By Emily Wang Jennifer Wang Zoe Chau Tina Feng and Cindy Xiao Thesis During the Second World War the Firebombing of Dresden led to high civilian casualties and destruction of cultural relics ultimately proving the hypocrisy of both the Allies and Axis Powers ID: 594019
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Slide1
Firebombing of Dresden
By: Emily Wang, Jennifer Wang, Zoe Chau,
Tina Feng, and Cindy XiaoSlide2
Thesis
During the Second World War, the Firebombing of Dresden led to high civilian casualties and destruction of cultural relics, ultimately proving the hypocrisy of both the Allies and Axis Powers.Slide3
Reasons for the Firebombing
In
retaliation to Germany’s invasion
of Poland in
1945
and Hitler’s bombing raid of London during the Battle of Britain (“Dresden Bombing”).
Winston Churchill advocated for an
increased number of British air raids against Germany
(“Bombing of Dresden”). Slide4
Reasons for the Firebombing
Would
disrupt the flow of refugees
into the city (“Dresden”).
Dresden was full of refugees fleeing from the Red Army moving eastward from Russia
(“Dresden”).
Would destroy Germany’s main communications center in the city (“Dresden”).
(“
Múlt-kor
”)Slide5
Reasons for the Firebombing
Held industries dedicated to producing military equipment
(Biddle 60).
Also create confusion and slow the German military (“Dresden”).
(“Dresden”)Slide6
Decision to Attack Dresden
Dresden didn’t have much
strategic significance
.
January, 1945-British General Arthur Harris made Operation Thunderclap to attack major cities.
Harris believed that
every Nazi city should be a target
.
Harris wanted to put Dresden at the top of the list, but bad weather delayed the attack.
(“Dresden Bombing”)Slide7
General Timeline for the Firebombing of Dresden
February 13-15, 1945:
The firebombing occurred in
Dresden, Germany
(“Bombing of Dresden”).
February 13, 1945 (Night)
, 2,700 bombs were dropped (“Bombing of Dresden”).
(“Bombing of Dresden”)Slide8
General Timeline for the Firebombing of Dresden
Aided
by weather conditions, the hazard turned into a
firestorm
, resulting in the incineration of tens of thousands of civilians (“Bombing of Dresden”).
(“Dresden”)Slide9
Cause of the Firestorm
High explosive bombs
destroyed buildings by exposing the wood timbers inside.
The next wave of bombers dropped bombs
designed to create fires
.
The rubble created fuel for the spreading fire in the city.
(“
"Wreckage of Dresden in 1945”)
(“Dresden Bombing”)Slide10
General Timeline for the Firebombing of Dresden
On
February 14, 1945
, the
US Air Force
continued the attack by dropping another 400 tons of bombs (“Bombing of Dresden”).
(“Dresden”)Slide11
General Timeline for the Firebombing of Dresden
March 28th 1945
: Winston Churchill famously quoted in his memorandum that “
Dresden remains a serious query against the conduct of Allied bombing
" (“Dresden Bombing”).
(“Sir Winston Churchill”)Slide12
General Timeline for the Firebombing of Dresden
1990
: after the reunification of Germany, the government decided to
rebuild a new city
which encircled around the former Dresden city; this effort still continues into the 21st century (“Bombing of Dresden”).
(Tucker)Slide13
General Timeline for the Firebombing of Dresden
1945:
2017
:
(“Dresden”)
(“
Dresden”)Slide14
General Timeline for the Firebombing of Dresden
December 2005
: German persecutors determined the bombings to be a
Holocaust
.
They later chose not to pursue court action .
(“Dresden”)
(“Dresden Bombing”)Slide15
Germany
Allies
Allied advances in the front
Site of event
(“Two Front War”)Slide16
Military Strategies
Bombing in two waves,
three hours apart to expose German emergency teams and
increase casualties
.
First wave: high explosives, more than 2000 tons of explosives released.
Second wave: Incendiary round that would burn everything around it.
German air defenses were weak: only six bombers shot down from Allied side.
(“Dresden”)Slide17
Military Strategies
Lower
morale
of Germans even more by bombing a culturally rich city.
Demonstration of strength
for the Soviets (who had requested the Allies’ help in the form of bombings).
(“Dresden”)Slide18
Statistics
Bombers:
796 Avro Lancasters and 9 Mosquito Fighter bombers.
Bombs:
1,478 tons of high explosive bombs and 1,182 tons of incendiaries was dropped in total.
Deaths:
50,000 civilians
And the city lay in ruins.
(“Dresden”)
(“Dresden Bombing”)Slide19
What Goebbels said (“Dresden Bombing”)
Goebbels made propaganda
surrounding the bombing of Dresden.
He
exaggerated the amount of people
who died.
Goebbels claimed that 202,040 civilians died rather than the 50,000.
This was seen as a failure on the part of Herman G
öring, the commander of the Luftwaffe (air force).
Goebbels blamed Herman for the firebombing, claiming that the air force was supposed to stop events like this.
(“Dresden Bombing”)Slide20
Controversy that Surrounds the Dresden Bombing
Joseph Goebbels, the Nazi minister of propaganda, viewed the bombing of Dresden as an
indiscriminate bombing of an innocent civilian target
.
His claims that the Allies had abandoned strategic bombing practices in favor of
"terror bombings"
followed the discussion of Dresden through later years.
Historians have since largely discounted Goebbels' claims regarding the number of bombing deaths.
(“Dresden Bombing”)Slide21
Why is this Controversial?
Dresden didn’t have any military.
It had military surrounding the town, but it was
far enough away that the city didn’t need to be bombed
.
(“
Dresden
”)
(“Dresden Bombing”)Slide22
What Made the Bombing Successful?
Favorable weather conditions
assisted the bombers' ability to accurately hit their targets.
The
absence of German military forces
in the area.
No anti-aircraft fire impeding their objectives
, resulting in very little resistance to the attack.
(“Dresden Bombing”)Slide23
Analysis - Thesis reminder
During the Second World War, the Firebombing of Dresden led to high civilian casualties and destruction of cultural relics, ultimately proving the hypocrisy of both the Allies and Axis Powers.Slide24
Analysis
Importance of battle: Neither side is really the “good guy”
Moral Dilemma
:
High civilian casualties
:
35,000 - 135,000 deaths (“Dresden”).
Totally destroyed 15 sq km: schools, churches, theaters, etc.~88% of all buildings destroyed (“Dresden”).
But no real advantages gained
(“Dresden Bombing”).Slide25
Analysis
Impact on WWII:
No significant impact on the war itself
, since the bombings only occurred in civilian areas and not in the industrial areas.
“Lowering morale” not conclusively proven:
Military objectives insufficient and did not warrant the casualties.
(“Dresden Bombing”)Slide26
Visual Representation
https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B5pHOL9R9lAecDBCY2RkLWNqVUE/view?usp=sharingSlide27
Works Cited
Axelrod, Alan. “Dresden Bombing.”
Encyclopedia of World War II, Vol. 1
, Facts On File, 2013.
History Research Center
, online.infobase.com/Article/Details/264627?q=dresden bombing. Accessed 2017.
Battlefront Atlas
. Digital image.
Wikimedia
. Army Map Service, n.d. Web. 20 Apr. 2017.
Biddle, Tami. “Sifting Dresden‟s Ashes”, The Wilson Quarterly, Vol. 29, No. 2 (Spring 2005). Print.
"Bombing of Dresden." The Editors of Encyclopædia Britannica.
Encyclopædia Britannica
. Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc., 13 Feb . 2015. Web. 18 Apr. 2017. www.britannica.com/event/bombing-of-Dresden.
"Dresden."
DRESDEN
. Stanford University, n.d. Web. 24 Apr. 2017.
https://cs.stanford.edu/people/eroberts/courses/ww2/projects/
firebombing/websitedresden1.htm.
Dresden
. Digital image.
Heti Válasz
. N.p., n.d. Web. 24 Apr. 2017.
http://valasz.hu/vilag/drezda-felfoghatatlan-pusztulasa-a-csapas-es-az-emlekezes-kepei-122534.
"Dresden Bombing."
World History: The Modern Era
, ABC-CLIO, 2017, worldhistory.abc-clio.com/Search/Display/309658. Accessed 24 Apr. 2017.
Slide28
Works Cited
"Dresden Bombing."
World History: The Modern Era
, ABC-CLIO, 2017, worldhistory.abc-clio.com/Search/Display/309658. Accessed 19 Apr. 2017.
Múlt-kor
. Digital image.
Múlt-kor
. N.p., n.d. Web. 24 Apr. 2017.
http://www.steampunk.dk/?p=8307
.
“Sir Winston Churchill.” Encyclopædia Britannica, Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc., www.britannica.com/biography/Winston-Churchill. Accessed 19 Apr. 2017.
Tucker, Spencer C. "Dresden Bombing." Battles that Changed History: An Encyclopedia of World Conflict, ABC-CLIO, 2011, pp. 539-541. Gale Virtual Reference Library, go.galegroup.com/ps/i.do?p=GVRL&sw=w&u=rent4432&v=2.1&it=r&id=G ALE%7CCX1760900204&asid=97c1dd031fb9711fdaf37969085ac222. Accessed 19 Apr. 2017.
Two Front War
. Digital image. N.p., n.d. Web. 24 Apr. 2017. http://cultura.hu/aktualis/a-jaltai-konferencia/.