Hello, welcome to History here at Oak National Academy.

My name's Mr. Newton, and I'll be your teacher today guiding you through the entire lesson.

Right, let's get started.

Over the next few lessons we'll be thinking about our big inquiry question, which events turned the tide of the Second World War? This is the question we will use to investigate the unfolding events of the war.

The outcome of which was not certain from the outset.

Hitler had aimed to build a German empire he called the Third Reich.

He had turned Germany into a dictatorship and developed an aggressive military policy and a determinations of tear up the Treaty of Versailles.

By 1938, Nazi Germany had reoccupied the Rhineland and annexed Austria and Czechoslovakia.

Britain was keen to avoid another world war, and so Chamberlain adopted a policy of appeasement.

However, some people like Winston Churchill had warned that Hitler would at some point need to be stopped.

In an attempt to deter further a German expansion, Chamberlain promised that Britain would go to war to defend Polish independence.

On the 1st of September, 1939, Germany invaded Poland.

As a result of the promise Chamberlain made, two days later, Britain declared war on Germany.

Britain held its breath as it once again entered a war against Germany, a war which started very badly for Britain.

By the end of this lesson, you'll be able to explain why the Battle of Britain can be viewed as a turning point in the Second World War.

Before we begin, there are a few key words that we need to understand.

Blitzkrieg or lightning war was a new military tactic in which German planes, tanks and foot soldiers united in a rapid as assault to punch a hole through the enemy line.

Luftwaffe was the German Air Force and allied other countries, including Britain and France that fought against the Axis countries, Germany and Italy in the Second World War.

Okay, so today's lesson is split into three parts.

In the first part, we'll look at how Nazi Germany dominates Europe within the first few years of the war, pushing Britain off the continent.

And that's where we'll look at the second part of the lesson, the Battle of Britain before finally looking at the Blitz, the lightning war from above.

Okay, let's start the lesson with Blitzkrieg and Nazi control of Europe.

So in 1938, British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain had promised peace for our time.

If you have a look at the photo, it shows Chamberlain just landing in England, greeted by a crowded airport runway.

He spoke to the world's press, and we can see his holding the agreement signed by both Hitler and himself and declared this peace for our time.

Unfortunately, a year later, Chamberlain would declare war.

So what had happened was that Hitler had taken Chamberlain's agreement as a further sign that Britain was weak.

And if you have a look at the map, the dark pink shows German territory after 1918, after the First World War, and the striped pink area shows the territory that Hitler and Nazi Germany had annexed.

So given this German expansion, the international community was divided as to what to do, and they watched on apparently powerless to act.

Everyone wanted to avoid another world war, and many thought Germany had been harshly treated after the Great War.

However, the final straw came when on the 1st of September, 1939, Nazi Germany invaded Poland, which I've highlighted on the map for you.

Hitler ignored Neville Chamberlain's demands to withdraw his troops from Poland.

And on the 3rd of September, 1939, the British Prime Minister's voice was heard on radios across Britain as he sadly stated, consequently, this country is at war with Germany, and we can see a photo on the left of a man standing in the streets of London, and we can see the newspaper headlines from September, 1939.

The people of Britain must have feared that once again, the storm of a World War was about to fall on them again.

Chamberlain's governments immediately began preparations for war, a war it knew would be a protracted conflict.

The British army was dispatched to France and men were called up to serve as soldiers.

If you have a look at the left, you can see a territorial army recruitment poster aimed at convincing people to sign up to the army.

And thousands did, the country further prepared for war and food was rationed.

This was to save the food in the country.

If you have a look at the photo, this is a ration book and everybody was given one of these.

A shopkeeper would stamp the ration book and then you could receive a very small amount of butter, sugar, bacon and ham to keep you going for the week.

Clove, soap, coal, and paper were also rationed.

Preparations were made for German bombing raids.

This would be German aircraft dropping bombs on the country.

Air raid sirens warned of incoming aircraft and blackout rules were strictly enforced.

Air raid wardens would meticulously inspect the houses, making sure no lights could be seen by aircraft at night.

Children were evacuated from the cities to the countryside, and we can see from the photo children being put on a train which would be heading for the countryside.

For many, this would've meant being separated from parents and moving to homes with complete strangers.

This would've been traumatic for many parents and children being separated from each other.

However many children grew to see it as an adventure.

For many, it was the first time they got to see the countryside, often finding themselves billeted in better accommodation than their own homes.

For most people, however, the first months of the conflict were known as the phoney war, for very little happened to disrupt their daily lives.

It was only in the spring of 1940 that German armies began a rapid advance through western Europe, and the British people were shaken outta their complacency.

The British army was caught off guard by the speed of the German advance and was forced to pull out of Norway.

This was the British Army's first military campaign of the war.

Many people lost confidence in Chamberlain's leadership and he agreed to resign in May 1940 and Winston Churchill became Prime Minister.

Churchill was a conservative MP who had a fondness for dramatic speeches.

Speeches which would now at last match the drama of events.

He was to have a significant impact and his appointment as Prime Minister represented a turning point in Britain's war efforts.

Churchill could sometimes be mischievous, even reckless, but he was a bold and experienced leader.

Churchill had fought in India, Sudan, and the first World War and had served as the civilian head of the Navy.

He gained further credibility as he had been quick to identify the threats posed by Hitler.

In an attempt to build a sense of national unity, Churchill invited leading labour politicians to join his war cabinets.

So a major reason why the Nazis were having so much success in the early parts of the war, the German military deployed a tactic which became known as Blitzkrieg or lightning war.

The illustration on the left tries to imagine what Blitzkrieg would look like.

German planes swept across enemy territory in surprise assaults, taking out military targets.

With lightning quick speed, tanks and foot soldiers then punched a hole through the enemy line, giving the enemy no time to react.

Blitzkrieg was stunningly efficient.

Luxembourg, the Netherlands and Belgium all fell to German occupation in quick succession, Denmark and Norway were also occupied.

Okay, let's have a check for understanding.

What tactic did Germany use to rapidly defeat and conquer other European nations during the second World War? A, amphibious assault.

B, Blitzkrieg, C phoney warfare, D, trench warfare.

Pause the video, have a think and then come right back.

Okay, welcome back and well done if you knew it was Blitzkrieg.

Okay, let's continue.

So German troops now headed towards France who had built a line of concrete fortifications along their border, known as the Maginot Line.

If you have a look at the photo on the left, it shows a concrete fortification from the Maginot Line, but the Maginot Line was actually a series of obstacles and weapon installations.

It featured gun turrets, anti-tank rails, and a series of underground tunnels which could house troops and even an underground railway.

It was almost impossible to attack.

However, the Maginot Line did not extend the full length for France's border.

Have a look at this map.

We can see France on the left and Germany on the right, and Belgium Luxembourg in the middle, sandwiched between France and Germany.

We can see the thick red line towards the bottom of the map.

And this is the Maginot Line where it has those strong fortifications protecting France's border of Germany.

However, if you follow the Maginot Line up, you can see the thick red line becomes a dotted line.

And this indicates the weaker fortifications.

France had not yet completed fortifications here because this is where France borders Belgium and Luxembourg.

This is also where the Arden forest is.

And you can see I've placed some trees on the map.

This was a seemingly impenetrable landscape.

It was very hilly terrain full of trees, lakes and rivers.

France had assumed that if Germany was to attack them, the German army would be forced to avoid the Maginot Line and the dense Arden forest and go through Belgium.

By now, the British expeditionary force had joined further along the border to defend Belgium.

The British expeditionary force was a small but very mobile and professional army.

And you can see I've placed some flags on the map and this is where the troop's approximate positions were.

And we can now see that I've added the Nazi army in location.

Surprisingly, the Germans bypassed the Maginot line with a Blitzkrieg of high speed tanks punching through the heavily wooded Arden forest.

Their aim was to reach the English channel at Calais.

This would encircle the French and cut the allied armies in two.

With German tanks now behind them, 400,000 British soldiers, the remaining Belgian forces and three French armies were trapped on the northern French coast.

British soldiers were forced to scramble towards the beaches of Dunkirk where they were trapped and faced bombardment from the Luftwaffe.

And you can see from the photo French and English troops lined up on Dunkirk beach while awaiting evacuation.

For a time, it looked as if Britain's best soldiers might fall into enemy hands as prisoners of war.

However, the royal naval was able to begin rescuing the soldiers from one of the harbor's breakwaters.

However, after surviving bombardment from the Luftwaffe on the beach and squeezing on board a ship like the one in the photo, this was no guarantee of getting home.

Ships risked being hit by torpedoes or mines during the evacuation, the ship in the photo sunk resulting in the death of 500 Allied troops.

With many soldiers still trapped on the beaters of Dunkirk, a call went out across Britain, small ships are needed to rescue Britain's boys trapped across the channel.

Hundreds of private boat owners answered the call, including paddle steamers, fishing boats and lifeboats.

More than 300,000 British and French soldiers were rescued from Dunkirk in just over a week.

Have a look at the image, it's a photo of a little ship used in the Dunkirk evacuation, and we can imagine the stories that people on these little ships could tell us.

One such story came from Charles Lightoller.

At the age of 66, Charles spent his retirement tinkering his pride and joy, the Sun Downer, a small wooden motor yacht.

However, on the morning of the 1st of June, Lightoller set off from the Kent coast and headed towards the Nazi war machine.

He had refused the Navy's order to commandeer his little yacht.

Lightoller was insistent he would do his part for the war efforts.

He was joined by his son Roger, and a teenage sea scout Gerald.

The unlikely trio set off the Dunkirk to rescue the boys.

Before long, they heard the dull thuds of distant guns.

On the horizon, they could see clouds of black smoke.

They knew they were closing in on Dunkirk as there were dead bodies floating in the water.

Gerald used a boat hook to ease them away from the hole.

At last Lightoller spotted a destroyer.

The HMS Worcester, their captain ordered for rescued soldiers to climb down onto the Sundowner, which had held 21 passengers at maximum capacity.

But Lightoller was a plucky old sailor, and he crammed the Sundowner with 130 people.

As he sailed them back towards England, dodging German dive bombers, Lightoller looked across the channel.

He saw so many ships that resembled a dense forest whose trees bore sails.

The mighty navy destroyers and a fleet of little ships had rescued the root and core of the British army.

Nazi forces had dominated Europe.

The British army had retreated.

And in Britain's darkest hour, Churchill had addressed the country in the House of Commons.

"We shall not flag or fail, we shall go on to the end, we shall fight in France, which shall fight on the seas and oceans.

We shall fight with growing confidence and growing strength in the air, we shall defend our island whatever the cost may be, 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." Okay, let's have a check for understanding.

True or false, large parts of Europe had surrendered to Nazi Germany by 1940.

Is that true or false? Pause the video, have a think and then come right back.

Okay, welcome back and well done if you knew that was true.

But why is that true? I want you to justify your answer.

Is it true because the Netherlands, Belgium, France, and Luxembourg had all surrendered to the Nazis by 1940 or B, the Netherlands, Belgium, Britain and Luxembourg had all surrendered to the Nazis by 1940.

Pause the video, have a think and then come right back.

Okay, welcome back and well done if you knew it was A, the Netherlands, Belgium, France and Luxembourg had all surrendered to the Nazis by 1940.

Okay, let's move on to task A.

Working with your partner, debate the following question, was Dunkirk a victory or defeat? And to help you to do that, I want you to use the evidence on the left and your knowledge from this learning cycle to support your arguments.

So let me give you that evidence now.

So you've got the British expeditionary force were trapped on the beaches of Dunkirk.

338,226 troops were evacuated from Dunkirk.

933 ships took part, 236 were lost.

The number of little boats that sailed on their own initiative will never be known.

The Royal Navy was assisted by French, Belgian, Dutch and Norwegian ships.

The British army abandoned 2,472 guns and 63,879 vehicles and 68,111 men of the BEF were captured or killed during Blitzkrieg retreat and evacuation.

And finally, Nazi Germany still occupied large parts of Europe.

Okay, pause the video, have a quick debate using the evidence to back up your arguments and then come right back.

Okay, welcome back.

So there's many points that could have been raised during your debates, but have a look at my arguments here, which I've made in favour of Dunkirk being a defeat.

So you might have said something like Dunkirk represented a humiliating defeat.

It came after numerous allied defeats after Germany occupied large parts of Europe using Blitzkrieg.

The BEF were Britain's best soldiers and had been trapped on the beaches of Dunkirk facing bombardment from the Luftwaffe.

And in the end, 68,111 men of the BEF were captured or killed, and they were forced to abandon 2,472 guns and 63,879 vehicles, despite the fact that much of the BEF was saved, Nazi Germany still controlled large parts of Europe.

However you might have argued in favour of Dunkirk representing a victory.

And you might have said something like Dunkirk represented a victory as it showed what could be achieved when people put up a united effort.

The real navy was assisted by French, Belgian, Dutch, and Norwegian ships.

The call went south across Britain and hundreds of private bot owners answered the call.

At least 933 ships took part of which 236 were lost.

But the full number of little boats that sailed on their own initiative will never be known.

This united effort resulted in 338,226 of the 400,000 British troops being evacuated from Dunkirk, meaning that the majority of Britain's best soldiers could carry on in the war efforts.

Okay, great.

Let's move on to the second part of the lesson, the Battle of Britain.

Referring to the evacuation at Dunkirk, Churchill thanked God for this miracle of deliverance, but it was clearly a terrible setback for the British.

Less than two weeks later, France was forced to surrender to Germany.

Then Mussolini, the fascist leader of Italy, had also entered the war as an ally of Germany.

If you have to look at the image on the left, it's a photo of Hitler in Paris, France, and you can see the Eiffel Tower behind them.

This was actually his first visit to France.

And now Hitler could look across the channel and see Britain with his own eyes.

Hitler presumed that the British government would request peace, but Churchill steeled the British people for a grim fight.

To the House of Commons, he declared, "The Battle of France is over.

The Battle of Britain is about to begin.

Upon this battle depends the survival of Christian civilization, upon it depends our own British life, the long continuity of our institutions and our empire.

The whole fury in might of the enemy must very soon be turned on us.

Hitler knows that he will have to break us in this island or lose the war, let us therefore base ourselves to our duties.

And so bear ourselves that if the British empire and its Commonwealth last for 1000 years, men will say this was their finest hour." So therefore, Britain and its empire stood alone against Nazi aggression.

And we can see from this map Germany's in the dark green and the lighter green are the German occupations, with the brownish colour representing German allies.

Ultimately, this map shows us that within the first two years of the Second World War, Nazi Germany had dominated Europe.

It's important to note here that soldiers from across Britain's empire signed up to the war efforts.

India put forward the largest volunteer army in history.

Over 2.

5 million men by 1945, Nazi Germany began preparations for an invasion and occupation of Britain.

So confident of the success of the invasion, the Nazis had printed newspapers ready to declare victory.

If you have a look at the image here, it's a faked photo of a Nazi victory parade in London.

And we can see that the Nazis abducted this photo to show Hitler and his troops marching down Whitehall.

And we can see here it's been decorated with Nazi flags and we can see Big Ben, the houses of Parliaments in the background.

Piles of these propaganda newspapers were found in Germany in 1945, ready for the completion of the invasion of Britain.

Churchill steeled the British people for a grim fight.

To the House of Commons, he declared that Britain would fight for years if necessary and that the British people would defend their island whatever the cost.

In order to launch a successful invasion, the Germans knew that they needed to achieve air superiority and that would enable them to defend their invasion troops.

It would be the German Air Force, the Luftwaffe that would need to do this.

And you can see a photo of the Luftwaffe on the left taken during the summer of 1940 during the Battle of Britain, however, there was an obstacle for the Luftwaffe and that was Britain's air force.

So the Luftwaffe therefore attempted to defeat the Royal Air Force or the RAF.

The photo on the left shows RAF pilots in front of a hurricane fighter plane.

This plane along with Spitfires were instrumental in the Battle of Britain.

Okay, let's have a check for understanding.

What did Germany need to do if an invasion of Britain was to be successful? Select two correct answers, A defeat the Maginot Line to allow invasion troops through, B, defeat the RAFC, evacuate the BEF, D, use air superiority to defend invasion troops.

Pause the video, select your two correct answers and then come right back.

Okay, welcome back and well done if you knew it was B, they needed to defeat the RAF and D, use air superiority to defend invasion troops.

Okay, let's continue.

So throughout the summer of 1940, the Battle of Britain was fought in the skies above southern England and the RAF engaged in bitterly contested dog fights with German planes, determined not to lose control of the air.

And in the photo we can see a pattern of vapour trails that were left by British and German aircraft after a dog fight.

And we can imagine how the war would've literally been close to home now for many Britains and certainly no longer a phoney war.

By September, it was clear that the RAF had won, Britain's factories churned out spitfire and hurricane fighter planes, which were aided by the recent invention of radar.

A network of radar stations detected the positions of incoming German planes and then communicated this with the RAF fighters in the air.

Now this system was unknown to the Germans.

Without air supremacy, Hitler would not be able to launch an invasion of Britain.

The Battle of Britain was over.

After the Battle of Britain, Churchill said, "Never in the field of human conflict, was much owed by so many to so few." Most of these few were British, but 20% of the pilots came from countries such as Poland, New Zealand, Canada, South Africa and Australia.

And in the photo we can see Polish pilots who had fought in the Battle of Britain.

Okay, let's have a check for understanding, what led to Britain's victory in the Battle of Britain? Select two correct answers.

A, Britain's factories produced lots of spitfire and hurricane fighter planes.

B, Britain had more bomber planes.

C, Britain's secret radar system detected the positions of the Luftwaffe or D, the Luftwaffe did not like to engage in dog fights.

Pause the video, select your two correct answers and then come right back.

Okay, welcome back and well done if you knew it was A, that Britain's factories produced lots of spitfire and hurricane fighter planes and C, Britain's secret radar system detected the positions of the Luftwaffe.

Okay, great, let's move on to task B.

What I want you to do here is complete the following sentences and you can see I've given you three sentence starters, which I want you to complete.

Pause the video, have a go at the task, and then come right back.

Okay, welcome back.

So there's many ways you might have completed those sentences, but compare what you've got with my example answers I have here.

So for the first sentence starter, Hitler had presumed that Britain would request peace, but Churchill declared that Britain would fight for years if necessary, and the British people would defend their island whatever the cost.

And the second sentence starter.

In order to launch a successful invasion, the Germans needed to have the Luftwaffe achieve air superiority.

And the final sentence starter was by September the RAF had won because Britain's factories churned out spitfire and hurricane fighter planes, which are aided by the recent invention of radar.

This detected the positions of incoming German planes and communicated them with the RAF fighters in the air.

Okay, great, let's move on to the final part of today's lesson, the blitz.

Angry that he had been unable to defeat the RAF, Hitler ordered German bomber planes to begin targeting civilian homes and buildings in major British cities.

And in the photo we can see a German bomber plane over the river Thames in 1940.

This bombing campaign, which became known as the Blitz, was unprecedented in British history.

The blitz meaning lightning war from above.

And in the photo we can see the bomb damage from the blitz in London.

What action did Nazi Germany take after failing to gain air superiority in the Battle of Britain? A, began a bombing campaign targeting cities, B, launched a seaborne invasion of Britain, C, planted bombs in London's railway stations.

D, signed a non-aggression truce with Britain.

Pause the video, have a think and then come right back.

Okay, welcome back and well done if you knew it was A, began a bombing campaign targeting cities.

The aim of the blitz was to break morale and undermine public support for the war in the hope that the British people would force the government to make peace.

In the photo, we can see air raid damage, including the remains of a double decker bus.

Night after night, German bombers attacked.

(sirens whirring) People grew used to the dreaded wail of that air raid siren, and having to flee into cellars and bomb shelters.

People were ordered to put up blackout screens so that their house lights were hidden from enemy bombers.

Yet in many ways the blitz had the opposite effect.

Enduring the blitz brought people together and kept alive the British determination of fights on against Hitler, people found ways to keep calm and carry on.

The photo on the left shows musicians in a tube station in London.

The people here would've heard the air raid siren, rushed down to the tube station to take cover and would have to wait here till the bombing raid had finished.

So to keep spirits high, these musicians began playing their instruments, perhaps encouraging a sing along.

Each time the German bombs fell on an ordinary home, more people were incensed about the Germans' barbarous tactics.

Some historians believe that the bombing campaign stiffened British morale and increased support for the war.

And we can see in the photo children sitting on the rubble outside their home.

And we can imagine how sites like this stiffened the British resolve.

By the end of 1940, Britain had been successfully defended, but Nazi Germany was still the undisputed master of Europe.

Okay, let's have a check for understanding.

How did Britain prepare for German bombing raids? Select three correct answers.

A, air raid warning siren, B, blackout screens to block house lights, C bomb shelters, D missile system.

Pause the video, select your three correct answers and then come right back.

Okay, welcome back and well done if you knew it was the air raid warning siren, blackout screens and bomb shelters.

Okay, great, let's move on to task C.

What I want you to do here is explain why the bat of Britain and the Blitz can be viewed as a turning point in the Second World War.

Write your answer as one or two paragraphs.

So use your knowledge that you've gained in the lesson so far.

Thinking about the early stages of the war where the Nazis have dominated Europe, leading up to the events of the Battle of Britain and the Blitz.

And see if you can explain why those events can be seen as turning points.

Pause the video, have a go at the task, and then come right back.

Okay, welcome back.

Well done for having a go at that task.

And there's many ways you could have written your answer, but compare what you've got with my answer here.

So the Battle of Britain was a turning point in the Second World War because it was the first significant allied victory.

Previously, Germany had effectively used the Blitzkrieg tactic to occupy most of Europe, the Netherlands, Belgium, France, and Luxembourg had all surrendered to the Nazis by 1940, Britain and its empire stood alone after the fall of France, and it was only the RAF that stood between Germany's invasion of Britain.

Britain Spitfire and hurricane Fighter planes and its secret radar system defeated the Luftwaffe at the Brad of Britain.

Hitler then ordered the Blitz to break the morale of ordinary British people.

However, some historians believe that the German bombing campaign actually stiffened British morale and increased support for the war.

By the end of 1940, Britain had been successfully defended.

Okay, great, let's summarise today's lesson.

Blitzkrieg and the Battle of Britain using Blitzkrieg, Germany inflicted numerous defeats on allied forces and occupied large parts of Europe.

The BEF had been trapped on the beaches of Dunkirk and had to be rescued by the rural Navy assisted by hundreds of private little ships.

After the fall of France, Britain and its empire stood alone against Nazi aggression.

The Germans needed to have the Luftwaffe achieve air superiority to invade Britain.

However, the RAF and its secret radar system achieved the first significant allied victory in the Battle of Britain.

The Blitz was a German bombing campaign which targeted civilians in cities with the aim of breaking the morale of the British people.

However, it may have had the opposite effect.

Well done on a brilliant lesson.

And thank you for joining me as we've unfolded the early events of the war.

At this point, it very much looked like Nazi Germany would be victorious.

I will see you next time though when we continue our inquiry.

See you in the next lesson.