history coursework question 5 the blitz

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5. Study all the sources, and use your own knowledge.

The impression that the British faced the Blitz with courage and unity is a myth.

Use the sources, and your own knowledge, to explain whether you agree with this statement. (14)

I disagree to an extent with the statement that Britain faced the Blitz without courage and unity because Britain did remain generally strong and unified as Britain managed to survive the Blitz and continue working even after the Blitz. However, a large amount of the media shown during the Blitz was propaganda which raises a question about how did the public really feel during the Blitz and whether they actually felt unified. The statement can also be compared to Angus Calder’s theory where he believed that the unification of Britain during the Blitz was a myth.

During World War II, the government set up the Ministry of Information to firstly, censor all newspapers and radios and secondly, to produce propaganda to help ‘boost public morale’. These were shown on the radio, in newsreels in the cinema, on posters, in newspapers and in magazines. Examples of this are shown in Sources B and C. In Source B, the image shows an air raid of a Girls School in the East End near the end of the height of the Blitz in 1943. This image was censored which shows how the government was trying to “hide the truth” in order to keep morale high as the image is very negative as it shows how innocent civilians were killed due to total warfare. The government was so worried about morale becoming low as there was a possibility of “shelter mentality” developing among the working class and also Hitler’s main aim of the Blitz was to break British morale therefore through censorship and propaganda, the government could control what was shown through the media and therefore keep morale high. Also, in source F, it shows just how concerned the government was of morale being low, especially in Ealing which was near where Source B was. He also talks about “everyone” being worried, which supports Calder’s theory.  Harold Nicolson, the writer of the source, had connections with many members of the government and so this makes what he writes more believable and accurate as it was a firsthand account.

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In Source C, we see a photograph which had been published during the height of the blitz. It shows injured civilians but they are carrying on. It is a very positive image and the people are seen to be having “blitz spirit”, this purpose of the image would’ve been to help keep Britain unified during the Blitz. This image proves how the government influenced on what was shown; we don’t actually know whether or not the people photographed felt positive or whether they had been asked to smile therefore it was a propaganda picture and because it was published, many ...

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The spelling, grammar and punctuation had a few questionable places. Though nothing major, one should make sure that they always check through their work as such 'silly mistakes' do not leave a good impression to the examiner and spoils a high standard essay. The technical terms used in the essay were appropriate and the student follows typical conventions in regards to the structure of the essay. The student has also mentioned each source at least once which is good as marks can be deducted if this is omitted. I should add that it is not necessary to write the word Source every time. It is ok to write 'E is an account ....' rather than 'Source E is an account'. This again helps the word count.

The student shows a strong analytical approach to the sources and writes well. As mentioned above, the student lacks some depth in some areas where they could have been more specific and precise in detail bringing in their 'own knowledge'. The sources were closely looked at and the student obviously has a very good understanding of each source in relation to the question. The student uses the sources to their advantage and uses it to guide the essay which is good, but this also endangers the 'own knowledge' part as it can be too heavily source based (which this was tending towards). The conclusion was a strong and apparent one from the start. However, I would avoid the words "I" and "we" in an essay. Especially with the word "I" as it is always obvious that the essay is your opinion so ultimately whatever your conclusion, it is always your argument. In regards to the word "we", it is not as professional to use. The student could try other phrasing such as 'It is evident from E that....' rather than 'We can see from E that...'.

The student has a clear line of argument and argues their line well throughout the essay. However, the student has a very strong siding towards rejecting the title therefore the 'for argument' in the essay is relatively weak in comparison to the 'against argument'. By this, I mean that the 'for' is less well developed in terms of supporting it with evidence. Whilst this is not always possible to achieve, certainly for such source coursework, they always give sources which strongly agree, disagree and some which can be used on both sides. The structure is very clear and the introduction opens the essay well. However, the introduction seemed to also do the work of the conclusion as by the conclusion, there were no points left to say and so it was repeating almost exactly what had been said before. The idea of the conclusion is to wrap up the essay and tie up any loose ends - I felt this was all done throughout the essay therefore the conclusion seemed slightly pointless.