India & World War 2 Volume 1 | Page 7

Role of India & Netherlands in WW2 Both India and Netherlands could have remained neutral in WW2 but they couldn’t What forced them to take part in the war..?? Ironically,it was British India which declared war on Nazi Germany while Nazi Germany decared war on the Netherlands. INDIA - British India (today known as India,Pakistan,Bangladesh) officially declared a war on Nazi Germany in September 1939.The British Raj sent over two million volunteer soldiers to fight against Axis Powers. Indians fought with distinction throughout the world; in the European theatres of Germany and Italy, in the deserts against Rommel and in the Asian region defending India against the Japanese, and liberating British colonies such as Singapore and Hong Kong when the Japanese surrendered in August . The Indian Army during World War II was one of the largest Allied forces and 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. Life on the home front during World War II was a significant part of the war effort for all participants and had a major impact on the outcome of the war. The British recruited some 2.5 million Indian volunteers, who played major roles as soldiers In Bengal, with an elected Muslim local government under British supervision, the cutoff of rice imports from Burma led to severe food shortages, made worse by maladministration. Prices soared and millions starved because they could not buy food. In the Bengal famine of 1943, three million people died. HOLLAND- The involvement of the Netherlands in World War II began with its in مͥ