The Battle of Britain

The Battle of Britain was the most important turning point in World War II for the Allied powers against the Nazis and their Axis powers. The Battle of Britain was almost lost before it was ever fought, but the reason behind this was the Battle of France: It was over in just six weeks and didn't leave Britain much time to prepare their defenses. The French mentality was to blame. The personal failings on the part of Gort, Georges, and Gamelin. They paid no attention to the approaching danger which was building up on the German side of the Maginot line. Time and again, the French chose to ignore reports of German mobilizations near the line. It seemed not to matter. They had up-to-date intel and proof of impending attack, and still did nothing. France's general Gamelin's way of putting things was, “the French preferred to await events”. Soon, France surrendered. They signed the armistice on June 22nd in Marshal Foch's railway carriage at Compiegne. This left France humiliated with only a shred of dignity left, and the rest of Europe to wonder when and where the Nazis would strike next. The Nazi's Luftwaffe set out to control the skies in fighter squadrons. The Germans found it hard to compete with the British aircraft, which were designed to be even better dogfighters than the German Messerschmitt Me109. The Germans, however, gained the upper hand in the Battle of Britain because of France's surrender. This made Britain susceptible and unprotected from U-boat attacks and under constant aerial attack and in fear of invasion. At first, many in Britain wanted to propose conditions of surrender and talk peace because they thought they could not beat Hitler, but prime minister Winston Churchill knew he could finish the job if he got the “right tools”. One advantage that Britain had over the Nazis was that Britain was fighting above her home soil, and this gave the advantage in two aspects. First, they could recycle their pilots. If British pilots were shot down over