The Blitz was the sustained German bombing campaign against Britain in 1940 and 1941. London was bombed on fifty-seven consecutive nights beginning in September, and other cities, among them Coventry, Birmingham, Liverpool, Bristol, Plymouth, Glasgow, Belfast and Hull, suffered heavy raids. After failing to win the Battle of Britain, the Luftwaffe hoped to break British morale and destroy industry and ports. More than forty thousand civilians were killed and huge numbers of homes were destroyed. Londoners sheltered in Underground stations and in Anderson shelters, and many children were evacuated to the countryside. Britain did not seek terms, and the raids tapered off as the Luftwaffe turned east for the invasion of the Soviet Union. The idea of the Blitz spirit became an enduring part of British national memory.
Before and after
- 19 July 1940Battle of Cape Spada
- from 21 July 1940 to 20 August 1991Estonian Soviet Socialist Republic
- 21 August 1940Death of Leon Trotsky
- 30 August 1940Death of Joseph John Thomson
- from 7 September 1940 to 21 May 1941The Blitz
- from 9 September 1940 to 16 September 1940Italian invasion of Egypt
- 12 September 1940Lascaux
- 20 September 1940Birth of Tarō Asō
- 23 September 1940Birth of Michel Temer
More in Wars, politics & history
- from 8 March 1917 to 16 March 1917February Revolution
- from 1 August 1927 to 1 May 1950Chinese Civil War
- from 7 July 1937 to 9 September 1945Second Sino-Japanese War
- from 22 June 1941 to 7 May 1945Eastern Front
- 7 December 1941Attack on Pearl Harbor
- 1944Golden Globes
The era
This moment belongs to the Modern era (1914 CE to 1945 CE), world wars and a changing world. You can also browse everything in the 20th century.