This thesis examines the attitudes of British people to the aerial bombardment of German cities during the Second World War, with particular attention given to those who challenged the nature of the campaign. I use contemporary sources with a strong emphasis on qualitative data to develop a picture of attitudes at the time and situate the roots of the significant post-war controversy within these contemporary attitudes. The thesis offers a more sustained and textured account of anti-bombing sentiment than other historiographical works. An introductory chapter charts the development of aerial bombing in the early years of the twentieth century. The extent to which Britain engaged with aerial bombardment, and how it was understood by people in Britain, are addressed here. Three case studies – each focusing on a different raid on a German city – are then used to address how attitudes to the bomber offensive were shaped at different stages of the war. The first is the December 1940 attack on Mannheim. This took place during the Blitz on British cities, a factor which has implications for the nature of responses at this time. The question of reprisals is important here. I show how the desire for reprisals was far from universal, yet it was overstated in the press and by Prime Minister Winston Churchill. The second case study addresses the series of heavy attacks on Hamburg in July and August 1943. This followed the decision, taken the previous year, to officially adopt a policy of area bombing. This chapter shows how the Archbishop of Canterbury's support for the campaign stifled voices of protest at this time. The final case study considers the raids on Dresden in February 1945. Churchill's response is addressed in this chapter and contrasted with the immediate concerns raised in the press and in private diaries.

This thesis is a detailed analysis of British foreign policy between 3 September 1939 and 10 May 1940. It concentrates on policy towards the Far East, Italy, the Soviet Union, the Balkans, and Scandinavia. These areas represented the biggest challenges to British policy following the outbreak of war with Germany: Japan and Italy, whilst nominal allies of Germany, had opted to stay out of the war, the Soviet Union appeared to be acting in collaboration with Germany but was not at war with Britain, and the Balkans and Scandinavia were the most likely theatres of war if the conflict were to spread. Lack of resources dictated that British efforts be directed towards minimising military activity and containing the conflict, whilst putting economic pressure on Germany’s ability to fight. Potential allies of Germany had to be dissuaded from entering the war and prevented from helping Germany economically. Potential theatres of war had to be kept neutral unless or until an extension of hostilities would be in Britain’s interests. The contradictions and conflicts of interest created by these policies posed serious problems, and it is the British attempts to solve these problems which form the focus of this study.

No description available.

Despite considerable interest in the BBC European Service and the role of transnational broadcasting during the Second World War, surprisingly little attention has hitherto been paid to the BBC Polish language broadcasts. As the first full length academic study of the wartime BBC Polish Service, this thesis aims to provide an in-depth examination of previously unanalysed primary sources, both Polish and British, in order to establish the extent to which Polish Service broadcasts during World War II were considered as a significant and reliable source of information. The study is primarily based on the BBC Written Archives records, in particular, the scripts of the BBC Polish language bulletins, the European News Directives and Minutes of Meetings as well as the Political Warfare Executive (PWE) directives for the Polish Service from the National Archives at Kew. These directives are central in answering the principal research question, namely the extent to which the Polish Service was required to follow official British government policy. To this end, the analysis is supported by Polish government-in-exile documents and the Polish Underground reports stored at the Polish Institute and Sikorski Museum and the Polish Underground Movement Study Trust in London. These archives represent a valuable resource for studies of wartime broadcasting, censorship and propaganda. Together the various archives (in conjunction with other privately held documents) offer historians a rich source of material from which the organisation and functioning of the BBC Polish Service over this period can be constructed. Given the volume of material related to World War II, the scope of the study is concentrated upon Whitehall and BBC policy with regards to the Polish Service coverage of the Polish-Soviet affairs from the period when diplomatic relations between Poland and the USSR were re-established in 1941 to the withdrawal of recognition of the Polish government-in-exile by the Allies in 1945. The analysis demonstrates that, although the Polish Service attempted to be objective, impartial and neutral, this was achieved by selectiveness rather than by presenting both Polish and Soviet sides of the argument in territorial and political disputes. In particular, after the secret agreement between the Big Three was signed at Tehran in 1943, attempts were made by British officials to use the Polish Service as a platform to convince the Polish Underground and, by extension, the Polish population, to agree to Stalin’s demands. In general, any subjects which could be perceived by Stalin as offensive were labelled as ‘sensitive’ and expunged from the broadcasts. The evidence in this thesis therefore suggests that the overall output of the Polish service was at times subject to wider constraints determined by allied foreign policy goals and in particular the relationship between Britain and the Soviet Union in the defeat of Nazi Germany.

This thesis explores German responses to United States diplomatic actions during the period, 1939-1941. The history and events involving Europe prior to World War II are discussed.

Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis (IUPUI)

This thesis examines the use of prisoners of war (POWs), agents and other groups of persons as source of information in the British conduct of war against Germany during the Second World War and demonstrates its significance. While the successes of Bletchley Park in decrypting German wireless traffic are well-known, human intelligence (HUMINT) has received considerably less scholarly attention. During the years 1939 to 1945, the British used an extensive espionage network, maintained informal contacts in neutral cities, and questioned refugees, convicted enemy spies and soldiers who had escaped from German captivity. Most notably, the military services established a far-reaching system of interrogation facilities to obtain intelligence from German prisoners of war in all theatres of war. These activities provided a valuable amount of intelligence on German weaponry, tactics, plans and mentality, which not only constituted useful background information in rapidly changing war conditions but also improved decision-making processes and resulting actions. During the past decades, the main focus of academic research lay on signals intelligence and its influence on British strategy and operations which resulted in a neglect of other forms of intelligence. Recent academic research has not only emphasised a more holistic view of intelligence and its impact on warfare but also points to several successful HUMINT operations such as the international cooperation in espionage and the so-called Combined Services Detailed Interrogation Centre, United Kingdom (CSDIC(UK)). At the same time, studies in intelligence provide an extensive framework dealing with various theoretical, practical and ethical aspects which facilitates the analysis of intelligence in historical context. In light of these developments and the unprecedented access to archival material, a re-evaluation of the role of human intelligence in Great Britain during the Second World War is necessary. This thesis combines the theoretical approaches of intelligence with an examination of the organisation of human intelligence during wartime. It utilises three case studies covering the tactical, operational and strategic level of war. First, it offers a model of “main areas”, collection, analysis, dissemination and use, to examine the intelligence process in historical context. These elements constitute a set of interacting steps which describe the way from a specific piece of raw material to its use as human intelligence in decision-making. The human origin influences the characteristics of the intelligence process such as the interaction of individuals during collection, the inherent problem of reliability and accuracy, and the question of acceptance by potential users. The model also serves as a basis for an evaluation scheme: the internal value addresses the intelligence process itself, whereas the external value measures the effect within decision-making and its impact on resulting actions. Regarding the organisational aspect, the intelligence agencies responsible for human intelligence used their previous experience from the last war and grew significantly in size during the Second World War. The interrogation of prisoners of war consisted of a multi-step process with the CSDIC(UK) at the top, which over 10 000 POWs passed through. The combination of interrogation techniques – such as the omniscient trick and friendly approach, concealed microphones, and former refugees or prisoners acting as stool pigeons – resulted in a high output of accurate and appreciated HUMINT. The Secret Service (SIS) recovered after some setbacks at the beginning of the war and – supported by contacts in occupied territory – it was able to deliver reports covering a wide range of topics. In addition, the Security Service (MI5) and the Special Operations Executive (SOE) supplemented the work of the SIS – besides their primary objectives. In addition to the use of enemy prisoners and agents in the field, there were three other sources for HUMINT: the questioning of refugees in the specifically designed London Reception Centre, regular contacts with interned British soldiers and individual arrangements in neutral countries, most notably in Sweden and Switzerland, which provided the Foreign Office with news of varying quality. The outcome of these extensive efforts is discussed in the three case studies. The tactical example deals with the defence against German attacks during the Battle of Britain and the Blitz in 1940/1941. POW Intelligence supplemented the other sources of intelligence with the perspective of the enemy: it provided actual data on armament, armour and equipment of German bomber and fighter aircraft; it added details on the order of battle and combat readiness of the German Luftwaffe; and it gave insight into enemy tactics, targeting and the effectiveness of British countermeasures. Therefore, HUMINT made a valuable contribution to the overall intelligence picture which supported and optimised the efforts of Fighter Command. It helped to prepare fighter pilots for their engagements with the enemy and to counter new tactics and technologies such as navigational aids for night bombing. The operational case study covers the detection of the German plans to use a liquid rocket and cruise missile (the so called V-weapons V1 and V2) against British cities, where human intelligence played a key role. In early 1943, SIS reports and secret records of conversations between German POWs convinced the authorities in London of the danger of a long range weapon of a new type. HUMINT later gave indications of the existence of two distinct weapons and the V1 firing system in Northern France. In 1944, it provided details on the characteristics and launching procedures of the V2. These contributions enabled the British not only to direct other intelligence resources such as aerial reconnaissance towards the new threat but also to develop effective offensive and defensive countermeasures. These delayed the deployment of the two weapons and significantly reduced the inflicted damage. The strategic example deals with the British efforts to assess the state of morale of the German military and civilian population. This aspect was primarily covered by human intelligence. Although the amount of raw material gradually expanded and the analytical methods became more sophisticated – especially after the drastic increase of prisoner of war interrogations after D-Day –, the impact of HUMINT remained ambivalent. Until 1943, preconceived opinions about an inferior German morale and an especially vulnerable civilian population were not altered by intelligence products provided by the Joint Intelligence Sub-Committee and a separate “morale committee”. The conviction in the second half of 1943 that Germany would collapse from within as it had happened in 1918 was the most visible result. In the following months, intelligence analysis improved considerably and finally falsified previous hopes; however, that development did not restrain British authorities from over-enthusiastic expectations of a rapid end of war in the summer of 1944. Ultimately, human intelligence provided a considerable insight into the inner state of the enemy, but the intelligence task to detect a predefined collapse and the attempt to conceive an elaborated concept of morale overburdened the intelligence services. This thesis combines theoretical approaches with a historical analysis and shows that human intelligence was a powerful force multiplier which the British early recognized and successfully utilized. Therefore, this thesis offers a new perspective on British intelligence and military history during the Second World War. Furthermore, it seeks to contribute to general discussions about the relevance of intelligence in decision-making up to the present day.

No description available.

No description available.

This creative thesis comprises a book length collection of poems entitled Box Of Chalks, and an accompanying prose commentary exploring issues of research, drafting and the forming of a narrative sequence of poetry. The book of poems is based on the experience of Polish boys and men forcibly conscripted into the German Army by National Decree, 4th March 1941. This enforced conscription remains a little acknowledged fact which I discovered is still refuted in some Polish communities. The poems are written from the viewpoint of one conscript. They consist of dramatic monologues, a duologue and a voice of the Valksliste. The poems cover a period from boyhood to old age. The accompanying prose commentary on the process of researching the historical material and the artistic drafting of the poems is formed of six chapters. Chapter One explores the genesis of the poems in the historical events of German conscription in Silesian Poland. Chapter Two discusses the ethics of using another's voice and the painful experiences. In this chapter, I trace the creative choices made from composite experiences as the voice of the sequence gradually developed. In Chapter Three, I show how facts, memories and experiences were gleaned through interviewing survivors and one survivor in particular. This chapter further examines the history of the Polish war experience and shows how oral reminiscence is linked to historically recorded events. The chapter shows how gleanings from these 'rememberings' formed the basis of individual poems and discusses the difficulties of opening up delicate matters linked to emotions of shame and guilt in the surviving community. Chapter Four examines the difficulties and rewards in finding the most appropriate opening for the narrative. I aim to demonstrate how the sequence of poems benefited from structuring techniques and a 'layering of imagery and sound', which, although discovered late in the process, helped to form a cohesive narrative. Chapter Five discusses the drafting of key poems and the challenge of unexpected inconsistencies encountered when designing the poetic sequence. Here, I explore the demands of forming a longer narrative out of individual poems, for example the need for bridging poems, continuity and telling the larger story mainly through one voice. Chapter Six demonstrates how a large part of the sequence was written transposing some of my own historical and cultural experiences through corresponding physical detail. Here, I explore experiments in creating characters and physical details to develop the world of the narrative and its accumulative progression. I conclude this thesis by acknowledging that the consequences of conscription continued long after the war had ended and has had an effect on later generations.