3.Britain and World WarⅡ

The Munich Agreement⁷ of 1938gave Hitler a license for war；his invasion of Poland in 1939forced Britain into the conflict.When Winston Churchill became Prime Minister in 1940，Britain was under daily air attack and in danger of an invasion by sea，and the country was dependent on American friendship and lend-lease war materials.In a wartime speech to the House of Commons，Winston Churchill said that he had nothing to offer but“blood，toil，tears and sweat，...but a faith in ultimate victory.”

His confidence was justified.In Aug.1940，the German Air Force began an intensive attack on the airfields in southeastern England and the battle reached its greatest height in September and Octomber.Yet the English devised means of defense that kept casualties to a minimum.In vain did the German Air Force fight for supremacy in the air.With the Germans losing 1，733aircraft and the British 915，this Battle of Britain ended in a containment of German air power and the frustration of Hitler’s invasion plans.

By the end of 1941，Britain，Russia and the US were at war with Germany，Italy and Japan，and the three war leaders，Churchill，Stalin and F.D.Roosevelt，popularly known as“the Big Three”，were settling grand strategy and the political future of the world at their wartime meetings.In the autumn of 1942the tide of war was sharply reversed both at Stalingrad on the Russia front and at El Alamein⁸ in Egypt，while the Japanese were held at the frontier of India.On June 6，1944Allied forces landed in Normandy and opened the second front.By the beginning of 1945they were advancing into Germany itself.From the east the Russians were steadily advancing，and by April 30，1945Hitler committed suicide.A week later the Germans surrendered unconditionally to the Allies.The war in Europe was over.By Aug.1945the British Labour government was ordering a national holiday on“VJ Day”（Victory over Japan Day）to celebrate the dropping of two atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki，which，by killing 300，000people and causing serious damage to the health of future generations，had forced the Japanese government to capitulate，and had ended the Second World War.

Winston Churchill（1874-1965）

In the Second World War，the airplane and the tank were the decisive weapons，and，unlike in the First World War，the offensive regained the ascendancy over the defensive.Because of this，the British people suffered fewer casualties than in the First World War；but the economic losses were great，and about one-quarter of its national wealth was lost during the war.