The Government tried to hide the effects of Blitz from the British people by only concentrating on the positive information. The censors did this by only allowing positive information to be released to newspapers, radio, and cinema to show that Britain was coping extremely well. Furthermore the British Government did not reveal information about the destruction that was really going on, and this led to people helping each other along because morale was so high. Moreover, positive stories of heroism inspired the public; consequently morale remained at a high.
To help encourage people to support the British war effort, the Ministry of Information produced propaganda. Due to the fact that their main aim was to ‘promote’ the British war effort, the Ministry of Information had to come up with ways it can higher morale and guarantee support for Britain. Due to the fact that it was hard to find a lot of positive information the Ministry of Information often faked reports to up morale amongst people. An example of this was when the Ministry had to make sure that the publics’ hatred for Hitler was still strong so they added clouds of smoke to a picture of St. Pauls Cathedral to send the message that everything that was British was under attack. Moreover, the Ministry of Information also made films showing what life would be like if Britain won the war. All this helped to build morale and strengthen the support for Britain.
The Government tried to hide the effects of the Blitz by producing lots of fake information that encouraged people to support Britain rather than think about the different problems happening. This propaganda encouraged people to emulate the courage shown in the stories and showed people that they can cope. The propaganda was vital in keeping up the publics hope at the time when the Germans’ propaganda was at large. In result the propaganda produced by the Ministry of Information was fundamental in keeping up the morale high and British support up.
Why were the major cities of Britain bombed by the Germans in 1940-41?
During 1940-41 the Germans bombed some of the major British cities as part of an attack to invade Great Britain. Hitler decided to take this plan of action partly due to the fact that the Luftwaffe had failed to defeat the RAF in Battle of Britain.
One of the main reasons for attacking major cities was that these areas were very densely populated. Dropping bombs on these cities would cause great loss of life and hopefully break morale in Britain – which was Hitler’s primary objective. Because no one would have been prepared for the first attack on East-London the death toll was far greater. This was good news for the Germans because it meant that the morale of the country would decline due to the increase in deaths, this would lead to people loosing hope in the war and questioning whether Britain stood a chance of winning and was it worth it? Moreover, the devastation caused led to looting and wanton destruction that became uncontrollable for the police. The effect on morale was so bad and there was a general feeling desperation due to the never ending bombing.
Another reason for bombing major cities would mean the destruction of industry and transport. In London, docks were attacked regularly and across Britain the Luftwaffe also tried to hit railway lines, junctions, power stations and ports. The Germans hoped the consequences of bombing factories would be huge and it will ruin industry and unemployment would rise which would lead to low morale, but that was not the case. Bombing factories needed a precision that was lacked by German planes because factories were usually isolated from housing estates, which meant they were harder to target. Most factories were able to resume production in a matter of days. However, ports continued to be raided and massive attacks were carried out on naval bases located in Portsmouth where the death toll was raised eve
In conclusion the Germans bombed major cities of Britain because their two main objectives were to lower public morale and also destroy transport and industry in Britain. Doing this gave the Germans an advantage because if morale was lowered then most people will lose support for Britain’s war effort and would just give up. Furthermore, targeting major cities also meant that bombing had an effect on industry and transportation, which was vital in the daily routine of many living in a large city. This would also lower employment, which directly affects the people of the city and this would mean that people had a feeling of great depression and very low morale.
Describe the effects of the Blitz on everyday life in Britain
The Blitz was when the Germans bombed major cities of Britain by night. Hitler decided to take this plan of action on the 7th September 1940, after Luftwaffe lost to the RAF in the Battle of Britain. The effects of the Blitz were enormous and influenced the lives of the British people immensely.
One of the most difficult outcomes of the Blitz that the public had to deal with was the amount of destruction of cities and lives. The very first attacks were aimed at the East-End of London, one of the most highly populated parts of London. The result of the bombing raids was destruction of large areas of the East End and huge amounts of civilian deaths and casualties. This left many people in a state of shock and they were now living in fear of the German attacks. To help stay safe many civilians moved in with family or friends living out side the East-End during the time of the raids. The intense bombings made life extremely difficult for those living at home as industry and homes were destroyed constantly each day. Due to these intense attacks by 1941 thousands of people had been killed by bombings on their homes. This was a big test on the nations morale, as more people were dying everyday and hope was fading away. Due to the amount of fear that had grown some people moved to different locations at night and some took shelter onto the ground floor and constructed shelters in the Underground, which became more popular each day. It was not unusual for civilians to stay in the Underground during the night because fear had grown so much it was the only way they knew of keeping safe. This shows how upside down British peoples’ lives had been turned around and what unusual things are now routine for them.
Soon enough the Air Raid Precaution was set up. Their job was to ensure that at night all the blackout precautions were carried out. This was a big effect on the public due to the fact that every night ARP wardens checked each house to make sure their lights were out. The consequences of giving off any light from your home could result in Germans planes spotting it and bombing the whole area. Furthermore, wardens had to be told how many people were sleeping in each house so that if the area was bombed emergency services would not waste time searching for people who are not there. Although some people found these wardens intrusive it was a vital job to keep all lights off in order to prevent German bombing raids.
In conclusion, the everyday lives of the British public were affected immensely during the Blitz. It had been a hard time but Britain survived the Blitz but at the enormous cost of thousands of peoples lives. The many raids left industry shattered and left many lives wounded. The whole nations routine was altered as each bomb fell and the death toll was incredible.
