Transcript World War II and Great Britain

World War II and Great Britain
Alice F. Short
Hilliard Davidson High School
World Studies
Neville
“Pushover”
Chamberlain
• PM of GB (1937-40)
• Appeasement
• Munich Agreement (1938)
– Sudetenland to Germany
– “I believe it is a peace for
our time.”
• September 3, 1949
– led Britain during first 8
months of WWII
• Phony War
– wanted to win through
“economic pressure” on
Germany
Winston
Churchill:
WWII is
Coming
• talented speaker and writer
• spoke out against Hitler, Nazi Germany and
British inaction
• spoke against Appeasement
Winston Churchill:
Some Fun Quotes
• “We know that he has, more
than any other man, the gift
of compressing the largest
amount of words into the
smallest amount of thought.”
• “I am ready to meet my
Maker. Whether my Maker is
prepared for the great ordeal
of meeting me is another
matter.”
• “I may be drunk, Miss, but in
the morning I will be sober
and you will still be ugly.”
Winston Churchill:
Some Serious Quotes
• “Success consists of going
from failure to failure
without loss of enthusiasm.”
• “Success is not final, failure is
not fatal: it is the courage to
continue that counts.”
• “Never, never, never give up.”
• “Continuous effort – not
strength or intelligence – the
key to unlocking our
potential.”
Dunkirk / Dunkerque
May 26, 1940 – June 3, 1940
• battle and evacuation of
British and French troops
• psychological victory
• Germany military error
Churchill’s
Speech:
“We shall fight
on the beaches”
June 4, 1940
“We shall fight on beaches, we shall fight on the landing grounds, we shall
fight in fields and in the streets, we shall fight in the hills. We shall never
surrender and if, which I do not for the moment believe, this island or a large
part of it were subjugated and starving, then our empire beyond the seas,
armed and guarded by the British Fleet, will carry on the struggle until in
God's good time the New World with all its power and might, steps forth to
the rescue and liberation of the Old.”
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Link to full-text of speech and audio:
https://www.wyzant.com/resources/lessons/history/hpol/churchill/war-fight-on-the-beaches
Mers-el-Kabir
July 4, 1940
• British naval bombardment
of the French Navy
– 1,297 Frenchmen died
– collaborationist Vichy
government under Petain
cut-off all ties with Britain
WHY?
• couldn’t risk Germany
seizing control for French
fleet
• needed America to know
Britain was committed to
staying in the war
• demonstrated necessary
ruthlessness to win war
The Battle of Britain
July 10, 1940 – October 31, 1940
The Battle of Britain
• Luftwaffe vs. RAF
• The Blitz
• Luftwaffe
– failure to overwhelm RAF
resulted in cancellation of
Operation Sea Lion
(amphibious and airborne
attack of G.B.)
The RAF
helped Britain win in the Battle of Britain
Britain’s Roll in WWII
Summary
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late 1938: Britain appeased Germany (Munich Pact)
March 1939: Britain announced that it would support Poland if Germany invaded it
September 3, 1939: Britain declared war on Germany
May 1940: Britain got a more aggressive war-time leader -- Winston Churchill replaced Neville
Chamberlain as Prime Minister
May 26, 1940 (DUNKIRK): in the face of a large-scale German offensive, British troops on the continent
were forced into one of the largest evacuations in history -- the evacuation of the British Expeditionary
Force from Dunkirk on the Belgian coast
July to October 1940: the English people suffered under the Battle of Britain: intense German bombing-he Royal Air Force valiantly defended its homeland from the German Luftwaffe, and the Nazis were
unable to crush British morale
March 1941: the U.S. began giving direct support to the British in the form of arms and ammunition
through the Lend-Lease Act
After Pearl Harbor, in December, America would become directly involved in aiding the British in Europe
January 1942: Roosevelt and Churchill agreed to establish a Combined Chiefs of Staff and to the make
defeating Germany their first priority. (Winning the war in Europe would come before winning the war in
the Pacific.)
1942-1945: the Allies did win the war in Europe
May 7, 1945: Germany surrendered unconditionally
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Great Britain lost over 300,000 fighting men and over 60,000 civilians in World War II
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ASSIGNMENT:
Write an inspirational speech…
• It must contain the following line:
– “We shall defend our country, whatever the cost
may be.”