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Life in Great Britain under Neville Chamberlain and Winston Churchill, their policies, and when war came to western Europe: the Fall of France and Battle of Britain.
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THE FALL OF FRANCE &BATTLE OF BRITAIN
Section 6
Hitler’s 10 Mistakes
Mistakes 1-5 1) Not investing in long-range submarines 2) Improper supplies and weapons 3) Not investing in new technology
Examples: Jet fighters, atomic bomb, etc 4) Underestimating the willingness of the
British and French to go to war in 1939 5) Failure to capture Dunkirk
Mistakes 6-10 6) Failure to destroy Royal Air Force 7) Invading Russia/Failure to capture Moscow 8) Angering the Ukrainian people 9) Declaring war on USA 10)Failure to invest in long-range strategic
weapons
Appeasement
Foreign Policy of Great Britain in 1939/40 Prime Minister: Neville Chamberlain
Official definition: “The policy of settling international quarrels by admitting and satisfying grievances through rational negotiation and compromise, thereby avoiding the resort to an armed conflict which would be expensive, bloody, and possibly dangerous.“
In other words: let another country do whatever it wants as long as there is no war
Continued…
The policy will backfire, because it allows Nazi Germany to grow even stronger
The Nazis are now more powerful and make a move to make war with Great Britain
The British people and government are angry at Chamberlain, so he declares war on Germany after Poland was invaded
Chamberlain resigns in May 1940 and is replaced by…
Winston Churchill
Strong anti-fascist and anti-communist Pro-war member of the parliament Brilliant writer and speaker An extremely determined leader Very nationalistic and imperialistic Lives a very vulgar lifestyle
Secret Negotiations
From May to June 1940, a member of the British government, Oswald Mosely, meets with German officials in secret to try to come up with a treaty so Britain would not be attacked
Germany’s terms: Mosely would become Prime Minister Royal Navy would surrender Germany would take over all British territories
Churchill finds out and terminates the plan
Battle of Dunkirk (May-June, 1940)
An important area of France Allies have a major base from which they
can operate from on the entire continent of Europe
French Naval Fleet is a very important asset
Heavy fighting during the two months, and the British lose 11,000 dead, while 40,000 more are captured. They also lose more than 50,000 tanks and armored vehicles.
The Germans lose 20,000 soldiers.
The Evacuation
Germans had nearly surrounded the region and Britain was considering a surrender
However, Hitler orders his men to halt operations. He felt to continue would be too risky. BIG MISTAKE!
In 9 days that followed, the allies were able to evacuate more than 300,000 soldiers and leave the Germans with nearly nothing in Dunkirk
The Battle and Collapse of France
June 5: Germany aims for the heart of France June 10: Italy attacks France June 14: Paris occupied, morale crushed June 21: France seeks armistice with
Germany
Within 10 months, Hitler is the master of Europe
Trivia: What was the style of warfare used by Germany during this battle?
Results
Allies: 2,260,000 casualties Axis: 163,650 casualties
“The Battle of France is over. I suspect the Battle of Britain is about to begin.”- Winston Churchill
This battle set the stage for Britain, by giving Germany easier access to attacking Britain
Operation Sea Lion
Hitler’s Invasion of England Phase I: Achieve air superiority over the
English Channel and destroy the British Air Force
Phase II: Prepare the British coastline for invasion by landing airborne forces in the real to destroy, disrupt, and seize key British facilities
Phase III: Invade and occupy England, destroy British Navy
Status of British Defenses
Air Force is outnumbered 10 to 1 Navy is scattered all over the world
protecting their colonies and territories Army is small in size and without heavy
equipment and weapons Home-front is ready for total war Key industries are out of the range of
German bombers Evacuation of civilian population from
London is successful
Royal Air Force
Marshal of RAF: Lord Hugh Trenchard
Bomber Command: Sir Arthur Harris
Fighter Command: Sir Hugh Dowding
Battle of Britain
Broken down into 5 phases: 1. Channel Battle (Jul 10- Aug 6) 2. Operation Eagle (Air attacks) (Aug 13- Aug 18) 3. Attack of fighter command facilities (Aug 24-
Sept 6) 4. Battle of London (Sept 7- Sept 30) 5. Phase down of daytime raids (Oct 1- Oct 30)
Bombing of London, known as the “Blitz” would still occur until May of 1941, including a time period where the Germans bombed London every night for 57 straight nights
London Blitz Results
Operation Sea Lion cancelled in December Britain has 842 fighters Germany has 668 fighters and 600 bombers
Aid for Britain gains popularity in USA US comes to their aid without getting
military involved (Lend-Lease Act in Feb. 1941)
Next week…
Life in the US under Franklin Delano Roosevelt
Life in Russia under Stalin Operation Barbarossa (Nazi invasion of
Russia)