that morale was crumbling how would the british people react the public mood could be decisive in this war. but the british public proved surprisingly resilient. where madness and chaos were expected there was solidarity. where demobilization was feared there was an incredible combative spirit. people adjusted to the bombing. as many as two hundred thousand people spend their nights in the underground despite appalling hygienic conditions. others commuted daily in order to spend their nights outside the cities. the.
passed. to spare paris the fate of rotterdam the french government in exile in bordeaux declared the capital an open city. on june fourteenth the vast entered the nearly deserted city. six days later an armistice was announced. in two months six countries had fallen into the hands of the national socialists. hitler now turned his gaze to britain. past. but the new british prime minister was undaunted by german threats winston
and this system was extended to all the countries under german occupation. for instance twenty seven thousand train carriages full of household goods were sent from paris and antwerp to german cities. using looted property the nazi regime was able to compensate those who suffered from the first wave of british bombing. in late one nine hundred forty two party agents received three hundred seventy thousand claims for compensation for which the state immediately paid out one hundred twenty six million marks that was a relatively small sum for a regime that had billions at its disposal from europe s jews it would not be easy
the air. in cologne the bombers destroyed tens of thousands of homes and put more than forty five thousand people out onto the street. but in essence only eleven homes were hit bad weather meant that most british bombs missed their targets. i wasn t worried on the contrary the british bombs reminded civilians that they were engaged in a life or death struggle he ordered his minister for propaganda use of goebbels to ready the german people for
soon what may have been an accident would dramatically change the history of bombing. on august twenty fourth one thousand nine hundred forty a few german bombs fell on the city of london and the a stand in the heart of the english capital the fire department recorded seventy six heads. how would churchill respond to this decision was critical britain was not in a position of strength. within twenty four hours the prime minister nevertheless ordered the r.a.f. to strike a german cities including by them. it. to reach the german capital r.a.f. planes had to cross through one thousand kilometers of enemy territory.