Comment by JumpCrisscross
1 year ago
> at the time it was recognized by many as an act of revenge
In part. Air power was new at the time, and there was legitimate strategic ambiguity around the military value of removing war factories’ workforces. (This is why Germany and Britain bombed by night while America bombed by day.)
I'd be curious to see a citation for this claim if you remember it. Thanks!
The book Terror from the Sky: The Bombing of German Cities in World War II covers most of the major issues.
The key point of distinction between the American and British approach emerged through what the British euphemistically referred to as "dehousing" - the idea that destroying German housing stock would disrupt the operation of manufacturing, divert materials and labour away from military use and demoralise the population. On this premise, civilian casualties were merely the incidental consequence of destroying houses.
https://www.jstor.org/stable/j.ctt9qchwt
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dehousing