Figure 1.--This was Berlin at the end of the War. This photograph was taken by a Canadian soldier somewhere in Berlin during Summer 1945. The damafe in Berlin was caused primarily by the Allied bombardment, but apocalyptic Battle of Berlin also caused a great deal of damage.

There is no precise accounting of Germans killed as a result of the Allied strategic bombing campaign. Estimates vary. We have seen estimates ranging from 0.3-0.6 million Germans. While huge numbers, when you look at the destruction of German citie, one can not help but wonder why more Germans were not killed. The reason of course is the effifency of the Civil Defense program. The bombing destroyed or seriously damaged some 6 million homes. German industry which was located almost entirely in the cities, was devestated. Luftwaffee Chief Göering is reported to have said that he first realized that the War was lost when he first saw the American P-51s over Berlin. The strategic bombing campaign was a major force in the destruction of the Luftwaffee. Berlin and other major cities by 1945 were wastelands of rubble. German war production was finally affected, not only because of the damage to industrial cities, but because the Allies targeted Germany's production of fuel. The Romanian Ploesti oil field were targetted as well as synthetic fuel plants in Germany itself. About one-third of Germany industry depended on these plants. Most of the Luftwaffe's fuel came from them. [Hillgruber, p. 420ff.] The transportation system, another major target, was destoyed. By the end of the War many German units were reduced to using horse drawn carts. Germany quite simply could no longer wage war. Some historians motivated by ideology more than facts claim that the strategic bombing campaign did not work. This is simply inaccurate. It did work. The cost in men and material was enormous and it took until late 1944 to mortally wound the NAZI war economy. The morality can be questiones, In the end, however, the strategic bombing campaign did work. Germany by the end of the War was also no longer a modern industrial nation. The future of the country was now in the hands of the Soviets and Western Allies.

Sources

Hillgruber, Andreas. Strategie=Hitlers Strategie: Politik und Kriegführung 1940 bis 1941 (Frankfurk am Main, 1965).

Created: 7:00 PM 1/9/2008
Last updated: 7:00 PM 1/9/2008