Strategic Bombing and the German War Economy

Abstract

The Second World War provided the first major test of strategic bombing as a means of destroying a nation’s ability to produce the goods necessary for modern warfare. In theory Germany was a good target for strategic bombing—a highly capitalized country with large concentrations of industrial plant. Between 1942 and the end of the war the Allies delivered an unprecedented bomb tonnage over Germany. By 1945 the average monthly delivery of combined British and American forces had risen to 170,000 tons. Yet the effects of this massive bombing were not clear at the time. After the war a thorough investigation undertaken by the United States Strategic Bombing Survey revealed that strategic bombing had not been so effective as had been hoped. The selection that follows is taken from the summary and conclusions of this exhaustive study.