Why Were The Major Cities of Britain Bombed by the Germans in 1940-41?
Why Were The Major Cities of Britain Bombed by the Germans in 1940-41? During the summer of 1940, British civilians were involved for the first time in a full scale war since the English Civil War. Ludendorf's theory of total war saw every civilian opposed to your side as a potential soldier and therefore, a target. This, along with the fact that precision bombs (e.g.:- laser guided smart bombs) hadn't been invented, meant that there was a large amount of civilian casualties on the British home front. By 1940, the German forces had quickly swept through Europe. Within a few months of the start of the war, they dominated Europe. Surely the British would see that they had no chance and would surrender to the Nazis. However, Churchill's speech stating that Britain would never surrender and would fight the Nazis to the last man put paid to any notions Hitler had of making peace. If Britain wouldn't surrender, Hitler had no choice but to try and take Britain by force. He codenamed the invasion of Britain 'Operation Sea Lion'. Previously, Hitler had used his 'Blitzkrieg' (lightning war) tactics to conquer Europe. This involved tanks attacking the enemy, taking care of their fortifications and providing cover for the foot troopers. However, Hitler could not immediately use these tactics against Britain. Britain had the natural defense of being an island and for Hitler's tactics
Why were the major cities of Britain bombed by the Germans in 1940-41?
History Coursework Assignment One Britain in the Age of Total War Question One: Why were the major cities of Britain bombed by the Germans in 1940-41? The Luftwaffe failed to quell the ever resilient R.A.F. in the Battle of Britain, 1940. Then a combination of underestimation of British forces remaining and outrage at a daring raid on Industrial Berlin by the R.A.F. led to Hitler change to a tactic of bombing major British cities, especially London by night. This became known as the Blitz. The raids lasted throughout September, October and November 1940 and restarted in the spring of 1941 until eventually they stopped in summer 1941. But what were his objectives for the new Blitz tactics? The first is to crush the morale of the British people. A great believer in terror tactics, it is doubtful whether Hitler ever truly wished to invade Britain with Operation 'Sealion' as many of his generals were against the idea, and the preparation involved would have been huge and highly complicated. Instead many believe he wished to force the British government to surrender by destroying their citizens' morale and crushing their will to fight. He wished to make them beg their own government to accept defeat. Spurred on by the success of the German air raids in the Spanish Civil War, which destroyed the city of Guernica, Hitler felt the war against Britain could be won without the
Why Were the Major Cities of Britain Bombed by the Germans in 1940-41?
Why Were the Major Cities of Britain Bombed by the Germans in 1940-41? After the fall of France in June 1940, the Germans were barely 40 miles from British soil. Operation Sealion began in July that year, and by September was called off. It was then that midnight raids began on London and similar cities of importance. The Blitz. Now that Sealion had been postponed indefinitely, the main reason for the raids was to throw a spanner in the works of the British war machine. However, the British war machine consisted of several key parts. According the memoirs of German Field-Marshall Kesselring, primary objectives were "the disturbance of production and incoming supplies", meaning that industrial sectors were targeted as well as transport links such as railway bridges and lines. If successful, these accomplishments would result in drastically slowed production of armaments and munitions, e.g. planes. This would lead to a crippled RAF, and the Luftwaffe could control the skies. German controlled skies would mean disaster for the Allies, because should the RAF be eliminated, the British navy would lack aerial support. Cargo ships carrying vital materials and resources such as oil and food would be sitting ducks for the notorious Messerschmitts and Focke Wulfs. In addition to Allied ships being vulnerable, German troops invading by sea would be unstoppable from the air. Radar
Why did war break out in 1939?
WHY DID WAR BREAK OUT IN 1939? World War II began when Hitler, Germany's leader invaded Poland. This war involved many countries from around Europe and all blamed Hitler for the start of the war. On the 1st of September Adolf Hitler's Germany invaded Poland taking thousands of troops on horseback and on foot to try and take over the land around Poland and rule what went on. Not knowing Britain and France had a treaty with Poland this brought in the two countries to help defend Poland from Germany. In 1933 the German people voted for Hitler as he promised he would make Germany great again. Hitler realised after the Abyssinian war that if Italy could get away with invading Abyssinia then Germany should be allowed to get away with invading Poland. Hitler thought that Jews were bad strange people, so when he invaded Poland there were lots of Jews and he destroyed them all. Hitler also invaded Poland for more land, especially in the east to expand Germany. If Germany gained more land over 900,000 people would live there! He said "We must turn our gaze to the land in the east. When we speak of new land we mean Russia and her borders". Britain and France had a contract with Poland to defend the country if they suddenly got attacked. So on the 3rd of September Britain and France declared war on Germany and helped defend Poland. Russia also came into the war when it declared war on
Why did War on the Western Front last so long?
Asha Samrai Why did War on the Western Front last so long? . Both sources A and B show similarities in the way that they show the soldiers having to fight in the trenches (often filled with water as shown in source A) and source A outlines the basics of what the soldiers had to do "...You get peppered day and night..." Both sources show the soldiers in their uniforms and armed with their weapons. In source A the soldiers are shown smiling and sharing a joke whereas in the photograph (source B) there is no smiling nor the sharing of jokes. Source A is written for a cartoon and therefore would be exaggerated so as to make it humorous. The sources are written at different times so would be at different stages in the war. As source A is written earlier this is when nobody really understood how the war was no laughing matter with the amount of people dying and is perhaps why the soldiers are shown happy and smiling. I would say that source B is more reliable as it is an actual photograph from the time, showing actual soldiers in an actual trench. However it sort of contradicts with source A because of the happy vibe but in order for the sources to agree further more information would be needed about the conditions of the trenches. 2. Advertisements like this would have been published in 1915 as this is when things on the western front wouldn't have been going too well (Ypres,
Why did William win the Battle of Hastings?
Why did William win the battle of Hastings? In 1066 king Edward the confessor died without any children to inherit the throne of england, this meant that Harold Godwinson was crowned as king despite supposidly promising an oath to william that he would be the next king . However harold faced his position being jeportised because two other determined young men also wanted to be King. These men were Harald Hadrarda and William of Normandy. England was one of the welthiest and most powerfull countrys in the world and all 3 of these men were prepared to do whatever it took to gain the crown. The only way to decide who was going to be king was to engage in battle .Harold and william both prepared there forces. First Harald hardra from norway invaided england with his viking fleet and fought against harold godwinson at stanford bridge .After the Battle of Stamford Bridge (In which Harald had died,) Harold had news that william had finally invaided and went down to hastings to prepare to fight William, but this was going to be tough, both men were desperate to be next King and there could only be one winner. In my opinion the main reason to why william won was pinned on luck, Harold eagarly expecting this to happen and he and his army waited on the beach strong and prepared for the norman invaison. William was planning to arrive on the beach and if this had happened Harold
Why did Winston Churchill become so important as Prime Minister of Britain between 1940 and 1945?
Why did Winston Churchill become so important as Prime Minister of Britain between 1940 and 1945? Though the path of history holds many diverse opinions of Churchill's importance during the war, it would be fair to say that he played a crucial role. Winston Churchill has long been considered as one of Britain's greatest Prime Ministers, many follow the conventional attitude towards Churchill, that he gallantly drove the British to victory over Germany. However some historians nowadays have begun to challenge this notion whilst others are still sure of the fact that Churchill was an outstanding and inspirational war leader, 'the saviour of his country'. It would be unrealistic to justify just one overall judgement of Churchill; therefore I aim to achieve many different viewpoints from exploring a range of sources. In conclusion to this essay I hope to be able to establish why Churchill became so important as Prime Minister of Britain during the wartime years of 1940 and 1945. When the time came to confront the Nazi threat to Europe the people of Britain turned to Churchill. He had been the lone voice in the wilderness urging decisive action when Hitler's evil works were but small bidings. Churchill's willpower and his consistent stance against appeasement gave him credibility amongst the British people. On 10th of May 1940, the sixty-four year old became Prime Minister,
"Why did the British Government decide to evacuate children from Britain's major cities in the early years of the Second World War?"
History Coursework Part One (Draft) "Why did the British Government decide to evacuate children from Britain's major cities in the early years of the Second World War?" During the First World War, the home front in England did not experience the terrible warfare that was happening in France. The only experience the civilians had was the starvation due to the food shortages they were facing. There were no bombs dropped on the main cities, particularly because the air technology had not reached an advanced enough stage. On 1st September 1939, war was declared between Britain and Germany, for a second time in history. However, this war was to be a lot more dangerous, and the deaths were not limited to the battlefield. Civilians would be at much greater risk this time; technology had advanced a lot over the 20 years since the last war. Now there were fighter planes and bombs capable of causing devastation at great distances. These were not very accurate bombs, but they were very powerful. The Prime Minister of England, Neville Chamberlain was very worried about the fact that there were more deadly weapons available now, which could create a disaster in Britain, by hitting the defenseless civilians. He had already seen the results of war between Spain and the Far East in recent years. In this war there had been terrible mass bombing of main towns and cities. This frightened
Why did the British Government decide to evacuate children from Britain's major cities in the early years of the Second World War?
Why did the British Government decide to evacuate children from Britain's major cities in the early years of the Second World War? The Second War was vastly different that the First World War, being fought on a much greater scale. An invasion of Britain was never contemplated in the First World War. The major development of the German air force, the Luftwaffe, created a major threat to Britain as increasing number of air bombing raids attacked its major cities. Invasion by the Axis powers was felt to be imminent. But there was a grim determination to resist at all costs. In September 1939, The British Government decided that their children, the next generation of Britain, should be evacuated. The children living in London and other major cities were immediately tagged like parcels and shipped out by special evacuation trains. Nearly 3,000,000 people, mainly children, were transported to places of safety in the countryside. This was the most extensive movement of people in British History. This act of the British Government was carried out for a number of reasons. The change in mode of warfare meant that the British Government had to think far more carefully about the effect an invasion would have on the Home Front. The bombing raids bought the war literally to people's doorsteps. To add to this fear, the older generation of Britain remembered the German Zeppelin raids of
Why did the Central Powers lose the First World War?
Mohannad Abu Dabat History Essay #2 Why did the Central Powers lose the First World War? The First World War ended in 1918 with the Allies defeating the Central Powers in a war that would be remembered by the whole world as the most horrible trench war in human history. There are a variety of reasons which led to the defeat of the Central Powers, who were at the time Germany, Austria-Hungary, Ottoman Empire and Bulgaria against the allies which consisted of Great Britain, France, Belgium, Russia (left the war in 1917), Italy (ex-Central Power) and USA (joined in 1917). Those reasons can be divided into different themes, with tactical failures suggested as the most important, the other themes which are not as important are Technical issues such as new technological advances in the war, Social problems which concerned the public in each nation, Economical difficulties is another key reason for the loss of the Central Powers and lastly the political difficulties in the countries involved in the war. Tactical failures were classified as the most important because it was a huge driving force in the loss of the Central Powers in the First World War. One example is the Schlieffen Plan that was created by the German General Alfred Von Schlieffen to avoid war on two fronts by attacking France first through Belgium and Holland. The German generals knew that attacking and
