After offering Britain some Peace Terms, it became clear to Hitler that these terms would not be accepted, leaving Hitler with only one option – to invade the British Isles. Codenamed ‘Operation Sealion’, Hitler’s plan was to send troops across the channel in flat bottom barges to the beaches of Sussex and Kent, then to advance on London. But Operation Sealion was never actually launched, due to the Royal Air Force’s defeat of the German air force, the Luftwaffe. Without Air Supremacy, Hitler knew no invasion of Britain could occur, and gave up hope of Operation Sealion taking place by boat.
Hitler, however, started The Battle of Britain, a harrowing 3 month battle between the planes of Germany and Britain. There were three main phrases to the Battle of Britain. Starting on the July 10th to August 12th, the first phrase involved the Luftwaffe attacking shipping in the channel and radar, technology that Germany didn’t have, stations, for which Britain suffered heavy losses.
The second phase continued The Battle of Britain from 13th August to 6th September (1940) with the Luftwaffe attacking British airfields. Places such as Biggin Hill and Duxford were attacked, leaving the R.A.F. close to defeat and Britain at one of its lowest points.
On August 23rd, however, a German bomber made a very big mistake – his plane accidentally bombed London. This was the cause of Britain to start its bombing campaign on Berlin, causing lots of damage and destruction, but also giving Hitler the provocation to bomb London – this was the start of the Blitz – (HITLER’S QUOTE).
Starting on 3rd September, Hitler, in retaliation to the R.A.F. attacks on Berlin, ordered the Luftwaffe to attack London for the first time. This, an event that simply accidentally grew out of the Battle of Britain, was the start of The Blitz. Though the main cause for this attack on Britain was revenge for them bombing Berlin, Hitler also bombed London as he had no alternative, especially after that Battle of Britain on 15th September, and after Hitler finally postponed Operation Sealion on 17th September. This tactic, of bombing a country into surrender was no stranger to the Germans, as it’d had first been used during The Spanish Civil War, in Guernica, and then again in Poland.
After, the Battle of Britain, however, did not end quickly, as German bombers continued bombing raids on British cities. This was aiming for Britain to surrender, but using a number of ideas to get them to do this.
In a war, high morale keeps a country together, letting people get on with their lives and continue fighting the war. With low morale, however, people give up hope and countries tend to lose the war. From understanding this, Hitler’s first aim was to lower the morale of Britain – through ‘Death ad Destruction’. Carpet bombing of the heavily populated areas, especially London and the East End, would hopefully lower morale, forcing Churchill into surrender as the country could take no more. This plan, however, backfired, as the constant bombing of cities and people just pulled the communities together, making them realise that they had too much to just give up, and that their lives and country were worth fighting for. So, in effect, this ‘Death ad Destruction’ tactic just forced the Great Britons to want to continue, and win, even more.
Hitler’s second aim to make Britain surrender was to destroy the means of waging war – he would destroy the ports and factories of Britain. Britain suffered greatly for this, with many towns hit, including Liverpool and Glasgow for their ports, Derby; the home of Rolls Royce, Bristol; another port and aircraft, Coventry; engines, Sheffield; steel, and factory towns such as Manchester, Birmingham and Belfast. These hits, though successful in destroying many lives and a lot of Britain’s opportunities, did not force Britain to surrender, but spurred them on in that war, giving them reason to fight – and reason to get revenge.
The third, and final, aim for Hitler bombing the cities of Britain was to destroy the countries infrastructure, in the hope that Britain simply wouldn’t be able to continue, with no equipment to fight. Hitler disrupted many communications and caused a lot of chaos by bombing ports, roads, bridges and railways, as well as airfields; to destroy planes and their bases. This plan, though possibly the cleverest and most likely to succeed, fortunately, did not force Britain to surrender.
In conclusion, there are many reasons as to why the major cities of Britain were bombed, but the simplest answer was to force Britain to surrender. Though Hitler always had revenge for Berlin in mind, his tactics show that lowering morale, causing destruction and ruining Britain’s chances in winning the war, by destroying communications and equipment, were all aims of his in trying to win the war.
