Was Dunkirk a Triumph or a Disaster? For so long it has been debated over whether Dunkirk was a success or a catastrophe. After only 15 years of peace, the second world war began. Austria, Rhineland and Poland had already been occupied. The French’s only way out was Dunkirk- that’s when and where the battle began. It was devastating. 68,111 dead or missing during Blitzkrieg, yet still viewed as a triumph. But why? Why, when so many were lost, was Britain still smiling? And why, or why not ,was Dunkirk a disaster? On the 31st May 1940, the first report on Dunkirk was released by the BBC 6 o’clock radio. It said “All night and all day the men of the undefeated British Expeditionary Force (Our army) have been coming home. From interviews with the men it is clear they have come back in glory; their morale is higher, and that they are anxious to be back again.” At the time, people would have leaped for joy at the fact their BEF were coming home. But this is not a first-hand account. Not a single British reporter touched Dunkirk soil. The government fed them information in order to restrict what was said, and here’s why- If the soldiers are portrayed as victors, then the British morale will be high. This …show more content…
You can see how it differs from the descriptions above. You can see the chaos and the problems here. In the period of the war, this picture would not have been allowed in circulation. Does this look like the portrayal of victors? It didn’t to the government, and it wouldn’t to the people either. If people had seen this, they would have lost hope, lost trust in the government. Fear would rise- rebellions would strike, and protests will commence. This was the last thing they needed, and it is the pictures, the first-hand accounts of this that made people ponder upon this question- Was this a triumph or a disaster? And for who? The soldiers? The government? Or the people of
The Canadian Corps, a 100,000 strong fighting formation, was ordered to the Passchendaele front, east of Ypres, in mid-October 1917. Horrible Conditions Launched on 31 July 1917, the British offensive in Flanders had aimed to drive the Germans away from the essential Channel Ports and to eliminate U-Boat bases on the coast. But unceasing rain and shellfire reduced the battlefield to a vast bog of bodies, water-filled shell craters, and mud in which the attack ground to a halt. After months of fighting, Passchendaele ridge was still stubbornly held by German troops. Sir Douglas Haig, the commander-in-chief of the British Expeditionary Force, ordered the Canadians to deliver victory.
Japan attacks Pearl Harbor "Yesterday, December 7th, 1941, a day that will live in infamy" This famous speech by Franklin Delano Roosevelt declared to Congress requesting war on Japan. Pearl Harbor, though the casualties were abundant, was the most pivotal point in World War II, and without it the United States of America would have never entered into World War II. In 1936, a German by the name of Adolf Hitler rose to power, who believed that the Germans were supposed to take over the world. Hitler then created a military group called the Nazis, who entrusted Hitler's strategic plan to "cleanse" the world.
Royal Navy ships and civilian crafts were send the the French Port. The larger ships could not reach the land, so small civilian crafts transported men from land to ships, rescuing three hundred and thirty-eight thousand soldiers, a much larger amount than expected. This was considered to be one of the most heroic acts of WWll. There was approximately 68,000 British casualties, 290,000 French losses with many more than that either missing or taken prisoner, and 27,074 German casualties along with 111,034 wounded soldiers. casualties during the battle of Dunkirk.
The Unbeatable Souls The Lost Battalion is based totally on a real story of an American battalion that was sent out to battle during the World War I. Major Charles Whittlesey, a New York lawyer, who ends up in the trenches of France having under his command mostly young, unexperienced men. When Whittlesey and his battalion of five hundred men are ordered to advance into the Argonne Forest they find themselves surrounded by Germans troops when the other battalions instantly withdrew, leaving Whittlesey’s battalion on his own. Confined behind enemy lines, Whittlesey’s battalion turned into the only force in the German army’s plans to move forward. Trapped and with no other way to rescue, Whittlesey is given an opportunity to surrender, but chose to continue fighting and keep his men together.
In the story “All Quiet on the Western Front,” WW1 is narrated by a German soldier, Paul. The war is explained as having mainly negative effects on the soldiers: “...men who, even though they may have escaped its shells, were destroyed by the war.” (1) In the beginning of the novel, Paul and his friends dreams about what their life would be like if there was peace. Their view on the war’s brutality is not deep, but many feel it has ruined any chance at a normal life.
The Allied Invasion was a complete success, they were able to make their attack quick while the troops protecting France were small in number and not expecting attack. Prior to the invasion The Allies serving under General Patton, created a diversion. This deception was directed to confuse the Axis into thinking the invasion was to take place elsewhere. Known as “Patton’s Ghost Army”, its main goal was to convince the Axis command into believing that the Allied invasion would land in either Greece or the countries of Norway or Denmark. Because the Germans and other Axis troops did not know where the invasion would hit, they divided and tried to cover as much South Eastern European coastline as possible.
Veteran’s Day On the 11th hour, of the 11th day, of the 11th month of the year, 97 years ago, hostilities rested between Germany and the Allied Nations, marking the end of “the war to end all wars” (World War One), soon evolving as a day devoted to world peace, called “Armistice Day.” However, at the end of the Second World War, President Eisenhower reformed the day to “Veteran’s Day” – a 24-hour period to recognize and appreciate veterans who serve for our freedom and justice in every war.
This shows how George Washington treated his men terribly, while King George kept his men well-fed, clothed, and sheltered. If King George was the leader, then he would treat soldiers much better than George Washington would. Also, when George Washington was near the British soldiers during the war, instead of telling himself that his soldiers were too weak, cold, hungry, and tired to fight, he pushes them to the extreme to try and defeat the British soldiers. Although, George Washington’s side did win, he pushed his men too much, resulting in many deaths from starvation, freezing, or even from just being too weak and tired. King George wouldn’t, and didn’t, push his soldiers to fight unless they were strong enough to do
Basically everything in a war could look beautiful in humans eyes, but every soldier hates war at the same time. The truth reached by the reader from this contrast is that why some might like going to war and what makes soldiers to keep going in
Do people ever wonder what would’ve happened if Pearl Harbor never took place? Here’s a start, thousands of lives wouldn’t have been lost, structures wouldn’t have been damaged, December 7,141 would’ve been an ordinary day. Pearl Harbor was a regular naval base located in Oahu, Hawaii. This surprise attack was carried out by the Japanese because they wanted more supply on oil and rubber. They brought fighter planes, dropping bombs, submarines, armed men, and much more.
The author compares the soldiers because he wants the readers
The United States, Britain and Canada were not short of any weaponry and had more troops, vehicles and ships than the opposing forces which proves why it was the biggest seaborne invasion force to ever be constructed. This also made it easier for our troops to cover the German terrain, therefore making it another important factor that lead our men to victory. The success of Operation Fortitude also allowed for the deception of the German army and ultimately made the opposing troops set up military fronts in places the Allied forces would not end up attacking. This devious yet well-planned distraction, lead the Germans to focus on the area of Pas-de-Calais which kept some of their strongest forces away from the beaches of Normandy and the Allied troops until the month of July. The fact that the Allied forces were also able to get ahold of German information and decode certain plans, also added to our benefit during the battle.
The primary objective of the Luftwaffe Air Force was to force the British into a peace settlement, or even more ideally an outright surrender. Once the Nazis had diminished the air defence of Britain, it could launch an invasion of Britain from both the water and the sky which could have potentially been the first successful invasion of Britain since 1066. In Prior’s opinion however, a successful German invasion could never have occurred. Prior cites the strength of both the Royal Navy and Air Force as reasons for his confidence in Britain. He says that despite some losses to naval vessels at Dunkirk, there were more than enough resources within the Royal Navy to bring more ships in to fight the Nazis should it be necessary, and that despite how it may have looked, the British were actually in control of the aerial fighting throughout the battle, with still more aircrafts simply waiting in reserve.
A reporter once said that as people looked at photos they would sometimes see their son, husband, wife or loved one dead in the battle field ("Matthew Brady Photographer"). Seeing a deceased loved one is difficult, but seeing their lifeless body in a picture is even harder. Having photos taken showed the people that the war needed to end and that no one else needed to
Visual Analysis The first image: This image, The Ultimate Confrontation: The Flower and the Bayonet, was taken by French photographer Marc Riboud during the 1967 anti-Vietnam march in Washington D.C. First of all , it is not difficult to define it as a photojournalism, because Marc took it in order to record a true event and tell a news story. This one shows the anti-war activity in the National Mobilization Committee clearly, which is a historic event. At present, it still appears in some anti-war demonstrations used as an important symbol, such as the activity about against the Iraq War in London in February 2003, so it also has political significance.