Politics and Culure in 20th Century Europe- Blog #6

My Winston Churchill class with Dr. Gall went on a field trip that explored damaged caused during the Blitz. A tour guide walked us around parts of central London that were bombed by the German during WWII. It was a great field trip that I was able to gain a lot of knowledge and apply it to my Churchill class, but I was also able to relate it back to my Politics and Culture in 20th Century Europe class.
The tour guide emphasized the impact that the bombing had on the citizens of London. She even referred to the war as the “people’s wa”r because the people were just as much effected by it as the soldiers were. Citizens lived in constant fear of a bombing raid. Most families even had bomb shelters put into their gardens. The simplest task of walking through the city was hindered because rubble from the buildings that were bombed were still lying on the road and sidewalks. It was an everyday challenge that everyone had to go through. The amazing thing was that the people of London’s spirits weren’t broken and a large reason being the Prime Minster, Winston S. Churchill. He encouraged the people of London to go about their daily lives and not let the German’s take that away from them. Churchill’s speeches would sound through the radio and motivate his people to be strong and not give in to the Nazis. Churchill saw what the German’s did to the French and knew his people could overcome the Nazis if they would fight this war together. The German bombs weren’t simply actions to try and physically destroy everything in London, but they were also trying to bring the British morale down. If the morale was down, the better chance Hitler had to win the Battle of Britain. Churchill was aware of this strategy Hitler was using and encouraged his people to keep going with their business as usual. Instead of the bombs disrupting everyday life for the civilians, the citizens walked through the rubble and didn’t let Hitler’s plan get the best of them. This was one of the main reasons that the Battle of Britain was won.
Not only was I taken back by the spirit of the Britain’s during the Blitz, but I was also taken back to see how history repeats itself. Although September 11, 2001 was a different situation, America was still under attack by an outside force that left civilians deceased or in danger. It was a similar situation because citizens of New York were told to go about their days business as usual. It had to be tough for them to do this because their city was attacked and people were killed, but just as the people in Britain came together as one, so did the citizens of New York and America came together as one unit to prove that an outside force can’t control the world they live in. The Battle of Britain and 9-11 were defining moments in both counties history.