Why did the British Government decide to evacuate children from Britains major cities in the early years of the war?
History Coursework - Evacuation Question One: Why did the British Government decide to evacuate children from Britain's major cities in the early years of the war? On Friday 1st September 1939 - two days before war was declared - the biggest mass movement of people known in British history began. In the course of four days, almost 3 million people were evacuated from major cities and towns into the countryside. As you can imagine, the organisation this required was simply astonishing with masses of people involved including children, pregnant women, teachers and the disabled. There are a range of reasons (both short and long term) to explain why such extreme action was taken by the Government. Firstly, we must look back to the 1930's for the long term reasons that led to evacuation. After World War I, a series of events occurred that built tension among countries. The Great Depression can be used as a starting point; almost every country (both rich and poor) was affected by this, and international trading was close to coming to a standstill. The Great Depression led to global widespread anger and frustration, worst of all felt by Germany who were still suffering under the unending money-consuming reparations of the Treaty of Versailles. It was this, among other reasons, which led to the rise of the Nazi Party in Germany and eventually, Adolf Hitler becoming the
'Evacuation was a great success' Do you agree?
'Evacuation was a great success' Do you agree? Evacuation of children in the Second World War was a massive project and many people have different views on how successful it actually was. I am going to study several sources (A to F) and compile my own opinion on the matter. After studying the sources there are elements of success and failure and I will now discuss them. Firstly and one of the biggest examples of evacuation being a success was that it got kids and some mothers (800,000 mothers and 550,000 babies in all) out of the way of the firing line to places were they were in less danger of death or serious injury. Evidence of this is present in a number of Sources namely A, D and E I will look at them all, but firstly A which is a picture of children being evacuated in an orderly queue with there parents behind them, the picture was took in London and the children seem to be fairly happy and unmoved by what was going on. The picture seems to show evacuation as a success. However this Sources reliability is questioned by the insufficient amount of evidence given, the picture only shows a small part of the evacuation process, only one incident out of the whole country and the fact that the picture was taken genuinely is bought into question by the fact that it may have been set up. Source D is a poster appeal picture made by the government trying to persuade country folk
My interpretation of General Haig is that he was a foolish leader and should not have been allowed to become so high up in the army because of his relations with famous people.
Interpretation of General Haig by Adam Pomerenke 9 Thorne My interpretation of General Haig is that he was a foolish leader and should not have been allowed to become so high up in the army because of his relations with famous people. In the battle of the Neuve Chappele Haig was chosen to lead the attack as general. In the battle his basic plan was good but he failed to think it out fully. The Allies bombed the German trenches using 3,000 shells and captured a village in less than an hour. This makes him seem like a good leader but, because of the bombing, they destroyed the telephone wires which meant that he could not contact back to base and the Allies soon ran out of rations and ammunitions. The Germans were ready for the Allies because they could not get reinforcements quick enough and so they lost the village that they had wasted so much ammunition on. I think that Haig's battle plan was good but he did not think it through so if he had waited for a while to go through all of the possible options, the Allies could have lost a lot less lives, ammunitions and rations. In the battle of Loos Haig was also general for which he had virtually the same battle plan, he would bomb the trenches but, to save some ammunition he also sent some poisonous gas to the trenches. This time the bombing was successful and the poisonous gas seemed to be working but, the wind direction
Britain in the Age of Total War, 1939-45.
Britain in the Age of Total War, 1939-45 . From source A I can only learn a little about the response of the British people to the effects of the blitz I know when the blitz was as it the book was to celebrate 50 yrs of the Blitz. The source doesn't contain much information about how people responded but tells a little. The source is from a book written 50 years after the Blitz and there is not much information written about how people felt but the source says that people showed that they didn't have to be in uniform to be heroes. This tells me that the British people were proud of themselves and thought of themselves as heroes. From this I can also learn that the Blitz wasn't getting to people as the people were proud and tying to get on with their lives. Also from this quote I can tell that the British people who weren't in the army also were involved in the Blitz as people not in uniform were also heroes this means that the British people must have played a part in the Blitz. Also I can learn that the British people were full of courage at a time full of tragedy and terror and that the British people were determined to overcome the Blitz. Also I can learn that people tried to forget about the Blitz by amusing themselves and others. This shows that the British people were courageous during this period. However the source is of limited use as it is from a book made after 50
World War One History Sources Question: How far does Source A prove that Haig did not care about the lives of his men?
Coursework Assignment 2: Assessment Objectives 2 and 3 a) Study Sources A and B. How far does Source A prove that Haig did not care about the lives of his men? Source A, seems to imply that Haig was heartless and that he was quite uncaring. On the surface he appeared to be a demanding and selfish leader, not taking into consideration the welfare of his men, for example he said, "The nation must be prepared to see heavy casualty lists." The nation must, he said, this suggests that Haig was quite insensitive and that he did not care about the lives of his men. It implies that there was no question about it, men were going to die and there was nothing anybody could do about it. In Source B however, the extracts of Haig portray a great deal more concern, it appears that he did care about the lives of his men, as he seemed very keen to relate that their spirits were high and that they were doing well. He appears to be more involved with his troops and complimented them, very different to in Source A where he had no optimism or positive comments about his troops whatsoever. Source B suggests that there was more to Haig than was first thought; it then gives the impression that Source A most probably was not the complete document and so that should be taken into consideration. In source A, Haig may have just been being practical, he may have been trying to relate to people
Does General Haig deserve the title "Butcher of the
Does General Haig deserve the title "Butcher of the Somme?" The battle of the Somme was one horrific battle for the British Army. Many people thought that General Haig was to blame, many others thought different. In this essay I will say what title General Haig deserves. Before the war General Haig was known for his long & successful military career. He had been particularly noticed for his cavalry skills in the Boer war fifteen years earlier. In that war the enemy was poorly equipped and was an easy win. ; Haig was never faced with trench warfare. World war one and the battle of the Somme in particular would change that. The Battle of the Somme was initially planned as a joint French and British operation to regain French territory and to destroy as much of the German Army as possible. The plan came from the French Commander-in-Chief, Joseph Joffre before being accepted by Haig. Haig at this time was commander of the British Expeditionary Force, (BEF).At first Joffre intended to use mainly French soldiers but when the Germans attacked Verdun in February 1916 Somme offensive became a mainly British attack. Haig was in charge of the British attack and with the help of General Sir Henry Rawlinson, came up with his own plans for the battle. Haig's strategy was for an eight-day preliminary bombardment that he believed would completely destroy the German forward defenses. Then
Why did white chaple murders attract so much attension
Why did the white chapel murders attract so much attention in 1888? There were many reason the white chapel murders attracts so munch attention. These were down to the nature of the crime the press and the nature of the victims. No one had ever hard of such horrific attacks so the public wanted to know more. Also the middle class people wanted to see Jack the Ripper caught for there own sake not for the victims. The public grew more interested with each attack that took place this was because he was not getting caught and more prostitutes were being killed. Another reason was that there had not been any killings like this before. It was also very weird to people that Jack the Ripper was taking the women's organs. It was strange as well because there were 5 murders in 12weeks. There was also grate attraction because of the nature of the crime. The rich people felt sorry from them as they were both prostitute and poor and they thought they suffer enough. The upper class was also shocked that it was them being attack and not them as they had large sum's of money. There was also a nature behind the victims every one was puzzled why Jack the Ripper kept going for prostitutes who were poor. This made other prostitutes scared for the life and attract attention from them as they wanted to know if he had been caught and if they could go back the work. The press attracted most of
How Archduke Franz Ferdinand was Assasinated
FRANZ FERDINAND HAS JUST BEEN ASSASINATED! Reported by Suleiman Bobat Franz Ferdinand, the heir to the Austria-Hungarian throne, has been assassinated along with his wife, at the age of 65, while he was invited to travel to Bosnia in order to observe military manoeuvres and open the state museum in Sarajevo. Although he was aware of the many dangers of such an act, the Bosnians desperate fervour for independence and the many terrorist organizations intent upon destroying our government; his love of the low-class wife blinded him. He was permitted to be seen in public with his beloved wife only while acting as "Military inspector" which was what brought him to set out on these types of trips. The Serbian Military Intelligence was most intent upon this assassination, due to their highly arrogant and crafty ambitions: to take over Bosnia which we have rightfully acquired. It was, therefore, not a surprise when we received first-hand reports proving it was the Serbian Intelligence who were directly responsible for backing the particular group of terrorists who committed these acts. However this did not detract from Franz Ferdinand's foolish actions, which as you will see were in sharp contrast to our honourable and wise King's decisions, when he visited Bosnia: First of all King Franz Joseph had policemen around the streets to protect him, whereas Franz Ferdinand had
Does General Haig deserve the title Butcher of the Somme?
Does General Haig deserve the title 'Butcher of the Somme'? In this essay I will discus whether General Haig deserves to be remembered as 'the butcher of the Somme'. General Haig's title of 'the butcher of the Somme' originated after the First World War, when, due to large number of casualties Britain suffered from the war and mostly the Somme. The people of Britain wanted someone to blame. This was a coping mechanism in which people could deal with the loss of the 'lost generation'. Arguably Haig does deserve his nickname. This is because Haig sent thousands of men to their deaths continuously after his war efforts seemed not to be working. For instance 60,000 soldiers died in the first day alone in the battle of the Somme. The reason that so many people died was that Haig ordered his men to walk across no-mans land. They were easy targets for the German machine guns. However Haig assisted Britain in winning the war and although he did so with tremendous loss of life, these men did not die pointlessly. They died to protect their families and everyone else on the home front, and they died to prevent Britain from becoming a German Nation. Haig was also faced with an almost impossible task of winning the war in the quickest means possible. Haig was under constant pressure from the government to have a large victory to boost morale. This factor as well as the fact that
Britain in the Age of Total War, 1939-45 - source related study.
Britain in the Age of Total War, 1939 - 45 History Coursework Introduction During the Second World War civilians were involved as well as soldiers. As part of the conflict Britain and Germany bombed each other's major cities. People in both countries had to cope with the effects of these air raids. In Britain the bombing of the cities was known as the Blitz. Some people write about the Blitz as a time when the British people showed great cheerfulness and courage. They say their morale was good. Other writers believe that much of what was said and written about the high morale of the British is myth rather than true. ) What can you learn from Source A about the response of the British people to the effects of the Blitz? Source A indicates that through the 'terror and tragedy' of the Blitz the British civilians found courage and hope to help them battle through and cope with the atrocious circumstances they found themselves in. Their response to the German bombing was to continue as normally as possible and keep their wits about them in such conditions. 'Those at home in the most appalling circumstances kept their sense of humour.' This quote states that despite the horrific devastation around them the British civilians still found something to smile about at the end of the day. They still had hope that there was something left to fight for, even though many of their
