The only Empire where the sun never set, finally saw its sunset in the days shortly following the victory of this terrible war. When all of the strain, debt (from paying for everything they could make, primarily from the USA), bloodshed, and pain all came crashing down at once when the goal of freedom had been achieved. Long live the empire that saved the world. And the one nation that held it all together until the vey end. Behind such an incredible man as Sir Winston Churchill.

[@everettmadsen4265]

Wow....and you guys accuse Americans of being brainwashed jingoists lol

[@wekapeka3493]

Of all the nations of the world it was the British Commonwealth that stood alone. Britain became the refuge for remnant military personnel from defeated European countries who provided crucial support. The Polish need particular mention whose naval units made an epic escape to Britain, its troops who fought at Cassino but most notably RAF 303 (Polish) squadron whose incredible performance during the Battle of Britain was so vital.

[@bobbyjoeyoung2becausesteph194]

All lies and they only stood alone because they lost every battle they were in always running from frontlines got so bad churchill himself accused brits of treachery and betrayal even held back reinforcements so be real because lack of casualties says it all cowards lost nothing in comparison to others

[@veronho1ness]

Britain stood alone as it a country in the whole of Europe, that was neither neutral nor conquered by the German war machine. This a merely playing on the semantics of the word "alone". At that time in history, when the words 'Britain' was evoked in a wartime time situation, it also meant its empire as well.

[@heritage_isimportant7297]

The British Empire "helped propel the allies to victory in 1945. " True - but it was the Soviet Union who defeated the much of the German army . The Battle of Britain and African Campaign stopped the Wehrmacht , but the Battle of Stalingrad was really the turning point during WW II in Europe. Also, the resources of the US were needed to defeat Nazi Germany and Imperial Japan. The Battle of Midway was the turning point in the Pacific defeating a brutal Japanese Empire. The

[@j.b.2263]

The Battle of Britain and North Africa werent on the German agenda they just happened. From the start it was always about expanding Germany eastwards. Germany lost more men at Stalingrand than all the western front.

[@ianbeacham117]

The British had a massive role in the Pacific also

[@Rekaert]

It's decades since I left school, but I was certainly taught the British Empire and Commonwealth generally got stuck in, be it the Aussies and Kiwis, Indians and of course our Canadian friends. Even when Poland was occupied, GB still had Polish soldiers and airmen serving. France of course was in it to the hilt. Even though Ireland remained neutral, tens of thousands Irish joined up and helped out. Hell, we had the Gurkhas getting stuck in, though in fairness that's usually a case of pointing out where the enemy is and then getting out of their way. It was very much a team effort. I always took the "Stood alone" remark as an indication of the war at a point in time to illustrate that it wasn't going well for GB, and the front had reached the channel, putting GB on the back foot. Even then, our friends and allies were very much with us, and it's something that culturally, we've never forgotten and I hope never will.

[@grolfe3210]

While all the points in this film are well made, the "Britain" in "Britain stands alone" at that time would be assumed as "Britain and its empire". Same as Germany and Italy are shown with their empires.

[@inxe8]

Exactly, the understanding would be that should the homeland fall then all imperial properties would fall to the axis powers sooner or later. So it was more pragmatic than altruistic, and obviously whatever the misdeeds of the British their rule would preferable to occupation by Nazi or Imperial Japanese forces!

[@MrT67]

True.

[@Poliss95]

@@inxe8 You'd be surprised about how much support for Japan there was in India.

[@nigeh5326]

A multiplicity of nations played their part to one degree or another. Some were from occupied nations, some from the empire and commonwealth, some came from neutral countries. Without all of them we Brits could not have survived. Thanks to all who came to our aid from myself 👍

[@markdavis9990]

This video fails to take into account that desperate times call for desperate measures. It’s anecdotes seek to portray Britain as being racist when it was this particular human trait that it was fighting against.

[@nigelraporam6917]

Both were oppressive empires don't try to act as if England was some beacon of light and liberty you ethnically cleansed and ravaged the people's you conquered as much as the germans

[@jammer3618]

If Britain was not racist, who is?

[@markdavis9990]

@@nigelraporam6917 Again, your narrow and naive few of events fails to take realise that if we never had an empire then Britain would be part of a Spanish, France or German empire.

[@markdavis9990]

@@jammer3618 There is not a country or ethnic group on earth that cannot be accused of racism at some stage of its development.

[@keithbessant]

Yes, Nazis didn't expect that the British Empire, which they saw as a racist endeavour similar to their own, would have a world war over the partition of Poland. Poland had been partitioned before, in the 18th century as well. They underestimated Britain's willingness to bankrupt itself and lose its empire to stop the Nazis.

[@johnwright9372]

My best friend's father Cyril Shaw was Caribbean married to a British lady. He served in the RAF during WWII. As teenagers in the 60s my friends and myself never saw his or his son's race as an issue, but my father who was Cyril's friend, told me that Cyril had not been given work promotions because of his skin colour.

[@meawwow]

The narrator in that old reel for manpower takes all names of all the Commonwealth countries but doesn't name India. He went on like Canada, Australia New Zealand, South Africa and then others.😂😂

[@gazpachopolice7211]

Thats because India wasn't in the same standard as those countries. They were self governing dominions with the British as their head. India was neither fully self governing, nor a dominion. We were a colony. Our laws were subject to Britain's parliamentary approval. We weren't white enough

[@peterdollins3610]

The piece did talk of the 2 & a half million Indian soldiers.

[@Kaiserbill99]

I have never heard anyone, with a modicum of knowledge of history, deny Britain had its empire. But then again France had its empire and that did not prevent Germany from conquering it before tea time. And it is not as if Germany did not recruit troops from conquered nations or appropriate factories and labour including slave labour. Also I'm not sure why Ireland was included in the conversation about empire. The Irish Free State was formed in 1922 and was stubbornly neutral through the war.

[@Poliss95]

The commentary says 'bar Ireland'.

[@candro5510]

it all depends of how the Empire was ruled and about the resources that could be extracted from it.

[@Nick23003]

Stubbornly neutral has Britain had conquered and oppressed the Irish for centuries. The Irish people did not want to get involved in Britain’s wars

[@mahendharthatikonda6050]

@@Nick23003 same here in India as well. Viceroy Lord Linlithgow declared war against Germany in 1939 without consulting indian leaders and when they protested, British put indian leaders like Gandhi, Nehru etc., in jail until the end of war. After the war, when religious riots broke out and these soldiers asked for British indian army to help save their families, then army chief responded by saying "British Indian army exists to save European lives, not indian lives". British Indian soldiers especially Punjabi soldiers paid well by British by fighting a war which isn't theirs.

[@StayActive98]

France is not an island nation and it borders Germany.

[@dudleybrooke3598]

We didn't stand alone, we had a huge Empire/Commonwealth, then there were displaced Europeans who wanted to defeat Hitler, like the Poles in 303 squadron and there were many others too. There were even American volunteers, so we were far from alone, I think the idea stems from the fact that we were the last country in Western Europe facing Hitler, the Dad's Army Arrows standing off across the Channel.

[@andreinarangel6227]

...you were "alone". Take the credit for once, 'cause God knows after Sept 1944, the US was "alone" in the Western Front (the British Army was spent by then).

[@Battyj]

@@andreinarangel6227 Britain had more troops than America in Europe lol

[@neilgriffiths6427]

@@andreinarangel6227 Strange that the Battle of the Bulge" didn't end until British forces came down from the North and crushed the Germans. Strange that the British crossed the Rhine - opposed by the Germans, unlike the Americans. Strange that British forces then raced North and rescued Scandinavia from becoming part of the Soviet Empire. All whilst the Americans stood fast as the Russians took Berlin. Get lost, yank.

[@neilgriffiths6427]

@@bfc3057 The vast majority of pilots in the Battle of Britain were from the UK, it was the Royal Navy that took the pounding in Norway, and your contempt for the French Empire troops is palpable, I wonder why that is...?

[@keithrose6931]

@VonRyansExpress Very well said !

[@brucie-of-bangor528]

Also contributing, it was Polish mathematicians Marian Rejewski, Henryk Zygalski and Jerzy Różycki who cracked the Enigma code in 1932. Gordon Welshman and Alan Turing simply expanded on this work and not so simply built the worlds first computers that made practical code breaking possible.

[@christopherblackburn8484]

To be honest I think that this does take the statement that "Britain stood alone" as shown in your video out of context at bit. It's not actually a myth when you consider the common parlance at the time because they would have been thinking in terms of political power rather than exclusively just nationality especially when you consider that the Empire had been a part of people's lives for as long as most people could remember. Naturally we think differently nowadays because we've grown up with a very different Britain. When you take this into consideration; what other power was left against the Germans? I think you'll find the answer is still the UK. Or we can look at it another way as another KZbin commenter has written "Britain stood alone as the only sovereign nation in Europe resisting Nazi aggression. In that sense I don't think it is wrong to state that Britain stood alone." I also have issues with the exploitation section of the video especially where it says that Britain had broken its promise to defend places like Singapore and HK which they of course did defend even if it was unsuccessful. Then there's the reference to the Bengal Famine of 1943 where Hawkins states that it was largely ignored by the British which is simply not true. This is because General Wavell who was Viceroy at the time did actually make efforts to relieve the famine including using the train network to move food from other parts of India plus there was an agreement to ship grain from Australia. The myth that Britain ignored or deliberately exacerbated the famine comes from a rather poorly researched book by Madhusree Mukerjee which has only recently been scrutinised. Plus there's a spelling mistake in your description. Overall I liked the narration and you clearly have some decent graphics people working behind this although sometimes it seems as if the music and narration are competing against each other at times.

[@ab.6573]

Britian stood alone? In europe, yes for a short amount of time but in the whole world, no.

[@andrewwoodhead3141]

Ah . but these days, if you're not ''debunking'' a myth, it hardly counts , does it , ? and we all know how racist the British were, right ?!

[@PatGilliland]

@@ab.6573 Not even then. Canadians were in France after Dunkirk and the 1st Canadian Infantry Division was one of the few reasonably equipped units left in the UK to defend against a German invasion. It along with the rest of VII Corps were under a Canadian general. Then there is "The Few" 574 of which came form outside of the Uk Including large numbers of Poles, New Zealanders and again Canadians.

[@robertreid9856]

I think you have to consider how those of us, in Commonwealth countries reacted to this statement at the time and in the decades since. My father was a Radar Mechanic in RAF 228 Squadron at Pembroke Dock in Wales. This was a Sunderland Flying Boat base engaged in anti-submarine warfare. Almost all of the radar section staff were Canadians, part of five thousand trained by Canada for the allied cause. My dad was really upset that "Britain stands alone" was so dismissive of Commonwealth contributions then and it continued on since. Canada contributed 800,000 trucks, trained 131,00 air crew, built and shipped millions of shells and bullets, built planes, ships, tanks and most crucial of all was their role in Atlantic convoy escort during the Battle of the Atlantic. Canada provided enormous quantities of food, steel, aluminum, wood, coal and on the list goes. The truly fantastic role of the Indian soldiers, who really did a number on the Japanese, is still largely ignored. Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, the Caribbean islands and other contributions are still undervalued to this day. I agree that this disrespectful treatment led directly to the empire's collapse, as the video pointed out. You argument that this was in terms of "political power" is a good example of the attitude that us "colonials" find so distasteful. I don't buy this arguement at all. "Britain stands alone" was and is a myth, pure and simple.

[@johnlewis9158]

Churchill deliberately exacerbating the Bengal famine has almost become historical fact when in reality nothing could be further from truth. Indeed as you quite rightly say Australia had agreed to ship vast amounts of grain to india as did syria or was it Iraq i can't remember. Anyway the real problem wasn't the lack of grain it was the lack of ships to carry the grain and of course getting those ships that were available past the Japanese navy. Indeed there are several letters still in existence today where Churchill outlines is concerns over the famine situation to Roosevelt and in at least one of those letters he urges Roosevelt to make ships available to alleviate the situation in Bengal.

[@chrisvickers7928]

There was no question we in Canada would stand behind Britain but it took time. We had a tiny army, navy , and air force. I think there were a few months before her empire could rally behind Britain. It wasn't instant.,

[@DavidJones-pv8zu]

Both my Grandfathers recollections of WW1 agreed: The New Zealanders were better than us Aussies ... but the Canucks were the best!!!

[@calvinjohnstone2664]

Honour and Respect to all who worked, fought and died from across the globe for 🇬🇧 from 🇬🇧👍🙏

[@hygher]

What people mean when they say Britain stood alone is that their allies had Capitulated and it was just the empire (That was being assaulted on all fronts) and when they were given the option for peace they decided against it

[@richardbourne6743]

Please don’t forget all the hardships that Russia also went through during the war, they also played a big part in defeating hitler.

[@lyndoncmp5751]

The USSR did not care and did nothing about Hitler until the USSR was attacked. Big difference.

[@bartymeusz985]

During BoB Russia was a Hitler's ally since 1939

[@dovetonsturdee7033]

I don't think anyone is, but as this video is about 1940, the Soviets were only involved as suppliers of raw materials to Germany.

[@livethefuture2492]

They played the biggest part no one doubts that, but this video is about the early war in 1940 when Britain was the only one fighting the axis.

[@nickdanger3802]

BRITAIN STANDS ALONE Churchill wanted a headline for isolationist Americans, otherwise why would he state "would carry on the struggle, until, in God’s good time, the New World, with all its power and might, steps forth to the rescue and the liberation of the old" ?

[@GilmerJohn]

As I have pointed out, the UK had already flooded American with orders for munitions and aircraft. The US was "casual" about enforcing the Neutrality Act.

[@jgdooley2003]

@@GilmerJohn Roosevelt was walking a tightrope between an isolationist and pro-German US population and the more moderate people who would have seen the logic of anti-Nazi resistance and defence. Until he was re-elected in November 1940 he had to be neutral, at least on the surface.

[@matt7775]

And your point is?

[@michaelmayo3127]

@@jgdooley2003 Public opinion poles from the time, show that the American population had no taste for war.

[@oliverbourne9599]

@@michaelmayo3127 'Polls' OK Michael. The war was brought to America in the end whether they wanted it or not

[@heritage_isimportant7297]

The "Darkest Hour" for Britain was from the end of May 1940 to December 7th, 1941. It is true that Britain was greatly helped by the Empire, however, it took a while for the Empire to gear up. For example, 1,400 Hurricanes were produced in Thunderbay, Canada but most of these were Mark X, XI and XII produced after 1942. . A serious issue was the Battle of the Atlantic. Merchant vessels from all over the Empire faced the U Boat peril. This is why Churchill wanted the 50 old destroyers from the US. Its also, why the Luftwaffe was bombing British ports - the London docks, Liverpool, Bristol, South Hampton, Cardiff, Belfast and Glasgow. There were shortages of nearly everything in manufacturing in Britain and food was rationed.

[@heritage_isimportant7297]

Bit of a correction : The issues of Hurricane production in Thunderbay, Canada were resolved during 1942 - not after 1942. So by 1942 , 15 Hurricanes a week were being produced in Canada. However, putting this into perspective, by June 1940, Britain was producing 450 fighters a month as well as re-building damaged fighters.

[@heritage_isimportant7297]

Sorry another correction : Operation Barbarossa was launched against the Soviets in mid June 1941. So Britain's "Darkest Hour" was from late May 1940 to June 22nd, 1941.

[@etiangfrederick6257]

The question is with all that gross human and technological resource base, UK could only field one army in Normandy and across western Europe.

[@adamlee2550]

This is just semantics. If egypt and the suez had fallen then the Empire could well have imploded. Britain did stand alone, along with the many dominions, colonies and territories that comprised it's empire.

[@zachthornton8337]

So not alone then?

[@winstonchurchill586]

I’m pretty sure that what’s meant by Britain stood alone is that Britain stood alone in Europe, every other European power had been conquered (that was in the war) so yes BRITAIN THE ISLAND STOOD ALONE against nazi Germany

[@CuckFinn]

Thank you 😭😭😭 ‘Uhm aktchually, da empiah foort too huh duh’

[@michaeldowson6988]

The Canadian Expeditionary Force was about to disembark at the port of Boulogne when Rommel encircled the British & French & pinned them against the Channel. That army sat on the UK's South Coast as an invasion defence for a few years. Operation Fish saw the UK's bullion all shipped to Montreal for safe keeping at the start. France did somewhat the same but were a little late and had to sneak out gold in parcels to avoid the Germans who were desperate to nab it. Canada gave the UK $3Billion, of which 1billion was in gold, and loaned more after the war. Some Americans volunteered early on in the Canadian Forces. One Texan became a Dambuster pilot and received an award from King George.

[@jgdooley2003]

I wonder did he check his survival Kit???? Dr Strangelove and How I learned to love the bomb......

[@guywerry6614]

In Western Canada the drought and repercussions of the depression that started in 1929 was still a factor - there were men who signed up in 1939 to have a steady job and regular meals.

[@killerbean359]

this is amazing and i notice this a along time ago, i always was alone when i said USSR,USA and BRITAIN was just 50 percent of the war winning effort countless millions others die and work their bones to free the world in that war may all of them rest in peace, god bless the free world

[@davidsmith5094]

I like your comment Roul...accurate,,,and to the point...hailing from Belize...formerly British Honduras...

[@williamlanger9229]

I'm pretty sure the USSR bared like 50% of the burden themselves, if not more. its a fact that somewhere between 70 - 80% of germans dies fighting the Soviets.

[@livethefuture2492]

Eh, it wasnt just 50%, the USSR itself bore like more than 80% of the casualties. The big 3 were the leaders, then there were many other supporting allied nations associated with the British Empire and commonwealth and other allied nations or governments in exile.

[@nikolagosaric3039]

Britain, Canada and Australia had smaller population than Germany. Video didn't mention Allied merchant fleets which helped British. 50% of fuel during BoB, 1940. was transported on Norwegian ships. Same as Noland didn't mention French in movie Dunkirk. In Europe, Americans had 4 times more men than British. Without them and Red army, British couldn't won.

[@robertpearson8798]

The need for tremendous amounts of material goods and manpower from far-flung places highlights the importance of the battles of both the Atlantic and the Mediterranean.

[@onmysecondjourney5510]

British and the commonwealth about 9 million troops for the war. It's sad that many Brits don't know that India provided 2.5 million men. Canada 0.63, Australia 0.4, RSA 0.13,NZ 0.13 and others 0.14 million. Combined commonwealth troops were about 3.9 million or 43% of the total British army. But I am more surprised that most Brits don't know approx 5.1 million or 57% troops came from Britain. That's ignorance about the contribution of others as well as of their own.

[@WagesOfDestruction]

The empire cost Britain too as large resources had to be thrown into places that had to be spent on areas that were not vital. For example that many Indians fought in the British army against Japan but also many British people had to be sent to the region too. From memory, the British navy in the Pacific was over a million sailors most of these were from England.

[@nickdanger3802]

"over a million sailors" ?

[@mahendharthatikonda6050]

Just look at the WW2 casualities. 1.2 million indians died fighting for Britan, while Britan (Island) lost hardly 300,000.

[@mahendharthatikonda6050]

@@nickdanger3802 it's a nonsense statement w/o evidence.

[@SecretStepDaddy]

@@mahendharthatikonda6050 Why did the Indians fought for a country that colonized them and treated them as lesser in their own country?

[@mahendharthatikonda6050]

@@SecretStepDaddy well, mainly for money and a wish for India's Independence. In WW1, indians fought bravely and sincerelyin the hope of independence, but after war brits showed their typical betrayal attitude.

[@gazpachopolice7211]

A few facts about how Britain cheated India and Pakistan over war debt:. The British argued that they owed just 16 billion rupees but India's own calculations were 57 billion rupees. The Indian reserve Bank published so much currency to fund the war effort that inflation remained about 300% for a few years. Undivided India was actually Britain's second largest creditor after the US. Britain and US colluded to make an arrangement whereby US debt would be served but not that to other countries , by first going back on convertabily, and then devaluating the pound. Britain's and USA's interests were protected. All other debtors lost out.

[@B1345-q2s]

I don’t think anyone says that, it’s always been Britain and her empire stood alone

[@zachthornton8337]

Really? The myth emphasises the bulldog spirit rather than the reality of the immense size, power and contribution of the worlds largest empire. Why? It rather dulls the myth so entirely understandable but something that must be corrected.

[@B1345-q2s]

@@zachthornton8337 not really, the myth comes from peoples ignorance more than anything, by that I mean that so many British people are completely ignorant of the fact we used to administer the largest empire in human history and therefore think of us as just the home islands standing alone against the German war machine, in terms of proximity yes that’s true due to the maritime nature of our empire but in terms of resources and man power no

[@paulchandler6575]

This video is attempting to counter an argument,that nobody ever made, nobody claims that Britain stood alone the entire duration of the war,but the summer of 1940,when the armed forces of Canada , Australia and others were negligible,it was later that they greatly expanded and played a major role

[@LatinW321]

Britain did stand alone

[@MarkHarrison733]

When?

[@ransom182]

How?

[@PappyGunn]

You will, I hope, note the absence of the USSR from this map. They had at the time, a non-agression pact with the Nazis and split Poland with them. Never let them forget when they claim they essentially won the war for everyone else.

[@nickdanger3802]

And the USSR defeated Japan in only two weeks.

[@Caratacus1]

Hear hear. The Nazis owed their rise to the USSR which supplied them with all their scarce resources and training facilities in the 1930s. They were de-facto allies until Hitler back-stabbed them in 1941 which is why Stalin was shocked into paralysis.

[@nigelsmith7366]

And Russia would have lost if it wasn't for the allied efforts to keep them supplied with arms and other supplies

[@robinmorritt7493]

Sergei Lavrov was complaining to the Japanese recently that when they commemorate the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, they forget to mention they were nuked by America. A growing number of Japanese, apparently, think the Russians nuked them.

[@JohnSmith-zs9vr]

@@bfc3057 You're comparing a takeover of few tiny villages, to Stalin's massive conquests? Poland took in 1938 merely 0.77% of Czechoslovakia's surface, a region taken from Poland by czech armies during the polish-soviet war 1919-1921. Anyway, the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact wasn't the only agreement between Hitler and Stalin. There was also the German-Soviet Credit Agreement from 19 August 1939.

[@billmmckelvie5188]

The commitment to the UK during WWII was immense from its Allies and the Empire. The questions I asked myself when did these forces arrive and more importantly become 'operational'? Three brigades of Canadians had arrived in 1939 and the Aussies arrived starting in June 1940 and finishing in December of the same year. The Polish Air Force became operational in August 1940, the Polish Army arrived in June 1940 and looked after the defence of Scotland. Thanks to the Canadians arriving in 1939, technically Britain was not alone, other nations seemed to gearing up to be with us from the summer of 1940. As the other thread contributors have identified this was maybe a narrative that Sir Winston Churchill relayed to America in attempt to persuade them join the war effort.

[@pshehan1]

The Australian 6th and 7th Divisions were in the middle east until recalled to defend Australia from the Japanese in 1942. The 9th division fought at El Alemain. The 8th Division were stationed in Malaya and fought the Japanese until surrendered by the British at Singapore. The Royal Australian Navy served in the Mediterranean. The RAAF flew with Bomber command over Germany until the end of the war, as well as in the Pacific. Australia had the fourth largest air force in the world in 1945. My grandfather was in the RAAF. One of my mother's cousins was a bomber pilot, shot down and killed over Milne Bay New Guinea. His brother was a bomber pilot and show t down over Germany, captured and sent to Stalag Luft III. He was supposed to go out in the Great Escape but being the closest thing they had to a doctor in the camp, a medical student, his place was taken by another man who was among the fifty executed. My mum said that the 'doctor' in the movie was darh haired, whereas her cousin was fair haired.

[@andrewsoboeiro6979]

It occurs to me that even if you think of the whole British Empire as a single entity called "Britain" (not that you should, ofc), Britain still didn't stand alone. The governments-in-exile of Poland, Belgium, the Netherlands, Norway, and Czechoslovakia all brought with them substantial military forces and merchant navies; several also controlled huge colonial territories that provided considerable resources and personnel to the war effort. Even at Britain's darkest hour, the Belgian Congo, French Equatorial Africa, and myriad ships & soldiers from other countries stood with Britain.

[@9P38lightning]

The summer of 40 Britain stood a lone, the war was fought in the Sky. The empire fought as an empire. The battle of Britain was fought over Britain...

[@terryharris1291]

Lead by Sir Keith Park a New Zealander, along with pilots from many countries, including some Americans.

[@richardrowe6907]

and about 120 NZ pilots fought. And Keith Park got the tactics right. And some Canadian bloke made sure the RAF had planes ...

[@ScipioAfricanus_Chris]

Let's not forget the $2.5 billion loan the U.S. provided in addition to the materiel support via Lend Lease.

[@MarkHarrison733]

It was designed to bankrupt the UK.

[@neilferguson7176]

I think the question that should be asked is, if Britain fell, would Nazi Germany go on to World domination? Britain was the Brains the machine and the glue that gelled it all together and it was a great response from our empire countries. Great sacrifices were made by all so that we can enjoy the freedoms we have today. Well done the empire. We were taught about this at school, but I don't know if that's the case today, I remember one of my children doing something about WW2.

[@TringmotionCoUk]

no, the iron curtain would have been in the English Channel

[@bevinboulder5039]

I realize that the purpose of this video is to highlight the contributions of the countries of the British Empire, but the implication that the US wasn't supplying munitions, oil and volunteers before it entered the war is flat out inaccurate.

[@tomredaintdead9575]

We must have been doing something right to have that level of help.

[@coldstream11]

Lol I hope you are joking here. Britain conquered these places, the politicians were either British descendants or puppet governments, that is what is meant by the word “Empire”

[@brucie-of-bangor528]

As an Australian, i totally object to the expression Empire applied to us, and, indeed, Canada and New Zealand. We were all independent countries allied to Britain, in Australia's case, since 1901. Particular to Australia was the threat from Japan that, when manifested through the invasion of Singapore, the rapid expansion through Papua New guinea and the bombing of Darwin, caused the Australian PM, John Curtin, to order many Australian troops in the Mediterranean campaign back to Australia. Churchill countermanded these orders and ordered the Australian ships back to the Med, an order totally rejected by the Australian shipping and government. Many in Australia have never trusted Britain since, and this mistrust was proven when, as Britain joined the EEC in the 1970's their fruit and meat orders cancelled overnight; this also affected NZ. Now with Brexit they want our primary produce again. Another point worth making was the sacrifice made in WW1, firstly in Churchill's disastrous Gallipoli campaign and then on the Western Front. Australia lost 60,000 men at a per capita attrition rate far greater than Britain itself. Our reward? A couple of dozen clapped out war surplus aeroplanes! No. Britain did not stand alone, and the Commonwealth countries made a huge contribution to their war effort, a contribution never satisfactorily acknowledged, let alone repaid. One last point, the commander of 11 group during the Battle of Britain, Sir Keith Park. was a Kiwi. Essentially the man who saved Britain from invasion as Sir Hugh Dowding's right hand man. Oh, and the man who taught the essentially incompetent British generals in WW1 how to defeat the Germans through an integrated battle plan involving artillery, tanks, aeroplanes and infantry was General Sir John Monash, a great Australian engineer and part time soldier. Men who stepped forward and had the answers Britain so desperately needed.

[@CB-fz3li]

Not sure where to start with this post. Firstly Australia did not lose more men per capita than Britain. Secondly Australia, New Zealand and Canada had Dominion status but were still within the British Empire. Finally Churchill wanted Australian troops for Burma but had to concede to Curtin, this did though lead to Australia's strategic alignment with the US which subsequently led to the Australian involvement in Vietnam. As for acknoledgment or repayment, what do you suggest?

[@simonrae8690]

To be honest, I am grateful for the empire. Without all of the UK's empire, we would be speaking German now as we would not have been able to continue fighting without them and now would not have a free democracy (well sort of everything isn't perfect). But After the war, the small mindset of the British nation with regards to the Windrush generation, we should hold our head in shame. We should have been more receptive to all the nations that helped our empire win the war. The majority of the people who came to our country to help us rebuild were rejected as lesser than the average UK-born man. This is slightly unfair to all who came to serve the UK homeland Nation.

[@1337flite]

The reliance on the Empire is worse than not acknowledged its manipulated. Britain took the credit and blamed on any bad news on the colonies. Victories by empire troops are "British Army" victories, but if there's a riot in say Egypt (WWI) that would be the Australian army. You abandonded us to the Japanese. And to add insult to injury then you locked us all out after the war. I was born a British subject but you took that away and my right to enter and remain in Britain, which now only stands because of the empire and our grandparents.

[@postaboks]

The Faroes helped feed Britain during the war, by delivering fish and other goods to the British Isles from the Faroes AND Iceland. Can you tell us anything about what significance the Faroe Islands' role was, and its importance to Briton during WWII? And about Operation Valentine?

[@OmmerSyssel]

Did your fleet sail independently, or was it coordinated by the Danish "exile government" in the UK?

[@davidpeters6536]

I just unsubscribed. More bash Britain nonsense and from the IWM of all people. Britain stood alone in Europe against the Germans, the others were neutral, had been defeated or were on the Axis side. Yes the Empire was to stand together with us and many exiles volunteered but it needed America to end it and Churchill knew that.

[@bubiruski8067]

That‘s why the Fnglish fueled their war to a global war to drag the US in !

[@dovetonsturdee7033]

@@bubiruski8067 Apart from the fact that your post doesn't make sense, hasn't it occurred to you that the attack on Pearl Harbor, and the German declaration of war, might just possibly have influenced the US entry into WW2, rather than the British?

[@CB-fz3li]

Britain stood alone as the only sovereign nation in Europe resisting Nazi aggression. In that sense I don't think it is wrong to state that Britain stood alone.

[@nattygsbord]

Britain was the only European country who stubbornly stood against Germany for the entire war. The battle for Britain, the Atlantic and North Africa was not much decisive. But Britains long commitment to the war did significantly wear down the German military over time.

[@Poliss95]

I don't remember ever hearing anyone say, 'Britain stood alone in Europe.' You're also forgetting Greece.

[@CB-fz3li]

@@Poliss95 I believe Greece wasn't involved in the war until they were invaded at the end of October 1940. Prior to that I think they were trying to remain neutral. When people refer to Britain standing alone it's generally understood that we are discussing the summer and autumn of 1940 during the Battle of Britain.

[@jackwei22]

The commanders of the battle of Britain who were Hugh Dowding a Scotsman and Keith Park a New Zealander aren't given much credit who ended up getting betrayed after the battle and were replaced by jealous folks as it seems Churchill got more credit for the battle than them.

[@Poliss95]

@@CB-fz3li Can you tell me where this 'Britain stood alone in Europe' came from? I've never heard that until I read the replies to the video.

[@PaulBeet]

In addition to 1 million troops, Canada provided large sums of money and 200 lbs. of food for every person in Britain.

[@oldgysgt]

It's interesting these people ignored the help the US gave Britain in those early years of WWII, (before December 7th, 1941). Even before America entered the war, it was providing aircraft, aircraft engines, ships, small arms, food, and raw materials to the British war effort. Yes, these were not "gifts", but the American Lend-lease Act was enacted on March 11, 1941, nine months before America entered the war. Remember, the US Navy destroyer Reuben James was sunk by a torpedo attack from German submarine U-552 on 31 October 1941, while escorting a convoy sailing to Great Britain, and that was two months before America entered the war.

[@persilious81]

American lend-lease" support was a commercial transaction and it all had to be paid for until into 21st century. All helped America become rich on the back of it's industry not having to survive massive disruption of Nazi bombing. Then, American refusal to soften loan conditions helped bankrupt Britain so that bread did not become rationed until after the end of WW2, never during it. I don't remember that specific but I well remember ration books for most staple food items until well into the early 1950's.

[@OmmerSyssel]

@@persilious81 was that debt part of UK's serious economical issues leading to enter EC? (those days EU)

[@jthunders]

@@persilious81 Had to be paid, not really. As Mr. Danger points out above, Britain had defaulted on its WW1 loans in 1934, so why not stiff Uncle Sucker a second time. Russia certainly never paid off WW2 loans.

[@MrDragon1968]

The piece is about the British Empire and it's contributions, not the US. The US was neutral at the time. Also the UK was 'purchasing', via trade, materials from the US by using up it's gold reserves, giving up vital technology and strategic bases before Lend-lease. And TBH Lend-lease didn't really start to have any effect until 1942. Lastly Lend-lease is well known and frequently referred to (whilst often forgetting about the British Empires contributions). Why can't those other contributions (especially from countries that immediately stood with the UK and declared war at the same time) be highlighted for once instead.

[@guyh9992]

The idea that Britain stood alone is insulting to the memories of the millions of men from all over the Empire who volunteered to help Britain during the period from the fall of France until the entry of America in the war. If so many men from the Empire had not actively fought on Britain's behalf over that time in the Battle of Britain, Battle of Atlantic, Western desert, East Africa, North Africa, Greece/Crete, Syria/Lebanon and Iran/Iraq then all those engaging in mental gymnastics to claim that Britain did indeed stand alone would have a point. The fact is that divisions from Canada, Australia and NZ were either on their way to the UK in May 1940 or had landed there so even the claim that Britain stood alone when France fell is incorrect.

[@dovetonsturdee7033]

Small point. No divisions from Australia or New Zealand ever came to Britain. A Canadian division did, arriving in early 1940.

[@nickdanger3802]

Churchill needed a headline for American isolationists.

[@davedrewett2196]

@@dovetonsturdee7033 not whole divisions but there were elements of divisions. The 6 th division Australian imperial force had units sent to the UK. The rest of the 6 th division was on the Egypt / Libyan border securing it from Italian invasion and keeping the Suez Canal open so resources could be imported from India , Malaya , Australia and New zealand.

[@DidMyGrandfatherMakeThis]

To state that Britain did not fight alone by mentioning the Empire, fails to accept the fact that Germany, France and Italy also had empires, and that when France fell, the Vichy Empire came into being. Also, unless you missed the memo, Japan had an empire too. So yes, for a long time (and even as an empire) Britain did indeed fight alone. I'd expect better from the IWM or have you forgotten only a few years ago you did a fantastic exhibition about this?

[@supertorte1410]

Germany didn´t have a empire anymore after ww1

[@davidsmith5094]

I had 3 cousins and an uncle who enlisted from British Honduras,,,(which later became Belize) 2 died in the war,,,the others also did not returned,,,but stayed in Britain after the war...

[@niccolamachiavelli8094]

The highest scoring RAF Squadron during the Battle of Britain was a Polish Squadron, 303, shooting down 126 German aircraft in 42 days

[@garypulliam3740]

Fake news.

[@peterrhodes5663]

@Leonard squirrel Poland had been resurrected 21 years before. Then had to rebuild and fight off the Russian invasion circa 1920. They spent around 25% of their GDP on defence, but had an obsolescent air fleet in 1939. Had they been equipped with Spitfires and Hurricanes before WW2, the story would have been very different. Poland never had a worldwide empire to bludge off. Keep guarding your nuts. Polish squirrels are watching you.

[@oliverbourne9599]

@@peterrhodes5663 There was no "bludge off". It was a World War. Everyone played their part fighting a common enemy. Everyone knows about the 145 Poles who had prior combat experience that flew our planes in the Battle of Britain. There are even old black and white British films acknowledging their contribution and a Polish war memorial at RAF Northolt

[@rb239rtr]

@Leonard squirrel Very true, the Poles were incensed with Germany and wanted their revenge kzbin.info/www/bejne/kH65nHymqcSskJo

[@doug6500]

They DID NOT shoot 126 aircraft down. That figure was used as propaganda by the British in 1940 and has conveniently made its way into fact. They infact more or less shot down the same number as the other high scoring squadrons and the Poles were very enthusiastic about claiming shared kills as their own which further skewered the figures. The accolade for best squadron can be pinned on several. One British squadron shot down almost exclusively ME 109s for example.

[@Evilweevil1986]

10:10 No comment how the food shortages were caused?

[@coldlakealta4043]

My father, a fighter pilot in the Royal Canadian Air Force, was one of the "bloody colonials" who were usually given second-rate or patched-up aircraft with which to defend a people and a military structure which treated them with open contempt. Meanwhile, persons with the right British accent and moustache were well-equipped, well-housed and well-fed. He believed in the Commonwealth in 1942. After 3 years and 250+ missions defending a Britain which had been totally ill-prepared he scorned it, as did the great majority of Canadians coming home. A poll in the autumn of 2021 showed that fewer than 40% of Canadians could define the Commonwealth or identify Canada's role in it. Despite Britain's lingering nostalgia for its days of power, the Commonwealth developed over the centuries of Britain's invasive colonialism is long gone to us. In the same poll, over 55% of Canadians favoured following Barbados and withdrawing from monarchal government. Never doubt that it's going to happen, or expect us to cross the waves to defend you ever again. Lastly, do not ever again let us hear that perfidious sniveling about poor little Britain standing alone. There tens upon tens of thousands of Canadian grave sites spread across Europe and the North Atlantic disputing that nonsense. A Britain grateful for its allies? Tell that to the Poles who were denied participation in the great victory parade.

[@volnadr]

A lot of frustration typical to today’s leftist mentality. First of all, try to understand history by context, secondly, Canada and many other nations supported Britain against a common enemy, not only because they were all part of British Empire ( for your information Canada declared war to Germany a week later after Britain), actually Canada could’ve easily not entered the war, they were never forced into it, but the call of honour and the need of a quick reaction against “the evil” arising in Europe were the natural thing to do.Poles on the other hand they fought heroically mostly fuelled by urge of retaliation against the Germany who occupied their land. Overall all the nations opposing Hitler have contributed each in their way and if they didn’t, the world would’ve been a lot different today - surely not the way you would like- so please stop with this “inferiority syndrome” as the “political correctness” syntagma, as much as we would like, did not apply during WW2, it is how we see it today, as we have ideologically evolved, however to deny the role of Britain itself and all other allies during those harsh times, it is utterly ignorant. FYI- I’m not even British but at least I have the decency to appreciate the history. Sometimes I have the impression that some people would’ve rather preferred Hitler wining the war just to justify their frustrations. History should always be analysed in its context.

[@CB-fz3li]

You sound like a sad individual.

[@paulpotts6514]

A very contentious version of history there, made even more so by picking out individual incidents from 1947? Hardly answering the initial question. Sorry but this to me sounded like another incident of re-writing history to fit a modern political agenda

[@maxbacon4828]

Correct!.

[@stevetaylor5933]

Yes, I watched this and got the same impression, nothing was mentioned about the fact that in the UK there was no segregation in the forces as there was in the US, bamba Bridge, I think it was where the locals defied the American segregation policy

[@Poliss95]

@@stevetaylor5933 No segregation in the forces? HaHaHaHaHa. The officers in the Gurkhas were white. 'First, until decolonization, the government required that colonial troops be officered exclusively by Whites. It was generally believed that the effectiveness of Black colonial soldiers depended mostly on their White officers.' 'The British commander in East Africa, General Sir Alan Cunningham, predicted that it would be "unwise" to send them against the German army. They would be "staunch," he wrote, but only as long as their White officers survived.' ecommons.luc.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=4737&context=luc_diss

[@dovetonsturdee7033]

@@stevetaylor5933 Bamber Bridge, near Preston, in Lancashire. The locals actually supported black troops of a transport company who were being assaulted by white MPs, mainly from the Southern States. Sorry to be pedantic, but I live in Bamber Bridge, and heard the tales many years after the event from eye witnesses.

[@dovetonsturdee7033]

@@Poliss95 How is that 'segregation?' Gurkhas did, by the way have their own officers, as also did Indian formations. Within an 'Indian' Brigade, by the way, there were usually three battalions. Two were Indian, and one British. Read about, for example, 4th Indian Division at 2nd Alamein, which had three infantry brigades, consisting of 3 British & 6 Indian, battalions.

[@studentaviator3756]

I think the idea is that Britain was the only power who still opposed Germany. So stood alone.

[@renanribeiro8137]

The idea was that Britain was the last democracy in Europe to oppose Germany. (Sweden, Switzerland and Ireland were all democracies, but were neutral.)

[@ianwyj1]

"Britain stands alone against the Nazi expansion" probably made for better PR. At least the video gives credit to the countries that kept Britain propped up.

[@merdiolu]

The misconception of "Britain Stands Alone" grows from a grain of fact that in 1940 summer and fall to winter , if German Army crossed the Channel and invaded Home Islands then that would be it , Britain invaded , occupied and become a Nazi puppet state like Vichy France. (Of course there was no chance for that happen in militaristic terms as long as British goverment continued to fight. Both RAF and especially Royal Navy immensely more powerful than their German counterparts in 1940 , German Navy surface fleet and German merchant marine fleet suffered heavy losses in Norwegian Campaign in April 1940 so there was no way enough sealift capacity in German ranks to cross the Channel with an army large enough to subdue Britain and German Armed Forces had literaly no planning , training , exercise or special equipment or vessels like landing craft for a large scale amphibious or airborne invasion of UK Home Islands but very few people in British side were aware of that fact and even these few people were anxious that Germans could pull something of a suprise out of hat like they did in France in May -June 1940) Or if British goverment sued for peace like Lord Halifax implored in May-July 1940 period and let Nazi Germany loose on Continent to do whatever it wanted in exchange for peace (or a temporary peace) In either case , Canada , Australia , India or Jamaica etc would not step forward , shoulder the burden and continue the struggle against Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy once UK goverment sued for a negotiated peace or conquered/surrendered. If Imperial goverment in London threw towel for whatever reason in 1940-41 , then that was it. Then all British colonies and dominions would follow their lead. They were not under direct attack (there was no chance Nazi Germany could threaten Australia , New Zealand , Canada or South Africa etc) till some of them fell (Hong Kong , Malaya -Singapore , Burma) or threatened (India and Australia) by Japanese invasion after December 1941 Think of UK and Home Islands as brain and heart of Empire. Without them , the limbs could do nothing or would have no will to fight against Axis however powerful they were.

[@davedrewett2196]

Total fantasy. Do you seriously think the independent countries that form the commonwealth need a pissy little island to function. Do you think just Canada couldn’t function ? and who was in a position to threaten it with the US bold eagle as it’s land neighbour. Do you seriously thing the US was going to let another power invade Canada on its doorstep ? And then there is US interests in the pacific. Do you think they would let Australia and New Zealand become invaded and then threaten US interests? We are talking massive supply lines for invasions of all these 3 countries. Even if the Japanese had of invaded Australia ( that would have taken the Japanese navy to cooperate with the Japanese army and that was never going to happens due to their rivalry ) it would have had a hell of a time with guerrillas fighting in our forests and jungles along the east coast great dividing range that is over 2 thousand miles long and a population full of bushmen who knew how to live off the land with needing very few outside resources. Australia alone had some very well trained military leaders with 4 years of real warfare experience. And Canada and nz were the same as Australia as far as military experience went. Unlike the UK we never had landed gentry as officers. We had to earn rank with deeds not inbreeding.

[@merdiolu]

@@davedrewett2196 "Do you seriously think the independent countries that form the commonwealth need a pissy little island to function." I never said Commonwealth would not function. You either misunderstand or warp what I say. I said without UK continuing to fight against Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy , other Commonwealth countries would not give a damn about Hitler and Mussolini dominate Eurasia. Do you think if UK accepted German invasion , occupation and domination of Europe and made a negotiated peace in 1940 , anyone from India , South Africa , Australia , New Zealand or any other place in Commonwealth continue to fight against Nazi Germany ? And for what ? What would be their motivation to fight Nazis or Fascist Italy far away from homeland ? Hitler and Nazis would not be their problem anymore since Crown and Mother Coutry gave up from their perspective in 1940-41 Japanese threat especially against Australia and New Zealand was another matter of course. Japanese were direct national threat against these countries. Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy were not especilly in short term. I just remembered some Italian prisoners captured in North Africa and shipped to Australia , did not even know existence of such a country.

[@benwilson6145]

In the Summer of 1940, not mentioned Italy had invaded, Egypt, Kenya, British Somaliland and Sudan.

[@chriscoffey8541]

When the bombs were being dropped on their cities they were alone. When the u boats were destroying their ships almost starving them they were alone. When no other democracy was left in Europe they were alone.

[@sanitizerwilliam2911]

It was important that everybody helped, because if the British empire lost the war, hitlers temporary goal was full European domination and the empires colonies would have faced Harsher and worse living conditions under Nazi Germany. also hitlers ultimate goal was world domination by Germany, so if everyone didn't help EVERYONE would suffer

[@nigelsmith7366]

NZ had the highest ratio of service personnel per head of capita

[@michaelkennedy3372]

Yawn

[@brucegibbins3792]

@@michaelkennedy3372 Cretin.

[@toastertwo]

Wow so lots of your youth died for one colonist fighting another

[@richardrowe6907]

and the highest casualties of any western ally (Soviets had it worse) ... which was why the Australians got the hinge position at El Alamein, and why the NZ Govt turned down Monty's request for the NZ Division to land on D-Day.

[@TheTfrules]

@@toastertwo Trying to equate the UK to Nazi Germany shows a profound lack of understanding of just how bad the Nazis were.

[@kirishima638]

Also the Bengal famine was not simply the result of Britain ‘ignoring India’. It was the result of the Japanese invasion of Burma and the destruction of the British merchant fleet. The local Indian government pretended the famine didn’t exist in order to hoard food stocks for itself. It was only when the British Indian Army took direct control of the situation that the famine was ended. I’m so sick and tired of people using the Bengal Feminine as an example of ethnic cleansing. It wasn’t.

[@paganphil100]

Jodie Price: Correct. One of the main causes was Bengali officials "diverting" food supplies for their own use.....the Indian government have admitted this.

[@joshuaperry8729]

I like to think the British empire evolved into something better after the war

[@ausbrum]

it was called independence

[@rome316ae3]

No it became worse but they had done something influential to the world before collapse

[@VidarLund-k5q]

Yes, it became dissolved.

[@Schiff252]

That was a fantastic documentary. Wish I could like twice. Subscribing now!

[@overworlder]

Also in late 1941 when Australia requested British help against Japan, Churchill lied to Curtin, promising help when he had no intention of doing so. Churchill's view was Australia could be lost and retaken later. Even though the Germans were fully committed in the USSR by this time and the UK was stuffed full of troops doing nothing. This after Australia crossed the world and stripped our country bare, twice, to defend Britain. That’s when Australia ratified the Statute of Westminster to become independent, allied with America and withdrew its divisions from the Middle East. Churchill got bitter about it and the situation had to be mediated by the Americans. Who understood the strategic value of Australia to the Pacific campaign and simply reshuffled their divisions to replace the Australian ones withdrawing from the ME. Churchill always disliked Australia (to his louche aristocratic Anglo-American eyes) for being plebeian and too Irish, and Australia had a Labor government at the time, which doubtless added partisan tensions. So CANZUK raises little interest here. We already know what the UK will do when the chips are down.

[@hobbabobba7912]

That's not actually true, churchill never actually said that.

[@ShaneBaker]

@@hobbabobba7912 it's certainly true that Churchill wanted to use Australian troops to defend India at a time that it was thought Japan intended invading Australia.

[@guyh9992]

@@hobbabobba7912 Churchill Promised Menzies in 1940 that Britain would provide help in return for an AIF commitment to North Africa and later said in private to HV Evatt that Australia was territory that could be reclaimed later just like Malaya. He was too clever to put that in writing or to say it in public.

[@tacitdionysus3220]

Another view is that Churchill was confident Australia was "too hard" for Japan to invade. Certainly the Japanese (especially the IJN) never had any serious invasion plans. It was at the far end of a long logistical train and had considerable and growing defences. Much easier just to cut its lines of communication with the USA and harass it, than to invade. We tend to think the AIF 6th, 7th, 8th and 9th divisions were the sum total, but in fact there were five more infantry divisions (1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th and 5th) and two Cavalry divisions in the militia, and an AIF armoured division at home. Indeed it was not until 1943 that the majority of SW Pacific ground forces were US rather than Australian. Speaking of which, MacArthur was probably more disdainful of Australia than Churchill. Both certainly had very large egos. The history is blurred a bit by a key senior officer, General Vernon Sturdee, destroying all his papers afterwards. It's likely he would have had a good understanding of the larger implications. It was he who advised PM Curtin that Singapore would fall, that some of the AIF divisions should be brought home, and that they should not be diverted to Burma where they would have been challenged by the Japanese before all their equipment could be offloaded. He was right on all counts, was sent to the USA to work for George Marshall and later commanded 1st Australian Army. Australia fared much better than the UK from WW2. It ended the depression, developed manufacturing to a much greater degree, came out of it without huge debts, had comparatively minimal damage to industry from bombing, dropped rationing much more quickly, had numerous airfields and several major roads constructed by the USA , plus lots of contracts to supply food, ammo and other supplies. By the end of it all it had a much greater sense of its independence and was conducting major amphibious operations in its own right. Only thing that really irks me is that about 6000 Australians took part in the D-Day operations in Europe (mostly Air Force) yet we weren't invited to participate in major anniversaries of it. (Must be the Irish origin side of me starting to come out.)

[@overworlder]

@@tacitdionysus3220 - Churchill's views are borne out by his actions. That is, refusing to send any British forces to Australia. It is easy to judge Japanese intentions and abilities with hindsight. I don't forget the militia divisions. At this time they were underequipped garrison divisions for the state capitals and ports. Other than the advantages of urban defence, they would have been no match for a couple of veteran Japanese SNLF brigades. The cavalry regiments and the 'armoured division', supposedly motorised, had no armoured cars or tanks apart from a few pre-war Vickers training tanks. At the time of Pearl Harbor, without checking, I am pretty sure the cavalry were machine gun battalions with plans to commandeer civilian trucks. Hence the urgency of getting the veteran AIF infantry divisions back home. And in the end Churchill got to keep one in the ME and a brigade in Ceylon so we only got home one full division and two brigades anyway.

[@ambonecomb9643]

I'm in London and just thanked my local newsagent for his contribution to ww2 .