Британия в годы Второй Мировой войны

BRITAIN AT WAR

1

Dear participants  of the conference, I’m going to talk about the most important and tragic event of the 20th century –the second World War .2  The title of my talk is «Britain at War». In my opinion, this material will be interesting for you because this year our country will celebrate the 70 th  anniversary of the great victory. As you know, the Soviet Union and the UK were  аllied countries in the fight against the Nazi .  3In my talk today I will be looking at these particular problems:

1. Britain at war

2. Battle of Britain

3. The role of Winston Churchill

4. After war London

The end of the war was a great relief for the British people. British economy was damaged, and the country had become economically dependent on the USA. Nevertheless, Britain recovered quickly.
The end of the war marked one more change in the mind of the European community. Colonialism was no more popular. The end of the British Empire was approaching. In 1947 Britain left India. Ceylon became independent the following year. Many other colonies were set free. Most of, them were invited to join the Commonwealth as independent states.

The Second World War was started by Germany in an unprovoked attack on Poland. Britain and France declared war on Germany after Hitler had refused to abort his invasion of Poland. By 1945 about 303,000 British men and women in the armed  services, and about 60.000 civilians had been killed.

In July 1940, Hitler gave orders for the preparation of a seaborn invasion of Britain, called Operation Sealion. To make this easier, he sent the Luftwaffe to destroy Britain's Royal Air Force first.

German leaders felt it was essential to destroy the British air force to stop it sinking the ships that would carry German soldiers across the Channel.

Battle of Britain is the name commonly given to the effort by the Luftwaffe to gain air superiority over the Royal Air Force , before a planned sea and airborne invasion of Britain during the Second World War. The Luftwaffe tried to destroy the Royal Air Force.

In August, 1940 the German air force began its mass bomber attacks on British airfields, harbours, aircraft factories and radar stations. During the next three months the Royal Air Force lost 792 planes and over 500 pilots were killed.

31 October 1940, is generally considered to be the end of the Battle of Britain, after the RAF caused considerable damage to the Luftwaffe.

1,547 allied aircraft were lost during the Battle of Britain.

They decided to concentrate on bombing London and other British cities It was dangerous living in a big city during the war. Cities were the target of enemy aircraft that flew over at night and dropped bombs.

At 4:56pm on 7 September 1940, the air raid sirens wailed as the German Air Force, the luftwaffe, launched a massive raid on London.

Over 350 bombers flew across the Channel from airfields in France and dropped 300 tonnes of bombs on the docks and streets of the East End of London.

The heavy and frequent bombing attacks on London and other cities was known as the 'Blitz'. Night after night, from September 1940 until May1941, German bombers attacked British cities, ports and industrial areas.

London was bombed ever day and night for 11 weeks. One third of London was destroyed.

During the first month, German Air Force dropped 5,300 tons of high explosives on London in just 24 nights.One devastating raid on Coventry in November 1940 was the biggest air-raid the world had ever seen. Nearly 4.000 homes were destroyed and 500 people killed. At one point during the night 200 separate fires burned in the city.

During the Blitz 32,000 civilians were killed and a lot of people were seriously injured

Two million houses (60 per cent of these in London) were destroyed in the Blitz.

Winston Churchill had been among the first to recognize the growing threat of Hitler long before the outset of the Second World War. In his speech to the House of Commons in 1940 he said “I expect the Battle of Britain is about to begin.” Churchill’s speeches were a great inspiration to the embattled British. His first speech as a Prime Minister was the famous “I have nothing to offer but blood, toil, tears and sweat”.

During October 1944 Churchill was in Moscow to meet with the Russian leadership Stalin. During the meeting Poland and Balkan problems were discussed. He also took part in the Yalta Conference.  

Winston Churchill received the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1953 for his six-edition set “The Second World War”

World War II inflicted havoc on London. The docks, the East End of the city itself were worst hit. The City was almost completely destroyed, with the exception of the Cathedral of St. Paul, which became a symbol of the courage and tenacity with which the country for two years faced alone the threat of invasion.

     After the war new and often ugly developments arose and with the building of new roads, motorways and the increasing number of office blocks many parts of London look similar to any other concrete jungle. But London`s parks, the street markets, the graceful squares all make London still one of the most stimulating and exciting cities for visitors.

Exploring London we can find much evidence of its great history. We can see where the Romans and Normans left their mark, walk the streets that have been trod by famous and infamous figures from history, kings and queens, statesmen and merchants, just about everybody from Charles Dickens to Jack the Ripper. As Samuel Johnson, the great 18th-century writer said: «When a man is tired of London he is tired of life; for there is in London all that life can afford».