In the lead up to World War Two, European governments had been terrified of bombing. The German Air force, Luftwaffe, took a role in the Spanish civil war where they carried out mass bombings on the Basque town of Guernica on April 26th 1937. The destruction and deaths of innocent civilians during the bombing of Guernica showed Britain the devastation that bombing could cause Britain. Also that same year the Japanese invasion of China showed how effective use of bombers could contribute to a successful invasion. Several Chinese cities had been terrorised, forcing China to give in. This links with the inevitable air attacks in World War Two because it showed Britain how bad these air attacks could get. This was an important cause because the government then feared invasion even more and wanted to protect the children living in the cities.
At this stage, the British government had no real alternatives to evacuation. The only other way that children, pregnant women and handicapped people could be protected from bombings was the use of Anderson shelters. Anderson shelters were made from corrugated steel and were covered with soil above the roof. Although the shelters were quite robust, they could not survive direct hits. Although Anderson shelters were free to all householders who earned less than two hundred and fifty pounds a year, many could not afford them or knew how to build one. Also a lot of people in built up areas lived in terraced housing or flats and didn’t have a garden to build shelters in. Evacuating the children of Britain to safer parts of the country would be a more likely way of protecting them from both the bombing and the horrifying scenes of bombing. The government also tried to encourage civilians to use public air-raid shelters but many preferred to use their own Anderson shelters or stay in their own home in the more modest indoor Morrison shelter or even in a cellar. A lot of civilians also stayed in the underground although this was not allowed at first until the authorities were forced to give way under public pressure. The underground was not a very safe place to stay as they, like the Anderson shelters, were still vulnerable to a direct hit. At Bank Station a direct hit on 11th January 1941 caused the road above the station to collapse and 56 occupants were killed. On 14th October 1940 a bomb penetrated the road and tunnel at Balham tube station and 68 people were killed. But bombs were not the only thing dangerous about tube stations. At Bethnal Green tube station during an air raid on 8th March 1943, when 1500 people were rushing down the stairs to the station, 173 people were crushed to death. This is an important reason because it showed the government that children would be safer in the countryside than in the cities.
The Government also had psychological motives. They wanted to be seen as doing something to help in World War Two. The poorer children were evacuated first as the rich could probably arrange their own evacuation or would have their own Anderson shelters. As social classes were treated differently, the government also feared that the poor would panic and loot the richer parts of the cities if they were bombed. The psychological motives also link with the fears of low morale across Britain if children were killed in air-raids. The government decided to evacuate children because the children were considered vulnerable and helpless. Children also had longer to live than adults so their life was considered more worthy of being saved and that generation would grow up and might be used in the army to fight in other wars. Also, the soldiers fighting away from home would probably want to know that their children were safe from the air-raids. If the soldiers were less worried about their families, they might have been able to concentrate more on fighting the war. The psychological motives and low morale also links with the government having no alternatives. Even if children were safe in Anderson shelters, they would still have to go through the violence and destruction of war. They might also witness friends and family members dying which would cause trauma. Also it is natural for people to want to protect children and the government probably wanted to enhance their reputation so used evacuation to show Britain that they cared. This is an important cause because the government did not want there to be low morale across Britain. If there was low morale, soldiers might loose the will to fight making it easier for the Germans to beat Britain in the war. Also, low morale would cause civilians on the home front to be less patriotic. This would mean the civilians might ignore rationing, buy unnecessary items or not join voluntary services; all of these things could make the war harder for Britain to win. Also, if there was low morale, people might loose faith in the government which links to pressures at home as the government feared that they might loose the next election.
The government who controlled all aspects of the media wanted to encourage British families to evacuate their children for various reasons. Firstly, families might have dismissed the idea of evacuation without much thought or understanding what evacuation would mean. Secondly, some families might have thought they could protect their children better if they stated at home, not realising how bad the war could get. Others thought that they could always decide to evacuate if the War got worse without realising that by then it might be too late. If the British public were encouraged to evacuate their children through the media, they might then change their mind. The government encouraged British families to evacuate their children by use of the posters, leaflets and radio broadcasts. One leaflet about evacuation warns the public about air attacks. The leaflet talks about Britain’s air defences but says that the German bombers could still get through. The leaflet reassures parents by telling them that the children’s education will be continued and that schools will be evacuated together so the children will be schooled with some of their friends. Through the leaflet, the government tries to seem kind and friendly by sympathising with the families, saying that they understand the heartache of being separated and that they are sure that the children will be looked after. When many evacuees went back home to the cities towards the end of 1939, the government ran a campaign to encourage children and parents to stay where they were but this had little success. A second evacuation took place in 1940 but was much smaller than the one in 1939.
The government also used the media to glamorise women’s work to make it more appealing as women were urgently needed to work in the Second World War. Many women joined the Women’s land army, joined the armed forces or did civil defence jobs. Most men were away fighting in the war which meant there were fewer workers to work in the factories. By 1941, the industry was so short of workers that some women had to fill the shortage. By 1943, 57 percent of workers were female. Sometimes munitions factories were relocated to the country for security reasons and the women then had to move to these areas. Far more skills were needed in some jobs than in the First World War and women worked at many skilled jobs previously thought impossible for women. Each of the armed forces developed its own auxiliary force for women in the Second World War. Women worked alongside the men and faced the same dangers but were not allowed to fight or fire guns. Women also did important work supporting the men in the front line as nurses, intelligence service and spies. The Women’s Land Army was wanted to provide labour to farmers replacing men when they were called up. By 1943 production in Britain had almost doubled. This is an important cause because women could not work and look after their children at the same time. The government desperately needed women to work and decided that more women could work if they didn’t have to look after their children.
The government also feared that if the public didn’t think the government was doing the right thing with evacuation, then they would loose the next election. People then wouldn’t trust the government. The Anderson committee said ‘The whole issue of any future war may well turn on the manner in which the problem of evacuation from densely populated industrial areas is handled’. The government also feared invasion. Britain had been safe from invasion for many years but now Britain could be invaded from the air by planes and Zeppelins. This links with the long term causes because air attacks seemed inevitable in World War Two. This was an important cause because as there had already been attacks in World War One and as technology had advanced dramatically the attacks would be much worse.
In 1936 the French had already started plans for evacuation and had issued a booklet on evacuation. This is significant because this might have influenced the British government into evacuating children from Britain’s cities. If other countries thought they were at risk from air raids then Britain might have thought that they were at as much risk. Also Hitler wanted Lebensraum, or living space, for Germany. Hitler was willing to invade other countries to get it. Against the treaty of Versailles, Germany’s air force, the Luftwaffe, had rearmed. Invasion from Germany was a threat not just to Britain but to other countries too. If Germany had a powerful air force, they could cause lots of damage and many casualties. This is an important cause because it links to the British government having no other alternatives to evacuation and the experience of Zeppelin attacks of World War One. The Garman planes would be much more suited to use as bombers than the Zeppelins. The Government would have to evacuate children in order to keep them safe as the Anderson shelters were not available to everyone and in any case would not withstand a direct hit.
When Germany Defeated France in May 1940, they captured many French airbases. These airbases were closer to Britain than the airbases in Germany. This meant that British cities were in range of the Luftwaffe making them more likely to succeed with bombings. The south was most at risk as it was closest to the English Channel which was the only thing separating Britain from the Luftwaffe. This meant that Germany might invade as well as bomb Britain. This is an important cause because it meant that the Government had to protect the people of Britain. Another reason why the people of Britain needed to be protected was the advance in technology. Weapons had improved since World War One so weapons would have improved and become a bigger threat to Britain. The children were the first priority. This cause links to most of the other causes. If children were killed then there would be low morale, the government might loose the next election and Britain might loose the war.
In Conclusion there are many important causes of the British Government deciding to evacuate children from Britain’s major cities. Firstly, one important cause was the experiences of World War One. I think this was one of the most important causes because the Government knew what the attacks in World War One had been like. They also knew that the attacks in World War Two would be worse than the attacks in World War One so the British civilians would needed to be protected from the air raids better than they had been in World War One. Secondly, Events abroad during the 1930’s showed Britain what the bombings could do to Britain and that many more people could die in World War Two than in World War One. It also showed the government that the destruction of the Second World War could be publicised and bombings could be captured on film. The government knew that they couldn’t hide the truth of World War Two from the public. If all of Britain knew about the destruction of the war, the government would look bad and people would loose faith in them. This links to another important cause; the government attitudes. The government had no alternatives as Anderson shelters were not adequate and they did not want to be responsible for the deaths of children as the government might then be labelled ‘child murderers’. They also did not want the children to witness the horrifying scenes of war for fear of low morale, another important cause. I think that fear of low morale is one of the most important causes because it made the government concentrate on children more than other civilians. The government knew that morale would be lower if children were killed than if adults were killed so the children had to be the first to be protected. Also children were less able to look after themselves or be able to cope with the traumas of war. It would be best for the children if they were away from the war altogether. Pressures at home and abroad are other important causes because they made the government more determined to do the right thing for the country. Also, they were important because the government were probably influenced by the French deciding to evacuate. Also it made the government realise that they were not safe from air attacks. However, I think that the Developments during the war were not very important causes as to why the government decided to evacuate children from Britain’s major cities because these developments happened after the first evacuation. However, they could be a cause of why Britain started a second evacuation. The government might have realised that evacuation was even more important than first thought so felt it was necessary to organise a second evacuation. Although these are all important reasons that link up with each other, I think that the most important cause of why the government decided to evacuate children from Britain’s major cities is probably the Government attitudes. Arguably, the government had public reasons for evacuation and private reasons. I think that the government wanted to prevent the British civilians from loosing faith in them and they probably wanted to enhance their reputation. I also think that the government wanted to make sure there were enough people to work in the factories even if this meant evacuating children so that women could work. I think one of the government’s public reasons was to put forward the image that they cared for children living in the cities. The government wanted to show the public that children would benefit from being evacuated because they would be looked after and would not have to go through the experience of war.
I think the government also decided to evacuate because if evacuation didn’t take place, we might have lost the war or had many more casualties. Fewer women might have been able to work in factories if their children weren’t evacuated. If there were less women working in the factories then less ammunition would have been made and we would have been less successful when bombing Germany. Also, the women would not have been able to help in the armed forces which might have meant the soldiers were more at risk of dying or of being injured. If children weren’t evacuated then there would be more low morale across Britain. More children were likely to be killed if they stayed in the city and that would make people in Britain upset or angry about the war. This might then cause people not to be involved in the war effort, meaning that the war would be harder to win. That is why I think that the government attitude is possibly the most important reason why the government decided to evacuate children from Britain.
There are good points and bad points about evacuation. Arguably evacuation was a success because many children became healthier and happier once they were evacuated to the countryside. Many ate much better than they ever had done in the cities. Many benefited from being able to run around and play sports outside in the fresh air. Many evacuees enjoyed evacuation and they were often happier in the countryside as the living conditions were better. A lot of evacuees came from very poor backgrounds and were given new clothes and items by their foster parents. Evacuation also slightly decreased the gap between the rich and the poor. When the children were evacuated, people living happily in the countryside were able to see how poorer people in the cities lived. After evacuation, more of an effort was made by the government to see that the poor had a better way of life. Evacuation also saved many lives which of course was its main purpose. If these children remained in the cities, many of them would have been killed. However, although evacuation was an enjoyable experience for many children, some children did not like it as much. Some evacuees were beaten, abused or neglected by their foster parents. Many foster parents who did not have children of their own did not know how to deal with the children from the city. Also, evacuation caused a lot of upset, parents and children were separated and were miserable. Arguably, evacuation was unnecessary; the bomb damage was not as bad as expected. Instead of 10 000 deaths from each air raid, 60 595 people were killed by air raids in the whole war. Some people think that most children would have been equally as safe if they had stayed at home and gone to an air raid shelter in an attack. Also, evacuating millions of children cost around £9 million when this money could have been spent on warships, fighter planes or supplies. The education of evacuees was severely disrupted even though their teachers were evacuated with them. Although both of these views are fair, I think that overall evacuation was worth it. Many lives were saved and a lot of children preferred life in the country and understood health better than they did before evacuation. Some children regarded evacuation as one of the best times of their lives.