The Battle of Britain ended as the Blitz began, when in September 1940, the German Luftwaffe changed tactics, and bombed London. This essay is going to explore the factors which determine whether the Battle of Britain was a turning point in the war, or not. One of the factors which needs to be considered is that the Battle of Britain was Hitler's first real defeat. Before the Battle of Britain, Hitler was able to use the... ... middle of paper ... ...st defeat. Their morale became low and they were not equipped for further stages in the war.
The Battle of Britain in 1940 In the summer of 1940, the German Luftwaffe attempted to win air superiority over southern Britain and the English Channel by destroying the Royal Air Force and the British aircraft industry. This attempt came to be known as the Battle of Britain, and victory over the RAF was seen by the Germans as absolutely essential if they were eventually to mount an invasion of the British Isles. The Germans had overrun Belgium, the Netherlands and northern France in May 1940, using the Blitzkrieg ('Lightning War') technique that relied, among other things, on close coordination between ground troops and the air force. Although the Luftwaffe proved very competent in this role, it was not trained or equipped for the longer-range operations that became part of the Battle of Britain. It is widely believed that had the Germans succeeded in their aim of destroying the RAF, they would have been able to invade Britain relatively easily.
Blitzkrieg used tanks and combat vehicles, along with air support, to quickly over run countries before defenses could be set up, completely eliminating trench warfare. Hitler first started his Blitzkrieg warfare on August 31, 1939 when he attacked Poland. The sudden unexpected attack left Poland struggling to put up a defense, but they were overran before they could get their army mobilized, and before Britain or France had a chance to send troops for a counter attack. Poland had fallen in less than four weeks. Next on Hitler's list was Denmark and Norway.
Many people lost their lives fighting in this battle. New technology was one of the major factors in the Allies winning the long and crucial Battle of the Atlantic. Just the Beginning Immediately, the Battle of the Atlantic began when “the British announced a naval blockage of Germany” on September 3, 1939(“World War II” 391). Eight days later the Germans ordered a “counter-blockage” of the Allies(“World War II” 391). The Germans hoped to stop the shipments of war supplies and food to the countries of France and Britain.
German nerves were frayed, the Nazis outraged. Hitler threatened "…When the British Air Force drops two or three or four thousand kilograms of bombs, then we will in one night drop 150-, 230-, 300- or 400,000 kilograms." They were not going to take this lying down, and beginning September 7th London was bombed for 57 consecutive nights, but the blitz continued until May 1941. During this time other cities were also bombed including Portsmouth, Exeter, Bath, Manchester and Belfast. However, this decision to bomb London and other major cities proved to be the most fateful decision of the war.
The Germans needed to cut the American forces in to two parts, this way the could easily be destroyed because the allies all ready had a tough time supplying all the troops and Hitler new that if they took control of Antwerp he would have a chance against the allies. Hitler felt he had enough of the resources he would need to win the battle. The main things that the Germans were hoping for was bad weather so that the allies planes could not get off the ground and support the allies and fire upon the German forces the other main thing the Germans needed was complete surprise. Hitler was mobilizing a task force of 500,000 Germans solders which included tanks special spies and many others. The allies at this time was slowly pushing its way through the Ardennes Forest and into Germany they also were pushing into the Belgium Boarder.
The Luftwaffe was overconfident in their ability to gain complete air superiority over the British Channel and the invasion area. The Luftwaffe intended to prevent both the RAF from striking against their attack but they failed. After a German defeat, Hitler postponed his planned invasion of Britain indefinitely on September 17, 1940 only two days after the Battle of Britain had begun. With the entire nation backed behind them, the British Royal Air Force had the Luftwaffe beaten every aspect of the battle. Not only was the technology used by the British superior to the Germans but so was the leadership.
Haig wasted Britain's secret weapon, the tank, by using them in such few numbers. He should have waited until there were far more available to make a really dramatic impact. Nearly 500 were used a year later at Cambrai but the attack still failed because the troops couldn't keep up with them. The ground captured was quickly taken back by the Germans. Were there alternatives?
Though heavily outnumbered, the RAF put up a gallant defense; radar, used for the first time in battle by Britain, played an important role. The Germans lost some 2,300 aircraft; the RAF 900. The Battle of Britain was the first major failure of the Germans in World War II, and it thwarted Hitler's plan to force Britain to accept peace or face invasion” (Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia). The British were outnumbered 900 fighters to 640 fighters plus the Germans had an additional 1,300 bombers. With these statistics, the Luftwaffe thought that they would have a very easy time defeating the Royal Air Force.
Thus Hitler had to defeat the RAF before he could proceed to invade Britain. Hitler's attempts to destroy the RAF with the Luftwaffe was called The Battle Of Britain. coursework The BattleOf Britain The Luftwaffe was complacent under the command of Herman Goering who believed or just boasted that the RAF would be destroyed within four days. He may have had reason to think this as the Luftwaffe had more pilots and planes but what was q... ... middle of paper ... ... suffered masses of deaths and destruction. Survival could often be put down to enemy failings such as when Hitler decided not to bomb the RAF but instead bomb British cities.