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Ww2 Good War?

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Ww2 Good War?
WAS THE BOMBING CAMPAIGN AGAINST GERMANY JUSTIFIED?

Ben McLean
101630690
November 20th, 2012
HI 248

Was the Bombing Campaign Against Germany Justified?
The World War II was a war that affected the entire world and took place between 1939 and 1945. Most of the countries worldwide were involved in the war with the inclusion of all the great powers. With time, the war was comprised of two opposing military unions known as the Axis and the Allies. Historically, this war is classified as the most widespread where an excess of 100 million individuals served in various military units. During the period of the war, the world was in total chaos. The major participants used all the resources available to them so as to gain an edge in the war. The war was marked by several significant incidents such as the use of nuclear weapons and the mass demise of civilians. It is said that an excess of 60 million individuals lost their lives in the war, making the war the most fatal conflict ever in history.
By 1937, Japan was already at war with the Republic of China. However, the war is said to have started on September 1st 1939 when Germany invaded Poland, and the following proclamation by France and other countries of the commonwealth and British Empire that they would wage war on Germany. From the beginning of the war to 1941, Germany triumphed over or controlled much of continental Europe through various treaties and campaigns. The end of the war in Europe occurred when Berlin was captured by Polish and Soviet troops and the surrender of Germany on May 8th 1945. As mentioned earlier, there are a number of significant events that took place during the war. One of the events was the bombing campaign against Germany. This paper will primarily focus on attempting to figure out whether the bombing campaign against Germany was justified.

Area Bombing
Area bombing is an idea founded on the thoughts of Giulio Douhet. Douhet suggested that if certain cities were to be



References: Chapman, Jane, and Kate Allison. Issues in contemporary documentary. Malden, MA : Polity Press, 2009. Claudio, Serge, “Giulio Douhet: Strategist, Theorist, Prophet?” Journal of Strategic Studies 15, no. 3 (1992): 325-381. Imlay, Talbot. Facing the Second World War: strategy, politics and economics in Britain and France 1938 - 1940. Oxford: Oxford Univ. Press, 2003. Keegan, John. “Berlin.” MHQ: The Quarterly Journal of Military History, no. 11 (1990): 97- 110. Levine, Alan. "Was World War II a near‐run thing?" Journal of Strategic Studies 8, no. 1 (1985): 38-63. Murrow, Edward. Testimony of Mr. Edward R. Murrow, European representative of the Columbia Broadcasting System before the Committee on Foreign Affairs, 78th Cong., 1st sess. Wednesday, June 16, 1943. Washington: Govt. Print. Off., 1943. Wesserle, Andreas. “Letter to PBS.” Journal for Historical Review 2, no. 4 (1981): 381. [ 4 ]. Louis Nemeth, "World War II (1939-45)," New York Times, 13 November 2012. [ 6 ]. Serge Claudio, “Giulio Douhet: Strategist, Theorist, Prophet?” Journal of Strategic Studies 15, no. 3 (1992): 338. [ 7 ]. Talbot Imlay, Facing the Second World War: strategy, politics and economics in Britain and France 1938 – 1940, (Oxford: Oxford Univ. Press, 2003), 111. [ 10 ]. John Keegan, “Berlin.” MHQ: The Quarterly Journal of Military History, no. 11 (1990): 99. [ 13 ]. Edward Murrow, Testimony of Mr. Edward R. Murrow, European representative of the Columbia Broadcasting System before the Committee on Foreign Affairs, 78th Cong., 1st sess. Wednesday, June 16, 1943. (Washington: Govt. Print. Off., 1943), 720. [ 14 ]. Andreas Wesserle, “Letter to PBS.” Journal for Historical Review 2, no. 4 (1981): 381. [ 15 ]. Jane Chapman, and Kate Allison. Issues in contemporary documentary. Malden, MA: Polity Press, 2009.

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