Relating an event to a Bigger Picture of the Past

The Blitz of 1940 is certainly a significant event in Britain’s past, one which has repeatedly been drawn upon as a symbol of national consciousness. It was a time when most of Europe had been defeated by the Nazi regime in Germany, typically through ‘Blitzkrieg’ – or lightning war methods of attack – whereby heavy bombing from the air was followed by rapid military action on the ground. Britain had declared war on Germany after its invasion of Poland in 1939, following its annexation of Austria and Czechoslovakia. By the time of the Blitz, Germany had defeated Holland, Belgium, France and Norway.