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Britain in WWII
Impact of War
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The amount of imports was reduced
Arrival of women in public transport, munitions industries, and shipyards
Increased unionization within industries
Land under cultivation doubled during the war
Bombing created a need for house building
War left Britain financially broken
Lost over 300,000 fighting men and 60,000 civilians
Battle of Britain involved intense German bombing that greatly affected
Britain
Shortages of workers
Government had to take control of the economy
Great Britain became fairly dependent on the U.S. after the war – it lost
some of its status as a great power
Destruction of factories and machines
Food rationing rates reached levels near malnutrition
Motivations for War
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Failed attempt at appeasement with the Munich Pact (1938) – Britain
wanted to appease Germany by signing it which gave Germany
permission to invade Sudetenland in Czechoslovakia, however, Hitler
invaded the rest of Czechoslovakia
Mostly because of support of other countries (allies)
Germany’s invasion of Poland caused Great Britain to get involved
On September 3, 1939 Britain declared war on Germany
Geography
Across the English Channel
Britain is an island nation, located across the English Channel from the
rest of Europe, so no battles were fought on British land. Their navy and air force
protected them from attacks, and some of their army and air force were sent to
France to help. England had significantly lower death tolls, as the war was not
fought on their land.
Air War
In June of 1940, Hitler believed the war was practically over, and so
without their allies, Britain would quickly come to peace with Germany. He
wanted to invade Britain which he could only do if his air force was superior to
theirs, so during Operation Sealion, the German Air Force planned to weaken the
Royal Air Force. After a short period of time Hitler grew impatient with their
failing attempt to defeat the Royal Air Force, so he started to bomb British cities.
London began being bombed daily, but Hitler had realized that an invasion would
not work. By October of 1940 the regular bombings of Britain had ended and
although an invasion was still planned, it was never carried out.
D-Day
Also known as the Normandy Landings, D-Day was an attack on Nazi
Germany’s forces, using air and sea forces. The assault required a full moon
and spring tides in order to work, so the actual date of the attack was
beforehand, unsure. It ended up being June 6, 1944, just one day after the
tentative plans. The British Second Army was sent to help for D-Day and landed
on five different beaches in Normandy with the US First Army, and they
eventually won the success of liberating Normandy.
Leaders and Government
 Sir Winston Leonard Spencer Churchill (1874-1965) was a British
politician known for his leadership of the UK during WWII
 Served as Prime Minister of UK from 1940-1945 and again from 19511955
 Churchill was a salesman, orator, officer in the British army, Nobel Prize
winning writer, and an artist
 Winston Churchill was thrown out of power after the war, regaining it a few
years later
 Great Britain assumed state control and direction of industry that instituted
“war socialism”
 The government was a coalition government despite the fact that the
Conservatives were the majority in Parliament
 The Labour Party was involved in government through its ministers in
charge of labor and conditions of employment
Timeline
 Late 1938~ Britain attempts to appease Germany and avoid
another world war
 March 1939~ Britain announces their support of Poland if Germany
were to invade it
 Sept. 1939~ Britain declares war on Germany- marks the start of
WWII in Europe
 May 1940~ Winston Churchill replaces Neville Chamberlain as the
Prime Minister
 May 26 1940~ British troops were into one of the largest evacuations
in history
 July- Oct. 1940 ~ English people suffer under the Battle of Britain,
intense German bombing
 March 1941~ US begins giving direct support to the British in the form
of arms and ammunition through the Lend-Lease Act
 Jan 1942~ Roosevelt and Churchill agree to establish a combined
chiefs of staff and to make defeating Germany their first priority
 May 1945~ The allies win war in Europe, Germany surrendered
unconditionally
 Great Britain lost over 300,000 fighting men and over 60,000 civilians
in World War II