Firemen worked to control fires during the Blitz attacks on London.
Britain and France stood firm when Adolf Hitler and his armies invaded Poland on September 1, 1939. Two days later Britain and France declared war on Germany. The following spring Germany invaded Denmark and Norway. In May Germany unleashed its forces on the Netherlands, Luxembourg, Belgium, and France. Germany’s rapid attacks were called the blitzkrieg, meaning “lightning war.”
Britain immediately sent military aid to mainland Europe, but Paris fell to the Germans June 14, 1940. France was defeated, and the British forces were pushed back to the English Channel. A massive fleet of British ships rescued many of the troops, but a German invasion of England was now a possibility. In London newly appointed Prime Minister Winston Churchill became the symbol of British resistance. In early June he told the British Parliament, “We shall fight on the beaches, we shall fight on the landing-grounds, we shall fight in the fields and in the streets, we shall fight in the hills, we shall never surrender.”1
BATTLES IN THE AIR
In order to invade England, the Germans needed to take control of the narrow English Channel and the air above it. German bombs rained down on British airfields and cities, especially London, in what was known as the Blitz. The bombing left many people dead, injured, or homeless.
During the summer Royal Air Force pilots fought the German air force, the Luftwaffe, over the skies of southern England in the Battle of Britain. More than 500 RAF pilots were killed, and the country was very close to defeat. Churchill praised the bravery of the British pilots, stating that “never in the field of human conflict was so much owed by so many to so few.”2
Instead of giving up, the RAF increased efforts against the Luftwaffe. The RAF scored a decisive victory September 15, destroying 55 German aircraft. Hitler canceled the invasion two days later, but the bombing continued until spring 1941. Throughout Britain 60,000 people were killed and 87,000 seriously injured during the Blitz.
THE ROLE OF THE U.S.
Although not yet directly involved in the war, the United States sent ships, supplies, and weapons to Britain, angering Germany. German torpedoes hit the USS Reuben James October 31, 1941, making it the first American ship lost to enemy attack during the war.
In the meantime, the United States was keeping an eye on events in the Pacific and East Asia. Relations between the U.S. and Japan continued to worsen because of Japan’s ongoing war with China. Both the U.S. and Europe were concerned about Japanese intentions toward Asian colonies—the American-ruled Philippines, French Indochina, the Dutch East Indies, and the British colonies of Hong Kong, Singapore, Burma, and Malaya. In September 1940 Japan signed a treaty with Germany and Italy, becoming part of the Axis powers.