Why did the British government evacuate children from the major cities in the early years of World War Two?

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Candidate Name: Jeffrey Agyeman

Candidate Number: 0003

Centre Name: St Michaels

Centre Number: 10854

Why did the British government evacuate children from the major cities in the early years of World War Two?

The evacuation of our cities in the early years of World War Two was the biggest and most concentrated mass movement of people in Britain’s history. In the first week over 3 million people were transported from towns and cities in danger from enemy bombers to places of safety in the countryside.  The reason why the government evacuated people because of the fear of gas bomb attack. They did not want to relive the experience of world war one. One reason why the government evacuated children because they were scared of mass demoralisation the idea that the public will give up. Another obvious reason why the government evacuated children because the fear of death. They were also afraid of mass bombing because they saw what the German airforce did in the Spanish civil war in which they bombed and destroyed a lot of cities including Guernica and Britain did not want to suffer the same fate.  They also feared for the future generation because they needed children to grow up and become future soldiers and future mine workers. The government was also afraid of mass panic because if people saw their children lying dead they will lose the will to fight.

            One of the main reasons why the government evacuated children because of the fear of mass bombing. Official calculations stated that there would be 100,000

Tons of bombs to rain on London in the first fourteen days, which was more than London received in the entire First World War also the ministry of health, estimated that up to 2,800,000 beds would be needed for air raid casualties. The British government also watched film footage of the Spanish civil, which increased their fear of mass bombing. The Spanish civil war had taken place from 1936-1939. Hitler sent his Condor legion to help the Spanish fascists under General Franco to defeat the Republican government of Spain. Hitler tested out his Blitzkrieg methods here and the Luftwaffe (airforce) decimated Spanish cities such as: Guernica. The British government also had vivid memories of flying bombs during First World War one, which increased their fear of mass bombing and were terrified that the next war would wreak more damage because there would be more bombs, which would be more bigger. The planes would be able to fly more higher and they would also be able to fly faster as well as fly further and the Spanish civil war proved this.

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         Another equally important reason for why the British government would evacuate children from major cities is to avoid mass panic and a collapse in morale. The government used propaganda and censorship to drive their messages home and gain peoples support. The British government had an organization called the ministry of information which used propaganda in several ways: poster campaigns to encourage people to join the voluntary services and work hard in order to help the war effort, posters were produced that warned people of the dangers of ‘careless talk’. There was a fear that German spies ...

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