The Myth Of The London Blitz

Many people were baked alive in this raid. About 873 bombers were bombing the German city. Dresden did not have any military or industrial targets that opposing countries would have wanted to destroy; it became known as a terror bombing by the British because it was not a target. The raid caused many unwanted deaths and destroyed a small city. The casualties that occurred in these events would not have happened if it were not for the new and improved aircraft.

The general consensus of humanity is that war is bad, people get killed for no reason, civilians can get maimed, bombed, or even killed just because some leaders of a country could not resolve an issue any other way. The enemy could destroy an entire cities, or multiple cities with bombs and neat little soldiers in their neat little planes. On September seventh, 1940; the start of what was called The Blitz. The Blitz was a devastating event in World War Two, when the Nazis decided to bomb the cities of London, Plymouth, Belfast, and many more British towns. A novella written by Daphne du Maurier “The Birds”, could be interpreted as an allegory for this horrifying event. Through du Maurier’s tale, there are certain similarities with the birds acting like Nazi planes, the government being inefficient, and how

Following the collapse of France during World War II, the conditions the Allied powers faced became bleaker by the day. The United Kingdom was standing alone in the face of Germany, and under Hitler’s reign, the German “blitzkrieg” or “lightning war,” a tactic involving bombardment, tanks, and ground troops in quick offense proved too much for many countries. Winston Churchill would be the one to place hope in the hearts of the British people, delivering his “Their Finest Hour” speech on the 18th of June, 1940. Churchill utilized persuasive rhetoric whilst appealing to the people's logic and emotions, to raise morale and spirit in the United Kingdom to fight.

From September 1940 to May 1941, a horrific event ran through England. The Blitz was a series of bombing that the Nazi carried out on most parts of England and aimed especially at Londoners. The Nazi thought that they could weaken Britain’s strength and over power Britain so it would be easier to take over; during this, over a million homes were demolished and the bombings killed more than 40,000 people. It is questioned whether the existence of the Blitz Spirit is correct or just a myth; some people agree that it was real, ‘during the Blitz, people pulled together. It didn’t matter whether you were rich or poor – everyone helped each other out and got on with their lives as best as they could. That was the Blitz spirit.’ However other people go against that and say, ‘the idea of the “Blitz spirit” was invented to make people feel better. In reality, people did not come

Thus, this article can serve as a foundational text for the American perception of the German military and its tactics. Although the article focuses on a particular commander, the level of respect showed towards Brauchitsch reveals the writer’s understanding of the power of Germany. The modern connotation of the word (quick and hard striking maneuver warfare) as a form of military strategy is used and explained here by the author as if it is the official German military doctrine. Historians argue endlessly over the idea of an “origin” and it remains the same here. When was “Blitzkrieg” introduced to the American public? Was it invented by Western journalists to for sensationalism purposes or rather, German propaganda that was “swallowed up” by the Allied press? The author of the article seemed very educated in the concept of Blitzkrieg (if it indeed is an official military concept) and used appropriate language to emphasize the speed aspect of the tactic. Some phrases depicting Blitzkrieg included “a war of quick penetration and obliteration,” “Swift columns of tanks… plunged through Poland…broken down the Polish defenses before they had time to

On the night of September 7, 1940 Germany attacked Great Britain. “About every two minutes a new wave of planes would be over” (Pyle). They targeted the “gigantic dome of St. Paul's Cathedral”, along with many other populated places. “Flames seemed to whip hundreds of feet into the air” (Pyle). The smoke was so bad they you could barely see the St. Paul's Cathedral (“The Bombing of St. Paul's Cathedral, London, September 7,1940”)“On September 4, the Luftwaffe switched tactics again and, on Hitler's orders, set about destroying London and other major cities” (“BBC History-The Battle Of

The invasion of Normandy, also known as Operation Overlord or D-Day, was perhaps one of the most important battles in the human history. The invasion took place on June 4, 1944, at the Coast of Normandy in France. Troops from over twelve countries, including Canada, the United Kingdom, and the United States of America participated in the fight against Germany. Although the battles were enduring and hard-fought, the Allies achieved the final victory; the Allies were finally able to set their feet on the European soil again. The Allied invasion of Normandy was a major turning point of the war that led to the ultimate liberation of Europe from the Nazi forces.

The Luftwaffe - Germany’s air force - used bombs to kill over 40,000 Britain people. This was not a German victory - the Royal Air Force’s response prevented Germany from totally dominating Britain - but it had large effects on British morale and it symbolized Hitler’s ambitious goals for Nazi expansionism. 2. D-Day (625) D-Day refers to an Allied attack on June 6, 1944 where Britain and America defeated Germany at Normandy. This mattered because along with the Soviets attacking on the eastern front, Germany was quickly losing momentum and its ability to resist.

Document 1 describes just the beginning of this tale. Instead of being allowed to take their own action, survivor Muriel Simkin recalls how they had no choice but to wait for the second bell, since they all “had to do war work.” (However, it’s important to know that there could be inconsistencies in Simkin’s testimony, as seeing “people flying through the air” is a traumatic event usually remembered in overly vivid detail, not to mention the fact that the book was published nearly 50 years after the actual event, so there could be some flawed details.) Even when the people had already been in a bombed area for a very long time, they still were being forced to change in ways they weren’t excited about. Even historians, seen in Document 5 and 6, acknowledge the unwillingness of the British people to want to immediately change as a result of the impact of the war. It is important to note that when looking at the documents, they both share the passion of separating “myth” from “reality” in their articles, so there might be some exaggeration or stretches of history in order to prove their purpose in writing. However, since both are 10 years apart, it is clear to see that there is a large-founded basis to discerning myths about how British society changed during the war. Document 5 tells how

When the Atomic Bomb exploded over the city of Hiroshima, the people who experienced it were not expecting it to occur the way it did. We were given an insight of the lives of several characters on that fateful morning in August in 1945. Neighboring towns had all been bombarded by American B-29 raids, but so far Hiroshima had been spared and rumors spread that “something special” was in store for them. Every plane that flew overhead was a considered a threat and would set off the air raid warning, consequently that morning people even though the siren sounded earlier people were either going about their everyday routines or preparing for the worst. The people of Hiroshima were completely confused when the atomic bomb was dropped over their city because they were all expecting a warning of some kind, either from the U.S or the air-raid sirens but there was nothing heard before the bomb was dropped. Hersey describes it as a “noiseless flash,” which conjures the image of silence and a startlingly bright light as total buildings were decimated. With the dropping of the Atomic Bomb over Hiroshima, we ushered in a new age of

In the Blitzkrieg bombing of Britain, the country needed support more than ever as their patience was growing thin. It was at this very crucial moment in history when the British were about fall to the Germans overwhelming military when Winston Church gave his famous speech, “Their Finest Hour.” This would be the speech that changes the tide of the war, and inspired the British people to rally together against the German forces. In his famous speech, he focuses on the patriotism of the British people and letting them know that this war was far from over, and they weren’t going to go down without one heck of a fight. The reason this speech was so successful and uplifting was because Churchill was able to present it in a way to make all the British

Sunday, December 7, 1941, was, as President Roosevelt said, "a date which will live in infamy." Day of Infamy is a fascinating account of that unforgettable day's events. In brilliant detail Walter Lord traces the human drama of the great attack: the spies behind it; the Japanese pilots; the crews on the stricken warships; the men at the airfields and the bases; the Japanese pilot who captured an island single-handedly when he could not get back to his carrier; the generals, the sailors, the housewives, and the children who responded to the attack with anger, numbness, and magnificent courage.

Roughly a year into World War Two, German bombers flew over the streets of London where they began dropping highly explosive bombs in a series of aerial raids. The bombs were being released by the Axis Powers above residential areas in an attempt to create mass hysteria in the city. For fifty-seven straight days, bombs were raining over London, killing citizens and destroying homes. During this time, Londoners attempted to live their normal lives while frequently taking refuge in one of the many underground bomb shelters. Sebastian Junger looks further into the specific psychological effects the London Blitz had on the Londoners in his book Tribe: On Homecoming and Belonging. Junger claims that the goal of the bombings, which was to cause further

The author reference to bombs bursting in air is in relation to the hard times in life.

Source B is a picture taken at the time of the blitz dated 21 January