How did the oppressed view WWII?
How did the oppressed view WWII?
We usually view WWII through the lens of the imperial powers, British, French, Russians, and Americans. But what about the views of the oppressed, the people in the colonized areas?
My prompt: During WWII, many local people in colonized areas favored Germans over French and British. Right?
Gemini: Yes, that is historically accurate. In several parts of the British and French empires, significant numbers of anti-colonial leaders, political movements, and local populations viewed Nazi Germany—and equally so, Imperial Japan—with sympathy or actively sought alliances with them during World War II.
This preference was rarely driven by an embrace of Nazi ideology or fascism itself. Instead, it was an application of the pragmatic geopolitical principle: "The enemy of my enemy is my friend."
Key Regions and Anti-Colonial Movements
1. British India
The most prominent example of this dynamic occurred in India. While millions of Indians served in the British Indian Army, a major nationalist movement broke away to ally directly with the Axis.
Subhas Chandra Bose & the INA: Subhas Chandra Bose, a leading figure in the Indian National Congress alongside Gandhi and Nehru, argued that India could not gain independence through non-violence while Britain was distracted by war.
Axis Support: Bose traveled to Berlin in 1941 to meet Adolf Hitler and establish the Free India Center and the Indische Legion (composed of Indian POWs captured in North Africa). Later, he moved to Asia to lead the Indian National Army (INA) under Japanese sponsorship, fighting directly against British forces in Burma and Northeast India.
2. The Arab World & North Africa
Across the Middle East and North Africa, French and British mandate rule had fueled intense anti-colonial sentiment throughout the 1920s and 1930s.
Iraq: In 1941, Rashid Ali al-Gaylani led a pro-Axis nationalist coup in Iraq, attempting to expel British forces with military hardware and air support supplied by Germany and Italy (leading to the Anglo-Iraqi War).
Palestine & The Levant: Amin al-Husseini, the Grand Mufti of Jerusalem, fled to Berlin and met with Hitler. He broadcast pro-Axis, anti-British radio propaganda throughout the Arab world and recruited Bosnian Muslims into Axis units, viewing a German victory as the only way to end the British Mandate in Palestine and halt Jewish immigration.
Egypt & North Africa: Many Egyptian nationalists, including young military officers like future president Anwar Sadat, quietly cheered the advance of Erwin Rommel’s Afrika Korps, hoping a German defeat of the British in Egypt would finally secure Egyptian sovereignty.
3. Southeast Asia (French Indochina & British Malaya/Burma)
In Southeast Asia, opposition to French and British rule manifested in widespread early cooperation with Japan—Germany's Axis partner—under the banner of "Asia for Asians."
Burma: Aung San (the father of modern Burma) initially formed the Burma Independence Army with Japanese military backing to drive out the British, before later turning against the Japanese when it became clear their occupation was equally brutal.
Indonesia: Nationalist leaders like Sukarno and Mohammad Hatta collaborated with Japanese forces to dismantle Dutch colonial infrastructure, using the occupation to build the political foundation for independent Indonesia.
Why Local Populations Favored the Axis
Decades of Direct Experience: To populations in India, Ireland, Africa, and the Middle East, the immediate face of oppression was not Nazi Germany, but British and French imperial authorities who had extracted resources, suppressed local rebellions, and denied self-determination for generations.
Hypocrisy of Allied Rhetoric: When the Allies issued the Atlantic Charter in 1941 promoting global self-determination, Winston Churchill explicitly stated that the charter applied to Nazi-occupied Europe, not to the British Empire. This reinforced local beliefs that an Allied victory would simply maintain the colonial status quo.
Strategic Realpolitik: Anti-colonial leaders recognized that WWII weakened the European empires. Aligning with Germany or Japan was seen as a tactical leverage point to secure arms, funding, and military training needed to achieve independence.
The Reality of German and Axis Intentions
While local nationalist groups sought to use Germany to break free from British and French control, Nazi racial hierarchy and imperial plans offered no real liberation:
Racial Views: Hitler expressed deep racial contempt for non-European peoples in Mein Kampf and repeatedly expressed admiration for British imperial rule in India, offering early in the war to help Britain preserve its empire if Britain made peace with Germany.
Instrumental Use: The German Foreign Office viewed Arab and Indian independence movements merely as useful tactical distractions to tie down British troops, rather than genuine ideological allies.
The Japanese Parallel: Where the Axis did take over French, British, and Dutch colonies in Asia, Japanese occupation quickly proved to be just as ruthless and extractive as the European colonialism it replaced.