The Great Escape: Dunkirk January 27, 2011 World History since 1900’s On May 27, 1940, one million allied soldiers were trapped on the beaches of Dunkirk. With the Nazi forces breathing down their neck, Britain pulled a miracle out of their hat. The evacuation of the troops on the beaches of Dunkirk was a victory for the allies and a major mistake for the Nazi regime. This essay will examine how Britain rescued 1/3 of a million troops, how the Nazis let 1/3 of a million troops go and why Sir Keith Park and the Royal Air force were major benefactors to the Dunkirk escape. Without these contributions, the miracle of Dunkirk would have been the tragedy of Dunkirk.
The trenches were ensured to be constructed in a zig-zag pattern because this design prevented a direct line of fire down a single line, if a trench were to be taken over by the enemy. Many new technological advancements had taken place during WWI, Roden’s letter had described the very minute amount of weaponry that Roden had seen. “Before attacking they used burning liquid on our trenches, and the whole line of trenches were one mass of flames for about 15 minutes. It was a marvel to see how they sent it across. It was worse than gas.” Napalm was a brand new substance that was introduced by the Germans, which was a jelly like substance that could be easily transported and when ignited, would burn ferociously for a long period of time.
In 1934 he increased the size of the army, began building warships and created a German air force. Compulsory military service was also introduced. Hitler had a vision of the German people becoming a master race and ruling the entire world, but he also knew that he could not achieve all this during the war he intended to start. He, however, had two major goals which were to bring all of central Europe together and form a larger Germany and to create more room for Germany to grow by taking over Poland. His first move was to test the other European powers by inserting troops into Germany’s coal mining area next to France.
Germans would shell British trenches and the British soldiers would be ready for the attack. The aim of this battle was to ease pressure the Germans had put on the nearby village of Verdun, using the battle as a distraction. They relied heavily on the ‘New Army’ – the civilian recruits brought in by Lord Kitchener’s advertising campaign. These thousands upon thousands of men had absolutely no battle experience and insufficient training. At 7:30 am on the 1st of July, the British began a massive attack against German forces.
FDR Leadership During World War II, President Roosevelt took office after Hoover which is known as our worst President, and Roosevelt showed The United States great leadership through the war. President Roosevelt led The United States through two major crisis: The Great Depression and World War II. On March 11, 1941 Roosevelt had Congress pass the Lend-Lease Act, which provided Britain and Russia with arms via lease but with no conditions for repayment. As the president said, "When your neighbor's house is on fire, one does not haggle over the price to put it out, the hose is readily loaned and the price is figured later." FDR is considered the number one president of these United States and was in office longer than any other president
Some people have the view that the events at Dunkirk in 1940 deserve to be remembered as a triumph for Britain and its people. How Far Do Your Sources Support Or Contradict This Interpretation? In 1939, World War 2 had begun. Within WW2 there were many battles, and amongst these battles, Dunkirk is probably the most significant in British War-Time History. The evacuation of Dunkirk started when Hitler ordered the invasion of France in 1940, the German military technique called Blitzkrieg (lightning war) forced the British, French and Belgian troops back to a point where they were trapped.
Dunkirk was one of the bloodiest battles in world war. Germans launched a massive attack to the west on May the 10th 1940. Six weeks later it had swept through Belgium, Holland and northern France. The battle in Dunkirk involved the Germans verse the British and the France. In my essay I will explain the two main interpretation of Dunkirk for Britain and its people.
Picture Essay The Invasion of the Ruhr and the German Crisis of 1923 Scattered throughout these next pages are many photographs of the momentous events of 1923. This was the year of the French army's invasion of the Ruhr valley, the "passive resistance", and the devastation of the hyperinflation. It was also the year of the Hitler Putsch in Munich. Without doubt, during the turmoil and sufferings of 1923 the political fortunes of the young republic and the morale of the German people seemed to touch bottom. The invasion of the Ruhr, January 1923 On 11 January 1923, five French and two Belgian divisions moved forward from the Rhineland areas already occupied by Allied troops and, over the next week, "captured" the vital industrial cities of the Ruhr valley.
However it was not just the seas that saw the Force of the German military might Hitler had also launched in co ordination with the commander of the Luftwaffe to bomb British air base in a huge bid for air superiority which the Germans needed in order to invade Britain, this had started out with a tactic to bomb the British air fields in an attempt to lure the British fighters up for a large air battle in which the Germans could wipe out all of the British fighters. However frustratingly for the Germans Dowding (Head of fighter command) was able to use radar to stop the German Bombers when they were over England and only send up as many
The immediate cause of the Second World War was the German invasion of Poland in September 1939. Britain and France got involved by declaring war on Germany, and soon Europe and the wider world were involved in the War. However, the underlying causes of the war are much more complicated than what it seems to be. There were many factors that had contributed to the initiation of the war; the major ones were the Treaty of Versailles, the emergence of fascism and communism, the hatred of Jews, the Great Depression, the failure of the League of Nations, and the rise of dictators. The Treaty of Versailles was signed to make the Great War "the war to end all wars."