The first reason that gave the British government great cause for concern and began setting their plans to evacuate women and children from major British cities was the outbreak of the Spanish Civil war in 1936. General Franco was the fascist leader of Spain and as the views were close to the ideals of the Nazis he asked Hitler for support in fighting the communists. On the 26th April 1937 Hitler attacked the Spanish city of Guernica. The town was the first to be struck by explosive bombs and then by incendiaries. As people fled from their homes it was estimated that; 1,685 were killed and 900 injured in this attack by Hitler and 70% of buildings were destroyed by the bombings. This had been Hitler’s early attempt to test out his Blitzkrieg method of warfare and had demonstrated his success of doing so. It also showed the British government what Hitler was capable of and that citizens and not only soldiers could be a target of war. This incident also bought the Germans and the Italians closer together as they signed the Rome – Berlin axis and then the Anti – Comintern Act against the spread of communism, allies if war broke out. The great cause for concern to evacuate the children was due to the outbreak of the Spanish Civil War.
The second reason was the Czechoslovakia Crisis; in August 1938 Adolf Hitler began making speeches that suggested he was going to send the German Army into Czechoslovakia. The government started to fear a war with Nazi German and Chamberlain ordered ARP (Air Raid Precautions) volunteers to be mobilized. They began to requisition cellars and basements for air raid shelters, deep trenches were dug in the parks of large towns and cities and the government also ordered the flying of barrage balloons over London. The job of the barrage balloons was to prevent low flying aircraft and pinpoint bombing by the Luftwaffe. The jobs of these balloons were to discourage dive bombing and low level attacks on the towns. The Munich conference and the British policy of appeasement adverted the possibility of war, but when other states such as Poland began to claim part of Czechoslovakia, the leader of the country had no choice but to invite the Germans into help defend the state, so on 15th March 1939, Hitler marched to Prague and the state of Czechoslovakia was at an end. This incident ended the policy of appeasement although nothing could be done as the Czechoslovakia government had invited Hitler in but it did change Chamberlains attitude and showed Hitler as an aggressor who was prepared to break agreement and a man who would continue to take territory unless he was stopped. Britain began building up her defences and brought in conscription.
The third reason is German Rearmament The British government were aware that Hitler was breaking the Treaty of Versailles and rearming and this was reinforced when Hitler withdrew from the World Disarmament Conference (WDC) in 1933 and from the League of Nations. Hitler introduced conscription and began to build up his armaments, the League of Nations had no power to stop Hitler doing this and Britain’s only concern was that Germanys Navy was weaker that Britain even signed a Treaty to say Hitler could build a Navy as long as it was no bigger than 35% of the British Navy.
The forth reason is the Plans for Evacuation, in the lead up to World War Two, governments throughout Europe had been terrified of bombings. The destruction of innocent civilians at Guernica in Spain during the Spanish Civil War had been the proof that governments needed to show that bombings was the new horror of warfare. With this in mind, the British government introduced evacuation. Young children were sent with their ‘minders’ – either their mothers or teachers, to what were considered safe areas that would be free from Nazi bombings. In the first few weeks of the start of the war (1st September 1939), nearly two million children were evacuated. The government, which controlled all aspects of the media, wanted to give the public the impression that evacuation was popular among those affected and put out propaganda pictures and films to this effect.
However, many mothers were very unsure as to the usefulness of evacuation. Many children were evacuated but not with huge enthusiasm and when became apparent that the war was not going to lea to cities being bombed (this was pre – the Blitz of London during the ‘’Phoney War’’).Many children returned back to their homes in the cities which they just left recently.
The fifth reasons were the Memories of World War One and the Threat of Invasion. Many people had lived through the horrors of World War One. The thoughts and memories of the attempted invasion were still with some of the British people. As in December 1914 Germans ships had begun shelling Hartlepool, Scarborough and Whitley, causing 500 civilian injured and in casualty and created panic as the people believe the Germans could invade. There has also been the threat of invasion from the Zeppelin airships. The first of these can in January 1915 when two Zeppelins bombed Great Yarmouth and King’s Lynn killing two people and damaging houses. Further attacks took place in London but stopped when better defences were put in place by the Government. Hitler’s new tactics are more devastating for the people who were involved in the First World War. The threat of invasion to the civilians that were involved in the First World War were horrified and scared of the threats to invade. When France invaded in May 1940 it convinced the British Government this was a real possibility so, so children who had been sent to areas within ten miles of the coast in East Anglia, Kent and Sussex were transferred to South Wales for safety. By the end of July nearly half of the population of East Anglia’s coastal towns and two – fifths of the inhabitants of Kentish towns on the coast had been left for safer regions of the country.
To conclude, the British Government evacuated young children from the major British cities was due to the Spanish Civil War. They moved them to the country side as they were thought to be safe there and where the most venerable members of society and if more children were killed peoples morale would have been broken.
