Why were the major cities of Britain bombed by the Germans in 1940-41?
The RAF won the Battle of Britain in the air by September 1940. The Luftwaffe failed to destroy the RAF and take control of the air over England so that they would be ready for the proposed German invasion and German soldiers could land safely in Britain. They decided to change their tactics and began the blitz.
Blitz comes from the German word for lightning. It was a period of swift, sudden and intense bombing in London and other cities that continued until the following May. It usually involved both air and land forces. For the next consecutive 76 days, London was bombed either during the day or night. The main aim of the Blitz was to destroy the morale of the British people so that they would give in and surrender and cripple British industry.
The main reasons for this bombing to take place were to destroy things which Britain needed to continue fighting the war. Things such as railways, roads, factories, fuel depots, military installations and air raid fields. They wanted to destroy civilian morale in the hope that the population would become so fed up that they would demand the government declared peace and surrendered immediately. On the 7th September 1940 Hitler ordered an end to daylight attacks on RAF airfields because they were loosing too many aircrafts. Instead he sent the Luftwaffe on Blitz of British towns which began with night -time bombing raids on London. They dropped their bombs on London Docks, the Woolwich Arsenal and the armaments factories in Silver town. The RAF and the bombers were able to take their time and pick their targets. By dawn 430 Londoners were dead and 1600 were injured. The wanted to demonstrate to Britain just how strong Germany was, especially the Luftwaffe and so it was no good continuing to fight. All of Britain would eventually be destroyed. Also the RAF was a big problem to Germany during the war, partly because the RAF was bombing Germany and because the RAF prevented Germany from crossing the Channel to invade Britain. If Germany could destroy the RAF then Britain was completely vulnerable to attack.
The RAF won the Battle of Britain in the air by September 1940. The Luftwaffe failed to destroy the RAF and take control of the air over England so that they would be ready for the proposed German invasion and German soldiers could land safely in Britain. They decided to change their tactics and began the blitz.
Blitz comes from the German word for lightning. It was a period of swift, sudden and intense bombing in London and other cities that continued until the following May. It usually involved both air and land forces. For the next consecutive 76 days, London was bombed either during the day or night. The main aim of the Blitz was to destroy the morale of the British people so that they would give in and surrender and cripple British industry.
The main reasons for this bombing to take place were to destroy things which Britain needed to continue fighting the war. Things such as railways, roads, factories, fuel depots, military installations and air raid fields. They wanted to destroy civilian morale in the hope that the population would become so fed up that they would demand the government declared peace and surrendered immediately. On the 7th September 1940 Hitler ordered an end to daylight attacks on RAF airfields because they were loosing too many aircrafts. Instead he sent the Luftwaffe on Blitz of British towns which began with night -time bombing raids on London. They dropped their bombs on London Docks, the Woolwich Arsenal and the armaments factories in Silver town. The RAF and the bombers were able to take their time and pick their targets. By dawn 430 Londoners were dead and 1600 were injured. The wanted to demonstrate to Britain just how strong Germany was, especially the Luftwaffe and so it was no good continuing to fight. All of Britain would eventually be destroyed. Also the RAF was a big problem to Germany during the war, partly because the RAF was bombing Germany and because the RAF prevented Germany from crossing the Channel to invade Britain. If Germany could destroy the RAF then Britain was completely vulnerable to attack.
