The Battle of Britain

The Battle of Britain

Many battles took place leading to the fall of Nazi Germany during WWII. All of the battles were significant, but some more so than others. Among these battles, the Battle of Britain is considered one of the most influential battles of WWII.

Germany had been a world superpower for quite some time before WWII. The nation first began to show its superiority over Europe during WWI, when it demonstrated both its strength and military capabilities (Hart 17). Then, the first example of terror bombing in Europe was the German Luftwaffe’s attack of Spain in 1937. Later, on September 3, 1939, five-thousand people were killed or wounded by German aircraft and Zepplins during the German air raids of Britain. Germany had proven that they had the world’s most sophisticated air force, dropping three hundred tons of bombs onto Britain during the first world war (Mortimer 9-10).

Reigning in Germany between 1933 and 1945, was Adolf Hitler, leader of the National Socialist German Workers Party. This party, also known as the Nazi party, established the Third Reich, one of the most brutal regimes in history. Under the control of the Third Reich, Germany became a totalitarian state, and every part of life was controlled by the Nazis (Hay 7).

The Nazis gave strong effort to control the minds of the people by using propaganda, conformity and peer pressure. Hitler was a great manipulator of the masses. Millions of Germans were attracted to his charisma and speaking ability, so his success as a leader is really no surprise. Everything that Hitler promised Germany sounded good but the majority of the German people never suspected that Hitler’s racism and territorial obsessions would lead them into a terrible war (...

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“Blitzkrieg.” Longwood. edu. 14 April 2003 Web. 1 February 2012.

Hart, B.H. Liddel. History of The Second World War. G.P. Putnam’s sons, 1970.

Hay, Jeff T. A History of The Third Reich. Ed. Christopher R. Browning. Vol. 1. San Diego: Greenhaven Press, 2003.

Hough, Richard. The Battle of Britain. New York: The Macmillan Company, 1971.

Macdonald, John, and Sir John Hackett. Great Battles of World War II. New York: The Macmillan Company, 1971.

Mortimer, Gavin. The Blitz. Oxford: Osprey Publishing, 2010.

Mosley, Leonard. The Battle of Britain. Ed. The Editors of Time-Life Books. Alexandria: Time-Life Books, 1977.

Phillips, Gervase. “Red Sabers: taking a page from J.E.B. Stuart, Soviet horsemen proved that the cavalry was still a potent fighting force, even against the German blitzkrieg.” World War II. Sept 2007: 36+. Gale Power Search. Web. 1 Feb. 2012.