Figure 1.--Military analysts in the inter-war period debated the potential impact of strtegic bombing. Some thought that bombing a opponents' cities would quickly destroy the wiil to resist. Air power proved critical in the War, but its impact proved much more complicated. One development that surprised many proponents of strategic bombing was the recsiliancy of civilian populations in many countries and their determination to resist when properly prepared. |
The air plane was first used in any significant way in warfare during World War I. It was used entirely in tactical operations. Plans were in place to begin strtegic bombing in 1919, but the War ended before this began. After the War, military analysts theorized as to the possible military impact of strategic bombing. The idea terrified Europeans, but no one in fact knew about the actual military impact. Both the Axis and Allied powers believed that terror bombing campaigns would undermine civilian moral and destroy their will to fight. Air power in World War II proved to be critical, but the impact was much more complicated than some proponents of air power had theorized. During the World WAr II, terror bombing had mixed results. It proved effective in Poland (Warsaw), the Netherlands (Rotterdam), and Yugoslavia (Belgrade). In other countries such as England (London and Coventry) and Germany (Hamburg), it was not effective in undermiing morale. In Britain ' London Can Take It' unified the civilian population and made them more determined than ever. This would seem to be the situation in Germany where the Allies not only returned tit for tat but bombed German cities to rubble. The differenc appears to be whether the civilian population is prepared and preceives that it is possible to effectively resist. In the instances where tetrror bombing did force the country to surrender, it was accompanied with a land invasion which convinced civilians that resistance was futile. While the strategic bombing campaign failed to destroy the German will to resist, it did play a role in the destruction of the Luftwaffe and finally destroyed the German war economy.
Navigate the Boys' Historical Clothing Web Site:
[Return to Main World War II strategic bombing campaign page]
[Return to Main World War II page]
[Introduction]
[Activities]
[Biographies]
[Chronology]
[Clothing styles]
[Countries]
[Bibliographies]
[Contributions]
[FAQs]
[Glossaries]
[Satellite sites]
[Tools]
[Boys' Clothing Home]