Allied Strategic Bombing
Overall, the Allied strategic bombing of Germany proved to be highly significant in the Second World War. By the end of the war, it was very significant in hindering the German economy forcing Germany to redirect resources away from the war effort and instead, investing in the reconstruction of damaged buildings and roads caused by the bombings. It was also very significant at relieving pressure at the Eastern front which is where the war was won by the dominant Russian force. It was less significant in terms of reducing German morale because even though morale was dented, ultimately, this did not play a part in the Allies winning the war. Much of the international relations improved throughout the war but broke down very quickly in 1944 and
…show more content…
1945 due to a lack of cooperation from Russia leading to a highly insignificant effect.
The Allied strategic bombing on Germany had a highly significant impact on other theatres of war such as the Eastern front and D-Day landings as it weakened the German army.
This was the most significant factor because this led to Allies winning the war on the Eastern Front. Even though the Allied bombing campaigns on Germany did not directly affect the Eastern Front, throughout the war, many German resources were redirected away from the Eastern Front to deal with the damage caused by Allied bombing. By 1942, the German air force was damaged quite badly by the Allied bombings. This meant that Germany was not able to use their bombing tactic, Blitzkrieg. Which allowed Russia to turn the tide in their fight against the Germans. In 1943-44, the Allies changed tactics so that bombing would target the German air force instead of Germany as a whole because they still were not winning on the Western Front. New technology, such as window, which jammed German radars and new advances in the P-51 Mustang, helped in destroying the Luftwaffe. In November 1943, the Luftwaffe lost 21 percent of their aircraft and by December, a further 23 percent were destroyed. In order to recover from this loss, over 600 new planes were built or redirected to the Home Front to try and recover from the damage left by the Allies. This meant that less planes were left on the Eastern Front allowing Russia to the take advantage. By the end of 1944, the Luftwaffe in the east was not powerful enough to have any influential effect on the ground. The Russians outnumbered them by two or even three to one. This ultimately contributed to a successful Russian campaign on the Eastern Front and Allied victory in this theatre of war. The strategic Allied bombing also enhanced the success of the D-Day landings because the reduction of the Luftwaffe meant that Allies were able to take control of the skies. This meant Germany were not able to in bombs to prevent the landings from happening. Overall, the
strategic Allied bombing allowed the Russian army to be successful on the Eastern Front, it also enhanced the success of the D-Day landings. It did this indirectly by damaging Germany infrastructure, consuming Germany’s resources, and destroying transport links which limited the delivery of troops and munitions to the Front Lines. Overall, the strategic Allied bombing proved to be highly significant in helping the other theatres of war and was the most significant factor because it led to Allies winning the war on the Eastern Front.
The Allied strategic bombing overall proved to be highly significant in damaging the German economy. The primary aim of the Allied bombings was to hinder the German economy in order to prevent them developing their military effort. From 1939 to 1941, there were large numbers of unsuccessful raids due to a lack of accuracy and heavy German defences. In 1940, there was a failed Allied attack on the Ruhr due to a resilient German air defence. Only 24 out of the 96 planes hit their target and only 1 in 10 bombs got within 5 miles of their target due to smog. There was minimal damage inflicted on the Ruhr, which was the heart of Germany’s resources and industrial production. This meant Germany was still able to continue its war effort. From the years 1941 to 1944, the strategic Allied bombing continued to be highly insignificant in damaging the German economy. Hence, the German military output trebled leading to a general expansion of the German war effort. However, in 1942, Harris was appointed as the new British Commander in Chief. He believed that bombing should be used to damage the German economy not the German morale. Advances were made in 1942, with respect to Allied military technology, such as Pathfinders and Gee, which gradually led to raids increasing in effectiveness but this still did not bring down Germany. By 1944, the Allies realised a change in approach was needed and they would have to defeat the German air force by targeting factories where the planes were produced, as well as many transport links so that resources could not be redirected to help repair the resulting damage. The P-51 Mustang was a major advance in aviation technology as it had an 1800-mile armed range, and could fly to Berlin and back in one trip. During 1943 and 1944, a large proportion of the Luftwaffe had been destroyed, leaving the German economy exposed due to a lack of resistance by the German air force. Therefore, in 1944-45, the strategic Allied bombing proved to be highly significant at damaging the German economy by targeting and damaging numerous factories, dramatically reducing the supply of weapons and equipment. Not only were large factories destroyed, many water, gas and electricity supplies were hit, leaving much of the country with minimal amounts of essential resources. Germany had to invest large quantities of money into repairing its infrastructure, leading to a substantial negative impact on its economy. The German economy was also indirectly impacted as 50% of the radar and signalling resources of the army and navy were used to track down and target Allied planes. Furthermore, 2 million Germans were involved in the war effort against the Allied bombing, this was a large drain on funds, resources and manpower. This shows that by the end of the war, the strategic Allied bombing proved to be highly significant at damaging the German economy. On balance, until 1944, the Allied bombings proved to be very insignificant in damaging the German economy because their general production trebled and their economy was still rising. However, by the end of the war, Germany struggled to cope with the advances in Allied technology, such as the P-51 Mustang, which contributed to the collapse of the German economy and the destruction of its infrastructure and services. The Allied bombing effort against Germany ultimately proved highly significant in destroying the German economy.
In terms of morale, the Allied strategic bombing proved to be insignificant in crushing the German spirit because ultimately they carried on fighting. One of Britain’s main aims for bombing was to crush German morale and as a consequence to give up fighting the Allies. In the early days of the war, the effect of British bombing on German morale was minimal. In fact, the German bombing was heavier than British bombing. Initially, the Allied bombing raids proved to be unsuccessful in most cases and therefore, in 1940, the attack on the Ruhr failed due to a successful defence by the German anti-aircraft guns. The German defence strategy looked very promising, resulting in the German morale being unaffected. From 1942-44, after Commander Harris was appointed, there was a shift in bombing strategy where Britain would not only target morale, they would wipe out Germany which would have an effect on German morale. However, the German forces were stronger than before. The Allied bombings were countered by 50,000 anti-aircraft guns and the German fighter tactics were much more effective. This limited the effectiveness of the allied bombing and German morale remained unaffected. However, German morale was eventually affected by the Allied bombings. Between the 24th of June and the 5th of July 1943, the bombing of Hamburg took place. These raids led to ¾ of this major city being severely damaged, claiming 40000 lives and leaving 1 million Germans homeless whilst the Allies’ overall loss rate of bombers was only 2.8%. This shook the German leadership. A prestigious Nazi general, Albert Speer, told Hitler “6 more Hamburgs’ and the war is over.” In reality, the diminished German morale following the Hamburg raids, was short lived. Speer realised that the strategic Allied bombings were destroying many cities but not many factories suggesting the strategic bombing was ineffective. He used this, in propaganda, to his advantage and in 1943 to 1944 there were no internal uprisings against Hitler, instead their industrial production spiked rapidly, which further boosted the morale greatly. The production of tanks doubled, that of planes increased by 80% and the time taken to build a submarine decreased from a year to 2 months. The continued Allied bombings and the attacks on women and children made German men want to fight harder. Morale was high which led to an increase in production. The German morale by the end of the war was not broken and its people only gave up when the war was finally lost. Overall, the German morale was only dented for a short period of time and ultimately it was not crushed which was what the Allies had wished for. It was not impacted enough, by the Allied bombing, to cause revolutions or to effect military production. Therefore, the Allied strategic bombings proved to be highly insignificant in crushing the German morale in the Second World War.
Allied strategic bombing was quite successful in helping international relations progress but they broke down very quickly from 1944 to 1945. The Allies main aim from the alliance with Russia was to receive help in the fight against Japan. America also used Russia throughout the war to help with bombings by using Operation Frantic. This was where British and American bombers would fly over Germany, unload their bombs and instead of turning around and wasting fuel, they would carry on flying straight and land in Russia. The Russians were not keen on the idea of foreign planes landing on their soil, which was clearly shown by Stalin making sure that foreign planes would be flown back as soon as possible after landing and the separation of Russian pilots from Allied aircrew. As both countries had a common enemy, Russia continued to agree to Britain’s request to maintain international relations. The Normandy Landings were another area of tension. Russia wanted them to take place in 1942 but Britain wanted to delay them as much as possible because Churchill didn’t believe a Second Front was possible. In 1943, at the Casablanca Conference, the USA and Britain presented evidence to Stalin, including aerial photos of improved Allied bombings and Russia agreed to postponing the landings until 1944. The bombings, up until 1944, proved to be highly significant in blooming Allied international relations in the Second World War. However, from the years, 1944 to 1945, the international relations between Russia and Britain started to deteriorate. On the 1st of August 1944, Russian forces marched into Warsaw. However, the battle was not going well for Russia so Allies offered to bomb the area to help Russia. Russians refused this help because they did not want Allied planes landing in their country and they forced to retreat. Russia started to become very limited in their cooperation with other Allied nations. By the end of 1945, Russia and the Allies’ international relations were back to the poor pre-war state. This showed that by the end of the war, the Allied bombings on Germany proved to be quite insignificant in expanding British international relations due to limited cooperation from Russia and a lack of trust. The German economy, German morale, international relations and the indirect impact on other theatres of war were explored. Although, it is evident that throughout most of the war, international relations were cemented between Allied countries, by 1944 to 1945, these relations broke down very quickly. The German economy and morale was quite insignificantly affected by bombings up until 1944 due to inadequate technology which meant that bombs just were not hitting their intended targets. As technology improved and a change in strategy to target infrastructure, bombing success proportionally increased leading to the German economy crashing and their morale being reduced. Even though, Germany was affected in some ways, this ultimately did not lead to the Germans surrendering which shows that the Allied bombings were quite insignificant because they did not achieve their aim of ending the war. However, the impact of Allied bombing on the other theatres helped lead to an Allied victory. As technology progressed during the war from 1943 to 1944, more damage was being done to Germany infrastructure diverting resources away from the Eastern Front and the D-D Landings leading to victories in both of these campaigns. Ultimately, the strategic Allied bombing on Germany in the Second World War proved to be highly significant because it led to an Allied victory.
1945 due to a lack of cooperation from Russia leading to a highly insignificant effect.
The Allied strategic bombing on Germany had a highly significant impact on other theatres of war such as the Eastern front and D-Day landings as it weakened the German army.
This was the most significant factor because this led to Allies winning the war on the Eastern Front. Even though the Allied bombing campaigns on Germany did not directly affect the Eastern Front, throughout the war, many German resources were redirected away from the Eastern Front to deal with the damage caused by Allied bombing. By 1942, the German air force was damaged quite badly by the Allied bombings. This meant that Germany was not able to use their bombing tactic, Blitzkrieg. Which allowed Russia to turn the tide in their fight against the Germans. In 1943-44, the Allies changed tactics so that bombing would target the German air force instead of Germany as a whole because they still were not winning on the Western Front. New technology, such as window, which jammed German radars and new advances in the P-51 Mustang, helped in destroying the Luftwaffe. In November 1943, the Luftwaffe lost 21 percent of their aircraft and by December, a further 23 percent were destroyed. In order to recover from this loss, over 600 new planes were built or redirected to the Home Front to try and recover from the damage left by the Allies. This meant that less planes were left on the Eastern Front allowing Russia to the take advantage. By the end of 1944, the Luftwaffe in the east was not powerful enough to have any influential effect on the ground. The Russians outnumbered them by two or even three to one. This ultimately contributed to a successful Russian campaign on the Eastern Front and Allied victory in this theatre of war. The strategic Allied bombing also enhanced the success of the D-Day landings because the reduction of the Luftwaffe meant that Allies were able to take control of the skies. This meant Germany were not able to in bombs to prevent the landings from happening. Overall, the
strategic Allied bombing allowed the Russian army to be successful on the Eastern Front, it also enhanced the success of the D-Day landings. It did this indirectly by damaging Germany infrastructure, consuming Germany’s resources, and destroying transport links which limited the delivery of troops and munitions to the Front Lines. Overall, the strategic Allied bombing proved to be highly significant in helping the other theatres of war and was the most significant factor because it led to Allies winning the war on the Eastern Front.
The Allied strategic bombing overall proved to be highly significant in damaging the German economy. The primary aim of the Allied bombings was to hinder the German economy in order to prevent them developing their military effort. From 1939 to 1941, there were large numbers of unsuccessful raids due to a lack of accuracy and heavy German defences. In 1940, there was a failed Allied attack on the Ruhr due to a resilient German air defence. Only 24 out of the 96 planes hit their target and only 1 in 10 bombs got within 5 miles of their target due to smog. There was minimal damage inflicted on the Ruhr, which was the heart of Germany’s resources and industrial production. This meant Germany was still able to continue its war effort. From the years 1941 to 1944, the strategic Allied bombing continued to be highly insignificant in damaging the German economy. Hence, the German military output trebled leading to a general expansion of the German war effort. However, in 1942, Harris was appointed as the new British Commander in Chief. He believed that bombing should be used to damage the German economy not the German morale. Advances were made in 1942, with respect to Allied military technology, such as Pathfinders and Gee, which gradually led to raids increasing in effectiveness but this still did not bring down Germany. By 1944, the Allies realised a change in approach was needed and they would have to defeat the German air force by targeting factories where the planes were produced, as well as many transport links so that resources could not be redirected to help repair the resulting damage. The P-51 Mustang was a major advance in aviation technology as it had an 1800-mile armed range, and could fly to Berlin and back in one trip. During 1943 and 1944, a large proportion of the Luftwaffe had been destroyed, leaving the German economy exposed due to a lack of resistance by the German air force. Therefore, in 1944-45, the strategic Allied bombing proved to be highly significant at damaging the German economy by targeting and damaging numerous factories, dramatically reducing the supply of weapons and equipment. Not only were large factories destroyed, many water, gas and electricity supplies were hit, leaving much of the country with minimal amounts of essential resources. Germany had to invest large quantities of money into repairing its infrastructure, leading to a substantial negative impact on its economy. The German economy was also indirectly impacted as 50% of the radar and signalling resources of the army and navy were used to track down and target Allied planes. Furthermore, 2 million Germans were involved in the war effort against the Allied bombing, this was a large drain on funds, resources and manpower. This shows that by the end of the war, the strategic Allied bombing proved to be highly significant at damaging the German economy. On balance, until 1944, the Allied bombings proved to be very insignificant in damaging the German economy because their general production trebled and their economy was still rising. However, by the end of the war, Germany struggled to cope with the advances in Allied technology, such as the P-51 Mustang, which contributed to the collapse of the German economy and the destruction of its infrastructure and services. The Allied bombing effort against Germany ultimately proved highly significant in destroying the German economy.
In terms of morale, the Allied strategic bombing proved to be insignificant in crushing the German spirit because ultimately they carried on fighting. One of Britain’s main aims for bombing was to crush German morale and as a consequence to give up fighting the Allies. In the early days of the war, the effect of British bombing on German morale was minimal. In fact, the German bombing was heavier than British bombing. Initially, the Allied bombing raids proved to be unsuccessful in most cases and therefore, in 1940, the attack on the Ruhr failed due to a successful defence by the German anti-aircraft guns. The German defence strategy looked very promising, resulting in the German morale being unaffected. From 1942-44, after Commander Harris was appointed, there was a shift in bombing strategy where Britain would not only target morale, they would wipe out Germany which would have an effect on German morale. However, the German forces were stronger than before. The Allied bombings were countered by 50,000 anti-aircraft guns and the German fighter tactics were much more effective. This limited the effectiveness of the allied bombing and German morale remained unaffected. However, German morale was eventually affected by the Allied bombings. Between the 24th of June and the 5th of July 1943, the bombing of Hamburg took place. These raids led to ¾ of this major city being severely damaged, claiming 40000 lives and leaving 1 million Germans homeless whilst the Allies’ overall loss rate of bombers was only 2.8%. This shook the German leadership. A prestigious Nazi general, Albert Speer, told Hitler “6 more Hamburgs’ and the war is over.” In reality, the diminished German morale following the Hamburg raids, was short lived. Speer realised that the strategic Allied bombings were destroying many cities but not many factories suggesting the strategic bombing was ineffective. He used this, in propaganda, to his advantage and in 1943 to 1944 there were no internal uprisings against Hitler, instead their industrial production spiked rapidly, which further boosted the morale greatly. The production of tanks doubled, that of planes increased by 80% and the time taken to build a submarine decreased from a year to 2 months. The continued Allied bombings and the attacks on women and children made German men want to fight harder. Morale was high which led to an increase in production. The German morale by the end of the war was not broken and its people only gave up when the war was finally lost. Overall, the German morale was only dented for a short period of time and ultimately it was not crushed which was what the Allies had wished for. It was not impacted enough, by the Allied bombing, to cause revolutions or to effect military production. Therefore, the Allied strategic bombings proved to be highly insignificant in crushing the German morale in the Second World War.
Allied strategic bombing was quite successful in helping international relations progress but they broke down very quickly from 1944 to 1945. The Allies main aim from the alliance with Russia was to receive help in the fight against Japan. America also used Russia throughout the war to help with bombings by using Operation Frantic. This was where British and American bombers would fly over Germany, unload their bombs and instead of turning around and wasting fuel, they would carry on flying straight and land in Russia. The Russians were not keen on the idea of foreign planes landing on their soil, which was clearly shown by Stalin making sure that foreign planes would be flown back as soon as possible after landing and the separation of Russian pilots from Allied aircrew. As both countries had a common enemy, Russia continued to agree to Britain’s request to maintain international relations. The Normandy Landings were another area of tension. Russia wanted them to take place in 1942 but Britain wanted to delay them as much as possible because Churchill didn’t believe a Second Front was possible. In 1943, at the Casablanca Conference, the USA and Britain presented evidence to Stalin, including aerial photos of improved Allied bombings and Russia agreed to postponing the landings until 1944. The bombings, up until 1944, proved to be highly significant in blooming Allied international relations in the Second World War. However, from the years, 1944 to 1945, the international relations between Russia and Britain started to deteriorate. On the 1st of August 1944, Russian forces marched into Warsaw. However, the battle was not going well for Russia so Allies offered to bomb the area to help Russia. Russians refused this help because they did not want Allied planes landing in their country and they forced to retreat. Russia started to become very limited in their cooperation with other Allied nations. By the end of 1945, Russia and the Allies’ international relations were back to the poor pre-war state. This showed that by the end of the war, the Allied bombings on Germany proved to be quite insignificant in expanding British international relations due to limited cooperation from Russia and a lack of trust. The German economy, German morale, international relations and the indirect impact on other theatres of war were explored. Although, it is evident that throughout most of the war, international relations were cemented between Allied countries, by 1944 to 1945, these relations broke down very quickly. The German economy and morale was quite insignificantly affected by bombings up until 1944 due to inadequate technology which meant that bombs just were not hitting their intended targets. As technology improved and a change in strategy to target infrastructure, bombing success proportionally increased leading to the German economy crashing and their morale being reduced. Even though, Germany was affected in some ways, this ultimately did not lead to the Germans surrendering which shows that the Allied bombings were quite insignificant because they did not achieve their aim of ending the war. However, the impact of Allied bombing on the other theatres helped lead to an Allied victory. As technology progressed during the war from 1943 to 1944, more damage was being done to Germany infrastructure diverting resources away from the Eastern Front and the D-D Landings leading to victories in both of these campaigns. Ultimately, the strategic Allied bombing on Germany in the Second World War proved to be highly significant because it led to an Allied victory.