Why Is Grea Great Britain More Important Than Ww2
After about a year in the war Great Britain decided it was time to elect a more aggressive Prime Minister. In May of 1940 Winston Churchill replaced Neville Chamberlain as Prime Minister. That same month a large German offense forced British troops into one of the largest retreats in history, it was called the British Expeditionary Force from Dunkirk. During July through October in 1940, the English people suffered through the Battle of Britain. Extremely destructive German bombs rained down for months, however the Royal Air Force bravely defended their homeland from the Nazi machine. Despite all the lives lost and all the effort Germany was unable to crush Great Britain’s morale. In 1941, the United States started giving support to the British army in the form of weapons and ammunition through the Lend-Lease Act. After the horror of Pearl Harbor, America was directly involved in aiding Great Britain any way they could. In early 1942 Churchill and Roosevelt established a “Combined Chiefs of Staff” and agreed that the defeat of Germany was the first priority. (Winning the war against Germany was more important than the war in the pacific against Japan.) (Interesting, 2001).
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Great Britain’s new/innovative science and technology played a major role World War 2.
Many new inventions were created by the English from 1939-1945 including radar, penicillin, Bombe Machine, and of course the atomic bomb. Radar in WW2 was a revolutionary piece of technology, it was even said that it may have won the war for the Allies (“British Technology,” n.d.). In World War 2 whichever side spotted the first airplane, submarine, or ship was usually the side that won the battle. Radar allowed the Allies to “see” enemies coming from hundreds of miles away, even at night (ScienCentral, n.d.). This gave them an unparalleled strategic
advantage.
In 1937, the Japanese army invaded China. They reached Nanking (which was then China’s capital) in less than 6 months. Japan committed a great number of atrocities in China and began drawing the attention of those in the West. On September 27th 1940, Japan made a formal alliance with Mussolini’s Italy and the Nazis, under the Tripartite Pact. Japan was now officially part of the Axis Powers. In the summer of 1941, President Roosevelt had made a decision that the United States should no longer stand by and let Japan’s actions go unchecked. As a result, in July of 1941 the American government announced that there would be an embargo on selling all key raw materials to Japan, including oil. Without America selling oil to the Japanese it was obvious that Japans industrial infrastructure would suffer greatly, since Japan had virtually none of the raw materials they needed to run a modern state, let alone participate in a war. In response, Japan coordinated an attack on the U.S. and 4 months later bombed Pearl Harbor (History.com, 1940).
After the bombing of Pearl Harbor, the U.S. declared war on Japan and joined the fight to crush the Axis Powers. War with Japan proved to be a major challenge for the Allies in WW2. The war on the Pacific front was like nothing the Allies had experienced before. Instead of fighting on a mainland like Europe or Africa, they were hopping from island to island attempting to claim each, one at a time (History.com, 1940). Japan had an unexpectedly strong navy for the resources that they had access to during the war. They had been secretly building up a massive naval fleet since the early 20th century (“In what respects were the Japanese more advanced than the Germans during WW2?,” n.d.).
Throughout World War 2 many counties invented new technology to aid them in the war. Japan however, did not have any major technological advances during WW2. Instead they attempted to improve their strategic abilities, to outmatch their opponents. One example of their new strategies was the Kamikaze fighter pilots. The Kamikaze airplanes were essentially pilot- guided missiles that were designed to destroy enemy warships more efficiently. Kamikaze attacks were thought to be much more accurate than a conventional attack and resulted in a much larger explosion. Pilots would often fill up their fuel tanks all the way, and even strap additional explosives to their aircraft in order to create a more destructive explosion. While only 11% of kamikaze attacks were successful Japan still continued to use this tactic throughout the entirety of the war. The success rate dropped even further with the English invention of radar. Allies were able to “see” the aircraft coming from miles away and were able to set up proper defenses. Kamikaze became almost no threat at all once the Allies implemented radar into their missiles. The missiles could detect enemy aircraft and destroy them with almost perfect accuracy every time.
Great Britain’s new/innovative science and technology played a major role World War 2.
Many new inventions were created by the English from 1939-1945 including radar, penicillin, Bombe Machine, and of course the atomic bomb. Radar in WW2 was a revolutionary piece of technology, it was even said that it may have won the war for the Allies (“British Technology,” n.d.). In World War 2 whichever side spotted the first airplane, submarine, or ship was usually the side that won the battle. Radar allowed the Allies to “see” enemies coming from hundreds of miles away, even at night (ScienCentral, n.d.). This gave them an unparalleled strategic
advantage.
In 1937, the Japanese army invaded China. They reached Nanking (which was then China’s capital) in less than 6 months. Japan committed a great number of atrocities in China and began drawing the attention of those in the West. On September 27th 1940, Japan made a formal alliance with Mussolini’s Italy and the Nazis, under the Tripartite Pact. Japan was now officially part of the Axis Powers. In the summer of 1941, President Roosevelt had made a decision that the United States should no longer stand by and let Japan’s actions go unchecked. As a result, in July of 1941 the American government announced that there would be an embargo on selling all key raw materials to Japan, including oil. Without America selling oil to the Japanese it was obvious that Japans industrial infrastructure would suffer greatly, since Japan had virtually none of the raw materials they needed to run a modern state, let alone participate in a war. In response, Japan coordinated an attack on the U.S. and 4 months later bombed Pearl Harbor (History.com, 1940).
After the bombing of Pearl Harbor, the U.S. declared war on Japan and joined the fight to crush the Axis Powers. War with Japan proved to be a major challenge for the Allies in WW2. The war on the Pacific front was like nothing the Allies had experienced before. Instead of fighting on a mainland like Europe or Africa, they were hopping from island to island attempting to claim each, one at a time (History.com, 1940). Japan had an unexpectedly strong navy for the resources that they had access to during the war. They had been secretly building up a massive naval fleet since the early 20th century (“In what respects were the Japanese more advanced than the Germans during WW2?,” n.d.).
Throughout World War 2 many counties invented new technology to aid them in the war. Japan however, did not have any major technological advances during WW2. Instead they attempted to improve their strategic abilities, to outmatch their opponents. One example of their new strategies was the Kamikaze fighter pilots. The Kamikaze airplanes were essentially pilot- guided missiles that were designed to destroy enemy warships more efficiently. Kamikaze attacks were thought to be much more accurate than a conventional attack and resulted in a much larger explosion. Pilots would often fill up their fuel tanks all the way, and even strap additional explosives to their aircraft in order to create a more destructive explosion. While only 11% of kamikaze attacks were successful Japan still continued to use this tactic throughout the entirety of the war. The success rate dropped even further with the English invention of radar. Allies were able to “see” the aircraft coming from miles away and were able to set up proper defenses. Kamikaze became almost no threat at all once the Allies implemented radar into their missiles. The missiles could detect enemy aircraft and destroy them with almost perfect accuracy every time.