Why were the major cities of Britain bombed by the Germans in 1940-41?

London, Birmingham and Liverpool were bombed because they were major cities with vast populations. Bombing these cities would put British people in fear as there would be many civilians dying. Coventry was a particular target for the Germans as it was the main city for aircraft factories. Destroying these factories would result in the RAF becoming weak, and would eventually lead to the RAF being destroyed completely. Source D, (Edexcel Britain in the age of total war coursework assignments booklet) a photograph taken on 15th November 1940, shows the damage inflicted on Coventry after an air-raid. In 1942; Plymouth, Swansea, Portsmouth and Belfast were Germans main targets as they were main ports in Britain. Bombing these would stop supplies coming in from the USA. Exeter, York and Bath were bombed in 1942 in revenge. This was because the RAF had started to bomb historic cities in Germany, so the Luftwaffe returned the favour by bombing Britain’s historic cities.

By bombing all of Britain’s major cities, the Germans were trying to gain a psychological advantage over Britain. The Germans believed that they were gaining this advantage as they were reducing the morale of all Brits. They were taking lives, destroying homes, and leaving millions of British people with absolutely nothing. However this was not the case. British morale was said to have been raised by the Blitz. Source A (Edexcel Britain in the age of total war coursework assignments booklet) from Waiting for the All Clear, a book published in 1990 to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Blitz, says “Out of terror and tragedy came courage and an unshakeable determination. Those at home in the most appalling circumstances kept their sense of humour. Their memories will break your heart and make you smile”. This source tells us how the British morale stayed high during the Blitz, and people kept their sense of humour.

In the long term, the Germans wanted to achieve total domination, not only over Britain, but over the whole of Europe. They saw Britain and the RAF as a main target, and decided to destroy them. They attempted this in the Blitz by wiping out all of Britain’s major cities, reducing the population, and reducing the British morale. They succeeded in wiping out Britain’s major cities and reducing the population, however they did not reduce the “great British morale”.