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Essay / The Importance of Allied Strategic Bombing in World War II
Allied strategic bombing played an undeniably important role in Germany's defeat in World War II, but it did not fully achieve its objectives that towards the end of the war in 1944. Although immoral, Allied strategic bombing terrorized civilian populations, achieving its goal of damaging morale. The strategic bombings also helped repair relations between the British and the USSR, which had been damaged after the British failed to help them at the start of the Battle of Stalingrad, giving the Soviets the enthusiasm to continue fighting persistently, resulting in a decisive victory. Although the Allies came at a huge personal cost, including 57,000 deaths and 10% of the total cost of the war, in 1945 strategic bombing succeeded in striking the heart of German industrial production, resulting in the Allied defeat of the 'Nazi Germany. to plagiarism. Get a Custom Essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”?Get an Original EssayIn terms of morale, the bombings directly terrorized the German population, depleting the enemy's livelihood and, towards the end of the war in particular, they had an immense effect on Allied success. Bombers dropping millions of tons of explosives on industrial units and cities damaged the enemy's ability to wage war, leading historians such as Richard Overy to believe that "the air offensive was l "one of the decisive elements of the Allied victory". On July 27, 1943, a catastrophic attack on Hamburg caused the deaths of approximately 30,000 German civilians. One victim said the roads were unusable because "the asphalt had melted" and people were lying alive but stuck in the asphalt. A hot summer and the proximity of buildings such as St. Nicholas Church added to the apocalyptic consequences of the firestorm. Its impact was shocking across Europe and even German leaders such as Albert Speer had to concede it, admitting that "six more Hamburgs and the war is over". While the strategic bombing of Germany was undeniably important in the short term, in the long term it was deadly. innocent German civilians was unjustifiable and immoral. With more deaths in the bombing of Hamburg than in the entire German campaign in England, it has remained controversial since it was embodied by "bomber" Harris who predicted the "destruction of homes, public services , transport and lives” upon his appointment in 1942. not shying away from the importance of strategic bombing. Equally frightening was Churchill's directive in February 1945, ordering the destruction of Dresden. 1249 Bombers dropped 4,000 tons of explosives, destroying the German cultural center, killing around 30,000 people. Although Dresden exceeded Allied expectations, the British knew that the strategic bombing was indiscriminate, appalling, and unethical. Goebbels, the Nazi propaganda minister, exaggerated the death toll, claiming that there had been 200,000 deaths in Dresden, presenting it as an innocent victim of the Allies, angering some German civilians against the Allies. This was important because it thwarted the Allies' goals of damaging morale and instead strengthened it as German civilians united around leaders willing to protect them, like Hitler. Additionally, the bombings did not damage morale to the point that civilians rebelled against their government until 1944, when the officerGerman von Stauffenberg believed that Hitler was disgracing Germany, which we can assume led to the July Bomb Plot, which failed to kill the Führer. There were 635,000 German deaths from the bombing campaigns, causing long-term controversy because, although the Allied goals of destroying "morale both at home and at the battle front" were achieved, it was immoral to turn German cities into burning ruins, killing large numbers of soldiers. innocent civilians. Strategic bombing was a way of securing Allied support for Stalin by diverting Nazi troops from the USSR and rebuilding relations with the Soviet Republic. The British failed to help the Soviets in "its hour of greatest need", failing to divert Nazi troops from the Eastern Front at the Battle of Stalingrad in August 1942. At the Conference of Moscow from August 12 to 15, 1942, Stalin provoked Churchill, arguing the idea of Western cowardice to the point of insulting him. , forcing Churchill to propose the bombing of Germany. This was important because it reassured the Soviets of Allied support, diverting German resources away from Russia, leading them to a decisive victory at Stalingrad. This ended Germany's advance on the Eastern Front, marking Germany's first defeat in World War II. Surprisingly, even Hitler wanted to "hide this news from the German people", fearing that it would harm German efforts to enter the war. German resources had been significantly depleted and reduced over the five months that the battle lasted, significantly weakening Germany's ability to continue the war, while providing the Allies with new reason to persist in strategic bombing. Because of this new motive, more attention was paid to bombing, starting the production of new technologies that ultimately helped the Allies win the war. Four-engined Lancaster aircraft replaced twin-engined bombers, allowing larger bomb loads to travel further and fire greater quantities of ordnance into industrial areas. Planes began to carry specially trained bombers, relieving the burden on navigators. Although 1942 could be considered an experimental year, for the first time since 1939 the bombing campaign was given priority. The United States brought additional enthusiasm with heavily armed aircraft such as the B-17 "Flying Fortress", allowing the Allies to engage in daytime bombing as well as night campaigns. Although the Allies were still suffering losses at Berlin and Nuremberg, Roosevelt and Churchill rethought their strategy, due to the need to support the Soviets, and changed their approach. It was urgent to destroy the German Luftwaffe. Disposable fuel tanks were created, increasing the range traveled by planes by 1,500 miles. Production of P-51 Mustang aircraft that flew further than "any fighter had flown" rapidly increased, quadrupling the strength of the US 8th Force in 8 months. By November 1943, 21% of the Luftwaffe's personnel had been lost and by December this figure rose to 23%, destroying the German Air Force and killing a quarter of the pilots each month, forcing Germany to fight at a ratio of 1:7. The German economy was finally exposed when the Allies destroyed railways, oil supplies and chemical production. This was important as many of the resources used for the German war effort were lost in thedestruction of the air force, which was undoubtedly one of the main causes of the Allied victory. The bombings also came at a huge personal cost to the Allies, causing long-term controversy. on whether the resources used for the bombing could have been put to better use. Considering the campaign began in 1939, it took 5 years before it proved useful. Allied forces instilled fear, but not so much that German industry was completely damaged. Hitler realized this and called in anti-aircraft guns, or Flak, which proved their worth in Hamburg where they damaged 78 Allied planes. The strategic bombing imposed a heavy and unaffordable financial burden on Britain, leading to post-war impoverishment. Attacks throughout the war cost £2.78 billion - £2,911.00 for each operational aircraft flown by Bomber Command and £5,914.00 for each German civilian killed by the offensives. This was arguably a waste of money that could have been used to fight other methods of warfare, such as mechanized warfare. Instead, the Allies devoted resources to producing 488 light bombers that could hardly reach the Ruhr from British bases, with bomb loads too small to cause significant damage. These bombers weighed less than 250 pounds due to the bases' inability to accommodate large aircraft. After the Rotterdam attacks in May 1940, 96 twin-engined bombers were deployed to destroy oil and power installations in the Ruhr, of which only 24 crew found the target areas and 6 failed to return. This was significant since strategic bombing accounted for approximately 10% of the cost of the entire war, and with an overall mortality rate of 46% and with 60% of airmen wounded, killed or taken prisoner, it appears that the personal cost to the Allies was vast and unsustainable. Of 125,000 crew members, 57,205 were killed, 8,403 were wounded in action, and 9,838 became prisoners of war. Allied forces were unable to carry out daylight raids after attacks constantly threatened the loss of entire forces. Nighttime bombing could only take place if the sky was clear and moonlit, as it was difficult to locate targets, meaning there were only short periods during which bombing could last. place sustainably. American Major Alexander Seversky said that "the random destruction of cities, blows to morale, are costly and unnecessary in relation to the tactical results achieved." The successful Allied attacks came at a cost, shocking the world into believing that the British were bloodthirsty and had no qualms about killing innocent German civilians. Ultimately, it took the Allies 5 years of experimentation to carry out a series of attacks on Germany and to finally expose the heart of the German economy, factories and infrastructure. Still, it is questionable whether resources could have been better spent and whether injuries were caused. or the death of 76,000 bombers was worth it. Strategic bombing devastated the German economy, wiping out infrastructure, destroying the Nazis' ability to persevere in the war. While by 1939, Germany was becoming an economic superpower, with unemployment rising from 6 million in 1933 to 300,000 in 1939, as well as industrial production rates higher than those of pre-Depression Weimar Germany, in 1945, strategic bombing destroyed the German economy, ultimately preventing Germany from.