The Blitz and St Paul's Cathedral
When the Blitz began over Britain in the fall of 1940, Londoners were frightened and unsure of what the Nazis had in store for them. However, their uneasy emotions would later change into feelings of nationalistic pride and perseverance, as London became a city full of active resistors to the Nazi forces. This change would be prompted from a variety of sources, including Winston Churchill, the media, as well as the emergence of inspirational symbols. St. Paul's Cathedral is undoubtedly the most powerful of these symbols, becoming a timeless image associated with the Blitz, encapsulating sentiments of hope and courage.
LONDON THROUGH THE BLITZ
The Campaign
The Blitz on London started on September 7, 1940 and continued until May 1941, lasting a total of eight months. The goals of the Blitz were to "pound Britain into submission by bombing economic and civilian targets," and primarily to soften up the morale of the British people (Ray 9). However, "unlike other campaigns this was a contest mainly between Luftwaffe aircrews and British civilians, the one group skilled and the other untrained in killing" (Ray 9).
Although the first bombs fell in August, the first mass attack, concentrated on the docklands area, occurred on September 7. Throughout the afternoon, 300 bombers, escorted by 600 fighters, dropped 300 tons of bombs on the docks downstream from Tower Bridge. These bombs ravaged the East End, creating a two-mile high wall of smoke that would serve as a landmark for the night raid. When the sun set, another 330 tons of high explosives and 440 canisters of incendiary bombs were dropped. The bombing rapidly escalated and continued for the next 57 consecutive nights, increasing in str...
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...monument that is St. Paul's, the testament to the courage and pride of London, 1939-1945. However, while the size of St. Paul's dwarfs the memorial to the victims, for the people whose attention is caught by the unimposing memorial, the memorial and its message stand as the remembrance of the Blitz. The message of St. Paul's being an unintended monument to the London spirit during the Blitz is no longer heard.
Works Cited
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Neville, John. The Blitz: London Then and Now. London:
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"The London Blitz, 1940," EyeWitness - history through the eyes of those who lived it, www.ibiscom.com (2001).
Odysseus, of Homer's Odyssey, is an appropriate hero and ruler of Ithaca. He does not act irrationally but contemplates his actions and their implications. Odysseus is an appropriate hero because he embodies the values of bravery, intelligence, astuteness, and competency. Odysseus is an appropriate ruler for Ithaca by virtue of his hereditary right to kingship as well as his diplomatic skills, familiarity with his male subjects, discipline, and his impartiality and compassion. However, he is a character that does make a foolish decision. There is a rare instance when his pride supersedes his intellectual ability.
”Battle of Britain, in World War II, a series of air battles between Great Britain and Germany, fought over Britain from Aug. to Oct., 1940. As a prelude to a planned invasion of England, the German Luftwaffe attacked British coastal defenses, radar stations, and shipping. On Aug. 24 the attack was shifted inland to Royal Air Force installations and aircraft factories in an effort to gain control of the air over S England. Failing to destroy the RAF, the Germans began (Sept. 7) The night bombing, or blitz, of London. Heavy night bombings of English cities continued into October, when the attack was shifted back to coastal installations. The Germans gradually gave up hope of invading England, and the battle tapered off by the end of October. Though heavily outnumbered, the RAF put up a gallant defense; radar, used for the first time in battle by Britain, played an important role. The Germans lost some 2,300 aircraft; the RAF 900. The Battle of Britain was the first major failure of the Germans in World War II, and it thwarted Hitler's plan to force Britain to accept peace or face invasion” (Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia).
Along with the blitz came the Myth of the Blitz, as explained by Angus Calder in his book, The Myth of the Blitz. The Myth of the Blitz was the idea that the people of London united across classes into a heroic force against the bombings and Nazi Germany, as advertised in the propaganda distributed by the British government. The Myth asserted that Londoners as a whole kept calm and carried on despite the massive destruction and high numbers of casualties. However, as with any myth, the Myth of the Blitz was not entirely based on fact and incorporated some invented ideas. Despite the Myth’s gross exaggerations, it still held a core of truth. The blitz did bring people of the same class together through shared experien...
The idea of Just War Theory was suggested by Ambrose (Perry, “Ethics and War in Comparative Religious Perspective”), formulated by Augustine, and finally refined by Aquinas. Just War Theory was not made to justify a war (since everyone can say that even total destruction was just), but rather it brings war under control of justice, so that when all nations practice it, war would eventually cease
Bell, Amy Helen. London Was Ours : Diaries And Memoirs Of The London Blitz. London: I.B. Tauris, 2008. eBook Collection (EBSCOhost). Web. 24 Mar. 2014.
illustrates the discrimination against women and the issues that arise from a gender double standard society.
by the US Air Force in October of 1944. It was a city that was also known
One thing that this reading brought to my attention that I did not know before is that these double standards are still happening. Over the years this country has come very far in women 's rights and I was not aware that these double standards still happened in the workplace. In my experience, I have never once heard any of these happening in my 5 years of working. I was unaware that this was still a serious problem for women. Before reading this, I thought that these double standards were almost extinct, and that we have moved far past these as a society. This article brought some of these example to my attention so that I can watch out for them in the
Salden, Chris. “Wartime Holidays and the ‘Myth of the Blitz’.” Cultural History 2, no. 2 (May 2005).
Many, including the Catholic Church, judge the justifications of a war based on several factors given in the “just war theory,” which is used to evaluate the war based on its causes and means. The first required factor is a just cause, meaning that a nation’s decision to begin a war must be due to “substantial aggression” brought about by the opposition which cannot be resolved through non-violent solutions without excessive cost whereas armed conflict is not hopeless or excessively costly (“Just War Theory”1). In most cases, wars are started for a reason; however, many of these reasons are for the benefit of the governments who start the wars. The just war theory is widely accepted as a way to determine the moral standing of the reasons. This part of the theory is to ensure that the objective of a war is a reasonable and moral one. It prevents the needless bloodshed and loss of human lives over petty disputes while still protecting the rights and lives of the innocent by acknowledging the necessity of war in dire situations.
With the Odyssey, Odysseus learned a big lesson in humility. The greatest example of this is in the last five books or so within the story. He has to dress, act, and live like a beggar in order to regain everything he had lost. While he was a beggar, the suitors treated him horribly. Antinous, leader of the suitors, was the worst of them all. He was the first to mistreat Odysseus and planned to kill Telemachus. He was also the one that would abuse him physically and verbally for some time to come. Also, if that weren’t enough, he planned a boxing match for Odysseus to be in to watch him get beat up. All this was happening and the other suitors were most likely following their leader in whatever he was doing. Odysseus had to control himself the whole time this was happening. If he had lost his temper, the suitors would have killed him, his son, and most likely taken over the kingdom. That didn’t happen though. Odysseus learned self-control and humility. He may not be perfect at it, but going through all the humility made him a better man. Along the same topic, he was a king going through this humility. It would be one thing for a peasant to go through it, but a king? This made it even harder for Odysseus. He had rank above all the suitors and could rightly kick them out of his kingdom. Instead he waits for the right time and kills them all. The “pre-journey” Odysseus would of thought of himself invincible and probably would have died trying to get his kingdom back.
9/11 Attacks History.com Articles, Video, Pictures and Facts. (n.d.). History.com History Made Every Day American & World History. Retrieved September 30, 2013, from http://www.history.com/topics/9-11-attacks
The challenges that Homer give the protagonist is all a test of character. Odysseus continues to pass the obstacles with flying colors, but his arrogance is the one flaw that is in dire need of correction. Some of the many challenges Odysseus overcomes on his voyage home is defeating the Cicones, surviving the Island of the Lotus Eaters, outsmarting the Giant Cyclops, saving his men from Circe, Traveling to Hades, passing between Scylla and Charybdis, escaping Calypsos’ Island and many more. Odysseus survives these obstacles and uses his smarts to escape near disaster. Often times he was the only one to survive these things and his crew often lost their lives due to their own stupidity. “‘We left the island and resumed our journey in a state of gloom; and the heart was taken out of my men by the wearisome rowing. But was our own stupidity that had deprived us of the wind.’”(P127 L75-79) Odysseus shows how he is an extraordinary man by being much smarter than his crew and the men that follow him. As a part of this stripping of Odysseus, Homer shows that Odysseus is a collective symbol of Everyman. On the one hand Odysseus is a great warrior, who is extremely intelligent, noble, and a great man. Although he has many god- like qualities he is still human. He shows that he is human and like every man, because of the fact that he still has major flaws. The
In Homer’s The Odyssey, there are a lot of traits displayed that are considered important in ancient Greek culture. These are shown by many different characters, but mostly by Odysseus (he is, after all, the main character in the epic poem). Odysseus is the epitome of a Greek ruler: he has a lot of admirable traits. His only fault is his hubris, but that is overcome and taken care of. Throughout Homer’s The Odyssey, Odysseus displays wisdom combined with strong loyalty and inspiring leadership through the evident trust of his men and the ability to conquer any challenges that he may face along his journey back to Ithaka.
Gascoigne, Bamber. "World War II - The Blitz." History World. (2001): n. page. Web. 29 Sep. 2011. .