The Bombing Operations Carried Out by Allied Forces Against Germany: Questions and Answers

The technological developments that assisted bombing, the impact of bombing on the German economy, the impact of bombing on the German civilian morale and also the effects on the German war effort all help explain why the Allied strategic bombing of Germany during the Second World War was significant to quite a far extent. Each of the following paragraphs will analyse the impacts of the Allied strategic bombing on different aspects of Germany and also what factors assisted the Allied bombing campaign in creating a significant impact on Germany during the Second World War.

Many people were baked alive in this raid. About 873 bombers were bombing the German city. Dresden did not have any military or industrial targets that opposing countries would have wanted to destroy; it became known as a terror bombing by the British because it was not a target. The raid caused many unwanted deaths and destroyed a small city. The casualties that occurred in these events would not have happened if it were not for the new and improved aircraft.

It all started on December 7th, 1941. America had entered their Second World War following the Pearl Harbor attacks. America started its Pacific Campaign against the Imperial Japanese Army. After three years, America joined with fellow allied nations and invaded Nazi- Occupied France codename Operation Overlord. This was the biggest amphibious invasion ever recorded. From Pearl Harbor to the fall of Berlin in the spring of 1945, the American bomber plane helped defeat the Nazi regime, end the war in the Pacific, and revolutionize modern warfare.

One potentially significant area of impact caused by strategic bombing was its effect on German moral. This is because it was expected to terrify and shock the German

Britain’s air force was a vital part of their military and defence when Hitler attempted to gain air superiority over England through the German Luftwaffe which was led by Hermann Göering. The radar system used to detect aerial attack in Britain was flawed in the beginning of the war and there was a shortage of anti-air craft guns. Radar could not predict the size and height of incoming enemy bombers and lacked detail that was necessary and vital for effective defence preparations. At the start of the Blitz, there were only 92 anti-air craft guns to defend London and the guns were outdated with a terrible fire control system.

Allied strategic bombing during the Second World War did not achieve its intended objective, which was to break German morale and bring about the swift defeat of Germany. However it did have a very significant impact and assisted the allied victory. There are diplomatic and economic reasons why the bombing campaign was significant. It also had a large impact on morale both in Germany and in Britain and effected outcomes on the fighting fronts in Second World War by impairing the German forces. The significance of the strategic bombing campaign has to be measured in terms of its effect as compared with the effect of other actions taken by the allies. This essay will argue that the real significance of allied strategic bombing was in capping

During the Great War bombing was a new idea that was just spawned. The idea of throwing bombes out of planes was the beginning of a new way of warfare. As time advanced bombs were mounted on the bottom of bigger planes with small turret gunners to protect the bomber from enemy planes. During the thirties there was new ideas about ways of using bombers and how it would affect warfare. In Overy it says that many people like H.G. Wells in his book War in the Air shows how terrifying and chaotic bombers can be in war to civilians. Others like the Bomber Command loved the idea of bombing and thought it would be a way to win the war by devastating

World War II will forever live in infamy as one of the longest, most grueling wars America has faced. This fact was well realized by leaders and civilians of the United States in the 1940s. So, they did something about it. They set out to create the most destructive weapon the world has ever seen; the atomic bomb. The bombs that would soon vaporize steel buildings and rip holes in the earth the size of a small lake. These bombs came as a result of the Manhattan Project. However, the Manhattan Project didn’t affect just World War II. Because of this research and development, the nuclear arms race began, alternative energy was introduced, and millions of people were affected by radiation.

On July 7, 1944 the U.S. 8th Air Force conducted one of its largest bombing mission of the war. The 8th Air Force sent over 1100 bombers and 750 fighter escorts from bases in England to strike synthetic oil plants, aircraft factories, marshalling yards and other targets in Germany.

1. Strategic Bombing was the bombing plans in the beginning of World War II, the bombing of major enemy assets such as factories, railroads, and bases. However, this method was replaced by a cruder bombing strategy after the German Luftwaffe bombed the city of London unintentionally, by getting lost at night. A new strategy of bombing of decimating huge cities and their citizens took the place of strategic bombing when the British bombed Berlin in retaliation. Both air forces began to bomb heavily populated cities. Citizens in London could survive from the deep underground of their metro stations. However, the German losses were significant; by the end of the war, almost all German industrial cities were destroyed.

In 1940, US allies, more specifically the Royal Air Force, conducted several bombing campaigns. These campaigns were in response to German air attacks against the British air force and their assets and focused primarily on the city of Berlin. Throughout these campaigns, over a million tons of bombs were dropped

Although bombing played a key role in destroying Germany and expedited the outcome of the war, it was not the underlying factor responsible for the loss of the war of Germany. Whilst the consequences of Allied bombing are numerous, there are several key ones such as the relationship with Britain and the Soviet Union, its subsequent effect on morale and the economy, along with the significance of bombing on the Eastern Front.

Light trench mortars were the simple tubes that the bomb was dropped tail first, on the lighter end of the scale the “ granatenwerfer” models threw finned bombs (Bull). During World War 2 they also used The Atomic Bomb, it was a weapon of a different magnitude, a device that could pulverize an entire city more thoroughly than a raid by a thousand regular bombers (“ The 5 deadliest U.S. Weapons of war from WW2”). They also used the “Little Boy Bomb”, perhaps most significantly, the United States became the first to develop nuclear weapons in the form of the “Little Boy Bomb” which was dropped on Hiroshima. They also used tanks in World War 2, on the ground, highly effective tanks such as the panther and T-34 came to rule the battlefield. Also used during World War 2 were aircrafts, during the course of the fighting, the axis and allies created increasingly more advanced aircraft which culminated in the world’s jet fighter, the messerschmitt Me262 (“ Tools of conflict weapons of World War 2”).

Before the war started, there was no law that forbade aerial bombing of cities as the Hague conventions of 1897, and 1907 which outlined the codes of wartime conduct at land and sea had not been updated to include air warfare. Despite FDR’s early attempts to convince both sides of the table to agree to target military assets exclusively, political, industrial , and civilian infrastructures were soon targets of the strategic bombing plans used by the Axis as well as the Allied powers to destabilize ,cause chaos, and instill terror among the populations. Whereas in the past conflicts mainly took their course on the battlefields with civilians out of harm’s way, this time the Allied, and Axis war machines were directed at each other’s civilian hubs to bleed each other into submission. With world war 2 came a new era of warfare. With new technology, and new strategies, the world would witness devastation on a scale the likes

Firstly, the planes and mainly air balloons were used as spies. The balloons were used to track enemy movements.”in WW1 both sides used observation balloons(hot air balloons). They were used to gather information on enemy movements”(Oachs). A second way aerial weapons changed the way World War 1 was fought was that it introduced bombing from the skies. In the start of the war, planes were not as far into technology so they could only carry small bombs, but towards the end planes could take bigger bombs.”As the war went on both sides used aircrafts to drop bombs but they could only carry small bombs.by the end of the war longer planes were built that could carry bigger bombs”(World). The bombs were used to kill many enemy soldiers. Another reason bombs were used was to provide bunker shelter for the troops from the bomb explosion. The final reason on how aerial weapons changed the way World War 1 was fought was the fighting in the air, also known as a dog fight. "With mounted machine guns, pilots often fought enemy pilots in the air. these fights in the air were called dogfights. the best of the pilots became famous and were nicknamed Aces"(World). This helped prevent bombings from enemy teams because they were sometimes shot down in the air. Even though aerial weapons and tanks were two huge reasons that changed the way