On December 13-15 February 1945, during the last months of World War II, the Allied forces did the bombing against the historic city of Dresden, located in Eastern Germany. The bombing can be said to be controversial because it is not the city of Dresden which is essential for the production of armament or large industrial center of Germany.
On 15 February, the city became a burning debris and a number of civilian residents of unknown numbers are estimated at between 35,000 to 135,000 killed during two days of bombing.
The background of the bombing of Dresden
In February 1945, the Allies began to become a threat to Germany. On the Western Front, Nazi leader Adolf Hitler's desperate fight against the Allied forces in the Ardennes forest, Belgium ending failed miserably. On the Eastern Front, the Red Army had captured the East Prussia and reached the Oder river, less than 50 miles from Berlin. The Luftwaffe used to be proud of by Germany in the air have slumped and the Ally increasingly rule the skies in Europe, dropped thousands of tons of bombs on Germany every day.
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| Landmarks include Dresden Frauenkirche |
From 4 February to 11 February, Allied leaders "The Big Tree," the US President, Franklin Roosevelt, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom Winston Churchill and Soviet Prime Minister Joseph Stalin met at Yalta, the Soviet Union to have compromised their vision about the postwar world.
In addition to determining the area of Germany that would overrun, this meeting gave a little time to consider the plan of the military in the war against the Third Reich. Churchill and Roosevelt had indeed promised Stalin to continue their bombing campaign against Germany in the East in preparation for the advance of Soviet troops.
Area Bombing Of Germany
An important aspect of the allied air war conducted against Germany involves what is known as "area bombing" or "saturation". In the area of the bombing, all industries are enemies not only targeted war facility, and part of the civil town will disappear along with the targeted areas
Before the advent of the atomic bomb, the cities most effectively destroyed through the use of incendiary bombs that caused devastating fires that unnatural in enemy cities. That kind of attack, the reason for the allies to undermine the economy of Germany, Germany society and discourage forced Germany to surrender.
Germany is the first party that uses the tactic of bombing the area for penyerangannya in Poland in September 1939. In 1940, during the battle of the United Kingdom, the Luftwaffe failed to bring United Kingdom knelt by targeting London and other densely populated areas with bomb attacks.
Stung but not attached, the United Kingdom Royal Air Force then reply to the bombing of London and Coventry in 1942 while launching a saturation bombing attacks, the first in Germany. In 1944, Hitler named the offensive missiles, the world's first long distance V-1, for the words "Germany vergeltung," which means "revenge" and an expression of his desire to pay United Kingdom for Germany against fierce bombardment.
The allies never acknowledged that they were involved in the bombings is saturated. The allies specific military targets that quibble was announced in connection with each attack. However, it is simply a homage, and few who lamented the destruction of the cities of Germany who build weapons and gathers an army in 1945 which has killed more than 10 million Allied soldiers and even more civilians. The bombing in Dresden will prove the exception to this rule.
The Bombing of Dresden, February 1945
Before World War II, Dresden was called the "Florence of the Elbe" and is considered one of the most beautiful cities in the world with architecture and museums. Although no city is isolated from the Germany war machine Hitler, Dresden's contribution towards the war effort was minimal compared to other cities of Germany.
In February 1945, refugees who fled from Russia in the East took refuge there. When Hitler has been disposing of most of his powers remains to the North of Berlin's defenses, the defense of the city of Dresden was minimal, and the people of Russia will have little duduk perkara to conquer. It seems unlikely that Dresden became a major sasaran of allied air attacks.
On the night of February 13, hundreds of RAF bombers down to Dresden in two waves, drop their deadly cargo indiscriminately into the town. Air defense of the city is very weak so that only six Lancaster bombers were shot down. Towards morning, around 800 United Kingdom bomber has dropped more than 1,400 tons of bombs with high explosives and more than 1,100 tons of propellant in Dresden, creating a large storm destroyed most of the town and killed many civilians .
Later that day, while those who survived managed to get out of a burning city, more than 300 U.s. bombers began to bomb Dresden railway, bridges and transportation facilities, killing thousands more. On 15 February, 200 more U.s. bombers continue their attacks against the infrastructure of the city. All told, the U.S. Eighth air force bomber fielded more than 950 tons of high explosive bombs and more than 290 tons of propellant in Dresden. Later, Eighth air force would drop the 2,800 tons of bombs on Dresden in three other attacks before the war ended.
Post The Bombing Of Dreseden
The allies claimed that with the bombing of Dresden, they interfere with the vital lines of communication will hinder the Soviet attacks. This may be true, but no one denied that United Kingdom attack on the night of March 13-14 is done mainly for the purpose of terrorizing the inhabitants of Germany and force Germany to surrender early. It should be noted that Germany, unlike Japan, Germany did not surrender until almost at the last moment, when the capital had fallen and Hitler committed suicide.
Because there are a number of refugees who are unknown in Dresden at the time of the Allied invasion, it is not possible to know precisely how many civilians were killed. After the war, investigators from a variety of countries, and with different political motives, count the number of civilians killed to just 8,000 to more than 200,000 people. Current estimates range from 35,000 to 135,000.
See pictures of Dresden after the attack, in which several buildings still standing really destroyed, seemingly unlikely there's only about 35,000 of a million people in Dresden when it was killed. Cellars and other shelters only a little protection against the storm which blew toxic air heated to hundreds of degrees Fahrenheit across the city with the speed of the storm.
At the end of the war, Dresden suffered severe damage so that this city has been on the ground. A number of historic buildings such as the Palace of Zwinger, Dresden State Opera House and several fine churches and reconstructed from the ruins, but the rest of the city was rebuilt with a modern building.
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