The impact of bombing during WWII

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“Of course, the air raids caused much suffering and hardship. In the long term, however, the raids strengthened national unity and reduced the differences between people. The people believed that by showing that they ‘could take it’; they were on the way to winning the war.

(A.J.P Taylor English History 1914-1945 1965)

In your opinion, are the views expressed by A.J.P Taylor about the impact of bombing justified?

To come to a suitable opinion on the accuracy of A.J.P’s statement I will have to pick out the main points he makes about suffering and hardship, national unity, they can take it and the reduced differences between people, and compare his comments to other sources that both agree and disagree with him.  

During World War 2 cities particularly industrial centres including London, Birmingham, Bristol, Newcastle, Coventry, Liverpool, Swansea and many others were bombed from the air by the German special air force the Luftwaffe in air raids known as the Blitz. The bombing in 1940 was most intense in a period called the battle of Britain where the Germans decided to concentrate all their efforts in destroying British morale and our industry and military bases. Hitler intended to dissolve the positive outlook many Britons had stubbornly sustained and crumble the unity of the country in ‘total war’ by bringing the devastation and suffering of war to their doorsteps, making it their reality not just their comrades in battle. He hoped it would create chaos and lack of unity as panic and depression set in. The major cities were strategically targeted to manifest fear, disable the ordinary running of the country and the war effort, they used firebombs, flying bombs, carpet-bombing and the new targeting bombs; v1’s and v2’s to maximise the effect. To alleviate disruption and keep mortality rates and personal damage to a minimum Britons had to make sacrifices and abide by new government rules and restrictions. Signals like sirens were designed to warn everyone of oncoming raids, during these times people had to postpone their normal lives, were expected to cooperate and live in close proximity with each other in areas considered safe e.g. Anderson shelters, underground stations and basements.

Source A4 shows drawn examples of wartime civil defence. They are realistic interpretations of equipment used to help and warn people of bombing e.g. Gas mask, Anderson shelter, uprooted road signs, hand rattles for gas attacks, no headlights, blackouts. They are realistic, as there is no reason for the publisher to alter the appearance of objects of this nature and there are real examples existing today. These pictures come from the book ‘the Second World War’ by David Evans 1984 and were produced purely for factual purposes so people can visualise what the blitz was like and what information and products were given in preparation and consequently used as precautions during bombing. This is useful as it shows how people tried to make the most out of the bad circumstances and how people kept up morale by persevering with the rules and safety measures. It shows people were determined to stick it out, but also that they feared Germany and took the wars threat on their personal well-being seriously.  

                  More than 60 000 civilians died as a direct result of the bombing. It mainly targeted areas of dense population, industrial areas and military bases, where the manufacturing and military assets were located. This was an attempt to hinder British advancement, with out means of producing weapons and communication equipment etc it was impossible for the British to succeed. He believed that when the British experienced their cities being destroyed with all the important buildings and the attachment they had with their homes and communities they would fall apart emotionally.

A.J.P Taylor was a renowned historian who wrote the above extract in one of his many historical textbooks. He had a lifetime of historical research indicating his work would be thorough, and had experienced the war, which probably influenced his opinion on certain matters concerning the lives of ordinary people. He produced extensive accounts on the war and was obviously very knowledgeable on the Blitz.

                                  However, his statement seems to generalise the whole nation as one entity, which based on the fact that there were millions of individuals who were affected in different ways, seems to be unrealistic. It seems that he is forgetting to mention the minorities that would be present in a period of conflict and heightened emotions. He does not mention the friction and disagreement the bombing inevitably inflicted on some people.    

                             But we cannot disregard this summary of British morale as unreliable because, due to the desperate circumstances of war and the government’s encouragements, the country was likely to be unusually unified.

                               A.J.P balances his view by suggesting that there was hardship and suffering (with out going into detail) showing he is not ignoring this, and then gives an optimistic and patriotic overview of the situation.  He justifies the fact that he thinks people were more unified by saying the circumstances reduced the differences between people and that people wanted to show they could survive and prosper despite the bombardment. This is understandable as everyone had a common enemy and naturally people would rally together and support each other in times of crisis and the normal prejudices in society would be insignificant when faced with death and destruction.

                            Because this is only a small extract of an book that is much longer it is difficult to judge his full opinion of the Blitz, as I’m sure his full argument would be more complicated and explained with factual evidence. To decipher whether he was being biased, it is important to realise some background information about him and also analyse other sources concerning the air raids on Britain.

Suffering and hardship was an inevitable consequence of bombing as public resilience, important industrial centres and general human habitation were being destroyed. Every person living in the cities had to dramatically alter their life style in order to preserve their lives, and considering the alternative most people complied with the new way of life.

                         Their houses were now semi-permanently occupied as they were at risk every time a raid siren was let off. For the first time many families had to continue with out an income because the father had gone to war. Women were effectively single mothers and had to assume a new dominant role in the family and community. Due to rationing, they were encouraged to become self sufficient by growing their own food, making clothes from recycled materials etc. which required learning new skills. Some women were requested to become employed as companies struggled with the lack of a male work force. Evacuations although in the long term extremely helpful, led to separated family members worrying over each other.  

All these changing factors were created to help people survive the bombing as easily and unharmed as possible. The regulations like turning lights off in the black outs were universally recognised as sensible so people obeyed orders with out question. Britons especially in the cities generally pulled together for their own benefit if not for anything else. The community, having orders and things to organise and accomplish gave them a purpose. The government created some of the rules partially, to occupy their thoughts and initiatives away from the destruction around them caused by bombing. In most cases there was no time to be bereaved or depressed at loved ones deaths or bombed properties and being surrounded by others it would be inappropriate anyway.

                   Propaganda had an important role in the war, particularly, for those at home, many of whom would listen regularly to the radio to hear the latest announcements about the situation abroad. The radio broadcasted the motivational speeches and updates from the government. Winston Churchill created speeches that related to all people and promoted the idea of equality as the country was addressed  as a whole.  The government wanted the whole country to work together to increase the likely hood of surviving the war and preventing invasion. He congratulated those who committed themselves to the war effort and particularly praised the soldiers for defending the country, this encouraged people to continue fighting and show ‘they could take it’.

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                  This source2 is a speech Churchill said before the battle of Britain commenced. He honestly if not exaggerates the significance of Frances defeat and states how even though Hitler will turn all his might towards Britain, they had to conquer him or leave the world as they knew it in his evil hands.  His words are full of bravado and express the seriousness of the situation in a very poetical way that would of connected to an audience in a positive manner, as they would sum up courage and give people ...

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