Why Britain Won the Battle of Britain By the summer of 1940, the Germans under Hitler dominated most of Europe. His one remaining active enemy-Britain, under a new prime minister, Winston Churchill-vowed to continue fighting. Whether it could was debatable. The British army had left most of its weapons on the beaches at Dunkirk. Britain stood alone as Russia led by Stalin had signed a non-aggression pact with Hitler and the U.S. A. although shocked by the fall of France and sympathetic to Britain, was against getting into the war. The Germans hoped to subdue the British by starving them out. In June 1940 they undertook the Battle of the Atlantic, using submarine warfare to cut the British overseas lifelines. The Germans had submarine bases in Norway and France. At the start of World War II Germany only had 28 submarines, but more were being built - enough to keep Britain in danger until the spring of 1943. This was arguably more effective than the effects of the German air campaign. Invasion was the only way to def...
...onger. But a generation later, the game was on once again; the war aims were much the same. Germany felt it must defend its way of life and stand up for progress. Britain wanted to defend the status quo but it used the excuse of the invasion of another country as the immediate pretext for entry: first Belgium, later Poland. In both world wars, Germany was the innovator, morally and technologically. Britain and France were fighting previous wars while Germany led the way in technology, techniques and tactics.
In the Belgian town of Dunkirk, British Naval forces rescued the bulk of the army along with some French and Belgian units. Due to the French surrendering, Germans attacked North Africa to support the failed Italian efforts. Under the leadership of General Erwin Rommel, German forces pushed eastward to take Egypt until the British at the Battle of El Alamain halted their advance. U-Boats, which were kind of like submarines, were the Germans' main defense against Britain for naval battle. Adolf Hitler, the German leader planned all these offensives in his goal to rule the world.
It was very important for the Allies to keep Russia in the war because if Russia dropped out of the war, the Allies would lose a significant, huge army. There were also many important political reasons for the Gallipoli campaign to succeed. The British Cabinet as well as the other Allies and their political leaders needed a success to prop up its domestic political support. If the Gallipoli campaign succeeded then it would boost morale and make the public more supportive of the Allied governments and continue support for the war. It was also believed that a successful Gallipoli campaign would strengthen ties between Britain and the rest of the Allies.
At first, the French won many decisive battles with the aid of its allies against the British Empire. Both countries, however, were relatively equal in size and power at the time, but that would soon change. The British began to turn the tide as they made significant leadership changes in government and amassed their army, particularly their navy, to counter the Allied forces.3 With the new change of leadership, Britain began to pour more effort and money into this war.... ... middle of paper ... ...
Could America have gradually and peacefully developed independence within the British Common wealth, as Canada later did, rather than engaging in a violent revolt? Soon after England’s victory in the Seven Years’ War, England struggled with the financial costs of the war. England’s Parliament tried to establish power in the New World by issuing a series of laws. England attempted to have the colonies help pay for the cost of the war that would later help lead to revolt in America. Prior to the Seven Years’ War, the English rarely intervened with colonial business. It was during this time that the colonies began gradually to think and act independently of England. This scared England, and initiated a period in which they became more involved in the colony's growth. The passage of these laws undermined the Colonist's loyalty to England and stirred the Americans to fight for their freedom. What began as a fight over economic policies soon deteriorated into the difference in Americans and Britons political views, which help lead to the violence of the American Revolution (The American Pageant, pg 122). I believe a violent revolt could have been prevented only if England hadn’t pushed the Colonies past the point of non-violent resolutions.
While the naval war is usually known for only little attention in histories of World War I, the Royal Navy's blockade of Germany played a dangerous role in the War. The U.S. Navy linking with the Royal Navy played a significant role in overcoming the German U-boats in the North Atlantic. The Germany Navy while technically effective disastrously diminished the German war effort. Germany's building of a High Seas Fleet was one of the causes that public view on Britain turned against Germany and that Britain come unto the War. Yet, the small U-boat fleet, showed a key competition to the British. In the early war, U-boats drowned three British cruisers, shocking the people of both England and Germany. The U-boat campaign was a major reason that public opinion in America turned against Germany and that America entered the War. Despite the huge investment, the German Navy accomplished nothing in return to counter balance the cost for Germany.
The Battle of Britain started on July 10, 1940 after German air forces flew over Britain, dropping bombs and clashing with opposing British air forces. It is described as one of the main turning points in the war, due to the fact that it caused the Germans to come to a realization that
The Battle of Britain significantly changed Americans’ opinion and promoted the establishment of Anglo-American alliance, laying the foundation of the allied victory. During the battle, many Americans accepted the view promoted by Joseph Kennedy, the American ambassador in London, who believed that the United Kingdom could not survive. Even though President Roosevelt wanted to give more American support to Britain, the American government finally decided to send few troops to Britain, even less than some small commonwealth countries. To most Americans that time, it was meaningless to help Britain. However, in the Battle of Britain, the RAF continued gaining in strength each week, and the Luftwaffe's morale in combat was definitely broken. After
Have you ever been forced to do something, even though you know it is unfair? This is exactly what happened to the colonists. I believe that the British were the main cause of the Revolutionary War. They are because they forced taxes upon the colonists. The taxes are unfair because the British fought a war “for them” but the colonists didn’t get any of the land that was conquered.
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. After only four months into the war, German U-boats, mines, airplanes, and surface raiders had destroyed more than 215 merchant ships and two of Britain’s largest warships. Over 1,500 people had been killed in this short time. “It was clear that despite the lull on land, a long war lay ahead on the world’s water” (Pitt 8).
During the early stages of the war, most of Germany’s victories were because of the success of blitzkrieg, or lightening war. Blitzkrieg tactics emphasised mobility and the concentrated use of armour and air power to overwhelm an enemy. Blitzkrieg was especially successful in flat, open countryside and was supremely suited for the Polish campaign in 1939. It was with blitzkrieg, as well as Germany’s superior tactics, effective use of armour, airpower and modern equipment, plus with the support of the USSR that the Germans used to overwhelm Poland in only 5 weeks. Two days after the German troops entered Poland, Britain and France declared war on Germany. Hitler did not want this because it was a distraction from his main aim, to attack the USSR.
the Germans for the first time in the war. The Battle of Britain was a
On the 14th of October 1066, Duke William of Normandy defeated King Harold at the Battle of Hastings. His win could be summed up by the fact that William was a better leader. Other factors that contributed to William’s victory include: William was better prepared, the English army was severely weakened as Harold had just fought off an invasion in the North of England, and Harold made a fatal mistake of prematurely entering the Battle of Hastings.
France couldn't ally with Britain because Britain kept itself in "splendid isolation", so Russia was really the only real choice as they were the only other great power who was suspicious and disliked Germany.
Six hours later, France would also declare war on Germany. In May 1940, Britain would get a more aggressive pro-war leader, Winston Churchill, to replace Neville Chamberlain. Later that month, on May 26, 1940, in the face of a large-scale German attack, British soldiers on the home front were forced to perform one of the largest evacuations in history, The Evacuation of the British Expeditionary Force from Dunkirk on the Belgian coast. From July through October, the British people suffered during the Battle of Britain, which was a lot of intense German bombings. But, the Royal Air Force successfully defended its homeland from the German Luftwaffe, and the Nazis were unable to crush British morale.