Strategic bombing during World War II

Strategic bombing during World War II
Part of World War II
A B-24 on a bomb run over the Astra Romana refinery in Ploiești, Romania, during Operation Tidal Wave
Location European Theatre of World War II Pacific Theatre of World War II
Belligerents
United States  United Kingdom  Canada  Australia  Soviet Union	Germany  Japan Italy
Commanders and leaders
Hap Arnold Carl Spaatz Curtis LeMay Charles Portal Richard Peirse Arthur Harris Arthur Tedder Clifford McEwen Sergei Khudyakov Alexander Novikov	Hermann Göring Albert Kesselring Hugo Sperrle Naruhiko Higashikuni Masakazu Kawabe
Casualties and losses
Britain: 60,595 British civilians killed 160,000 airmen (Europe) China: 260,000–350,934 Chinese civilians France: 67,078 civilians killed The Netherlands: Thousands of civilians Poland: Tens of thousands of civilians USSR: More than 500,000 Soviet civilians 2,691 airmen (Japan)	Germany: 305,000–600,000 civilians killed, including foreign workers Very heavy damage to industry Japan: 330,000-500,000 civilians killed Very heavy damage to industry Italy: 60,000–100,000 civilians killed 5,000 soldiers killed

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Strategic bombing during World War II was the sustained aerial attack on railways, harbours, cities, workers' housing, and industrial districts in enemy territory during World War II. Strategic bombing is a military strategy which is distinct from both close air support of ground forces and tactical air power.

During World War II, it was believed by many military strategists of air power that major victories could be won by attacking industrial and political infrastructure, rather than purely military targets. Strategic bombing often involved bombing areas inhabited by civilians and some campaigns were deliberately designed to target civilian populations in order to terrorize and disrupt their usual activities. International law at the outset of World War II did not specifically forbid aerial bombardment of cities despite the prior occurrence of such bombing during World War I, the Spanish Civil War, and the Second Sino-Japanese War.

Strategic bombing during World War II began on 1 September 1939 when Germany invaded Poland and the Luftwaffe (German Air Force) began bombing cities and the civilian population in Poland in an indiscriminate aerial bombardment campaign. As the war continued to expand, bombing by both the Axis and the Allies increased significantly. In September 1940, the Luftwaffe began targeting British cities in 'The Blitz'. From 1942 onward, the British bombing campaign against Germany became less restrictive and increasingly targeted industrial sites and eventually, civilian areas. When the United States began flying bombing missions against Germany, it reinforced these efforts and controversial firebombings were carried out against Hamburg (1943), Dresden (1945), and other German cities.

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Wikipedia