Dissertations and Theses @ UNI
Availability
Open Access Thesis
Keywords
Great Britain--Royal Air Force--Bomber Command--History; Great Britain--Royal Air Force--Bomber Command; World War (1939-1945); World War, 1939-1945--Aerial operations, British; Military operations, Aerial--British; 1939-1945; History;
Abstract
The assumptions historians make regarding their subjects can prove weak. This study considers one assumption made by historians studying the British bombing offensive against Germany during the first three years of World War II. Scholars, in their attempts to justify an expensive, dangerous and morally questionable strategic attack against Germany, have related the first three years of the air war to British home front morale. They make general statements linking the bombing of Germany to the status of home morale, concluding that the offensive boosted British spirits. However, no real evidence has been presented to either support or deny this claim. The years 1939 to 1942 were chosen because during this period Great Britain was engaged in no other offensive action against the Axis powers. Land and naval forces were on the defensive. This allows the isolation of Bomber Command's influence on home front morale. To fully illuminate the effect of Bomber Command on home front morale, the extent of propaganda related to strategic bombing was surveyed. Once the extensive amount of media coverage was illustrated, Gallup polls, labor statistics and psychological factors were collated to achieve a general picture of British home front morale during the period, 1939-1942. Comparison of the extensive media coverage and the consistent levels of morale throughout the period, regardless of the status of the strategic bombing offensive lead to the conclusion that the air offensive had no measurable effect on home front morale.
Year of Submission
1995
Degree Name
Master of Arts
Department
Department of History
First Advisor
Donald Shepardson
Second Advisor
C. David McKibbin
Third Advisor
Charlotte C. Wells
Date Original
1995
Object Description
1 PDF file (83 leaves)
Copyright
©1995 Brian Keith Gulick
Language
en
File Format
application/pdf
Recommended Citation
Gulick, Brian Keith, "Britain’s Only Offensive: An Assessment of the Influence of Bomber Command on British Morale, 1939-1942" (1995). Dissertations and Theses @ UNI. 2815.
https://scholarworks.uni.edu/etd/2815
Comments
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