Studied by 2 people
What was the Blitz?
Campaign started by H in autumn and winter of 1940 and spring of 1941 to bomb BR cities
Started with daylight raids on London on 7 Sept 1940
436 civilians killed + 1600 injured in first 12hrs
2 months of nightly bombing on London followed
Then GER turned attention to other cities, such as Liverpool, Swansea, Manchester, Coventry
Ended in May 1941, by which time 43,000 had been killed
1.4m in London and tens of thousands more across country made homeless
Hitler’s aims with the Blitz
After losing BoB, H no longer considered plans to invade using Operation Sealion
However, aim for BR remained same: force BR to negotiate to draw a deal whereby his domination of Europe would be accepted and he would be free to invade USSR without threat of war on two fronts
H hoped that bombing of civilian areas with high casualties would cause morale, and therefore support for war to collapse
BR public would hopefully overthrow Churchill and leader would emerge who would be prepared to negotiate
Preparing for air raids
As early as 1935, local authorities urged to make plans to protect population in event of war
Some began building communal air raid shelters
Air Raid Wardens’ Service created in 1937 and recruited 200,000 volunteers
Air Raid Precautions (ARP) volunteers mobilised in Aug 1938
Regulations for blackout in place by Sept 1939
All windows to be screened with dark blinds/brown paper at dusk
No street lighting allowed
To prevent Luftwaffe from spotting build-up areas from skies during raids
Public Shelters being built + cellars requisitioned for use as shelters
1938: Anderson Shelters (small, cheap shelters for gardens) distributed to those living in areas thought to be more at risk and were free for the poor
British measures against the Blitz
Air raid sirens would warn people that Luftwaffe was on its way
People expected to go and sleep in Anderson Shelters
However they were damp + tended to flood so people reluctant to use them
Mar 1940: Govt started building communal shelters to accommodate up to 50 people
Some Londoners slept in tube stations (govt tried to stop this at first but later allowed it)
Not very safe because Luftwaffe could penetrate up to 50ft below ground
Oct 1940: 600 people sheltering at Balham tube station killed/injured
From Mar 1941, Morrison Shelters issued - made of heavy steel which could be used in dining room and used as table
Impact of the Blitz on Coventry
An important engineering and armaments-producing centre, raided on 14-15 Nov 1940
GER bombers dropped 503 tons of high explosive + 30,000 incendiary bombs on city
568 killed and 850 seriously injured
1/3 of city’s houses made unhabitable
35% of shops destroyed
Impact of the Blitz on Manchester
Heaviest raids occurred on nights of 22-23 and 23-24 Dec 1940
Deansgate + Oxford Rd blocked with debris + unexploded bombs
More than 8000 homes destroyed or made uninhabitable
Trafford Park industrial area badly damaged by fires
Did the Blitz succeed?
If H’s aim was to destroy BR morale, it backfired
Bombing was generally met by spirit of defiance of public
Signs on half-destroyed shops saying ‘Business as usual’
Social order didn’t collapse - wasn’t close to doing so
Few calls for surrender
Scenes of helping others and heroic efforts increased sense of solidarity
Evidence for Blitz Spirit
Churchill’s prop effective in keeping spirits up
Even in worst affected areas social order didn’t collapse
Looting rarely got out of hand
Little panic
Few calls for surrender
Even if people were bombed out and had to go underground/leave London, they came back to work
War production kept high - no sign of giving up
People worked together to survive
Streets organised make-do-and-mend parties
Organised fire watching teams
H called off bombing in Mar 1941, showing that objective hadn’t been met
Evidence against Blitz Spirit
Called golden age of crime because crime rates doubled, helped by blackouts + lack of police - esp looting, black markets, armed robbery
Report on Coventry spoke of ‘great depression, widespread feeling of impotence’
Looting ‘bomb-chasers’ followed latest raids so they could loot shops
Lots of strikes, suggesting people weren’t as happy at work as we’re led to believe
Resentment among poorer people in East End of London who suffered most and had poorer provision of air-raid shelters
Some people charged money to get place at Tube station to sleep
Assessment of the Blitz
Did huge damage to BR lives, livelihoods, infrastructure - changed BR landscape forever.
However, didn’t succeed in aim to force BR to negotiate. Why not?
Defiance + community spirit
Prop by govt + media created ‘Blitz Spirit’ among those who weren’t inclined to have one at first
Successful air raid prep
Saved many lives and possibly convinced people that govt was competent
Heroic work of Civil Defence workers
Auxiliary Fire Service, Air Raid Precautions (ARP) wardens and First Aid Post
Many workers were unpaid, part-timers with other jobs, and many were women
H impatient to invade USSR
May have persisted with Blitz for longer if that wasn’t the case
British bombing strategy in 1939
Modest force, military targets
RAF Bomber Command had 23 operational bomber squadrons, with 280 aircraft
Modest force gave BR means to immediately strike back at Nazi GER, but only against military targets at first
Raids against warships + airfields
But bombers were easy targets for enemy fighters → heavy losses
Bombers flew at night, but only to drop prop leaflets
British bombing strategy in 1940
Ineffective strategic night bombing
After H invasion of FR, RAF began night-time bombing campaign against GER industry, esp synthetic oil production
Plans to hit specific factories proved impractical as failed to identify factories + refineries in darkness
Bombs scattered far and wide
Bomber Command lacked strength to do serious damage
British bombing strategy in 1941
Battle of Atlantic takes precedence
Bomber Command stronger, but navigation over blacked-out Europe was still major problem
Setbacks in Battle of Atlantic meant major effort was needed against GER warships and U-boats
GER night-fighters + anti-aircraft guns becoming more effective
Heavy losses caused slump in morale
British bombing strategy in 1942
Harris and ‘area bombing’ of civilians with Lancasters
Bomber Command received new aircraft, Avro Lancaster, and new leader = Air Chief Marshal Harris
War Cabinet sanctioned ‘area bombing’ - targeting of whole cities to destroy factories and their workers
Was judged necessary to defeat enemy that seemed on brink of victory
British bombing strategy in 1943
Increasing strength with US
New tactics + tech enabled crews to find + hit targets with increasing precision
Major attacks launched against GER’s industrial heart in Ruhr Valley
Attempts to knock out Berlin failed
US Eighth Air Force joined RAF in ‘round the clock’ (24/7) offensive
British bombing strategy in 1944
Air supremacy
Combined Allied bomber force began overwhelming GER
US escort fighters shot Luftwaffe out of sky
Successful offensive launched against GER’s vulnerable fuel supplies
Bombers flew in support of D-Day, softening up coastal defences + hitting railways to block GER reinforcements
Enemy troops carpet bombed in advance of major Allied ground offensives
British bombing strategy in 1945
Total devastation
Bomber offensive reached peak destruction
RAF alone had 108 squadrons with 1500+ aircraft
Raids against oil + comms most effective
Starved of fuel, GER military machine ground to halt
Industrial cities pounded to rubble
Record 4851 tons of bombs dropped on Dortmund in one night
Enemy production massively disrupted; ceased in some places
Locations so far untouched were razed to the ground
Stats of bombing German cities
305,000 killed
780,000 wounded
1.9m homes destroyed
4.9 people evacuated
20m people deprived of utilities
Cities:
July 1943, Hamburg: 43,000 dead
Feb 1945, Dresden: 25,000 dead
Feb 1945, Pforzheim: 20,000 dead
Impact of bombing on German civilians
Evacuation + separation of families
Disease due to lack of clean water + food
Homelessness
Large proportions of cities left in rubble; streets blocked to emergency services
Number of civilian deaths dwarfs the deaths of BR civilians in Blitz
e.g. famous Coventry: 554 vs Hamburg: 43,000
Dresden estimated 25,000-200,000 deaths
How effective was Allied bombing campaign?
Aim 1: Destruction of GER’s war economy / capacity to fight
Aim 2: Destruction of German civilians’ morale to destabilise Nazi regime
Effectiveness of Allied bombing campaign in destruction of Germany’s capacity to fight
Attacks on GER’s canals + railways made transportation of war material difficult
Bombing campaign absorbed significant proportion of GER resources that could’ve been used on East/Western Fronts
Bombing of GER’s synthetic oil plants + refineries extremely successful + made large contribution to general collapse of GER in 1945
BUT
Overall GER industrial production increased throughout war, implying that damage to GER war economy wasn’t as great as Allies hoped
Effectiveness of Allied bombing campaign in destruction of German civilians’ morale
GER population were terrorised by Nazi regime into silence, those accused of defeatism could be arrested
Regime lied about numbers killed in raids, leaving population unknowing
Bombing extremely likely to have had profound effect on depressing morale, inducing defeatism, fear, apathy
Nazis kept no accurate, quantitative data on effect of bombing on morale, unlike BR
Increase in resistance to Nazis which coincided with heaviest bombing (1944-45) but can’t be said that this was because of the bombing, as it coincided with other factors
Cost of bombing campaign to Allies
BR only spent 7% of military resources, but:
150,000 US + BR servicemen dead
Allies lost nearly 30,000 planes
Arguments to justify bombing of Dresden
Red Army advancing towards Dresden, which was major transport hub that could be used for reinforcements
Arguments against bombing of Dresden
Deprived Allies of moral high ground
Nazi prop exploited this, emphasising that Dresden was great cultural centre with no military resources
Allies knew effects of firebombing + Dresden was full of 300,000 refugees fleeing the advancing Red Army
Clear by Feb 1945 Allies would win war - bombing Dresden didn’t affect final outcome
Military + industrial resources in Dresden were on outskirts of city and could’ve been attacked without bombing city
Nazis’ method of occupation
Western part of POL taken by Nazis placed under General Government, staffed exclusively by GER officials
Occupation of POL involved:
Rounding up + executing potential enemies
Eviction to make way for GER settlers
Eradication of POL culture
Treatment of Jewish people
Treatment of disabled, Romany and LGBTQ people
Food rations
Forced labour
Rounding up + executing potential enemies during Nazi occupation of Poland
Einsatzgruppen hunted down + executed those thought to pose threat to occupation govt
Armed with list of 61,000 names inc doctors, intellectuals, political activists, WW1 vets, Einsatzgruppen rounded up + murdered over 16,000 people in first few months after invasion
Eviction to make way for settlers during Nazi occupation of Poland
Oct 1939: Germans started to expel Poles from lands they’d captured
Those who weren’t executed faced eviction from homes
Over 2m Poles forced from homes + relocated into slums/ghettos while homes were occupied by GER settlers, encouraged by right to resettle in new Lebensraum
Eradication of Polish culture during Nazi occupation of Poland
Attempt by Germans to strip away any sense of national/cultural identity from POL people to break their will to resist:
All cultural institutions: schools, museums, libraries, theatres, shut down
Radio receivers confiscated
Books burned
Monuments taken down
Treatment of Jewish people during Nazi occupation of Poland
3.5m Jewish in POL immediately forced to wear Star of David in public to isolate + make them visible
April 1940: Warsaw Jewish community forced to begin construction of walled ghetto within ruins of city where they’d be forced to live
Jewish community of Warsaw made up 30% of population, but area covered by ghetto was only 5% of whole city
Conditions in ghetto: cramped + unsanitary
→ Outbreaks of typhus + other diseases
Along with starvation, caused thousands of deaths
Many concentration camps created by Nazis located in POL, most famously Auschwitz
Ghetto inhabitants, starved and living in appalling conditions, were taken on transportations to camps
Labourers were worked to death
Auschwitz received first group of Poles on 14 June 1940 - within a year, population was thousands
140,000-150,000 Poles went through Auschwitz
Around half died due to executions, medical experiments, starvation and rest were sent to gas chambers
Treatment of disabled, Romany and LGBTQ people during Nazi occupation of Poland
Regarded by Nazis as socially undesirable, treated in same way as Jews
Forced to live in ghettoes and put on transportations to concentration camps where few survived
Food rations during Nazi occupation of Poland
Food strictly rationed for all Poles
Led to desperate struggle for food + malnutrition, worst in urban areas
Forced labour during Nazi occupation of Poland
General Govt operated forced labour service known as Baudienst
Initially, anyone over 18yo could be pressed into service at any time
Age was lowered to 14yo; 12yo for Jews
Many Poles sent to work in factories, farms, construction sites within POL
Forced to wear purple P on clothing
Subject to curfew
Banned from public transport + leisure facilities
Around 2.3m Poles deported to work for GER war effort in GER / other occupied territories
As GER labour demands increased, evading forced labour conscription became punishable by death
Whole village communities which failed to provide enough workers would be surrounded by GER troops and burned to the ground, massacring everyone
Ruins would be left as message to surrounding villages
Resistance to German occupation in Poland
AK (Home Army) was one group who resisted GER occupation of POL
Loyal to POL govt in exile in London
Formed in Feb 1942, AK had support from 100,000 members at start
By summer 1944, membership reached 400,000
In Aug 1944, AK launched failed uprising in POL Capital Warsaw, which cost lives of 200,000 civilians
Final Solution
After GER invaded USSR in June 1941, they came across increasing numbers of Jews
Einsatzgruppen murdered many, but numbers still increasing
20 Jan 1942: Wansee Conference held near Berlin
At meeting, plans were outlined for genocide of European Jews
‘Final Solution to the Jewish Question’
Known as Holocaust
Key points about Holocaust
Both USSR and GER divided POL in 1939
Nazis treated Poles badly + thousands killed / kept in inhumane conditions in ghettos
Plan to exterminate Europe’s Jews was developed over time as H’s conquests confronted Nazis with more and more Jews
Extermination camps built with sole purpose of murdering as many Jews + minorities as possible
Gas + crematoria were main methods of murder in camps - 6m died
Conclusion and aftermath of Nazi rule in Poland
Total: 3m POL citizens killed + 3m POL Jews as part of Final Solution
22% of country’s population lost in WW2
Introduction to Japanese control
Civilians subject to violence + living without basic necessities for survival
Made worse as Singapore population doubled when Malays fled south to escape invading JAP
Serious shortages of food + essential consumer goods
→ Widespread malnutrition, black markets and ethnic tensions
JAP used shortages to ensure locals kept under control
What did Japanese change in Malaya and Singapore?
Before 1909, parts of N Malaya belonged to Thailand
JAP transferred areas back to Thailand in Oct 1943 - deeply resented by Malayans
JAP occupiers changed common language to Japanese
Singapore → Syonan-to
Street names + shop signs changed but locals found language hard to learn
JAP custom of bowing enforced so locals show respect for occupiers
Promoted message they were ‘saviours’ of Malaya + Singapore
Economy in Japan-occupied Malaya + Singapore
Economy collapsed under JAP:
Before war, Malaya had healthy tin + rubber export trade as part of BR Empire
Under Japanese, it disappeared
Plantations, mining industries, intl trade vital to economy before war - collapse of these sectors affected many locals
→ Increased unemployment
Singapore used by JAP as ‘naval key to Far East’
Island close to Indonesia oilfields: port’s facilities could store + ship oil
Also a key comms centre
JAP didn’t need tin + rubber from Malaya + Singapore, already had enough
Two raw materials they did take were bauxite + iron ore
Food supplies in Japan-occupied Malaya + Singapore
Ability of Japanese to control local population was through food supply:
Rationing from early
JAP campaigns to promote food production in Malaya prevented famine taking hold, but still serious food shortages + food transport problems from plantations to cities
Food prices rose + shortages worsened as occupation progressed
Hurt local Malays
Start of occupation: rice cost $5 per 60kg
By end of war: $5000 for 60kg
Hyperinflation hit people hard
JAP tried to solve problem by printing money → made it worse
Black markets flourished to fill gaps left by shortages
Authority in Japan-occupied Malaya + Singapore
Kempeitai (JAP military police) kept order
Brutal interrogation methods meant few questioned JAP rule
One witness said: ‘it was just the law of the sword, they used to chop off heads.’
Sentries beat people if they felt they didn’t bow properly as they passed by
Malays caught listening to overseas radio treated worse
Both Singapore + Malaya had large numbers of Chinese
Targeted by JAP because JAP were still fighting war vs CHN
25,000-50,000 Chinese killed in first weeks of occupation - known as Sook Ching Massacre
Indian + Malay populations treated less harshly, partly because occupiers needed help to run country
Resistance in France
People from all backgrounds joined FR resistance
Mostly driven by patriotism + desire to see FR free from foreign control
Women often joined resistance because gave chance for freedom, away from male-dominated FR life
Acts of resistance could be small gestures of defiance
e.g. when FR signed armistice with GER in 1940, two boys tried to lay flowers at tomb of Unknown Soldier
Acts of resistance also more significant
e.g. helping FR POWs escape before transportation
Organised resistance in France
Being in organised resistance = dangerous
If caught, Nazis would retaliate harshly
Resister may be executed themselves, but Nazis might also take anger out on family + friends
Difficult to form effective resistance
Resistance movements made of civilians
Not many had military experience
Shortage of weapons
Therefore many acts of resistance, esp in early days of occupation, focused on printing + circulating underground newspapers
Shared intel across network of resistance groups, and with BR authorities when possible
Links made with British Special Operations Executive
Small org to support resistance groups in occupied Europe + carry out sabotage operations
French resistance and Allies
FR resistance played important part in success of Allied invasion of Normandy, June 1944
Provided Allies with info about GER defences
Sabotaged rail network to stop supplies reaching Germans
Damaged telephone + telegram comms
→ GER had to use radio → messages easier for Allies to intercept
Peaceful acts of resistance like strikes + deliberately slow work
Delayed movement of GER troops + supplies to invasion area
Factories + industrial centres targeted to slow war production
Resistance in Malaya
Malay People’s Anti-Japanese Army (MPAJA)
Jointly organised by BR ex-colonial authority and Malay Comm Party
Most members Chinese
1942: started with 3000 men + women
1945: grew to 7000
BR supplied some military supplies for MPAJA, provided it followed their instructions
Main purpose was to fight JAP in guerrilla war
Only partly successful because Japanese stayed put in Malaya + Singapore
Punished local Malays who collaborated with JAP
Conducted guerrilla warfare + harassed JAP occupiers
→ Travel disruption, comm breakdowns and deaths
But never strong enough to push JAP out of Malaya
Effectiveness of resistance in Malaya
At end of war, one estimate suggests MPAJA lost 1000 + caused 5500 JAP deaths
→ Partly effective by being regular nuisance that JAP had to deal with
Note
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