To add to this fear, the older generation of Britain remembered the German Zeppelin raids of World War 1 and people realized the great advance in German air power since then. With this in mind the British Government was determined to not let the morale of their people slip. In the First World War, the worst effects were hidden from the people through censorship. However, in the Second World War, bombing raids were directly targeted at civilians living in the major cities as well as munitions factories. Children were not necessary to the war effort and needed to be protected from the danger and horrors of war.
Hitler had many reasons to do this. With Britain in a weaker position and public morale lower than ever, it gave Hitler his best opportunity to invade Britain and potentially launch Operation Sealion. This was the crucial thought in Hitler's mind when deciding to attack the towns and cities of Britain. Characteristically, Hitler never wished to go to war with Britain and the Blitz was a technique used to diminish the British morale. Hitler hoped to lower public morale by destroying the citizen's homes and city's.
British Government's Decision to Evacuate Children During World War II The British government decided to evacuate children from the major cities to the country side where they would be safe. They did this to take precautions to protect and serve the civilians from the bombings and gas attacks. They evacuated children from the major cities as they are the most venerable members of society and this would break people's morale if more children were killed. The British government started to evacuate children before the plans of the outbreak to the World War Two. They announced the evacuation on the 31st August 1939, the day before Hitler invaded Poland.
The first wave of evacuation in Britain took place on September 1st 1939. Britain evacuated children from the major cities because of long term, short term and spark causes leading up to 1st September 1939. It was necessary to evacuate children as a priority because they were considered the country’s future, as were pregnant women. It was necessary to spread the population out towards the countryside so that the people living there could do their part in the war; by looking after evacuees. The fear of bombing in the large cities was very high, due to past events such as Guernica, where bombing took place in 1937 during the Spanish civil war.
Alas, the government ended up only evacuating around half this number. Children were evacuated from major cities such as London and other important industrial cities such as Liverpool and Birmingham. The government knew large cities were key bombing targets as they contained the centres of communications, docks, ports and railway lines. Anything, which if bombed, would impede the countries ability to continue fighting. But what were the reasons behind the fear of the government and civilians?
The Decision to Evacuate British Children During World War II During the first years of World War 2, two main evacuations took place in Britain, in order to remove innocents, such as children, to rural areas and out of target cities that were under threat from German bombing and the Luftwaffe’s ‘Blitzkrieg’ tactics. There were many reasons why the Government chose to evacuate. These included, protection of civilians, fear of bombing and gas attacks and the aspiration to avoid another major conflict. Two different evacuations were held, one in September 1939 followed by the second in September 1940. Sir John Anderson the Home Secretary, was responsible for devising a plan to evacuate endangered civilians from major cities and important areas, such as London, Liverpool and Middelsbourough.
I can also infer that the government at this time might not be liked or trusted either. However, this source refers to the East End. One of the worst hit areas and so may not give a full picture. I have come to the conclusion that the British people had faced the blitz with courage and unity but with some help from the government by using propaganda. This was the main weapon for the government to keep the morale high so that people showed courage and determination in the blitz.
====================================================================== They also knew that Britain would do its level best to keep them away from their colonies so as to maintain their empire. So Germany tried to frighten Britain and desperately changed their tactics to create fear and panic among people. ===================================================================== They attacked the docks in London so as to stop supplies of food being brought into Britain. They started bombing its main towns and cities. The most affected towns by German bombing were Coventry, Glasgow, and East end.
Evacuation in Britainin During World War Two Towards the end of 1939 most British people found that it was very hard to stop Hitler and they decided to use force because they thought that this could only stop him. Britain and France declared war on Germany on the 3rd September 1939, before this Germany had invaded Poland, which the British promised to protect. The British army sailed across the English Channel to join our ally France. Back home, the civilians of the British Isles prepared for a war which they knew was going to affect them directly. World war one had ended 21 years before, and many people remembered gas attacks, bombings from the air, rationing of food supplies and fear of enemy invasion.
The Ways the British Government Attempted to Hide the Effects of the Blitz from the People For the British civilians bearing the home front of the Blitz was both a frightening and surreal experience. In Britain, most people expect to be told the truth, and newspapers and radios are allowed to speak the facts. However once the country was at war it all changed, and the British people had to accept that the Government who took control of the media was for the good of the country. Specific facts and details of bombings weren't shown in the whole truth, and often the news was twisted to focus on the heroism of the British. This became known as propaganda and censorship, and were tools to keep the civilians spirits up.