The photo shows the tenants, with all their belongings and the rubble of their wrecked homes in the background, standing and smiling.
I imagine that this photograph some how wasn’t censored and was definitely published as propaganda. I think this, as it doesn’t say anywhere that it was censored and also because I think it would have been a wonderful piece of propaganda as it shows how brave and courageous the British people was as they have just lost everything and still are cheerful and very determined to get though the war. This photograph if used as propaganda at that time would bring morale and community spirit high so I think it would have been taken and used for this purpose.
As this source was or may have been used for propaganda I believe that you can’t entirely trust this source in the sense that we don’t know for definite that the British people were entirely happy after loosing everything, they may have been told to pose for that purpose. However using source C we can see the effects of the Blitz in the surrounding environment, houses have be bombed peoples possessions lost etc.
In studying these sources I can see a big difference in them. First of all one was used for propaganda and one wasn’t so therefore one could be slightly biased and the other completely truthful. Secondly one source is suggesting that morale and community spirit is really low hence the government resulting to censorship, whereas the other source is saying that everyone is courageous, patriotic and showing the true British ‘grit’. So the two sources, B and C have been useful in showing the effects of the Blitz and they both show that morale was low and so needed boosting by propaganda and the government made sure that hardly anything could spoil it by making sure nothing to devastating would upset the public so they would not let them hear or see it.
(3) Study sources B, C and D. Does source D support the evidence of source B and C about the damage done during the air raids?
In source D, I can see people looting and arguing in the streets so immediately we can see no common and united determination between the British people so it was censored for a while in the hope of people not knowing what people had degraded themselves to. Even though it was censored like source B it doesn’t support both sources it only supports a little of B as it shows low morale and could support the fact about the amount of dead bodies. —The dead school children in source B and there may be dead bodies in the gutter in source D.
It doesn’t support source B in the sense that there is no evidence of any bomb damage to any of the buildings; the only damage to the buildings is that which the British people have done themselves where they have been looting, whereas in source B the picture shows a school which had been bombed.
Source D supports source C in the way that both photographs have lots of belongings and rubble in the streets from the constant air raids on Britain. However it doesn’t support source C, as there is no common and united determination between the public as source C shows everyone smiling even though their homes have been destroyed whereas in this source, source D people have obviously given up.
I think that we can rely on this source and trust it as it was not used as propaganda but in fact censored for a year as the government didn’t want the public to know about it so consequently it hasn’t been changed which means we can trust it.
Source D does seem to support most evidence for sources B and C however it is not all of it.
(4) Study sources E, F and G, and use your own knowledge, to explain why the government was concerned about the morale of the British people in the autumn of 1940? Autumn of 1940 was, as we know the end of the phoney war and the beginning of the Blitz, which brought with it what we call total war, where civilians were also involved in it.
The Blitz brought trepidation, many fears and terrors with it as many died during the Blitz and loosing homes and personal possessions. This worried the government as it brought hysteria to the British nation and if people were busy panicking they weren’t working and this wasn’t what they wanted; the government wanted ‘work as usual’.
1940 was the year in which a new prime minister was elected and took over from Neville Chain Berlin, which was Churchill. In January 1940 the government started giving out rationing books to everyone and soon after that gas marks, just to be safe.
The Blackout started and all public places where people gathered were banned e.g. cinemas, stadiums and train stations.
1940 was also a bad year for the British people not only because of all the above reasons but also because it was the fall of France and in May/ June we had the battle at Dunkirk.
Due to all of these events, which occurred in this year morale wasn’t exactly what I would call high. Morale was just about average, maybe even lower since all public places were banned, a curfew was created due to the blackout and being alone in the sense that we had no real allies since the fall of France and now the battle at Dunkirk really drove the sorrow home.
Source E is a secret report to the government from the ministry of information and because it’s a secret report whereby the public can’t know about it and also the fact that it’s to the government means there is no reason to bend the truth, therefore we can say that this evidence is totally reliable.
This source (source E) tells us that morale was low as the British people are trying to get out of London instead of staying, as they don’t feel safe. The people in London were completely hysterical and the source proves it when it states: “Citizen’s Advice Bureau is inundated with mothers and young children hysterical and asking to be removed from the district.”
The next source, source F, is from some ones diary and so therefore could be biased as it is a personal opinion however we can rely on it other than that as you don’t lie in a personal diary and the man who rote it new what he was talking about as he new members of the government. It quotes: “Everyone is worried about the feeling in the East End of London where there is much bitterness.” From reading this section it doesn’t sound like there is any common and united determination, and if we read the rest it sound like there is no hope of it happening! “It is said that even the King and Queen were booed the other day when they visited the destroyed areas.”
The last source, which is source G, states that people were scared and did in fact flea, however the source, which was taken from a book published in 1988 seems to have put it in a positive way, “Understandably there was wide spread fear during the Blitz. This frequently led to flights of entire communities into a countryside, or ‘trekking’ as it was called at the time.” Books and sources similar to this and also propaganda that was around at the time of the Blitz is what leads people to believe that even 50 years after it happened the British people were a nation which was full of common and united determination even when most of the time it didn’t exist. The title of this book published “Don’t you know there’s a war on?” seems to me to be the propaganda that I was talking about as it implies that the British people were so high in morale and community spirit that others would know that were going through a war. Thing like “Attendance at work remained surprisingly good,” also implies that people continued their lives as usual.
From reading the three sources I have come to believe that the government were worried about morale (spirit and attitude), as there was a secret report to the government saying that the public was hysterical and that morale seemed to be low, a personal diary saying that morale and determination was low and also because there was propaganda used in the last source and I know that propaganda is normally used to encourage people and boost morale if it is low.
The sources conclude my opinion and belief that morale was low as by sitting and thinking about the circumstances that the British people were put in, in 1940, during the Blitz I would probably feel low after all these events had happened to me.
(5) Use the sources and your own knowledge to explain whether you agree with this statement.
In my opinion I believe that this statement: “The impression that the British faced the Blitz with courage and unity is a myth,” is not entirely true. In many sources this statement does appear to be true, however in other sources this is not the case.
In this coursework booklet there are more sources that agree with this statement then are against it. The first few sources imply that morale was low; the British were hysterical and didn’t show much courage or common and united determination as some sources were censored, used as propaganda and were even secret reports saying: “People run madly for shelters. Citizen’s Advice Bureau is inundated with mothers and young children hysterical and asking to be removed from the district…Taxi drivers report taking group after group to Euston and Paddington with belongings.”
The few sources, which disagree with the statement, are all propaganda, which means we can’t necessarily trust them as they are meant to persuade people and boost morale. However there are sources, which prove the statement to be wrong e.g. a source from a textbook by Robert Runcie, the former archbishop of Canterbury. He remembers the war…
“Ordinary men and women endured the Blitz, and by faith and courage finally won through… Some stayed in their homes, making use of basements and cellars…but throughout the land was a common and united determination.” This source tells us different from the reports in the booklet and is also an honest opinion.
Source C is an example of common and united determination as all these tenants have lost all their possessions and yet are still smiling. It also states: “During the raids on London, houses were bombed. Their houses are wreaked but the tenants of the buildings still showed the British ‘grit’.” Also Source G says: Attendance at work remained surprisingly good…Londoners escaped to Epping Forest during the bombing of the East End. Yet many of those who trekked were the same people who continued to turn up to work.” This shows courage and resilience to the nation as they read this.
Groups had been set up such as W.V.S, W.A.A.C, W.R.N.S, W.R.A.F and the V.A.D’s, this shows a common and united determination as many people wanted to help out in the war. Women also contributed to the war effort by filling in the men’s jobs while they were at war, which also meant that more men could sign up for war. Meanwhile the government had promised them their jobs for when they came back which shows that the government encouraged the men to do their patriotic duty.
The women also started the Civil defence and a land army, which was where they grew their own food so it didn’t need to be imported and so there was a good chance that if food supplies were cut the British could still survive.
The government set up a new section of the army, which were for men who were too old or injured to fight in the main army, they were called the ‘Home guard’. They were used to sort out local problems and not anything too dangerous or risky.
Source F shows a lack of common and united determination as people were booing the King and Queen when they went to visit the bombed areas: “ The king and Queen were booed the other day when they visited the destroyed areas. Source E also implies that the British grit was all a myth as the British people showed much hysteria.
Source B is a source, which shows all the destruction, which was happening and we find that it was censored, which implies that morale was low as the government were obviously worried/concerned about the affect it could have on the public.
To conclude I neither agree nor disagree with the statement: “ The impression that the British people faced the Blitz with courage and unity is a myth.” If I was to make an answer from the sources I would probably choose to agree with the statement and if I was to come up with an answer from my own knowledge I would almost certainly choose to disagree. However with both of these decisions there are two sides, which makes it even harder to choose or draw a conclusion. What I must remember in all my decisions though is that there is no right or wrong answer and also that no source is completely reliable or untrustworthy. Bering these in mind I’m afraid that I cant make a final decision to agree or disagree with the statement, therefore I’m am neutral to it as there are many reasons why I should or should not agree with it.
