Figure 1.--.

The most contoversial aspect of World War II today was the Allied strategic bombing campaign. Interestingly at the time this was not a matter of great reflection, especially before Dresden. There are two elements of the campaign that today controversial. First is the effectiveness of the campaign. Here the debates concerns the earlier phases of the campaign. There is little doubt that in the later phases of the campaign that German industrial production was affected and the mobility and effectiveness of the German war machine shattered. Second is the morality of the campaign. Here too often critics of the campaign use arguments that are essentially a condemnation of war itself. Here it should be remembered that it was Germany that launched World War II. It is true that civilians as the strategic bombing campaign unfolded became the target and as many as 0.6 million German civilians were killed. It is also true that NAZI Germany killed about 12 million civilians and POWs in concentration camps and death camps and was planning the destruction of much larger numbers of civilians had they won the War. German assessments of the strategic bombing campaign usually stress the terrible toll on civilians. Allied assessments normally accenuaye the role of the campaign in destroying the German war machine and by implication saving tens of millions of lives that the NAZIs had slated for destruction and even more that were to be consigned to slave labor in a NAZI dominated New Order.

Effectiveness

Military historians still debate the effectiveness os the strategic bombing campaign. Here the debates concerns the earlier phases of the campaign. There is little doubt that in the later phases of the campaign that German industrial production was affected and the mobility and effectiveness of the German war machine shattered. Any assessment of the Allied bombing campaign has to ask the question of how much more the Germans could have expanded production had it not been for the bombing. The bombing significantly clearly disrupted the economy and the ability of the NAZIs to persue their development of new weapons. There is no doubt that German civilians paid a heavy price for Hitler's war. The cost to civilians was very extrodinarily high. Over 130 German cities were literally flatened. There is no exact accounting. Estimates range from 0.3-0.6 million killed. Countless others were injured and 7.5 million people were left homeless. Even these losses, however, were a fraction of the approximately 12 million people who the NAZIs muredered in concentration camps and death camps and even a smaller number of those the NAZIs had slated for death or a life of slave labor.

Morality

The morality of the air campaign is a still hotly debated question. At the time, none of the major combatant countries with bombing formations (Britain, Germany, Italy, Japan, and the United States) questioned their own use of bombing on moral grounds. America and Britain accused NAZI Germany of war crimes when it conducted terror bombing of cities with that explicit goal. The Japanese did the same in China. After the the NAZIs began using this tactic, both America and Britain subsequently launched much more massive assaults on German and later Japanese cities. Although the goal was never described explicity as terror, the differences if you were a German civilian would be difficult to determine. The German foreign minister coming to Washington in November 2002 recalled cowering in a bomb shelter during the Allied bombing. A HBC reader remembers the glow in the night sky from raging firesc in a nearby city after Allied bombing runs. Much of the debate over the morality of the aerial campaign really or questins on the morality of ar itself. There are questions, however, tat pertain uniquely to the World War II aerial campaign itself. HBC does not seek to answer these questions. A thorough discussion would be a study in itself. We do believe, however, that it is important to pose some of the major questions. German assessments of the strategic bombing campaign usually stress the terrible toll on civilians in isolation and often seek to isolate the discussion to narrow military actions. Allied assessments normally accenuaye the role of the campaign in destroying the German war machine and by implication saving tens of millions of lives that the NAZIs had slated for destruction and even more that were to be consigned to slave labor in a NAZI dominated New Order.

Created: 2:51 AM 8/7/2005
Last updated: 2:51 AM 8/7/2005