THE ROLE OF BRITISH INDIA IN WORLD WAR TWO

THE ROLE OF BRITISH INDIA IN WORLD WAR TWO

India was a key allied nation for Britain during the Second World War.  At this time India had been occupied by Britain since 1858 and formed part of the British Empire.  The undivided are included India, Pakistan and Bangledesh.

India was ruled during this time by the British Raj, which was made up of two types of territory: British India and the Princely States. The princely states did not form a part of British India (i.e. the presidencies and provinces) as they were not directly under British rule. However, the princely states were ruled by individual rulers under the paramountcy of the British Crown.

The budget of the Raj covered municipal affairs, the police, the Indian Civil Service that ran government operations, and the Indian Army. Within the princely states external affairs, defence and most communications were under British control. 

Two-fifths of the sub-continent continued to be independently governed by over 560 large and small principalities, with whom the British Raj entered into treaties of mutual cooperation.

The Provinces of British India, being colonies of the United Kingdom, were by default a part of the Allied Nations. Thus India officially declared war on Nazi Germany in September 1939.

Apart from the provinces directly ruled by the British there were a large number of Princely States within the British Raj that provided sizable donations to the Allies to combat the threat of Nazism and Fascism . The Indian Army during World War II was one of the largest Allied forces contingents which took part in the North and East African Campaign, Western Desert Campaign and the Italian Campaign. At the height of the World War, more than 2.5 million Indian troops were fighting Axis forces around the globe.

Despite the popular resentment against the British Raj, Indian participation in the Allied campaign remained strong. The financial, industrial and military assistance of India formed a crucial component of the British campaign against Nazi Germany and Imperial Japan. India's strategic location at the tip of the Indian Ocean, its massive production of armaments, and its huge armed forces played a decisive role in halting the progress of Imperial Japan in  South-East Asia.

After the end of the World War, India emerged as the world's fourth largest industrial power and its increased political, economic and military influence paved the way for its independence from the United Kingdom in 1947.