Eighty years ago, at the beginning of September 1940, the Battle of Britain had been raging for three months.
In the sky, since the evacuation in June of British troops from the French coast, the Royal Air Force has stood up to the Luftwaffe led by Hermann Göring.
Adolf Hitler aims to invade Britain, a plan known as the Sea Lion. To achieve this, he multiplies attacks against British air forces, but without success.
On September 7, 1940, he decided to launch a bombing campaign against the cities in order to destroy the morale of the enemy population.
For nine months, a rain of bombs fell on the other side of the Channel.
The British will know the Blitz in reference to the German term "lightning".
The capital London is mainly targeted.
Coventry, Birmingham, Sheffield, Portsmouth, Glasgow and Belfast are also suffering.
More than 43,000 people lose their lives and over two million homes are destroyed.
But this damage ultimately has little impact on the outcome of the war.
British infrastructure is little affected, while the population remains calm and cope.
Eighty years later, the historian Richard Overy, professor at the University of Exeter and author of "Under the bombs, a new history of aerial warfare" (Flammarion) returns for France 24 on this episode of the Second World War global.
Prime Minister Winston Churchill walking through the ruins of Coventry Cathedral in September 1940 © Wikimedia Creative Commons
France 24: Why did Adolf Hitler and Hermann Göring launch this campaign of bombings on Great Britain?
Richard Overy:
When they sent the Luftwaffe to Britain on September 7, they didn't envision this campaign as a whole, or what the Blitz would become.
In fact, it was a preparation for Operation Sea Lion: a massive attack on London, lasting about a week, before launching this plan, which was to disrupt the government, trade and sea.
The idea was to start with bombardments, before launching the invasion a week or ten days later.
But these attacks of September 7 are often misinterpreted.
Some mistakenly believe that this is retaliation for the British bombing raids on Berlin.
How did the Blitz turn into a campaign that spanned several months?
The German invasion of Britain ultimately did not take place.
They failed to defeat the Royal Air Force.
Hitler finally decided to postpone Operation Sea Lion, before canceling it the following year.
However, he wanted to continue to put pressure on the British by starting a blockade campaign.
The bombardments mainly targeted ports and maritime traffic.
The aim of the Germans was to reduce British resources in order to obtain compromises from the government.
But Hitler had doubts.
He was not confident in the ability of the Luftwaffe to meet his expectations.
The invasion did not take place, but he wanted to continue his pressure.
The only way to do this was to intensify the blockade in the hope that it would be decisive.
In November, when it became clear that the bombings had not served their purpose, Hitler finally decided to turn against the Soviet Union.
The idea was also to obtain new resources to turn militarily in the future against Great Britain and the United States.
A German bomber over the East End of London as the Blitz began on September 7, 1940 © Wikimedia Creative Commons
What was the impact of the Blitz?
The physical damage was not as great as the Luftwaffe had hoped.
This shows how inefficient the German bombers were.
Their forces were small and they were not able to carry bombs with very heavy loads.
The devices also lost their ability to navigate with precision very quickly, their communications being intercepted.
In the end, British war production was reduced by only 5% and oil reserves were destroyed by only 0.5%.
When the gas or electricity supply was affected, most of the time it was restored within 24 hours.
During the bombing of Coventry, it took only two or three weeks to restore all services.
But in terms of human damage, it turned out to be very different.
The Blitz killed 43,000 civilians.
It is the first time that so many people have been killed in the air.
The Luftwaffe mainly focused on port cities, and working-class neighborhoods were concentrated around ports.
When they couldn't hit these, they aimed at those neighborhoods.
They touched the East End in London because that was where the port was.
A lot of people were trying to find shelter in their homes and that is how they were killed in numbers.
The Luftwaffe hadn't really planned for this outcome.
It stemmed more from his inability to bombard accurately.
Children in the ruins of a neighborhood in the eastern suburbs of London, September 1940 © Wikimedia Creative Commons
Psychologically, it boosted the morale of those who were not subjected to the bombardments.
They were able to highlight the spirit of the Blitz and show that they were in favor of retaliation against Germany.
Conversely, in the areas that were affected, there was a lot of demoralization and panic movements.
But, ultimately, it did not generate a social crisis.
The government has put everything in place to provide shelter, food etc.
The immediate impact of the bombings did not ultimately have as much effect as expected.
In the 1930s, there was a lot of talk of a collapse of city life and that there would be a social revolution.
But during the Blitz, there was no political backlash.
There were no riots, nor an attempt to overthrow the government.
Despite the demoralization following the bombings, this did not create a social or political crisis.
It was this error in judgment that the British also made when they attacked Germany.
The bombings, which killed hundreds of thousands of people and destroyed more than 60% of the cities, also did not cause any political or social collapse there.
Original article translated by Stéphanie Trouillard.
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