India and World War II: War, Armed Forces, and Society, 1939–45
Kaushik Roy
Abstract
The Second World War was a defining ‘event’ in modern world history. India’s manpower and financial resources enabled the British Empire in particular and the Allies in general to win against the Axis powers. The Indian troops fought from Hong Kong in the east up to Italy in the west. The present monograph, based on archival data, attempts to highlight the complex interrelationship between Indian armed forces, society, and World War II. This monograph is a corrective to the cultural studies approach of totally neglecting blood and gore. But what is aimed here is not merely a ‘traditional’ narr ... More
The Second World War was a defining ‘event’ in modern world history. India’s manpower and financial resources enabled the British Empire in particular and the Allies in general to win against the Axis powers. The Indian troops fought from Hong Kong in the east up to Italy in the west. The present monograph, based on archival data, attempts to highlight the complex interrelationship between Indian armed forces, society, and World War II. This monograph is a corrective to the cultural studies approach of totally neglecting blood and gore. But what is aimed here is not merely a ‘traditional’ narrative of military history. Rather than merely providing a chronological account of military operations, an attempt has been made to integrate military history with the social and cultural contexts. Tools, ideas, and institutions of violence are fused with the host social fabric and the cultural context. The book is divided into two parts. The first four chapters of the book study the impact of manpower and economic mobilization and internal security on the Indian society, while the last three chapters of the volume deal with the Indian armed forces in combat. The aim is to show the interrelationship between training, technology, and tactics in the battlefields. Wherever possible, soldiers’ views of combat and the home front are given. Hence, the monograph is a blend of both history from the top and history from below.
Keywords:
Axis powers,
British Empire,
World War II,
Second World War,
The Allies,
the Axis powers,
military history,
Indian society,
Indian armed forces,
training,
technology,
tactics in the battlefields
Bibliographic Information
| Print publication date: 2016 |
Print ISBN-13: 9780199463534 |
| Published to Oxford Scholarship Online: September 2016 |
DOI:10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199463534.001.0001 |
Authors
Affiliations are at time of print publication.
Kaushik Roy, author
Guru Nanak Chair Professor in the Department of History, Jadavpur University, Kolkata, India and Global Fellow at Peace Research Institute Oslo (PRIO), Norway.
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