The Critical Period: Reasons Behind Germany’s Loss of the Battle of Britain, 1940
by In a rare divergence from what history might expect, a handful of English fighter pilots, pitted against the full might of the German Luftwaffe, survived and indeed prevailed. They were able to accomplish this in spite of everything history had to throw at them not only due to their bravery and skill, but also thanks to the culmination of several crucial factors.
Thus, had Hitler’s determination to invade England been more substantial, he would have had reason to stay the course, and would likely have prevailed in this conflict with Britain, albeit at great cost to his own forces. The fact remains, however, that Hitler did not pursue the complete capitulation of England; it was evidently not worth the guaranteed heavy losses to him. Turning to Russia, he failed to recognize the dangerous consequences of leaving England unbeaten, ready as a stepping stone for American invasion forces to start a Second Front in years to come.
Thus, when Churchill said to the House of Commons in June of 1940 “Upon this battle…depends our own British life”, he was correct. When, in the same speech, however, he declared that “Hitler knows that he will have to break us in this island or lose the war”, he was undoubtedly mistaken. England’s consequential survival, and indeed prevalence, in the Battle of Britain was thus not only the result of myriad factors that made the Luftwaffe’s task extremely costly, but also of the mistaken priorities and flawed vision of one man, who pulled the Luftwaffe from its mission before it could be completed.
When Churchill so memorably declared, “Never in the field of human conflict has so much been owed by so many to so few” he was certainly correct, but not completely so: there were other decisive factors at work beyond the legendary, indubitable heroism and skill of those few pilots. Rarely in world history do so many important advantages fall to the underdog: the Luftwaffe’s ill-preparedness and tactical errors, the RAF’s strategic brilliance and inherent natural defensive advantage, and Hitler’s unwillingness to stomach, or even see the need for, the resulting high losses were all critical in tipping the balance of power to the British. During this critical period of world history, thus, it was undeniably rational to expect the unexpected.
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