Wait a second!
More handpicked essays just for you.
More handpicked essays just for you.
Britain history during war II
Involvement in ww2
Involvement in ww2
Don’t take our word for it - see why 10 million students trust us with their essay needs.
Can you imagine a world where the Hitler and the Germans the won World War II, instead of the Allies? If not for Operation Dynamo, this likely would have been what happened. Operation Dynamo was the evacuation of Allied troops back to England that were being cut off and cornered along the coast of France by Hitler and the Germans. In a span of nine days, over 338,000 Allied troops were evacuated and saved from becoming German prisoners of war. Important parts of the evacuation include the cause of the evacuation, the evacuation process, problems the evacuation had, the reasons the evacuation was successful, and the results of the evacuation. The evacuation of Allied troops from the beaches of Dunkirk was key to the Allies’ war effort and without …show more content…
The people who viewed it as a disaster did so because “thousands of French troops were left behind and taken prisoner by the advancing Germans. Also abandoned on the shores of Dunkirk were massive supplies of ammunition, machine guns, tanks, motorcycles, jeeps and anti-aircraft artillery” (History). Also, soon after the evacuation, France surrendered to Germany and this left Britain alone to fight the Germans (English Heritage). Those who viewed it as a miracle did so because it was expected that they would be able to evacuate 45,000 troops at the most, instead they evacuated over 338,000 (History). The evacuation was so important to the Allies, and Britain especially, because ‘by rescuing the bulk of the army, in what was the biggest evacuation in military history, Operation Dynamo returned to Britain a priceless asset – most of her trained and experienced troops. If they had been lost, the whole conflict might have taken a very different course” (English Heritage). Operation Dynamo was also a huge morale booster for the Allies because “Germany had hoped defeat at Dunkirk would lead Britain to negotiate a speedy exit from the conflict. Instead, the ‘Miracle at Dunkirk’ became a rallying cry for the duration of the war, and an iconic symbol of the British spirit, leaving a cultural legacy of pride and perseverance that endures nearly eight decades later” (History). The Allies used Operation Dynamo as motivation for the rest of the war and this allowed them to continue their fight against Germany and eventually
The Battle of Britain as a Turning Point in the Defeat of German in World War Two
Even though Germany was very committed to World War II, Operation Valkyrie would have altered the course of the war, had it been successful. Had Operation Valkyrie been successful Germany could have made peace agreements with the Western Allies, and the war would have been over before they got completely destroyed. Germany could have annexed and kept some of its conquered territories. The coup of the Nazi party would kick all Nazis out of the government. And most importantly Adolf Hitler would be dead.
World War II was one of the greatest wars in our history. Richard Overy wrote Why the Allies Won to explain his taking of how this happened. Why the Allies Won is about how Germany was in almost full control of Europe and Germany felt like they should start moving into the Middle East. Germany and Japan had felt since they took over large lands in 1942, they should try to take over the rest of the world. This caused the Second World War. The other countries were not going to let Germany and Japan take over without a fight. The Allies, the Soviet Union, the United States and Britain, was one of the most powerful alliances there was. They had the resources and the power they needed. They also had the technology to help them conquer. Germany did not expect the Allies to be so powerful. The economics within the countries had also been a factor.
... Allies. In 1933, Prime Minister Lloyd George wrote in his war memoirs, ‘The conclusion is inescapable that Germany and her allies were defeated in the field.’ Even so, I believe in contradiction to the Prime Minister, without an already unstable Germany due to a lack of resources and food, the war on land would not have been so successful in driving Germany to surrender.
Germany was not able to claim victory during World War II due to poor military guidance. Hitler’s military tactics led to the defeat of Germany during the war. According to Williamson Murray, a military historian, “Not surprisingly, the Battle of Britain was a dismal failure not just for the Luftwaffe, but also for German strategy” (34). Hitler was not able to come up with an effective strategy to lead Germany to victory because he was mostly concerned about eliminating the Jews. He was mainly focused on carrying out the “Final Solution” throughout the European countries. Hitler’s failure as Germany’s leader indicated that there were many flaws in his military plans.
One very basic factor in the Allies’ victory was the forming of the Allies themselves. Neither France nor Great Britain could have fought the Axis powers on their own, nor were the two nations on the best of terms at the time. However, they found a common enemy in Germany. Also, without help from the other Allied nations, it is more than likely that the USSR would not have survived the war.
AJP Taylor gave this quote from his book “English history” which was published in 1965. It says that Dunkirk was a great deliverance; this entails how the troops were saved and successfully delivered form the advancement of the German Army. However the disaster is referring undeniably to the more disguised details of Dunkirk, such as the great military defeat, the thousands of pieces of equipment and the 1.2 million prisoners taken by the Germans. The sources have a wide range of media, Source A being a painting and therefore less reliable due to it being just an artist’s impression of events. Sources B and C are pictures from the battle which means they will show a more accurate picture, although they only show a single instance in time. Source D is an extract of a speech by the minister for war, Source E is an article from The Daily Express, and therefore it is likely to contain some gathered information about the event. Source F is an extract from a book by AJP Taylor encompassing the quote making up the title which is useful for seeing the context in which the quote was made. Some sources are certainly more valuable than others, for their informative nature and lack of bias, for example source F is written by a historian more than twenty years after the event allowing for a large amount of research to be gathered and compiled for such a work, However source D has a huge amount of bias and difficult vocabulary therefore limiting its usefulness at supporting the claim by Taylor. Another factor at determining...
The Allied powers won the war, putting an end to Hitler's dictatorship and the Holocaust. We study history to learn from it. People make mistakes and it is not only our job, but our responsibility to learn from them so no one makes those errors again. What we learn from the Holocaust is what happens when you forget your morals and blindly follow others. We learn about the horrible, tragic outcome of racism and discrimination.
This might come as a surprise to some, but Germany almost won the First World War. Germany was once very close to winning the war. Their submarine warfare was taking a hard toll on Britain. Between February and June, one of every four of Britain’s large freighters never returned. The French and British armies were weakening. The French and British had worn themselves out by taking the offensive, Germany having had taken the defensive. Germany held their trench positions while they took the offensive position against the Russians, in the East. They wanted to defeat Russia and then move their Eastern armies to the West, to defeat the weakened French and British. When Russia pulled out of the war because of their new leadership under Vladimir Lenin and his Bolshevik Party, the Allied troops suffered greatly. Russia’s exit exposed French and British troops to a much bigger German force. When Russia left, Lenin published secret Allie treaties revealing that Britain and France had expected to expand their nations and empires through war, this hurt the Allies greatly. In March and April of 1918, Germany began a vast offensive attack against the British and French. The German troops eventually reached the Marne River. They were in striking distance of Paris. Right then, American troops came to reinforce the French. Germany had just lost its best chance for vi...
The word race is defined at its core as a competition between runners, horses, vehicles, boats, etc. to see which is the fastest in covering a set course. Well, interestingly enough, a race of a different kind occurred between two countries from the years 1957 to 1969. The competition was unclear, and the opponents were on two entirely different continents, not something as simplistic as two horses. The United States and the United Soviet States of Russia both set out as arch rivals in the “Space Race,” a quest for dominance beyond the known Planet Earth. Ironically enough, just as communism was spreading to all parts of the world, the United States always sought to squash this form of government, despite somewhat dire consequences. Now, with
Britain suffered a massive military defeat in terms of the equipment, ships and aircraft lost but thousands of men were delivered from death or captivity at the hands of the Nazis. Ultimately 'Dunkirk' will always be remembered as a victorious event in British history.
Although the Americans were not directly affected at the time, nightly bombing raids in London were causing much suffering in the area (aspistrategist.org.au). This alone likely diminished the confidence that the Allies would eventually be victorious. Given this, the victory of D-Day would play a major role in the Allies path to complete victory in the war. If the Allies lost this battle, there would have been extreme setbacks which may have drastically changed the outcome of the war. Luckily, they did win, heavily because of their strong logistical capability and air superiority over the Axis powers (historynet.com).
It was extremely important because of its proximity to Britain, World War 2 would have ended much differently if this battle was never happened. Dunkirk was on the coast of France across the English channel. If the Germans got to Dunkirk they could have easily attacked Britain and if they had won in Dunkirk they would of weakened the Allies army so they would not have enough soldiers to project themselves. If the Germans captured Britain, the German army would have won World War 2. Britain was the main stronghold for the Allies army. The Allies began to be attacked by the German army, the Allies army stood under their air raid for a whole year until the end of 1941 when the americans stepped in to help. If the Battle of Dunkirk never happened the war would have ended fast and with far less casualties. In the Battle of Dunkirk between 61 and 62 thousand people died which made the Allies army weaker. Once the army was weaker the Allies were not strong enough to attack so people in Britain had to go under air raids because the Allies army did not have the resources to retaliate. Many people (both civilian and arm) died undergoing these air raids. If the Allies army was stronger and had more troops the war could have ended earlier. If World War 2 would have ended earlier the Allies would not have needed to ask the american army for support. The American army was reluctant to help the Allies but
Poland refused to give the Germans the province of Danzig and they suffered the drastic consequences that came with their actions. By operating Panzer tank divisions separate from German infantry the German military could encircle their enemies causing their enemies to constantly retreat to avoid encirclement. The tactic proved very effective, “It [lightning war] also characterized the attack on France and the low countries in 1940, which brought one of Germany’s historical rivals to its knees in roughly a month” (American War Library, 10). Germany conquered countries under Hitler’s leadership that the Germans never could before. Hitler had a brilliant strategy when it came to conquering France. “ Even as the British and French advanced, German Panzers were thrusting through the Ardennes towards Sedan, and the Allied forces were in danger of being cut off” (Bishop,
Overcoming adversity is imperative. In fact, you can 't have the happiness and success you want unless you have adversity in your life and overcome it. It is essential for progressing into who you want to be. It shows you what you are made of. It teaches you more about yourself, how to approach what you want, and how to maintain the success that you have. Without it, you wouldn 't know how far you could go or how capable you are because you wouldn 't have anything to push you or compare to.