GCSE History The Blitz C/W

1. Why were the major cities of Britain bombed by the Germans in 1940-1941?

The bombing all started when German airships accidentally bombed London, which did not do much harm, but despite this Churchill made the accident seem worse than it really was and in retaliation bombed Berlin very heavily. This was one of the main reasons why the major cities were bombed during 1940 – 1941 as the Germans wanted revenge.

Major cities were also bombed because the Germans wanted to cripple the British economy, destroy the manufacturing industry so that would be starved of vital resources which would in turn make Britain not able to function as a country so that there would be little to none resistance against an invasion by the Germans. An example of bombing particular cities was Liverpool. Liverpool was the second most bombed city after London. The reason for bombing Liverpool was the fact it had a major port. This west coast port was the main link between Britain and the USA, and saw food, fuel, raw materials, weapons and troops enter the country. Without these supplies it is doubtful whether Britain could have survived Hitler's attacks.

Another major city that was attacked was Coventry. Coventry was bombed as it was the most important place in England for the manufacture of aeroplane motors and things like this.

The steel factories of Sheffield were also bombed from 12th – 15th December 1940. The Germans bombed Coventry as there were factories that made weapons and ammunition for the war.

Also, Hitler had failed to defeat the R.A.F in the battle of Britain which started in August 1940 and ended the next month in September. This would be another motive for the attacks and maybe he would want to smash the morale of the British public. This would then turn the public against Churchill and the other politicians that supported the idea of making peace with Germany such as Lord Halifax.

All of these points contribute to why the major cities of Britain were bombed by the Germans the biggest one being to try and destroy the British industry.

2. Describe the effects of the Blitz on everyday life in Britain?

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2. Describe the effects of the Blitz on everyday life in Britain?

The Blitz brought out the best and the worst out of the British Public. The story of how the British behaved in the blitz may have been turned into a myth. Yes its true that cheerful cockneys sang songs in the underground stations, that people helped each other out during the darkest times, that the Queen Mother and Churchill visited the bombed out families of the East End, but not everybody was a good neighbour or patriotic. For example, some criminal elements took advantage of the blackout to rob their fellow citizens. The blackout was enforced by the Air Raid Protection Wardens and was based on the assumption that what could not be seen could not be hit. ). There were 1.4 million ARP wardens in Britain patrolling the city and many of these ARP wardens were volunteers. Streetlamps were extinguished along with any other source of illumination. Homes had to be boarded up to stop any light escaping. They could also use paint, blinds, curtains, paper to stop light escaping. These items were very difficult to find. This precaution was brought together from the theory that what could not be seen could not be hit by the enemy in the sky as it was thought that the lights from the city would provide an easy target for the Luftwaffe. As a result of the Blackout being introduced there was an unbelievable amount of accidents for cars and people. People were being knocked down and falling into railway tracks. After a few months into the war these rules were more relaxed because of the ridiculous amount of accidents occurring. Criminals would steal peoples ration cards or prised possession when the blackout was in order. Not only were they risking their own lives, they were effecting others around them.

Another effect was how the Americans saw the people of Britain during the blitz. The reporter Ed Murrow lived amongst the people of London and described the bulldog spirit.

Many people took up shelter in an Anderson shelter. These shelters were made out of two sheets of corrugated steel bolted together and covered with earth. The Anderson shelter became the most popular forms of shelter that by September 1940 over 2,300 of them had been distributed around Britain, who had space for it. The Anderson Shelter could hold up to six people and was made from six curved corrugated sheets of iron. These would be mounted in the garden and families would use them whenever the siren sounded. It was said that the Anderson shelter could withstand anything except for a direct hit but often the Anderson shelters were constructed in a hurry which meant they weren’t reliable and safe.

Another option for people who did not have a garden to place an Anderson shelter was the Morrison shelter which was introduced later in 1941 and could be used indoors. The point in the Morrison shelter was that if the house should collapse on you, you’d be safe in the Morrison shelter and would be able to crawl out. People would often sleep in these overnight during raids. Over 500,000 of these Morrison shelters had been handed out by November 1941.

Everyday life was affected in two main ways, the psychological trauma and the physical effects. Both were as important as the other and affected everyday life in Britain. Firstly, physical changes occurred to Britain. During the Blitz, 1,400,000 people were made homeless by bombs hitting their homes. At one point, one in six Londoners was homeless. Despite the physical aspect of this, it also provided the government a huge logistical problem for the government and caused many emotional grievances for the homeless. Also many Air Raid Shelters that people took refuge in soon became filthy and sanitation soon became a large problem.

The Blitz had an effect on all major cities in Britain. By 1941 thousands had been killed in the bombings in Britain and even Buckingham Palace was bombed. The first attacks were aimed at the east end of London and at the London docks. This caused widespread damage, as London was the most populated so as an effect of the Blitz 438 Londoners became devastating casualties in one night. An effect of the Blitz was also major on other cities like Coventry, which suffered appalling damage. A report on a raid in Coventry in 1940 stated four thousand people were killed and one third of the city was extensively damaged. Civilians had to face living in fear that the bombing of major cities could mean they would be killed in a blast.

3. In what ways did the British government attempt to hide the effect of the Blitz from the people of Britain?

The effect of the Blitz was something that would have been quite difficult to hide. Although the government didn’t publicise all the horrible details every day, most people got to hear about it. Many had friends or relatives who lived or worked in the bombed cities. News and stories spread rapidly.

Sometimes the government only reported successes instead of the defeats or failures. This was to keep people at home cheerful and so they did not turn against the government. This is called censorship. Also there were instances where the government reported that things had happened well when really they hadn’t. An example of this is in Britain’s “darkest hour” after Dunkirk. You'll find reports of brave small ships, a gallant rescue, and the return of the heroes. Later historians investigate the chaos and the deaths caused in the troops’ struggle to reach the rescue ships. This wouldn't have been morale boosting news in 1940. A comparison to censorship would be with American TV during the Vietnam War. During the coverage, there was no censorship so people were seeing the grim truth behind war. In the end, this contributed to the American public turning against the war.

However, in the Blitz, official news and information about the bombings focused on how well people were coping, heroic rescues and the number of enemy aircrafts that has been shot down.

Also, entertainment kept morale up. Some sport continued. And films were popular as were music and dancing. Humphrey Jennings was a filmmaker who produced documentaries that always portrayed the British people as heroic in adversity. Whatever old Adolf threw at the Brits they would never give in. Also comedy programmes like “Its That Man Again” made fun of Hitler and the Nazi’s to keep up the spirits of the people. The Entertainments National Service Association (E.N.S.A) was formed to bring entertainment to the people on the radio – it soon became known as “Every Night Something Awful”.

The government had given itself the power to stop any news being published that would disturb and frighten the people. Photographs, which showed horrific casualties, were not shown.

Casualty figures were kept down to keep morale up. Reports of people looting or panicking were also banned. The Ministry of Information propaganda always presented the British people as brave and calm under pressure. Newsreels showed the “bulldog spirit” and some photos were faked to give the appearance that Britain could take it, like St Paul cathedral rising out of the flames. The Ministry of Information was the government department responsible for informing people about what was going on.

The government knew extremely well what the situation was, but refused to allow the people to find out the truth. Pictures of dead bodies were banned from being shown, and so were interviews of people complaining. In fact, some stories were suppressed altogether! The government could do this with ease because it had gained total censorship on all newspapers and other publications. It also had sufficient control over news broadcasts on the BBC. They were determined to get said what they wanted to the people, instead of the facts themselves. Even the USA by this time was convinced that Britain could take the war for them!

In conclusion, the government worked hard to try to keep up morale by emphasising the heroic elements of the Blitz - people rescuing others or surviving in a bombed house - but that sort of devastation couldn’t have been really be hidden. The German leadership had hoped that the bombing of Britain would destroy civilian morale, but actually it seemed to have the opposite effect, making them more determined to withstand anything that Hitler could throw at them and ultimately to win the war.