In this topic you will learn why Britain went to war and was threatened with invasion by Hitler’s Germany during the Second World War from 1939-45, just over 20 years since the horrors of the First World War. But most of the time will be devoted to working out how the British people managed to cope with life on the Home Front for 6 years, much of that time with rationed food, restricted freedom and the threat of bombing, especially in large cities. You will learn how families were torn apart, with men fighting in all parts of the world, older men preparing to stop any invasion, women working on the land and in factories and children evacuated to the countryside.
What kept people going was what came to be known as the ‘Blitz spirit’, which people sometimes refer to today when times are hard. One of the most important things you will learn about relates to the world of ‘fake news’ today. To keep up people’s spirits the government produced a lot of propaganda as well as censorship to put a positive spin on events. You will learn how to spot this – an important skill for life. In terms of the wider world war, you will learn much more about the fighting itself in KS3.
