Even before War with Germany was accredited, the British government felt that it was necessary to shield the civilian inhabitants, especially children; pregnant mothers, disabled people and teachers accompanied them. The government decided to evacuate children from the major cities into rural areas. They had many reasons for doing this, each of them mainly linked to fear of civilian casualties.
As it was the Germans themselves who began civilian bombings, the British government did have reason to believe that they would adopt this tactic again. It started off in 1937 during the Spanish Civil War. It was market day in the Spanish city of Guernica, and the Germans bombed the city for over three hours. The Germans chose this city as their target on that particular day because they knew that their bombings would kill the most people as it was the busiest day of the week.
`At least 1,000 people, most of them civilians, were believed to have died in the raid.'
(Pictorial History of the Twentieth Century World, page. 185)
The bombing of Guernica contributed extensively towards the government decision as this was evidence of Germany's combat capabilities. The government knew that Germany wasn't afraid of attacking civilians in the slightest. From this point evacuation seemed the only feasible option to protect the population and reduce fear.
The British government planners also looked at other common factors. They noticed that the urban cities would be strategic targets for the Germans; they knew this because they were densely populated, with a great deal of industry and they would want destroy factories manufacturing weapons. One government estimate suggested that 4 million civilians may be killed in London alone. These predictions horrified the government. They were totally aghast by what the Luftwaffe might do and had no guarantee on German limitations. Looking at these factors we can see that the British themselves didn't know much about what to expect, however they did identify that cities were more likely to be major targets. For that reason, evacuation did seem a compelling option as it would decrease the risk of casualties based on the government predictions.
The British government wanted to ensure that these children and civilians were safe but at the same time they didn't want to inflict too much worry on their parents, as this would cause panic. So the government began to use propaganda, to portray this in a positive light, both for the children and for the parents.
Evaluation of the Success of the Evacuation of Children from Major British Cities during World War II
Why the Major Cities of Britain were Bombed by the Germans in 1940 and 1941
Firstly, there had been enough warning given for the authorities to take preventative measures. But despite the fact that war had been raging for six months, and a warning from the Imperial German Embassy that was published in the papers (See Document 8) cautioning those travelling in the Atlantic on British ships that they were at risk, the ship still took passengers and sailed. Although the Germans are not to be excused from their part in the tragedy the authorities still had time to take action to protect lives, either by cancelling the voyage or providing adequate protection when reaching the warzone. On top of that British Intelligence had intercepted the recent German code and was able to decipher the messages sent from the submarine to the German head-quarters, which enabled them to know where the U-20 was. There had also been recent attacks on British ships in that area, on the 6th of May the Candidate at 7am and the Centurion at 1pm. (See Document 22 g.)
Ways the British Government Attempted to Hide the Effects of the Blitz from the People of Britain
Why the British Government Decided to Evacuate Children from Britain's Major Cities in the Early Years of the Second World War
The numerous chances the people of Sighet had to leave was significant that if they would have just left, none of this would have happened to them. One of the first warnings they had was when Moshe the Beadle came back from escaping the train. He was telling his story to everyone that would listen. The story was about how they made "the Jews get of the train and climb into lorries." (page 4) He also talked about how they murdered people for no reason at all. But most of the people in Sighet just ignored Moshe and thought he was making everything up.
...ced to retreat or be cut off from their supplies. The German High Command, at this point, knew that they could no longer continue to fight and needed to surrender or face annihilation.
... and remorse inside C.Os by presenting them a situation in which they would be questioned about the war by their children which may not happen in reality as some children's may feel the opposite and instead feel proud of the father taking a stand for what his rights. In addition to this the government are trying to put C.Os in a early negative mindset of feeling guilt and remorse for their actions so it gradually build to the day they get confronted by their children which might no even happen which compromises the reliability of the source. Being a primary interpretation is is partly useful as it deems negativity because it wants o change the mindset of C.Os to make them feel embarrassment and guilt, however the source also interprets to us how desperate and selfish government was as they just cared about winning the war and ignored C.Os moral beliefs.
In 1940 the government needed to find a way to support both the British at home and the British at war. They did not need widespread panic in Britain to add to their problems and knew that if one city thought the other cities were doing well, then they would certainly believe they should follow suit. So they decided the best way was to hide the worst news from them. At least this way they would only know of the great accomplishments and fights fought by their men at arms, and would keep hope up of them coming home. This would perhaps encourage them to be more helpful with keeping the industry flowing and the streets clean for when the men came home from war.
Ways in Which the British Government Attempted to Hide the Effects of the Blitz from the People of Britain
Hitler knew that the Allies would be looking for him, so he not only fled Germany to
This was to prepare for a ground invasion called Operation Sea Lion. “Eagle-day” is then planned to be begun by the Germans, which is a continued destruction of the RAF and a plan to install radar. However, this is delayed with poor weather conditions. Bombing continues in Britain, but the RAF are not yet defeated. They defend themselves aggressively, destroying at least 104 German aircrafts with a continued defeat of 330 German aircrafts. The British are constantly killing thousands of German troops, and Hitler eventually postpones Operation Sea Lion, with a new interest in dominating Russia. From both sides of the battle, more than 3,000 aircraft were destroyed; 1,023 from the British side, and 1,887 from the Luftwaffe. 544 RAF command pilots died, and 2,500 Luftwaffe aircraft were killed. During the relentless bombing known as “The Blitz”, 40,000 British citizens tragically died in the process. Britain had a much higher advantage in the war, due to its high performing navy, compared to Germany’s non-existing navy due to losses in Norway. If the Germans never gave up on this battle and won, the United States would probably become involved much deeper in the war. The Battle of Britain officially ended on October 31,
...n Longmate, 158). This despair did not reach the Luftwaffe and Hitler because they would not have publicized such feelings in their attempt to keep up the British war spirit. One of the witnesses to the bombing of Coventry even realized the situation “deducing that ‘morale was obviously failing’” (Longmate, 38). Furthermore, the Royal Air Force report in Air Raid: The Bombing of Coventry, 1940 exposed that the working classes were believed to be revolt, another indication of poor morale.
During World War 2, many children were moved from areas that were at risk from bombing. The children had to leave their families and go to live with strangers in less dangerous parts of the country.
Hitler was very close to victory. The RAF was drained and worn out. They had been fighting for a while with little rest. They were constantly in battle. It was not looking good for the British. All Hitler would have had to do was to keep pounding on them. The Germans had more pilots. The RAF was running out of pilots. The Germans should have bombed the radars and airfields. At first the Germans stayed away from bombing the big cities. Hitler still wanted to bring Chu...