1. Why were the major cities of Britain bombed by the Germans in 1940-41?
Elliott Rowland 4M-RIS History History Coursework Why were the major cities of Britain bombed by the Germans in 1940-41? There are many factors leading up to Britain being bombed by the Germans in the Blitz (7 September 1940 – 10 May 1941) and before British cities were bombed, but it was mainly RAF bases and transport connection lines like railways and roads. The Germans bombed these to stop communications happening for Britain and other allies of Britain, messengers were then needed to travel and this would take a lot longer than a simple phone call for a message to be passed. A huge factor on bombing Britain’s major cities is the battle of Britain;
when the battle of Britain began, Germany thought the war was almost over as the Nazi’s had defeated the British on the continent and having no European allies (apart from France, but they had been invaded by Germany). In August 1940, The Luftwaffe bombed industrial targets in Birmingham and Liverpool, this all occurred at night as in the day, too many German bomber planes were being destroyed; this created an increase in night bombings happening. A German attack was planned on Britain. The battle of Britain began, whilst the battle of Britain was happening, on the night of 24th August ...
This is a preview of the whole essay
when the battle of Britain began, Germany thought the war was almost over as the Nazi’s had defeated the British on the continent and having no European allies (apart from France, but they had been invaded by Germany). In August 1940, The Luftwaffe bombed industrial targets in Birmingham and Liverpool, this all occurred at night as in the day, too many German bomber planes were being destroyed; this created an increase in night bombings happening. A German attack was planned on Britain. The battle of Britain began, whilst the battle of Britain was happening, on the night of 24th August 1940, German aircraft were flying over Thames Haven on a raid, and pilot Rudolf Hallensleben strayed over into the East and North-East parts of London dropping bombs on places like Hackney, Islington and Tottenham. This triggered the Blitz; a counter attack was devised on Berlin the next night, dropping bombs on Kreuzberg and Wedding, causing ten deaths. By now Britain was easily defending off the Germans on their attempted invasion of Britain, with RAF bases producing three times more mechanical replacements than the Germans due to Lord Beaverbrook who was increasing the efficiency of fighter production. Hitler was outraged at Churchill for purposely ordering the bombing of Berlin to happen and meaning intentional harm to German civilians. On the 5th of September, Hitler personally ordered disruptive attacks to happen on major British cities and air defences of major cities. Although this was very bad, it relieved pressure on RAF airfields. Operation Sealion had failed for the Nazi’s so The Blitz began. On the first night of the Blitz four hundred and thirty six Londoners were killed and one thousand six hundred and sixty-six were injured. Hitler’s main target in the Blitz was to destroy British morale, so the Germans would recover from their Battle of Britain defeat (although some would hardly count it as a victory as all the British did was fend off the Germans) and morale would once again be raised and the war could be won and the Aryan race would be supreme. London was then bombed for fifty-seven consecutive nights. Other major industrial cities were also attacked as well, including: Birmingham, Coventry, Liverpool, Hull, Manchester, Portsmouth, Nottingham, Southampton, Sheffield, Greenock, Swansea, Bristol, Clyde Bank, Belfast and Plymouth. All of these cities are big industrial cities where mechanical war products were produced and where main rail and road lines ran through. For example, the B.S.A. was bombed in Birmingham, this was to slow down war production and try to send Britain into submission, so Germany could conquer. Some people say the Blitz never would have happened if Rudolf Hallensleben and his fleet hadn’t wandered over and dropped bombs on London, thousands of life’s would have been saved. I think Hitler realised that he could not defeat Britain through the air, so he must not try to fight us, but be tactical and destroy Britain’s morale and slow down war production so maybe he could plan another invasion on Britain as now war productions in Britain would have reduced a vast amount If Hitler spent a lot of time destroying industrial sites and RAF bases. All of these factors were a big contribution to the Blitz Mrs. Van der Werff 01/05/09
