The Second World War - Extra Reading

1. The Battle of Britain - BBC History 3. Battle of Britain - World War II On June 17, 1940, the defeated French signed an armistice and quit World War II. Britain now stood alone against the power of Germany’s military forces, which had conquered most of Western Europe in less than two months. But Prime Minister Winston Churchill rallied his stubborn people and outmaneuvered those politicians who wanted to negotiate with Adolf Hitler. But Britain’s success in continuing the war would very much depend on the RAF Fighter Command’s ability to thwart the Luftwaffe’s efforts to gain air superiority. In fact, Britain’s situation was more favorable than most of the world recognized at the time. Even more serious, the Germans had poor intelligence and little idea of British vulnerabilities. For a time the advantage seemed to swing slightly in favor of the Germans, but a combination of bad intelligence and British attacks on Berlin led the Luftwaffe to change its operational approach to massive attacks on London. The Reader’s Companion to Military History.