Battle of Britain

(noun)

A combat of the Second World War, when the Royal Air Force defended the United Kingdom against the German Air Force attacks from the end of June 1940. Described as the first major campaign fought entirely by air forces.

Related Terms

(proper noun)

A combat of the Second World War, when the Royal Air Force defended the United Kingdom against the German Air Force attacks from the end of June 1940, and described as the first major campaign fought entirely by air forces.

Related Terms

Examples of Battle of Britain in the following topics:

  • Britain's Strategy

    • The first phase saw the capitulation of the Netherlands, Belgium and France during May and June 1940 and continued into an air war between Germany and Britain that climaxed with the Battle of Britain.
    • British strategy was one of survival, defending the British isles directly in the Battle of Britain (according to British historians: July 10 - October 31, 1940) and indirectly by defeating Germany in the Battle of the Atlantic (the longest continuous military campaign in World War II, running from 1939 to the defeat of Germany in 1945) and the combined Axis powers in the North African Campaign.
    • The fall of France left Britain alone among formally non-neutral states in Europe.
    • The operations of the Luftwaffe against the Royal Air Force became known as the Battle of Britain.
    • Britain was the main base for the operation and provided the majority of the naval power for it.

  • France and Spain in the Revolutionary War

    • In 1777, news of the Patriot victory at the Battle of Saratoga was received with great enthusiasm in France.
    • In 1781, the Spanish defeated the British at the Battle of Pensacola, giving the Spanish control of West Florida.
    • Under François-Joseph Paul, Marquis de Grasse Tilly, comte de Grasse, the French defeated a British fleet at the Battle of the Chesapeake in 1781, ensuring the success of allied ground forces in the Siege of Yorktown, the last major land battle of the Revolutionary War.
    • This painting depicts French (left) and British ships (right) at the battle of the Chesapeake.
    • The Battle of Ushant was the first naval engagement between Britain and France in the Revolutionary War.

  • America's Growing Involvement in WWII

    • Britain's situation was especially dire seeing as they were involved in the Battle of the Atlantic.
    • This agreement provided Britain with more ships for its navy, and also meant that the still-neutral U.S. took over defense of Britain's bases.
    • A total of $50.1 billion (equivalent to $647 billion today) worth of supplies were shipped to Britain, the Soviet Union, France and China.
    • Following the fall of France, Great Britain became the only European nation actively engaged in war against Nazi Germany.
    • By 1941, however, Britain had liquidated so many assets that it became short of cash.

  • Across the Atlantic: France and Britain

    • A long-time enemy of Britain and an imperial rival, lost much of their colonial lands in the Americas after the French and Indian War.
    • The French monarchy, humiliated by Britain's victory in the Seven Years War, had been planning for a war of revenge since the Treaty of Paris that had ended the conflict in 1763.
    • This reluctance to send military aid to the Americans, however, changed with Washington's defeat of Britain at the Battle of Saratoga in 1777: when France re-initiated negotiations with the United States for a formal alliance that resulted in both the Treaty of Amity and Commerce and the Treaty of Alliance.
    • The purpose of the Jay Treaty, ratified February 29, 1796, was to relieve post-war tensions between Britain and the United States.
    • It was an agreement between the United States and Great Britain that was credited for averting war, resolving issues that had not been addressed since the Treaty of Paris of 1783, and facilitating ten years of peaceful trade between the United States and Britain in the midst of the French Revolutionary Wars (1792-1815).

  • International Diplomacy

    • Instead, they tried to bring Britain and France in as mediators.
    • Though the Confederates believed that Britain had to support the Confederacy to obtain cotton, the British had ample stocks to last over a year and had been developing alternative sources of cotton.
    • Britain did allow the Confederacy to purchase several warships from its commercial ship builders.
    • But the Union victory at the Battle of Antietam and internal opposition of British abolitionists resulted in no British recognition.
    • The cost to Britain of a war with the United States was high: the immediate loss of American grain shipments, the end of exports to the United States, and the seizure of billions of pounds invested in American securities.

  • The Battle of the Atlantic

    • Britain required more than a million tons of imported material per week in order to be able to survive and fight.
    • In essence, the Battle of the Atlantic was a tonnage war: the Allies struggled to supply Britain, while the Axis attempted to stem the flow of merchant shipping which enabled Britain to keep fighting.
    • The Battle of the Atlantic was the dominating factor all through the war.
    • The Battle of the Atlantic was won by the Allies in two months.
    • The Germans failed to stop the flow of strategic supplies to Britain.

  • The Treaty of Ghent

    • The Treaty of Ghent was the peace treaty that ended the War of 1812 between the United States and Great Britain.
    • Because of the era's slow communications, it took weeks for news of the peace treaty to reach the United States, and the Battle of New Orleans was fought after it was signed.
    • News of the treaty finally reached the United States after the American victory in New Orleans and the British victory in the Second Battle of Fort Bowyer, but before the British assault on Mobile, Alabama.
    • In addition, at least 3,000 American slaves escaped to British territories because of Britain's offer of freedom—the same offer Britain had made during the American Revolution.
    • The War of 1812 was highly significant in Britain's North American colonies.

  • The War in the North

    • The seizure of American ships and sailors, combined with the British support of American Indian resistance, led to strident calls for war against Great Britain.
    • In a narrow vote, Congress authorized the president to declare war against Britain in June 1812, beginning the War of 1812.
    • On October 13, U.S. forces were again defeated at the Battle of Queenston Heights.
    • At the Battle of Ogdensburg, the Americans were forced to retire.
    • Name the key battles in the northern campaigns of the War of 1812

  • The British Strategy

    • Britain, still engaged in the Napoleonic wars, struggled to formulate an effective strategy against the colonists in the war of 1812.
    • On October 13, United States forces were again defeated at the Battle of Queenston Heights, where General Brock was killed.
    • In 1813, the Americans won control of Lake Erie in the Battle of Lake Erie and cut off British and Native American forces in the west from their supply base.
    • Once Britain and The Sixth Coalition defeated Napoleon in 1814, France and Britain became allies.
    • Britain ended the trade restrictions and the impressment of American sailors, thus removing two more causes of the war.

  • The War's Aftermath

    • Because of the era's slow communications, it took weeks for news of the peace treaty to reach the United States; the Battle of New Orleans was fought after it was signed in a neutral territory (the city of Ghent).
    • However, the treaty was not in effect until it was ratified by Congress in February, 1815, a month after the battle ended .
    • There have been no estimates of the cost of the American war to Britain, but it did add some £25 million to the national debt.
    • The Americans protested that Britain's failure to return the slaves violated the Treaty of Ghent.
    • The War of 1812 was highly significant in Britain's North American colonies.