Embedded Files
Overview - The Battle of Britain was an air war between the German air force and the British air force in the summer and fall of 1940. The Battle of Britain is important because this was Hitler and Nazi Germany's first major defeat in the World War Two. The Battle of Britain began when German air force started attacking Britain in preparation for a German invasion of Britain. When the battle began, the German air force had more planes than the British. However, the British had a strong radar system that gave the British air force a few minutes warning before German attack. The British used radar to concentrate their fighter planes on attacking German bombers. As a result, the Germans lost many more planes in the battle. However, German bombers did terrible damage to British cities. One of the worst days in the battle was on September 7, 1940, when the Germans launched a massive air raid on London that killed 1500 people. The raid failed to break the British morale - it made the British more determined to fight. The British called the Battle of Britain the "Blitz". Winston Churchill, the Prime Minister of England rallied the British people. Churchill was a charismatic leader who had a gifted talent with words. He used radio broadcasts and visits to places attacked by German bombs to embolden the British. Unable to defeat the British air force, on September 1940 Hitler called off the planned invasion of England. However, the Germans continued to bomb Britain for over a year after this.
Source # 1- Video on the Battle of Britain - click here
Note - You will have to log into your BHS Google Account to access the video
Source # 2 - Visual on Battle of Britain comparing the German air force (called the Luftwaffe) and the British Air Force (called RAF Fighter Command)
Source # 3 - Visual on Battle of Britain showing full effect of German bombing raids on Britain - during the period of the "Blitz"
Source # 4 - Visual on Battle of Britain showing the destruction done on one attack on the British city of Coverntry
Biography - Winston Churchill, Leader of Britain in World War Two
Winston Churchill was born in 1874 in England. Churchill was elected to British Parliament (the government) when he was 25. When World War One began, Churchill was the First Lord of the Admiralty, which meant he was in charge of the British Navy. However, Churchill was forced to resign because he supported a British attack that resulted in a military disaster. After this, Churchill joined the British Army and served as the commander of a unit on the Western Front in France. After World War One, Churchill returned to Parliament and began argue that Britain needed to stand up to Nazi Germany. Churchill argued that the British policy of giving in to Hitler’s aggression would make Hitler stronger and would lead to war. Churchill’s stance against Hitler and Nazi Germany made him very popular with the people of Britain.
After Germany attacked France in May 1940, Churchill became the Prime Minister and began to rally the British people to a long war against England (He became Prime Minister on the same day Germany attacked France). He gave many speeches to Parliament, such as his famous “Blood, Toil, Tears and Sweat” speech to inspire the British to keep fighting against a seemingly invincible enemy. After the defeat of France, Britain was alone in its war against Germany. Britain continued to fight against Germany even though the German air force was bombing British cities in the Battle of Britain. It was during this period that Churchill proved to be a strong leader by telling the British people that Britain would “never surrender”. Churchill became known as the "British Bulldog".
In 1941, Nazi Germany attacked the Soviet Union and declared war on the United States. Churchill joined Britain, the Soviet Union and the United States. During the war, Churchill worked closely with Franklin Roosevelt, President of the United States, and Joseph Stalin, leader of the Soviet Union, to coordinate that Allies’ war against Nazi Germany. However, Churchill never fully trusted Stalin and tried to prevent Stalin from gaining too much territory at the end of the war.
As the war ended, Churchill saw that Britain was weak and was no longer the world power it had been before World War One. This realization caused Churchill to tried to get the United States to take on the role of standing up to Stalin and the Soviet Union. In 1946, Churchill visited the United States and famously used the term “Iron Curtin” to describe how the countries of Eastern Europe were now controlled by the Soviet Union and forced to become communist.
Source # 5 - Excerpt from Winston Churchill speech "Never Surrender" delivered to British Parliament on June 4, 1940
We shall not flag or fail. We shall go on to the end... we shall defend our island, whatever the cost may be. We shall fight on the beaches, we shall fight on the landing grounds, we shall fight in the fields and in the streets, we shall fight in the hills; we shall never surrender…
Source # 6 - Except from Winston Churchill speech "The Few" delivered to British Parliament on August 20, 1940
The gratitude of every home in our Island, in our Empire, and indeed throughout the world, ... goes out to the British airmen who, undaunted by odds, unwearied in their constant challenge and mortal danger, are turning the tide of the World War by their prowess and by their devotion. Never in the field of human conflict was so much owed by so many to so few. All hearts go out to the fighter pilots, whose brilliant actions we see with our own eyes day after day...
Source # 7 - Cartoon of Winston Churchill published on June 8, 1940 at the beginning of the Battle of Britain
Page updated
Report abuse