Fiche de révision : Britain in 1940

📋 Plan du Cours

1. The Dunkirk Evacuation
2. The Battle of Britain
3. The Blitz and British Resistance

📅 Repères chronologiques

1. May 26, 1940The evacuation of Dunkirk began after the Allied armies in northern France had been surrounded by the German advance.
2. June 4, 1940The evacuation had saved 198,000 British troops and 140,000 French and Belgian troops, although virtually all their heavy equipment had been abandoned.
3. July 10, 1940The Luftwaffe began attacking British ships before bombing British air bases, aircraft factories, and radar stations.
4. September 7, 1940The Blitz began around 4 p.m., and more than one million bombs were dropped on London during 57 nights until November 2.
5. October 12, 1940Hitler announced that the invasion of England was postponed for the winter, and the invasion plans were cancelled by spring 1941.
6. May 11, 1941Hitler called off the Blitz after eight months of attacks that had killed 60,000 people, seriously injured 87,000, and destroyed two million homes.

📖 1. The Dunkirk Evacuation

★ À maîtriser

• The civilian boats that helped ferry Allied troops to safety became known as the “Little Ships”, giving rise to the expression “Dunkirk spirit”.

Compléments

• The evacuation involved around 860 vessels, including:
  • seven British destroyers
  • 8 personnel ships
  • around 240 other vessels that were sunk

💡 Astuce mémo

German advance and encirclement → civilian solidarity and Allied survival

📖 2. The Battle of Britain

📝 Points essentiels

• By late August 1940, the Luftwaffe had lost more than 600 aircraft, while the RAF had lost only 260.

💡 Astuce mémo

Luftwaffe attacks Britain, but the RAF defends it

📖 3. The Blitz and British Resistance

★ À maîtriser

📌 The German bombing intended to break British morale, but instead it brought British people together and strengthened their determination to resist.

Compléments

• 🔄 The bombing strategy developed in two stages: Hitler ordered daytime bombing raids, he switched to nighttime raids to frighten British civilians, the raids aimed to deprive civilians of sleep

💡 Astuce mémo

German bombing intended to break morale → British unity and resistance

📊 Tableaux de synthèse

German Strategy and British Response