<P> The primary objective of the German forces was to compel Britain to agree to a negotiated peace settlement . In July 1940 the air and sea blockade began, with the Luftwaffe mainly targeting coastal - shipping convoys, ports and shipping centres, such as Portsmouth . On 1 August, the Luftwaffe was directed to achieve air superiority over the RAF with the aim of incapacitating RAF Fighter Command; 12 days later, it shifted the attacks to RAF airfields and infrastructure . As the battle progressed, the Luftwaffe also targeted factories involved in aircraft production and strategic infrastructure . Eventually it employed terror bombing on areas of political significance and on civilians . </P> <P> The Germans had rapidly overwhelmed France and the Low Countries, leaving Britain to face the threat of invasion by sea . The German high command knew the difficulties of a seaborne attack and its impracticality while the Royal Navy controlled the English Channel and the North Sea . On 16 July, Adolf Hitler ordered the preparation of Operation Sea Lion as a potential amphibious and airborne assault on Britain, to follow once the Luftwaffe had air superiority over the UK . In September, RAF Bomber Command night raids disrupted the German preparation of converted barges, and the Luftwaffe's failure to overwhelm the RAF forced Hitler to postpone and eventually cancel Operation Sea Lion . Germany proved unable to sustain daylight raids, but their continued night - bombing operations on Britain became known as the Blitz . </P> <P> Historian Stephen Bungay cited Germany's failure to destroy Britain's air defences to force an armistice (or even outright surrender) as the first major German defeat in World War II and a crucial turning point in the conflict . The Battle of Britain takes its name from a speech by Winston Churchill to the House of Commons on 18 June: "What General Weygand has called The Battle of France is over . The Battle of Britain is about to begin ." </P> <P> Strategic bombing during World War I introduced air attacks intended to panic civilian targets and led in 1918 to the amalgamation of British army and navy air services into the Royal Air Force . Its first Chief of the Air Staff Hugh Trenchard was among the military strategists in the 1920s like Giulio Douhet who saw air warfare as a new way to overcome the stalemate of trench warfare . Interception was nearly impossible with fighter planes no faster than bombers . Their view (expressed vividly in 1932) was that the bomber will always get through, and the only defence was a deterrent bomber force capable of matching retaliation . Predictions were made that a bomber offensive would quickly cause thousands of deaths and civilian hysteria leading to capitulation, but widespread pacifism contributed to a reluctance to provide resources . </P>

Who won in the battle of britain ww2