Battle of Britain
- Date
- July to October 1940
- Category
- Military & conflict
- Region
- Western Europe (United Kingdom)
- Era
- Modern
- Significance
Between July and October 1940 the German Luftwaffe attempted to gain air superiority over the United Kingdom as a precondition for a planned cross-Channel invasion (Operation Sea Lion).
Britain's Royal Air Force, aided by an integrated radar-based air defence system and the production of Hurricane and Spitfire fighters, contested German raids on airfields, ports and, from September, the bombing of London and other cities known as the Blitz. By late October the Luftwaffe had failed to break British air defences, and Hitler indefinitely postponed the invasion. The battle was the first major military campaign fought entirely in the air and the first significant defeat for Germany, ensuring Britain remained in the war as a base for later operations against the Axis.
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Empires active in July to October 1940
- Soviet Union1922 CE to 1991 CE
- Empire of Japan1868 CE to 1947 CE
- French Colonial Empire (Second)1830 CE to 1962 CE
- British Empire1583 CE to 1997 CE
- Spanish Empire1492 CE to 1976 CE
- Portuguese Empire1415 CE to 1999 CE
Related military & conflict events
- Attack on Pearl Harbor7 December 1941
- German invasion of Poland and outbreak of World War II1 September 1939
- Operation Barbarossa: German invasion of the Soviet Union22 June 1941
- Battle of Stalingrad23 August 1942 to 2 February 1943
- Second Sino-Japanese War and the Nanjing Massacre7 July 1937 to 2 September 1945
- D-Day: the Normandy landings6 June 1944
Essential reading
- Cárdenas Nationalises Mexico's Oil1938
- The Dust Bowl1930 to 1940 (peak 1934 to 1936)
- 1931 Central China FloodsJune to August 1931
- Castle Bravo Test and the Nuclearisation of the Pacific1 March 1954
Further reading
The wider story
Conquerors: How Portugal Forged the First Global Empire
Fast-paced narrative of Portugal's seaborne empire.
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