Inter arma enim silent leges
Bombs have a mind of their own.
Today’s dilemma is about the conduct of war and how during WWII, Allied bombers didn’t just attack military and industrial targets, but simply cities themselves. The notion that bombing undermines civilian morale seems to be misguided. It didn’t work during the Blitz in 1940 and if it did bring the war to an end in 1945, it wasn’t because civilian morale was undermined. Bombing military targets or industry makes military sense. Bombing civilians to undermine morale is a crime against humanity. If the Germans think that Arthur Harris should’ve been tried for war crimes, I’d agree.
The end would not appear to justify the means, but I suppose the circumstances were such that faced with a far more powerful enemy in 1940, the government indeed might’ve countenanced such tactics to cause a maximum amount of disruption. The loss of skilled workers was perhaps more disastrous than the loss of factories. Besides, I believe I’ve read that German industrial production is meant to have increased even late in the war, bombing not being as effective as the Allies hoped.
The end would not appear to justify the means, but I suppose the circumstances were such that faced with a far more powerful enemy in 1940, the government indeed might’ve countenanced such tactics to cause a maximum amount of disruption. The loss of skilled workers was perhaps more disastrous than the loss of factories. Besides, I believe I’ve read that German industrial production is meant to have increased even late in the war, bombing not being as effective as the Allies hoped.
Tomorrow, the peacetime rules are turned on their heads in time of war.
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