Strategic bombing during World War II
World War II (1939–1945) involved sustained strategic bombing of railways, harbours, cities, workers' and civilian housing, and industrial districts in enemy territory. Strategic bombing as a military strategy is distinct both from close air support of ground forces and from tactical air power.[31] During World War II, many military strategists of air power believed that air forces could win major victories by attacking industrial and political infrastructure, rather than purely military targets.[32] Strategic bombing often involved bombing areas inhabited by civilians, and some campaigns were deliberately designed to target civilian populations in order to terrorize them and disrupt their usual activities. International law at the outset of World War II did not specifically forbid the aerial bombardment of cities – despite the prior occurrence of such bombing during World War I (1914–1918), the Spanish Civil War (1936–1939), and the Second Sino-Japanese War (1937–1945).
For a list of notable strategic bombings in the European Theater of World War II, see List of air operations during the Battle of Europe.
Strategic bombing during World War II in Europe began on 1 September 1939 when Germany invaded Poland and the Luftwaffe (German Air Force) began bombing Polish cities and the civilian population in an aerial bombardment campaign.[33] As the war continued to expand, bombing by both the Axis and the Allies increased significantly. The Royal Air Force, in retaliation for Luftwaffe attacks on the UK which started on 16 October 1939, began bombing military targets in Germany, commencing with the Luftwaffe seaplane air base at Hörnum on the 19–20 March 1940.[34] In September 1940 the Luftwaffe began targeting British civilians in the Blitz.[35] After the beginning of Operation Barbarossa in June 1941, the Luftwaffe attacked Soviet cities and infrastructure. From February 1942 onward, the British bombing campaign against Germany became even less restricted and increasingly targeted industrial sites and civilian areas.[36][37] When the United States began flying bombing missions against Germany, it reinforced British efforts. The Allies attacked oil installations, and controversial firebombings took place against Hamburg (1943), Dresden (1945), and other German cities.[38]
In the Pacific War, the Japanese frequently bombed civilian populations as early as 1937 in Shanghai, also, for example, in Chongqing. US air raids on Japan escalated from October 1944[39] culminating in widespread firebombing and, in August 1945, the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
The effectiveness of the strategic bombing campaigns is controversial.[40][41][42][43] Although they did not produce decisive military victories in themselves, some argue that strategic bombing of non-military targets significantly reduced enemy industrial capacity and production[44][45] and was vindicated by the surrender of Japan.[46] Estimates of the death toll from strategic bombing range from hundreds of thousands to over a million. Millions of civilians were made homeless, and many major cities were destroyed, especially in Europe and Asia.
Europe[edit]
Policy at the start of the war[edit]
Before World War II began, the rapid pace of aviation technology created a belief that groups of bombers would be capable of devastating cities. For example, British Prime Minister Stanley Baldwin warned in 1932, "The bomber will always get through."
When the war began on 1 September 1939 with Germany's invasion of Poland, Franklin D. Roosevelt, President of the armed neutralitarian United States, issued an appeal to the major belligerents (Britain, France, Germany, and Poland) to confine their air raids to military targets, and "under no circumstances undertake bombardment from the air of civilian populations in unfortified cities"[60] The British and French agreed to abide by the request, with the British reply undertaking to "confine bombardment to strictly military objectives upon the understanding that these same rules of warfare will be scrupulously observed by all their opponents".[61] Germany also agreed to abide by Roosevelt's request and explained the bombing of Warsaw as within the agreement because it was supposedly a fortified city—Germany did not have a policy of targeting enemy civilians as part of their doctrine prior to World War II.[62][63]
The British Government's policy was formulated on 31 August 1939: if Germany initiated unrestricted air action, the RAF "should attack objectives vital to Germany's war effort, and in particular her oil resources". If the Luftwaffe confined attacks to purely military targets, the RAF should "launch an attack on the German fleet at Wilhelmshaven" and "attack warships at sea when found within range".[64] The government communicated to their French allies the intention "not to initiate air action which might involve the risk of civilian casualties"[65]
While it was acknowledged bombing Germany would cause civilian casualties, the British government renounced deliberate bombing of civilian property, outside combat zones, as a military tactic.[66] The British changed their policy on 15 May 1940, one day after the German bombing of Rotterdam, when the RAF was given permission to attack targets in the Ruhr Area, including oil plants and other civilian industrial targets which aided the German war effort, such as blast furnaces that at night were self-illuminating. The first RAF raid on the interior of Germany took place on the night of 15/16 May 1940 while the Battle of France was still continuing.[67]
Amerika bomber
Civilian casualties of strategic bombing
the strategic defensive aerial campaign fought by the German Luftwaffe over Germany and German-occupied Europe
Defense of the Reich
Emergency Fighter Program
List of Polish cities damaged in World War II
List of strategic bombing over Germany in World War II
Bombing of Wiener Neustadt in World War II
The Blitz
Air raids on Japan
the American naval mining of Japanese water routes and ports conducted by the Army Air Forces
Operation Starvation
the bombing of the Spanish city of Guernica carried out by the German Condor Legion during the Spanish Civil War
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