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England’s Role in the Second World War
The Second World War is a significant battle that pitted the allies against the axis sides and engaged in years of fighting, from 1939 to 1945. Various countries involved in the war, including England. The role of England in the conflict remains convoluted, especially considering the late entry (in December 1941) of the United States to fight the war. Since the United States did not enter the war immediately, it broke out, the power dynamics were different, which informs the instrumental role of England, which was a major empire in global politics. Therefore, historians and political analysts have struggled in answering the question: what was the role of England in the Second World War, and how was it impacted by America’s late entry into the global conflict? Although England has engaged in numerous political events, its role in the Second World War is particularly interesting because of the late entry of the United States in the world war.
The Second World War attracted many global actors in one of the most devastating battles in the history of the world. England was one of the countries that played an instrumental role and influenced the course of the war in the ally’s side against the axis forces. The state had the resources that motivated its pivotal position in warfare. In 1939, the UK declared war against Nazi Germany and was prepared to use its significant power to engage in the battle. The country was in control, in varying degrees, of many crown colonies, protectorates, as well as the Indian Empire. The nation enjoyed significant political connections with other countries, that together formed the Allies Power, including five independent Dominions—Canada, Australia, New Zealand, and South Africa. During the time, the British Empire was the global superpower, with direct or de facto economic and political of 25 per cent of the worldwide population, as well as 30 per cent of the world’s landmass (Leacock 266). As a result, it was clear that the country would have an instrumental part in the war, until 1941, when the United States entered the arena.
Before the Second World War, the country had significant colonies around the world, as well as manpower, valuable raw materials, and strategic bases that would help the allies to fight the war. The Allied war effort depended mostly on England during the initial stages of the world war. For example, Commonwealth forces battled the Axis forces in Britain, and across the Northwest side of Europe in an attempt to derail or prevent the advance of the Axis forces (Hugill 403). The nation was adequately prepared for the war due to the power generated from its economic and political might. As a result, even before the United States agreed to direct intervention, England had initiated major attacks and provided much of the resources necessary for the warfare. However, the dynamics and effects of the war changed the position of England in the war and its power in global politics.
Evidence from different historical documents is instrumental in understanding the role of England in the Second World War. England had to play an instrumental role in the battle, especially in the absence of the United States. Before the entry of the United States and its later contender, Russia, in the course of the Second World War, England was a significant power. It influenced how the direction of the war (Leacock 267). Before America entered the scene, England wanted to reveal its might, which led to consider spending on the war. England’s role in the Second War resulted in the nation adopting a more non-confrontational foreign policy contrasted with America who took imperialism after the conflict. England focused on ceasing power and control from the axis side to gain greater control over Europe and the world. It used the ability it had gained over the years to control the war with the allies, which it was initially winning before the US changed the power dynamics.
Power has always played an essential role in the relations between nation-states in the global arena. Orde defines power as the ability of a country to use resources to achieve specific goals (1). The definition relates the tendency to engage in war using available resources, such as military capability, to protect the interests of a country. England made a considerable contribution to the Second World War in terms of workforce and military resources, which was necessary if the allies were to contend and win against the axis forces. The country led the efforts of allies in the global army theatre, which was required to stop the Axis advance in the absence of a powerful country, such as the United States (Leacock 266). British used its non-confrontational foreign policy to gain more power and contend against the allies in the Second World War.
Power and the pursuit of interests inform England’s role in the Second World War. Before the Second World War, the British Empire had grown significantly, which led the nation into occupying an essential place in global politics in the early 20th century. According to Gleditsch et al. the Britain’s pre-World War II expansionist foreign policy of colonialism played a crucial role in its ability to control a vast territory in the global arena (396). The pre-World War II expansionist foreign policy of colonialism policy was one of the reasons why the British government believed in the capacity to engage and succeed in the Second World War, regardless of the failure by the United States to initially keep off direct confrontation of the axis side in the battle. Consequently, the British government believed in its power to control the course of the war and defeat the axis side, even in the absence of the United States.
During the initial three years of the Second World War, British and the commonwealth succeeded in backing or slowing the Axis powers. The allies took advantage of military, globally integrated economy, and industrial infrastructure in creating the resources that would ensure its success in the battle against the allies. For the first three years, England was the nucleus of the allies in the European continent (LeMay 276). However, the British prowess did not last throughout the period of the war because the entry of the US in the war changed the dynamics and power relations. In December 1941, the United States decided to engage in the battle directly instead of the indirect support with military resources to the allied forces (Jackson 77). Following the entry of the United States, the allies began to coordinate their military efforts and resources internationally, instead of focusing on Europe. The scale of the United States military involvement in the second war increased, which meant that the superpower would take over the command of numerous theatres from England. The period revealed a change in the role of England in the Second World War.
While Britain played an essential role in the second war due to the military prowess and economical, its influence lasted for three years. The country was holding the position of a superpower, providing critical support for the allies to engage in the war. The United States entered the war as an ally, but still became a threat to the England’s position as a superpower and diminished its upper hand in the ally’s side (Orde 1). The decline of England during the war was a turning point in global power and postwar international relations (Shifrinson 42). By 1941 when America entered the war, England was already overwhelmed by the massive loss of its military resources from engaging in the battle. The United States could provide the necessary military support necessary for allies to win the war. Still, the aid came at a loss for the country in terms of its position in the world as a superpower (Overy 24). The United States expected that Britain understood the considerable responsibility that accompanied the war, but the British have made decisions in the war, such as early offensive military intervention that ended up detrimental in terms of the position it held as a global superpower.
The Second World War marked one of the numerous power shifts in global politics considering the pivotal role of England in the absence of the global power (the United States) and the changes that happened following its entry. One of the changes that occurred was the decline of Britain as a global superpower in the course of the war (Hugill 403). Before the entry of America, England committed resources to the war, which led to significant loss of its soldiers and weakening of its position as a global power during the war period. The decline of England as a superpower during the Second World War period cemented the place of the United States as a superpower. The second world war led to clear evidence that Britain could no longer control global affairs due to its decline as a world superpower, as well as economically and politically. After all, the United States had assumed the pivotal role, not only in the Second World War but also in world politics.
Clearly, by the end of the Second World War, it was evidence that England had lost its prominent to the United States. Although the country was performing well, economically and in military might, during the initial stages of the war, the situation changed with the entry of the United States and the realization that allies would not succeed in the war without the direct involvement of the next superpower. The England’s economic prominence in the global arena experienced a period of turmoil during the Second World War, which led to complete loss of its eminence to the United States. The Second World War proved significantly costly for England and the British Empire in general. By the end of the war in 1945, the nation was exhausted and devastated due to the spending in the war (Donnelly 68). The country felt the direct and indirect effect of the war, including loss of military personnel, as well as goods and the necessary labor to rebuild the nation. The country could not sustain its position of an empire by the end of the Second World War.
Political scholars and historians hold a strong notion that the decline of England during the Second World War propelled the United States to the position of a superpower. The British government has fought a severe battle against the axis, but its instrumental role paved the way to the rise of the United States to global power (Hugill 403). The Second World War resulted in the collapse of the Axis Powers, which paved the way to the hegemonic struggle between the world most powerful countries. Nonetheless, England has a little chance to win in the battle because it has lost a lot of resources and its power in the course of the war, especially during the first three years. Although the United States had been emerging as a global power over the years before the Second World War, its status became prominence highly following the decline of England. Military and security failures of the British government made way for the success of the United States is becoming a hegemony.
Decolonization was one of the best outcomes of the devastating decline of England in the wake of the Second World War. After all, the country had lost its place as an empire and a superpower to the United States. As a result of the war, colonies were an expensive liability for the nation. The increase in the global influence of the United States, as well as its opposition to imperialism, reduced the political viability of colonialism. Britain’s imperial prestige was completely destroyed during the Second World War, and decolonization became essential. For example, the country lost its colonies in India, which led to independence in 1947. The country experienced considerable losses that would take years to recover, following its substantial involvement in the Second World War (Hugill 404). At the same time, the United States had improved in the position of power and the global influence in the years following the Second World War.
England was one of the most powerful countries in the world before the Second World War. The country had created an empire from ceasing and colonizing other nations around the world, including in Asia, the Middle East, and Africa. Consequently, the British government believed in the capacity to engage in the great world war and provide the necessary resources to win. Without the direct involvement of the United States during the first three years of the Second World War, England maintained a central place as a source of military resources and manpower for the allies to fight against the axis. Nonetheless, after three years and by the time the United States entered the war in 1941, it was evident that England had suffered a devastating loss, economically and in terms of manpower. The entry of the United States in the Second World War changed the power dynamics, such as the achievement of the position of the superpower as Britain struggled with the loss that led to its decline from the status.
Works Cited
Donnelly, Mark. Britain in the Second World war. Taylor & Francis US, 1999.
Gleditsch, Nils Petter, et al. “The Decline of War.” International Studies Review, vol. 15, no. 3, 2013, pp. 396–419.
Hugill, Peter J. “The American challenge to British hegemony, 1861–1947.” Geographical Review vol. 99, no.3, 2009, pp. 403-425.
Jackson, Ashley. The British Empire and the Second World War. A&C Black, 2006.
Leacock, Stephen. Our British Empire; its structure, its history, its strength (1941) pp. 266–75.
Le May, Godfrey Hugh Lancelot. British Government, 1914-1953: Select Documents. Methuen, 1955.
Orde, Anne. The Eclipse of Great Britain: The United States and British Imperial Decline, 1895–1956. Macmillan International Higher Education, 1996.
Overy, Richard J. The Origins of the Second World War. Routledge, 2014.
Shifrinson, Joshua R. Itzkowitz. Rising Titans, Falling Giants: How Great Powers Exploit Power Shifts. Cornell University Press, 2018.
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