If the British Empire never fought in world war 2, would there still be a British Empire?
Have you ever found yourself pondering about the “what ifs?” Of history. I’ve pondered many times always about the “what ifs” of history and always finding myself curious about one question. Would the British Empire still be around today if Britain never fought in world war 2? With the outcome of World War 2 Britain was on a downward spiral in power since losing so many of its colonies due to its weakened state from the Second great war. Peter Hitchens a British historian and writer states “We are a second-rate power, rapidly slipping into third-rate status. Britain has a weak currency, and a shrunken armed forces, deployed as auxiliaries in wars that are not in our interest, and we are largely governed from abroad.” But what would happen if The British empire never entered world war 2? Would the British empire still be around today?
I believe without British intervention in the second great war, world war 2 would have never occurred. If Britain never entered the war, The United states would have never entered the war due to no lend lease of equipment to the British in wartime. Nazi Germany would have no claims to attacking U.S. shipping. I think the Nazi regime would attack Poland and Russia. Hitler never wanted to go to war with France and the British. Hitler’s ambitions were to invade eastern Europe and had no intentions of moving westward. If there was no war between British empire and Nazi Germany peace would remain throughout western Europe. The soviet Union and Poland would be on their own with no Western European intervention.
The British empire would be able to hold on to its colonized holdings by the use of its expansive military force. I believe Britain would have the power to keep rebellion at bay to prevent the British empire from falling apart. Peter Hitchens states “The British empire would be able to live on and stop any attempts of rebellion with ease. the independence movements of India and Burma, both hugely strengthened by our defeat at Singapore, would have been far less ambitious and would have settled for much less.” Subhas Chandra Bose, the Indian pro-independence leader who won the support of Japan, would have been eclipsed by Gandhi and Nehru, who sought dominion status rather than full independence. This would lead to no creation of India or Pakistan. There also would not be any fighting in Palestine due to no state in Israel leaving the Middle East looking quite different than what we see today. I believe the Middle East would be a lot more stable and terrorism would not be as big of a factor for the United States during the 2000’s. We would not see as much western intervention within the middle east due to no Israel creating no conflict within the Middle east.
South Africa would still remain under the British empire’s control. Without world war two this would lead the world to having no European Union, no NATO, no United Nations, no courts of Human Rights and most importantly no nuclear weapons. I think this would play a major role on a global scale because no one would have bargaining power over one another. All of this would happen with no British intervention in the war.
Since World War 2 would never happen I believe the British Empire would go head to head with the united states within the pacific ocean fighting for trade and economic superiority. The war would be known as the Angelo-American war. The resolution of the war would be a Uneasy peace signed between the two economic power houses which would ultimately end the war. The treaty would lean towards a British advantage. I believe the war could be avoidable but all it would take is a spark to light the fire of war between these two economic powers.
With the Second great war never happening their would be no British soldiers fighting at the beach’s of Normandy or pushing German SS troopers out of the farming lands of France, Britain’s main focus would be on Holding its empire together. With troops putting down rebels and keeping The British empire together. I believe the British empire would remain the economic superpower today but would face rivaling powers such as the United states, Germany, France and many other large nations surrounding its territorial borders. Britain and its rivaling powers would always be at each others throats with world war 2 always being a potential conflict between these mighty nations.
