36.

BRITAIN IN WORLD WAR II: 1939-1945

The German invasion of Poland and the ‘phony’ war

 Despite the fact that Britain gave guarantees to Poland, the British military forces
did not start in September 1939 until nay1940 until German offensive in France
and Belgium, what happened, was the “phony war”
 Phony war: the war in France: September 1939-May1940. Phony – pretended war.
This was the adjective given by the American press to the military activities of the
French and the British on the Western front. There were no aggressive military
moves made at the time when Germany invaded Poland. What Britain did was to
send an expeditionary force to France which was stationed along the German
border and which didn’t take any military action to helped Poland in other
countries that Germany attacked before 1940.
 The situation changed in May 1940 when Germany started an attack on Belgium
and on France and direct military combat began.
The German invasions in Western Europe
 April 1940: the Norwegian campaign by Germany did not cause any direct action
of the part of the French or the British.
 May 1940: the invasion of the Netherlands and Belgium. The attack may not have
caught the British by surprise, but the speed of the German affect and the
forcefulness of the offensive was certainly amazing. The invasion of the
Netherlands in Belgium opened up large areas of France for the offensive as they
were not that well protected as the French border.
 May 1940: the Battle of France. In Britain, the invasion and the battle of France
were within 4 weeks of British and French being virtually wiped out and had to
run away for the invading of ten regiments of German army sent a shock to the
British society and changed the political see in Britain.
 Winston Churchill, new Prime Minister May 10, 1940. Neville Chamberlain
resigned. His appeasement policy had already compromised him and now, he
suffered a military defeat. The new PM was from the Conservative Party, but the
person who had been very much in the shadows in the past few years because he
was a firm critic of the appeasement policy. He disagreed with his colleagues
about how to tread Germany and he was in favour of aggressive stand against
Germany.

Now he was given the task of preparing the country for imminent invasion by the
Germans and making sure that Britain would be able to withstand the invasion
May 13, 1940: Speech”Blood, Toil, Tears, and Sweat”. “I have nothing to offer but blood,
toil, tears, and sweat”. “…what Is our policy? I say it is to wage war by sea, land and
air.” “…what is our aim? In can answer in one word. It is victory”. “Without victory
there is no survival”. “Come then, let us go forward together with our united
strength”.

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The War in Western Europe

 Evacuation From Dunkirk first task that new PM faced. In France, more than 300,
000 British soldiers were stuck; defeated through the German offensive, they
gathered on the beaches at Dunkirk waiting for evacuation. The evacuation was
an essential act which the British army that would possibly be saved, would then
protect Britain from an invasion that Hitler planned.
The effort for evacuation was enormous: virtually all vessels available in the South of
Britain were mobilized from military ships to fishing vessels, yachts
27 may – 4 June 1940
700 vessels
338, 000 soldiers evacuated
Churchill presented this as the first victory of the British in the war
 Churchill’s Speech, 4 June 1940 recorded just after the evacuation promising one
thing – that Britain will fight trying to cheer up the people. “We shall go on to the
end. We shall fight in France, we shall fight on the seas and oceans, we shall fight
with growing confidence…”
Churchill was a PM of the national government which was formed by the
members of all parties represented in Parliament and this spirit if national unity
was essential
The Battle of Britain
 Bombardment and air battles: August – October 1940. 1st phase of the German
attack on Britain. The period of an air war. British tried to mobilize as many air
fighters to defend British skies from the bombardment, the purpose of which was
to weaken the moral of the British and their industrial potention of country in
preparation for a large-scale land invasion which Hitler prepared for a later
phase.
 THE BLITZ September – October 1940. Marked as intensive air-strikes against
British cities, military target and civilian targets which brought heavy losses.
However, what Hitler did not manage to do, was to weaken the moral of the
British people
The home front
 Evacuation. Eventually, Britain had time to prepare for the bombardment – this
was unexpected type of attack. Of cause, there was little time because policy of
anticipation came rather late. But, for example, what happened, was large-scale
evacuation of millions of children from the cities that were expected to be the
targets of the attacks into the countryside. So, instead of starting a school years at
schools, the children were taken away from their families where they were
housed win some families which took care of them.
 FOOD RATIONING. Britain had to import food before the war in now with the
import being cut down, it had to rely on its own resources. And this is why the

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Food Rationing was introduced on a large scale with special rationing booklets
and stamps given access to limit amount of food.
 Typical examples of the amounts allowed to each person:
Meat – between 1s. and 2s. worth per head a week
Bacon – 113gm to 226gm a week
Tea – 57g to 113gm a week
Cheese – 1oz. to 8oz. a week
Sugar – 8oz. a week
A points system: tinned goods, dried fruit, cereals, biscuits
Rationing – continued until 1954
 Black market for food developed. Some propaganda posts point to the unpatriotic
nature of using such market. It is part of the effort of the government to convince
people that even small sacrifices that they made and small practical solutions
they looked for helping the war effort. Those people who did not want to join in
this process, are treated as traitors
 ECONOMIZING suggested as a way of helping the military forces win the war. The
resources were needed for the soldiers and people were advised to keep gardens
close to home or save kitchen scraps to feed animals or even keep animals at
home.
o Utility look: using cheap materials and the minimum amount of cloth
WOMEN IN THE WAR
 Women in the military
 Women as factory workers
 The Women’s Land Army. Women were encouraged to help the farmers in
cultivating the land. There was a shortage of labour also in this area. Young
women from the city were recruited to help in the farms to work under the
supervisor of farmers
The global war
THE ALLIES VS AXIS POWERS
 Italy enters the war – August 1940 as Germany’s ally
 the African campaigns: fought in Egypt and Libia involved the British forces
fighting against Germans and the Italians with soldiers of countries like Poland
also appearing there
o Tobruk (Libia) – 1941 , 1943
o After the initial successes of German Afrika Korps in Libia and Egypt,
eventually after America joined the war and sent its troops to Algeria:
o Operation Touch: Americans land in Algeria
o The battle of El Alamein – 1942. British and allies took the initiative in
the war and the battle decided about the defeat of the Germans
surrended after the second battle of El Alamein in 1943
o German surrender – May 1943.

 Hitler attacks the Soviet Union - June 1941

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 36. BRITAIN IN WORLD WAR II: 1939-1945
o The Eastern front opens
 Japan ‘s attack on Pearl Harbour in America – December 1941. Further extended
the global character of the war. War in the Pacific began

 the Far Eastern campaign in which Britain was involved

o The battle and surrender of Singapore – February 1942. Suffering defeat
at the hand of the Japanese. British forces in Singapore fell to the
Japanese hands
o The attack on Burma by Japan
o The battle of Midway – June 1942 – naval battle decided about the defeat
of the Japanese attempt to dominate the Pacific. However, the fact that
British soldiers were needed all over the world also meant that the WW
II for Britain was not just about defending itself in the British isles, but
also a war in which British interests had to be protected all over the
world.
The Allied offensive in Europe
 The Eastern front: Nazism forces stopped Stalingrad, February, 1943 by the
Soviet Army. The Soviet, becoming most important ally of both the British and
Americans
 the Italian campaign:
o the invasion of Sicily: July, 1943 with the fall of Italian government and
German occupation of Italy.
o Italy – September, 1943. The allies attacked Italy
 the invasion of Normandy
o preparations: American Gls in Britain
o 6 June 1944 (D-Day) opened up a front first on the beaches of Normandy
and then in France and Belgium beginning the last phase of the war
 Campaign in France – July-September 1944 in which the British expeditionary
force again participated with the American another allied forces
 The battle of Siegfried Line: August-December, 1944 british troops participating
there
 Central Europe Campaign: March-May 1945 which corresponded to offensive of
the Soviet on the Eastern front, the death of Hitler and the capitulation of
Germany.
VICTORY
 May 8,1945 Londoners and people all over Britain celebrated the German
surrender
 Field Marshall Wilhelm Keitel surrenders at Soviet headquarters, May 9, 1945.
Signed the act of capitulation
The consequences of the war
 British Empire and Commonwealth:
o 8, 720, 000 in the war
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 36. BRITAIN IN WORLD WAR II: 1939-1945
o 452, 000 military and 60, 000 civilians dead
 Britain spent $120 billion
o March 1941 – the Lend-Lease Act made it possible for Britain to receive
military equipment and resources from the USA for which they did not
have to pay but the costs of this act could be covered in the following
decade
 Britain, France, Germany, and Japan no longer great powers
 New conflict – Capitalist West vs Soviet dominated East
o “the Iron Curtain” expression used by Churchill in hi famous speech in the
USA
o 1949 – the North Atlantic Treaty Organization