How Did Germany React To The Bombing Of Dresden

World War Two was considered the worst war of all time. The Treaty of Versailles did not heal the distressing mess created between countries during World War One. Germany was left in a bitter position and gave them a desire for dictatorship. One of the most controversial battles was the firebombing of Dresden. On February 13-14, 1945 the British Royal Air Force gave the final authorization to commence what was known as the attack towards Germany’s “Florence of Elbe” (DW.DE). The presence of rail yards and important hubs made an ideal target for the Allies to attack the city. The strategic and industrial base for Germany needed to be destroyed to shorten the war. The comparison with other bombings and the sense for revenge gives a compelling
reason. The firebombing of Dresden was a justified move the Allies made in order for the halt of the German Reich.
To begin with, Dresden was a major industrial, transportation and communication hub for Nazi Germany. The USAAF Intelligence confirmed that there were military bases in Dresden that included about 110 factories and industries that were valid targets for the Allies. These consisted of poison gas factories (The Chemische Fabrik Goye and Company), air defence and artillery factories (Lehman), optical good factories (Zeiss Ikon AG), and several other factories (Angell). Also, Dresden’s well known luxury producers changed their factories to the production of wartime goods as well; greatly increasing Dresden’s military significance. An October 1944 figure says that there were twenty thousand officers and men travelling from Dresden to Neustadt each day on military trains (Taylor). Dresden’s railway stations were used in the deployment of German troops. It was important to interrupt it as the Wehrmacht was shifting its forces east at the time (Grayling). To further devastate the transportation, bombing Germany’s communication centre would hold back the German ability to convey messages to its army. The goal of the RAF bomber command for the Dresden raid was to ruin the wide manufacturing enterprise and communication activities in Dresden that were run by the civilians. (USAF). Severely damaging the locations that occupied many of the civilians in the city was a vital move to break the communication system because messages could only be passed through the people. The bombing was strategically crucial to destroying Germany’s power and government and weakened their will to fight.
Secondly, the bombing of Dresden was important to prevent Germans from continuing the war and was a warning to the Russians.
Relations between Allied Forces and the Soviet Union were weakening by the end of the war but the Allies needed to protect the promises made by Russia. (Ward). The firebombing was designated to show the Russian Forces what the Allies are capable of and to act as a warning to them to stay within the agreements they had made at the war conferences such as the one at Yalta (Zuljan). A January 1945 RAF internal memo states that as the war was coming to an end, there was still a chance for a new war to begin, the Allies needed to show the Russians what Bomber Command is capable of doing and the bombing would further cripple Germany from advancing (Simkin). The Allies were trying to look for ways to give themselves a higher power over their communist ally Russia and the firebombing would weaken the chances for Germany to use Dresden as a way of advancing. Any reforming of Nazi forces in the east could have been dangerous towards the advancing Russian Army, extended out all over Germany as it tried to quickly advance on Berlin. A Russian force less than 70 miles east of Dresden was very vulnerable to German counterattack (USAF) and the Allied bombing made sure that no German communication or support was possible through Dresden and do not cause a threat for the Russians who were coming into Germany. The bombing of Dresden was the only best way in wiping out the German force and warn the
Russians.
Lastly, it was important for the Allies to punish the Germans for their war crimes. The United Kingdom was greatly bombed in Blitzkrieg air campaigns. London was bombed every day for two months in 1940 and industrial cities such as Glasgow, Newcastle, Belfast, Plymouth, and Manchester were also raided. (Holmes). The firebombing acted as a payback for the German crimes. It was indeed a moral sacrifice to bomb Dresden. Lt. John Morris expressed, the biggest tactic used to destroy a city was a firestorm. The Allies were not the only ones who tried this, the Russians, Japanese and Germans quite frequently used this tactic as well. (Ambrose). Dresden was not the only city bombed, several other cities in Europe were bombed to shorten the war as this was the only best way countries would surrender. Lt. Dave Nagel voiced no one had regrets for their actions during the war; remorse was only felt near the end of the war as ending all the misery and anguish had become the main objective. (Ambrose). Great risks had to be taken in order to shorten the war which included sacrificing civilian lives and preserve the lives of Allied soldiers. If the firebombing of Dresden was beneficial to bringing the war to an end for the good of everyone, then it was a rational move.
Therefore, the Allies bombed Dresden to ultimately end Nazi Germany and prevent the war from continuing. The Allies did everything to stop German communication by destroying their transportation and industries. Supporting and warning the Russians was important to ending the war. Germany needed to be held accountable for their war crimes. The biggest and most destructive war spread throughout Europe and loss had become common. Soldiers and civilians withstood intolerable things and fear prevailed in many of them.