Ask the Chatbot Games & Quizzes ProCon History & Society Science & Tech Biographies Animals & Nature Geography & Travel Arts & Culture Money Videos
the Blitz
Table of Contents
References & Edit History Quick Facts & Related Topics
Images & Videos
German bombing of London during the Blitz the Blitz
What was the Battle of Britain?
Watch President Roosevelt outline his Four Freedoms and learn how Britain defeated Germany's Luftwaffe
Supermarine Spitfire Hawker Hurricane; Royal Air Force the Blitz the Blitz the Blitz the Blitz
For Students
Germany invades Poland, September 1, 1939, using 45 German divisions and aerial attack. By September 20, only Warsaw held out, but final surrender came on September 29.
Pop Quiz: 17 Things to Know About World War II
Quizzes
U.S. marines raising the American flag over Mount Suribachi, Iwo Jima, in February 1945
World War II Quiz
Louis IX of France (St. Louis), stained glass window of Louis IX during the Crusades. (Unknown location.)
World Wars
D-Day. American soldiers fire rifles, throw grenades and wade ashore on Omaha Beach next to a German bunker during D Day landing. 1 of 5 Allied beachheads est. in Normandy, France. The Normandy Invasion of World War II launched June 6, 1944.
A History of War
Related Questions
Read Next
People celebrate in Times Square in New York City, New York on V-E Day (Victory in Europe), May 8, 1945.
70th Anniversary of V-E Day
Map/infographic of the Dunkirk Evacuation May 26-June 4, 1940. World War II. France. SPOTLIGHT VERSION.
Timeline of the Dunkirk Evacuation
Normandy Invasion: Overview infographic. D-Day. World War II. SPOTLIGHT VERSION.
How the Normandy Invasion Happened: Infographic Overview
Commemorative medal of Nobel Prize winner, Johannes Diderik Van Der Waals
7 Nobel Prize Scandals
pg 159Explosions rock American base at Pearl Harbor following surprise Japanese attack, December 7, 1941.To Japan, an eventual attack on the United States, specifically on the island outpost of Hawaii, was aninevitable beginning of military action agains
Pearl Harbor in Context
Discover
Diverse elementary school children wearing school uniforms running outside of school. Boys girls
Pro and Con: School Uniforms
Iraqi Army Soldiers from the 9th Mechanized Division learning to operate and maintain M1A1 Abrams Main Battle Tanks at Besmaya Combat Training Center, Baghdad, Iraq, 2011. Military training. Iraq war. U.S. Army
8 Deadliest Wars of the 21st Century
Leonardo da Vinci (1452-1519), Italian Renaissance painter from Florence. Engraving by Cosomo Colombini (d. 1812) after a Leonardo self portrait. Ca. 1500.
10 Famous Artworks by Leonardo da Vinci
Los Angeles Police Department wanted flyer on Elizabeth Short, aka the "Black Dahlia," who was brutally murdered in January 1947. The FBI supported the Los Angeles Police Department in the case, including by identifying Short through her fingerprints that
America’s 5 Most Notorious Cold Cases (Including One You May Have Thought Was Already Solved)
The Cheshire Cat is a fictional cat from Lewis Carroll's Alice's Adventures in Wonderland. (Alice in Wonderland)
11 Banned Books Through Time
A human Inuit skull in a stone chambered cairn in Ilulissat in Greenland. These ancient graves are pre christian and are at least 2000
14 Tough Questions Answered
A Factory Interior, watercolor, pen and gray ink, graphite, and white goache on wove paper by unknown artist, c. 1871-91; in the Yale Center for British Art. Industrial Revolution England
Inventors and Inventions of the Industrial Revolution

the Blitz: Facts & Related Content

verifiedCite
While every effort has been made to follow citation style rules, there may be some discrepancies. Please refer to the appropriate style manual or other sources if you have any questions.
Select Citation Style
Share
Share to social media
URL
https://www.britannica.com/facts/the-Blitz
Written and fact-checked by
The Information Architects of Encyclopaedia Britannica

The Information Architects maintain a master list of the topics included in the corpus of  Encyclopædia Britannica, and create and manage the relationships between them.
The Information Architects of Encyclopaedia Britannica

Facts

Date September 7, 1940 - May 11, 1941
Location Bristol • London • Merseyside • United Kingdom • England
Participants Germany
Context World War II

Photos and Videos

German bombing of London during the Blitz
the Blitz
Supermarine Spitfire
Hawker Hurricane; Royal Air Force
the Blitz
the Blitz
the Blitz
the Blitz
Battle of Britain; the Blitz
the Blitz
What was the Battle of Britain?
Watch President Roosevelt outline his Four Freedoms and learn how Britain defeated Germany's Luftwaffe
Watch London Can Take It!, a film documenting the spirit of Londoners during the Blitz
See All Videos and Images →

Timeline

Samuel Bak: Smoke
Holocaust
1933 - 1945
Invasion of Poland
Invasion of Poland
September 1, 1939 - October 5, 1939
Learn how the Third Reich utilized U-boats in the Battle of the Atlantic to destroy Allied supply convoys
Battle of the Atlantic
September 3, 1939 - May 8, 1945
Dunkirk evacuation
Dunkirk evacuation
May 26, 1940 - June 4, 1940
North Africa campaigns of World War II
North Africa campaigns
June 1940 - May 13, 1943
the Blitz
Battle of Britain
July 1940 - September 1940
Vichy: Battle of France
Vichy France
July 1940 - September 1944
German bombing of London during the Blitz
the Blitz
September 7, 1940 - May 11, 1941
aftermath of the Battle of Crete
Battle of Crete
May 20, 1941 - June 1, 1941
German soldiers during Operation Barbarossa
Operation Barbarossa
June 22, 1941
German troops at the Battle of Moscow, 1941–1942
Battle of Moscow
September 30, 1941 - January 7, 1942
Pearl Harbor attack
Pearl Harbor attack
December 7, 1941
Wake Island
Battle of Wake Island
December 8, 1941 - December 23, 1941
U.S. troops advancing on Tarawa, Gilbert Islands, in 1943
Pacific War
December 8, 1941 - September 2, 1945
Bataan Death March
Bataan Death March
April 9, 1942
eastern New Guinea, from the 10th edition of Encyclopædia Britannica, c. 1902
Kokoda Track Campaign
July 1942 - January 1943
Battle of Stalingrad
Battle of Stalingrad
August 22, 1942 - February 2, 1943
Warsaw Ghetto Uprising
Warsaw Ghetto Uprising
April 19, 1943 - May 16, 1943
Allied decoy tank
Operation Fortitude
1944
Normandy Invasion
Normandy Invasion
June 6, 1944 - July 9, 1944
U.S. Marines on Saipan, Mariana Islands, 1944
Battle of Saipan
June 15, 1944 - July 9, 1944
Operation Bagration
June 23, 1944 - August 19, 1944
Cowra, New South Wales, Australia
Cowra breakout
August 5, 1944
Operation Market Garden
September 17, 1944 - September 27, 1944
Battle of the Bulge
Battle of the Bulge
December 16, 1944 - January 16, 1945
Yalta Conference
Yalta Conference
February 4, 1945 - February 11, 1945
Battle of Iwo Jima
Battle of Iwo Jima
February 19, 1945 - March 26, 1945
Battle for Castle Itter
May 5, 1945
Atomic bombing of Hiroshima
atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki
August 6, 1945 - August 9, 1945

Key People

Adolf Hitler
Adolf Hitler
dictator of Germany

Related Quizzes and Features

Quiz
D-Day. American soldiers fire rifles, throw grenades and wade ashore on Omaha Beach next to a German bunker during D Day landing. 1 of 5 Allied beachheads est. in Normandy, France. The Normandy Invasion of World War II launched June 6, 1944.
A History of War
Louis IX of France (St. Louis), stained glass window of Louis IX during the Crusades. (Unknown location.)
World Wars
U.S. marines raising the American flag over Mount Suribachi, Iwo Jima, in February 1945
World War II Quiz
Germany invades Poland, September 1, 1939, using 45 German divisions and aerial attack. By September 20, only Warsaw held out, but final surrender came on September 29.
Pop Quiz: 17 Things to Know About World War II