The bombing of British cities in the Second World War

Journal title STORIA URBANA
Author/s Richard Overy
Publishing Year 2018 Issue 2018/158 Language English
Pages 23 P. 11-33 File size 398 KB
DOI 10.3280/SU2018-158002
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This article examines the bombing of British cities during the Second World War by the German Air Force. It focuses on three themes: the imagined effects of bombing and the fears that these aroused during the 1930s; the reality of bombing the urban area and its social and economic consequences; and the reasons why cities did not collapse into crisis under the impact of bombing despite the pre-war fears. The article argues that the bombing was not widespread or prolonged enough to create serious urban dysfunction and that a combination of government action, at national and local level, together with the efforts of the urban civil population to maintain city life were sufficient to sustain the city as an economic entity and a moral community and to provide a foundation for city reconstruction after the war.

Keywords: City bombing, Second World War, Blitz, Coventry, Reconstruction

Richard Overy, The bombing of British cities in the Second World War in "STORIA URBANA " 158/2018, pp 11-33, DOI: 10.3280/SU2018-158002