Why the Major Cities of Britain were Bombed by the Germans in 1940 and 1941

373 Words1 Page

Why the Major Cities of Britain were Bombed by the Germans in 1940 and 1941 The Blitz were the intense over-night bombing of major British cities and industrial areas. This was the result of the Germans losing the battle of Britain, so now Hitler changed his tactics and the Blitz began. The Germans bombed the major cities of Britain for three main reasons; these were to destroy the morale of the British, to cause damage to the areas vital to the British war effort and to try to take over Britain using different tactics. The main aim of the Blitz was to break the morale of the British therefore leaving them without the will to fight and win. To try and achieve this Hitler dropped 19,000 tonnes of bombs on London, which was the most populated city and mass deaths were almost certain. The bombings destroyed homes, lives and families. Other heavily populated cities (Birmingham and Manchester) were also bombed and Hitler hoped that the bombing throughout the country would lead to civilians being effected by the great amount of life lost, hence losing all morale and choosing not to go to war. The shear death and destruction was aimed to make British admit defeat and surrender. The Germans were also bombing major cities to cause damage to areas vital to war effort. These included the industrial areas, ports, shipbuilding areas etc. The London docklands and other areas were bombed destroying weapons so the British could not fight back. They now could not import any weapons or goods, so now people were widely affected due to less food and rations. Shipbuilding areas and naval bases like Plymouth, Glasgow, Liverpool and Birkenhead were bombed destroying ships so the British could not retaliate. Hitler bombed these cities because without weapons and goods that were required the British’s war effort would be weakened so that they would be unable to continue. The third reason for starting the Blitz was that the Germans needed to change their tactics to be successful. As the Luftwaffe had lost the

Open Document