Ways the British Government Attempted to Hide the Effects of the Blitz from the People of Britain

Ways the British Government Attempted to Hide the Effects of the Blitz from the People of Britain

The British government tried lots of ways to hide the effects of the

blitz from the people of Britain, one of the reasons for this is so

that the people would keep their moral high. If the British

government showed the public the full extent of the damage the people

of Britain would lose the will to fight the war and Germany would

invade Britain.

The most obvious way of controlling the news was through censorship.

The ministry of information was the governmental department

responsible for informing people about the events in the war, as well

as keeping moral high. The government had given itself the power to

stop any news that they thought was unsuitable. These photographs

that showed large number of casualties or serious damage.

A photograph taken of the destruction of a school playground in

Catford, London, was withleld because it showed dead children, as were

the photographs of angry people looting. In addition government

officials checked documents, films and photographs to ensure that they

did not contain anything that the enemy might find useful. On the

other hand, photographs of defiance or heroism were put on the front

pages of the newspapers. The most famous example was the picture of

St. Pauls Cathedral surrounded by flames in December 1940. Only

recently did we find out that most of the flames and smoke clouds were

faked. They did this to show that not only were the public being

bombed but that everybody was being bombed and people could still pull

through.

Newspaper articles were also restricted. Any references to panic

hysteria were immediately removed. The public did not see the raid on

Coventry because the Government thought it was unsuitable. As the war

progressed the Government used radio, cinema and newspapers as key

tools in maintaining morale and helping the British people fight on

with determination.

The Government employed many people to keep the war effort going and