4. In the autumn of 1940, the government was beginning to get concerned about the morale of the British people. This was due to the start of The Blitz, sustained bombing by the German air force on London, which had started on the 7th September that year. As source E , a secret report to the Ministry of Information in September 1940, shows that people were panicking as soon as the sirens went out, and many people were leaving London, especially the East end, which was one of the worst hit areas, by train. I feel this showed the amount of worrying and panic, which led to people wanting to get away, probably to the countryside. The government will not have wanted this report to get out, so it probably would have been censored by the Ministry of information, as they would have wanted the numbers of people running away minimal. Also, this report was at the very beginning of the Blitz, and the Government may have hoped that the panic would die down and things could get back to normal.
Source F is an extract from the diary of Harold Nicolson, a friend to many members of the government, on September 1940. He talks about how everyone in the East End is bitter and due to the King and queen being booed whilst there, the government is getting worried about it. This extract would have been private and honest due to it being a diary, and it shows the people getting angry, bitter and starting to lay the blame on others. The Government did not want this as firstly, if too many people became disillusioned they would destroy the morale of others, and secondly, the positions of the government would be under threat from the opposition to do something. However, this extract does show that the leaders of the country were trying to boost morale, by asking the King and Queen to go and visit destroyed areas, possibly to make other people feel that they were just as traumatised by the war.
Source G is from a book, published in 1988. It is an extract which talks about how people “trekked” to the countryside, and slept their at night, but, turned up for work the next day. This was the kind of thing the Government liked. This meant that people would not be sleeping in fear but still turn up for work the next morning, and continues production to boost the economy and war effort. This may have been for a few reasons, such as wanting to help hold up Hitler and beat him or showing Germany that they weren’t badly affected.
The main reasons why the Government did not wish to have unhappy people was because they knew that if the Blitz succeeded, Britain would almost definitely have been invaded. The Blitz was just a campaign to make the British people disillusioned with their leaders, and also try and affect industry. So, to combat this, the Government needed to keep the economy working, which would not have been helped by people moving to the countryside. They were also aware that failure to turn up to work would have an effect and also, they knew that areas such as the East End were being worse affected than others. The main way they tried to hide the panic and hysteria of the Blitz was through censorship, via the ministry of information. For example, any photographs which were likely to undermine public morale were withheld, such as a photo showing casualties or damage (Source B). The ministry of information also wrote documents, films and photographs and released them, along with stories of defiance and heroism, such as the picture of St.Pauls Cathedral surrounded by flames.
5. The Impression that the British faced the Blitz with courage and unity is a myth
In my opinion, this statement is both right and wrong. To a certain extent, many Britain’s fled from the Blitz and became disillusioned. But, at the same time there are stories of heroism and individual bravery. Here are my reasons for and against the statement.
Many people feel that the Blitz was a success for everyone. This is because if it had not have succeeded, Britain would have been almost certainly invaded by Germany. Source A supports this by saying “out of terror and tragedy came courage and an unshakeable determination”. This source is from a book celebrating the Blitz. For everyone to stay together would take determination and it shows that things cannot have been that bad if the Blitz was overcome.
Another reasons why this statement may be false is because due to the war, the civilians in Britain came together to help each other. In a country where food was scarce, and rationing was introduced, people in the countryside began growing more crops and women, for the first time, started to take over the men’s jobs who were abroad and helped maintain the country.
Also, many neighbourhoods in the worse affected areas, such as East London, often came together in bad times. Source C shows a neighbourhood, next to destroyed houses, coming together and smiling at the camera with a thumbs up to symbolize that things are going well. The caption reveals that they are showing British “grit”. Although the photo may have been staged, it would have encouraged other neighbourhoods to come together and help each other out in bad times.
Another reason is although many people were choosing not to live in London at night, and “trekking” to the countryside to sleepover; they were coming back to work the next day. This kept the economy going and production up, thwarting the aims of the Blitz. As source G says, “Yet many of those who trekked were the same people who continued to turn up for work”.
Also, from looking at the sources, although the evidence suggest that the British people were frightened, the sources come from a short period of heavy bombing, in the worse affected areas. For example, Source F was taken from a bad patch of bombing in the East End.
A final argument against this statement would be the actions of the royal family in the time of need. The royal family decided to stay with London, and not to move, to show their people that they would be suffering in the same way as their subjects. The royal family also tried to visit places of destruction, such as East London (Source F) to try and cheer the people up. People felt warmed by this, and thought that the Blitz signalled a coming together of all classes. Also, Buckingham palace was bombed one night, which made the people feel everyone was at risk, not just them.
There are also many arguments to suggest that this statement is true. Firstly, the fact that the Government had the ministry of information to censor out photos, must have meant morale was bad. Photos, such as the one in source B, would not have been published due to it showing grim scenes. Photos which showed either death or destruction would not have been released.
Next, at the beginning of the Blitz, many people began to run away to the countryside. This affected morale, as many others, out of panic decided to go as well. For example, in source E, a secret government report, it talks of people going to train stations with belongings, moving to the countryside from the East End.
Next, with the damage of buildings, thieves began to start taking valuable from homes. Very few were caught because it was so easy to go and take. For example, in Source D, it would have been very easy for a looter to go up to the wreckage of a house and go and take all of the belongings.
Finally, many people began to feel bitter and angry about the Blitz, especially in the worst affected areas such as the East End. As source F shows, the King and queen were booed whilst visiting the wreckage. This shows that the people were beginning to get angry with the authorities.
Overall, I feel there is no real way to decide wether this statement is true or not. I feel that it is true in the sense that some people decided to run to the countryside and feel bitter, but others decided to stick with the war effort and drew social classes and working with women together.
