Churchill As Wartime Prime Minister Flashcards
1
Q
Blitz kreig
A
- Means lightning war
- fast aggressive offensive to invade countries
- helped Germany corner most of mainland Europe in first few years of the war
2
Q
Britains military by 1940
A
- German air force 2x size of Britains
- German army 4x size of Britains
- navy is comparable, British slight advantage
3
Q
The phoney war
A
- After Poland invaded, Britain + France said they’d declare war but for 8 months nothing happened
- French reinforced maginot line
- Hitler took no aggressive action due to winter caning and needing to solidify position in Poland
4
Q
Denmark and Norway
A
- April 1940
- Narvik campaign
- Norway has oil and iron (essential to strong military so Germany wanted)
- Churchill wanted to defend using mines underwater
- Hitler moved fast and invaded Norway before they could defend
- by early may British troops forced to withdraw
- Denmark invaded in 6 hours, Norway invaded in a few weeks
5
Q
Arguments over prime minister
A
- After Norwegian invasion debate took place. Chamberlain unpopular - Leo Amery gives “in the name of God, go!” speech (conservative MP - Chamberlain rejected by own party)
- Halifax wanted by king and most people but he didn’t want to relinquish his lordship
- Churchill last choice
6
Q
Invasion of Belgium and the Netherlands
A
- Invaded 10th May 1940 (same day Churchill appointed prime minister)
- fell in a few days due to blitz krieg
7
Q
Invasion of France
A
- 14th May 1940
- German troops entered through the Ardennes above the maginot line
8
Q
Situation at Dunkirk
A
- By the end of may, 300,000 British and 100,000 French soldiers stuck on beaches at Dunkirk
- water too shallow for big boats to pick them up and take them back across the channel
9
Q
Operation Dynamo
A
- 27th may - 4th June 1940
- 700 smaller fishing boats from the British public used to take soldiers from the beach to the larger ships
- 338,000 men saved
10
Q
Dunkirk spirit
A
- The idea that if everyone does their part to help, Britain can be saved
- used by Churchill and others the whole way through the war
- fight them on the beaches speech - Churchill turned dire situation into something hopeful
11
Q
Dunkirk as a triumph
A
- 338,000 men saved
- morale in public due to Dunkirk spirit
12
Q
Dunkirk as disaster
A
- 34,000 troops left behind to spend rest of war as prisoners of war
- France soon defeated
- army’s heavy equipment left behind
- poor morale in troops
13
Q
Bombing of Britain in 1940
A
- August 1940, Germans bombed RAF bases, airfields, factories that produced plane parts and radar towers to gain aerial domination
- use of radars helped British
- 7th September 1940, Germans began to bomb London
14
Q
Operation sea lion
A
- Plan for an amphibious attack (land and water) and in the air
15
Q
Head of the RAF during Battle of Britain
A
- Hugh Dowding
16
Q
Problems for British (military terms)
A
- Germany trained 800 pilots per month - Britain only 200
- Germany had 824 fighters ad 1017 bombers - Britain only 591 fighters (fighters attack bombers)
- took German’s 5 mins to cross channel but British 15 to take off and get to height needed to take down bombers
17
Q
Battle of Britain
A
- First large scale military campaign in history to be fought solely in the air
- counts for all bombing campaigns around this time
- 15th September 1940, Luftwaffe made all out assault and lost many planes in the process
- 17th September 1940, Hitler postpones invasion of Britain
18
Q
Why was it a mistake for Hitler to bomb London?
A
- Gave British RAF bases time to recover as they weren’t being targeted
- London is geographically further up then previous targets so the bombers were more likely to be shot down
19
Q
British bombers vs fighters
A
- Churchill called for more bombers then fighters airforce to intimidate the Germans
- British bombers allowed for fight to be taken to Germany
- fighters would’ve been more useful for fighting the Germans on British territory
20
Q
North Africa campaign 1940 - why?
A
- Bulk of British army sent to NA:
- to win some small battles and boost morale
- to show the USA they should come fight
- to stop Italy gaining more NA territory
- protect the suez canal and keep the empire together as it’s key trade route
21
Q
Power distribution in North Africa
A
- Prominent European powers were Britain in Egypt (suez canal) Sudan, Kenya and more southern territory
- Italy in Libya and Italian East Africa
- France in West Africa
22
Q
Difficulties in North Africa
A
- Size, terrain, lack of food, water or support and the weather made fighting and expanding territory difficult
- Wavell “fighting battle on three fronts” with the northern battles, southern battles and resistance from the Middle East
- had to stay near the coast and couldn’t really fight inland due to conditions
23
Q
Tactics used in North Africa
A
- British used blow up tanks and fake tracks to confuse Italians
24
Q
North Africa campaign by 1941
A
- British having success pushing Italians back in Libya by capturing points along the coast until 1941
- troops sent to Greece due to feeling confident about Africa’s stability and Greece needed defending
- in the first few months of 1941 the German’s -led by Erwin Rommel- helped the Italians push back the British
25
Why was 1941 the turning point of the war?
- Germany invaded Soviet Union in June
- Stalin didn't believe it at first due to the non-aggression pact they signed to share Poland
- red army in disarray due to Stalin killing 81 out of 103 generals because of his paranoia of keeping power
26
Operation Barbarossa
- June 22nd 1941
- Hitler believed the invasion of Eastern Europe would be easy due to the state of the red army, his previous victories and the fact he saw Eastern Europeans as inferior
- 3 German armies were sent in different directions. One for St Petersburg, another to Moscow and the last to Stalingrad.
27
For the bombing of German cities
- Might help reduce German morale
- Germans started it
- small sacrifice to save other lives
- may put pressure on government to end war
- slows down life in all aspects
- civilians die anyway
28
Against the bombing of German cities
- Civilians who aren't a part of the war die (unethical)
- bombing not accurate enough to really destroy anything worthwhile (British knew and bombed anyway)
- could actually motivate instead of demoralise
- using Nazis own tactics against them is hypocritical
29
For bombing of Dresden
- Destroys morale (already near end of war so not a valid excuse)
- could end war quicker
30
Against bombing of Dresden
- Between 35,000 and 180,000 unarmed German civilians killed
- late in were so not necessary and entire city wasn't a threat
- incendiary bombs set fire to city and destroyed more
31
Special report on bombing
- Special report 1942
- showed bombing wasn't effective at destroying military bases or morale as thought
- British knew but bombed anyway
32
What was special about Churchill's wartime leadership?
- Strong belief in establishing strong personal relations with allies. Personal diplomacy was important and his relationships with Roosevelt and Stalin played a role in the war
- mastered both spoken and written expression, his speeches kept country together
- personal flamboyance and pride that he was leader - via uniforms and costumes
- went out of his way to be places to fix the war
- daring and ruthless
33
Churchill and Alan brooke
- Head of the British army
- cautious and tried to avoid heavy casualties
- Churchill more reckless
- disliked each other due to conflicting ideas
34
Churchill and Hugh Dowding
- Head of the RAF/Chief air Marshall
- Dowding lost his position in November 1940 with Churchill's blessing despite winning the Battle of Britain
- wasn't ambitious enough for Churchill who wanted offensive action
- didn't use big wings to attack
35
Churchill and Archibald Wavell
- Head of the army in the Middle East
- did well in 1940 in securing northern Libya but when the started beery pushed back he lost his position in 1941
- not really wavell's fault due to Churchill putting troops in Greece from Libya
- fighting a war on 3 fronts so had it hard (Libya, Italian east Africa and rebellion in the Middle East)
36
Churchill and Claude Auchinleck
- Replaced Wavell as head of army in Middle East
- had some success but was still seen as too cautious by Churchill
- fired for this despite being successful
37
Churchill and Bernard Montgomery
- Replaced Auchinleck as head of the army in the Middle East
- had mixed relationship with Churchill
- still a bit too cautious but wasn't fired and became one of Churchill's favourites
38
How important was Churchill's role in the war 1944 - 45?
- After being alone in 1940, by 1944 Britain was dominated by the more powerful USA
- became a junior in the war
- tried operation market garden but it was a failure
39
Operation market garden
- 1944
- plan to secure bridges in the Netherlands to sneak around the back of German lines using paratroopers
- very risky and backed by Churchill but failed as Arnhem couldn't be secured
- huge failure
40
Reconstruction policies of Churchill's government
-increasing attention given to ensuring post-war Britain was better with radical social changes
-things like meal service centres, national assistance, committees for the homeless, emergency hospital services, national fire services, factory acts and more proposed
41
Moral problems with the war and Churchill's government
- Aim of war unclear by 1944
- at first was for Poland but they were being ignored
- Britain claimed to be the defenders of civilised values but had bombed German civilians
- in an alliance with communist USSR but campaign in Greece against communism happening at the same time
- war to protect Britain's independence but taken by USA controlling military strategy
- war to protect Britain's territorial integrity but territory taken in the east, calls for Indian independence don’t waiver and the USA are hostile to British imperialism
42
Beveridge report
- 1942
- proposed a series of changes designed to help everyone after the war
- national insurance payed weekly and in return benefits would be payed to those who were sick, widowed, retired, unemployed and to families too
-basis for welfare state
43
Welfare state
-the idea that there is a basic standard of like a person should be living and measures would be put in place to prevent them falling below it
- basic necessities accommodated
44
Why did Churchill lose office in 1945?
- Conservative campaign dwelled on the past and the success of the war rather than building a new Britain to live
- Churchill compared the Labour MP’s to the Nazi Gestapo (unfavourable considering war had just ended)
- Labour catered to those in poverty who could vote and proposed ideas to help soldiers now unemployed
-labour proposed the welfare state and other things and wanted to solve economic crises
