What can you learn from Source A about the response of the British people to the effects of the Blitz?

DIVESH PARMAR U5S

BRITAIN IN THE AGE OF TOTAL WAR

ASSIGNMENT 2: OBJECTIVE 1

What can you learn from Source A about the response of the British people to the effects of the Blitz?

Source A is useful in learning that the people of Britain were very determined and just lived their lives with minor differences. Although it made life harder, British morale was on average, very high. But this being said, the passage itself is slanted towards the British. It was written to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Blitz, so it is looking back on the Blitz happily, and regarding everyone as heroes. There were many good points, that the publisher is bringing to light; the people did band together to form a tightly-knit community that supported each other, and lived through appalling conditions with a smile on their face. People would want to remember the good things-human minds have the tendency to block out those memories that haunt them, so for people who lived through the Blitz, they would reminisce about the community spirit, and not the hundreds of injured and dying. This introduction was written by the publisher on the inside cover of the book, the first thing that would be read; this would entice people to buy it, earning the publisher more money.

ASSIGNMENT 2: OBJECTIVE 2

How useful are Sources B and C in helping you to understand the effects of the Blitz on the people of Britain?

Source B is showing that however high the general morale was, the Blitz still had an effect on the population, bombs were constantly killing people and destroying homes. Most of the population would have been touched on a personal level by death, but because the government did not want this to affect more than the local people, and lower morale, they were forced to censor war media items. Source B only shows the negative side of the war, which would not be appreciated in newspapers. This photograph shows the reality. Although Source C is blatantly posed, it is still useful and shows us that although tenants have lost their houses, they are still helping the war effort by fighting or working in the factories. It shows us how the government wanted the people to view the Blitz, by giving them local heroes. The grey massacre that was the bombing had utterly destroyed the landscape, but this was not just a normal house, this bomb had been dropped on a girls’ school; and the death of young girls at school would have mortified the community, if it was released to them.

Source C has been manufactured by the Ministry of Propaganda, and was clearly made to influence the others by giving them heroes to aspire towards. The picture shows people showing the British ‘grit’ and are generally still very optimistic. It would make the reader proud to be British. But each source has its limitations, and Source B only shows a small area that could have been a major hit- maybe nothing else was hit like that; Source C was a posed photograph, not what was really happening around them, and maybe in reality those tenants were not as cheery ...

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Source C has been manufactured by the Ministry of Propaganda, and was clearly made to influence the others by giving them heroes to aspire towards. The picture shows people showing the British ‘grit’ and are generally still very optimistic. It would make the reader proud to be British. But each source has its limitations, and Source B only shows a small area that could have been a major hit- maybe nothing else was hit like that; Source C was a posed photograph, not what was really happening around them, and maybe in reality those tenants were not as cheery as they appeared to be in the photograph.

ASSIGNMENT 2: OBJECTIVE 3

Does Source D support the evidence of Sources B and C about damage done during air raids?

In Source D, two grown men are arguing over their few remaining possessions, and the pointing makes a further indication that this was not an amicable conversation. With the coldness of the surroundings, it is similar to what is shown in Source B; both of these photographs show devastation, and the grim reality of war. Source D was taken on the 15 November 1940 but was not released until 3 months later due to governmental censorship. Both photographs were originally censored, but after 3 months Source D was published with a caption that showed people helping each other to sort through personal property. In the way that the photograph was meant to be interpreted, it resembled Source C, as both represent community, and helping each other. Both sources show the reality and the destruction that the bombings resulted in.

Source C and D are similar in the way that with its caption, it portrays people getting on with their life even in an atmosphere of utter despair and bleak destruction. People in the background appear to be queuing for a shop or a bus, going about everyday life and the two men in the foreground are sorting through remains. But the main difference is that one is reality and the other is posed. Without the caption, the photograph is normally interpreted in a gloomy and miserable way, but it that can still be limited by propaganda. The once soaring city of Coventry, home of aircraft manufacture, was turned to ruin by the sudden, extended bombing.

ASSIGNMENT 2: OBJECTIVE 4

Use sources E, F, and G and your own knowledge, to explain why the government was concerned about the morale of the British people in the autumn of 1940?

The Blitz was not a good time for the British, as the sources E and F clearly articulate. “…people run madly for the shelters”. The general public were in a state of mass hysteria, and panic had begun to surface. Many people had been killed and facts of their demise had arisen. But although these instances occurred, the morale was generally high, and the air-raids had brought people together. Even so, the government faced a huge dilemma, if the British morale at any point showed signs of pressure than those cracks would quickly evolve into the build up of frenzy.

The people were flocking to the communal shelters that were provided. “…Exodus from the East End growing rapidly”. These too few shelters were overcrowded, and under stocked. The citizens of the East End were grieved over the fact that they were forced to endure the brunt of the bombings, and in source F, it clearly shows how bitter the really were, “…the King and Queen were booed the other day…” The British royalty were considered a statute of their independence and their superiority.

The government was very concerned about the war effort, and knew that they had to keep the morale high; so they took steps such as censoring media items that related to the war.

Trekking was a big problem for the government as they were afraid that if they went into the country they would never return. But this disillusioned fear proved wrong, as it shows in source G, the people that did trek into the country for the night were the people that turned up the next day. The attendance at work was surprisingly high and stay at that peak throughout the war; the country’s economic life was sustained by the patriotism of its citizens.

The threat of invasion lowered the spirit of the people, and the government were suspicious of it falling to unfeasible lows. But the resilience of the people showed how determined they were. The German air-raids had a single purpose-to lower the morale of the people sufficiently enough, so that the war effort was hampered, to give an underhand advantage.

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