Before World War II, Britain was strictly divided into classes: the upper class, the middle class, and the lower working class. Once born into a class, it was almost impossible to leave; people were bound to classes for life. The structure was stern and rigid. George Orwell even called England (and by extension Britain) “the most class-ridden country under the sun.” Classes tolerated each other, but the “upper and middle class people were brought up to believe the lower classes dirty and inferior,” creating an environment of stark inequality (The Class System). The small upper class held the majority of the wealth and employed much of the large lower class as servants, paying them menial wages. The middle class, who consisted of doctors, shopkeepers, lawyers, and people in similar professions, remained sandwiched in the center. On September 7, 1940 the blitz began and bombs started to rain down on London. However, the force of the bombs did little to blast away the walls that separated and distinguished the classes. Along with the blitz came the Myth of the Blitz, as explained by Angus Calder in his book, The Myth of the Blitz. The Myth of the Blitz was the idea that the people of London united across classes into a heroic force against the bombings and Nazi Germany, as advertised in the propaganda distributed by the British government. The Myth asserted that Londoners as a whole kept calm and carried on despite the massive destruction and high numbers of casualties. However, as with any myth, the Myth of the Blitz was not entirely based on fact and incorporated some invented ideas. Despite the Myth’s gross exaggerations, it still held a core of truth. The blitz did bring people of the same class together through shared experien... ... middle of paper ... ....uk/arts-entertainment/historical-notes-propaganda-and-the-london-blitz-1171497.html>. Overy, Richard. "Civilians on the Frontline." The Observer. Guardian News and Media, 06 Sept. 2009. Web. 26 Apr. 2014. . Richards, James. "The Blitz: Sorting the Myth from the Reality." BBC News. BBC, 17 Feb. 2011. Web. 25 Apr. 2014. . Robinson, Bruce. "The Blitz." BBC News. BBC, 30 Mar. 2011. Web. 24 Apr. 2014. . "To Hell With the Blitz - We're off to the Ritz!" Mail Online. Associated Newspapers, 04 Nov. 2011. Web. 27 Apr. 2014. .
World War Two triggered a significant change in the attitudes that people had towards one another. With all the death and destruction, one would assume that the lives of the citizens of Bexley would be run by fear during this terrible time, especially as Bexley happened to be an area that received a great deal of bombing. However, this was not the case. A temperament known as the ‘Blitz Spirit’ was widely adopted, encouraging the citizens of Bexley to rally together and face the war with courage and optimism.
Bard, Mitchell G. The Complete Idiot's Guide to world War II, Macmillan Publishing, New York, New York, 1999
Bell, Amy Helen. London Was Ours : Diaries And Memoirs Of The London Blitz. London: I.B. Tauris, 2008. eBook Collection (EBSCOhost). Web. 24 Mar. 2014.
Barnett, Correlli. World War II: Persuading the People. Orbis Publishing Limited, 1972. Pgs. 76 -- 102.
Class distinctions were only too apparent within Britain's military entities. The Army "structured itself around class" and "in many ways . . . recreated the British class system in miniature: aristocratic generals, middle-class officers, and a working class rank and file" (Robb 84). This structure reinforced on the war front the class distinctions of the home front, and the "long-standing prejudices of the British class system ensured that enlisted men were treated almost like children." Some soldiers played the role of servant and waited on officers of high class who enjoyed luxuries unheard of to those existing in the grime of the trenches (Robb 85).
"The bombing of Dresden was a surprise raid. It wasn't expected because the city was militarily unimportant. The population of the city had been doubled by prisoners-of-war and refugees. On February thirteenth, 1944, American bombers dropped high-explosive bombs followed by incendiaries, which caused a firestorm that could be seen more than two hundred miles away. On February fourteenth, the Americans carried out a second raid, which completed the destruction of the city. More than two-hundred thousand people were killed outright, burned to death, or died after. Vonnegut and Billy Pilgrim were herded with other prisoners-of-war into the storage area of a slaughterhouse and later emerged to find the once beautiful city looking like the surfa...
King, Rosemary. "O'Brien's 'How to Tell a True War Story.'" The Explicator. 57.3 (1999): 182. Expanded Academic ASAP.
Powers, Thomas. "THE BOMB : Hiroshima: Changing the Way We Think About War." Los Angeles Times. Los Angeles Times, 06 Aug. 1995. Web. 10 Jan. 2014.
Salden, Chris. “Wartime Holidays and the ‘Myth of the Blitz’.” Cultural History 2, no. 2 (May 2005).
O'Neill, William L. World War II: A Student Companion. New York: Oxford UP, 1999. Print.
On the night of March 5th, it is believed that a small group of boys began taunting a British soldier. Over the boys’ nonsense, the soldier battered one of his oppressors with his musket. Soon after the alleged incident a crowd of about fifty or sixty people surrounded the frightened solider. The enraged crowd of people sounded the soldier, encouraging him to call for backup. Soon after calling for help, seven soldiers along with Captain Preston...
King, Rosemary. "O'Brien's 'How to Tell a True War Story.'" The Explicator. 57.3 (1999): 182. Expanded Academic ASAP.
3. Chapter 3, page 29, #1: ““Blitzkrieg”, repeated Finny doubtfully. “We could figure out some kind of blitzkrieg baseball,” I said. “We’ll call it blitzkrieg ball,” said Bobby. “Or just blitzball””
Director of the Centre for Second World War Studies at the University of Edinburgh, Paul Addison, in his nonfiction novel Firestorm (2017) demonstrates how Dresden is now seen as a symbol for the military and behavioral choices involved in the waging of total warfare. He supports his claim by first contributing different essays from different authors in order to give a variety of perspectives, then by focusing on specific aspects of the bombing: addressing the aircraft advancements made on both allied and axis fields, giving “graphic and horrifying detail about the suffering of the victims of the raids” (De Bruhl 215), painting the history and culture of Dresden before the bombing, and finally looking into the individual lives of a few german
During this visit Hall was thoroughly debriefed by the Embassy Personnel. Additionally, at this time Hall was offered a position working in the Military Attaché office in the embassy. However, only weeks after Halls arrival in London Operation Sea Lion commenced. Operation Sea Lion was the Nazi Luftwaffe’s strategic bombing of the British Royal Air Force (RAF) Airfields and radio towers. This attack was followed by the bombardment of London. The first wave alone consisted of 348 German Bombers and 617 German Fighters attacking London. These bombings proceeded in London for fifty-seven consecutive nights. Hall and the residents of London tried to maintain hope and continue life as normally as possible. This included social gatherings and parties, to include a cocktail party that took place in a bunker on 14 January 1941, hosted by Vera Atkins. During this party Hall told her story of living in France, and of her aspirations of resisting the Nazi occupation. What Hall didn’t realize at this time is that Atkins was a member of the British Special Operations Executive