Strategic Bombing

During World War II, the United States aerial bombed various German and Japanese cities. These bombings were targeted at cities with innocent civilians, who were injured and killed during these attacks. Aerial bombardment is a form of strategic bombing, used to sap the population and strike fear in the hearts of civilians. Aerial bombing striped the German and Japanese civilians of their hope, and their spirit. The civilians lived in constant fear of air raids, and of the future. The United States was not justified in using aerial bombing German and Japanese cities during World War II. Strategic bombing is a unique military tactic. “The purpose of strategic bombing was not only to undermine industrial production but also to demoralize the
“Almost 16 square miles in and around the Japanese capital were incinerated, and between 80,000 and 130,000 Japanese civilians were killed in the worst single firestorm in recorded history”(History.com). This devastating attack was targeted towards civilians, who are innocent and have no relation to the war. Their lives were stripped from them, taken shamelessly, without remorse. The B-29 planes flew low, so they were not detected by radars. “the Tokyo firebombing was aimed largely at civilians, in places including Tokyo’s downtown area known as shitamachi, where people lived in traditional wood and paper homes at densities sometimes exceeding 100,000 people per square mile”(The Japan Times). This area of Japan was highly susceptible to burning, which made the city a prime target. The air raid lasted for about three hours, and the innocent, dead bodies of civilians were left floating in the Sumida
“Arthur Harris, head of Bomber Command, had always held the view that any city that had anything to do with the Nazi war effort was a target”(Trueman). The only justification the Allied Powers used in the bombing of Dresden was that Dresden was affiliated with Hitler and the Nazi war effort. There was no other explanation or justification given in the killing of thousands of German civilians. Civilians should not be a target in war. The United States was apprehensive about Japan’s invasion of her Asian neighbors. The United States also wanted to put an end to Hitler’s tyrant rule. However, by aerial bombing German and Japanese cities, innocent civilians were killed, and civilians began to live in fear of the Allied Powers, rather than Hitler and Hideki Tojo. Wanting to protect their Allies and seeking revenge for Pearl Harbor does not justify the United States in aerial bombing Japanese and German cities during World War