HISTORY 126B Lecture 9: Operation Barbarossa Invasion of Russia, 1941
Document Summary
9:56 am: nazis attack west to get air bases to help their fight in the east. Convinced they could crush british air forces but no. Thought british would give up + underestimated them. Most planes couldn"t make it beyond southern tip of british ideals. British knew if they held off germans until fall, crossing the channel would be impossible. Battle of britain: as war over britain during summer + early fall of 1940 (8 months, both sides lost a lot >germans shifted attention to destroy london > really helped raf which was on the verge of falling apart. Blitz: attack on british cities, september 1940-may 1941, began with bombing london for 52 consecutive nights. Killed lots of civilians + aimed for industrial areas. Coventry cathedral destroyed > became a memorial site to the blitz during world war ii. Became a site of resistance during more, then commemoration after: didn"t facilitate german invasion/ make the british give up >hitler turned east.
