Dresden, Bombing of

Allied bombing raid that became a symbol of the terror bombing campaign against Germany in World War II. Dresden was one of the largest cities to be almost totally destroyed by strategic bombing in World War II. The city is the capital of the German region of Saxony and was a noteworthy European cultural center before the war, but it also had industry of some military value.

British prime minister Winston Churchill had called at various times (particularly in September 1941) for increased British air raids against the population centers of Germany in order to swamp German authorities and services, particularly transportation, with hordes of refugees. As the various armies closed in on the Third Reich in 1945, such targets became more feasible because of the air superiority and improved navigation techniques of the Anglo-American bomber force.

Accordingly, the U.S. Eighth Air Force hit the city center of Berlin, not its industrial targets, on February 3, 1945. Dresden, which had never been attacked in the war, offered increased value for terror bombing against an inexperienced population. On the night of February 13, the British Bomber Command hit Dresden with an 800-bomber air raid, dropping some 2,700 tons of bombs, including large numbers of incendiaries. Aided by weather conditions, a firestorm developed, incinerating tens of thousands of people. The U.S. Eighth Air Force followed the next day with another 400 tons of bombs and carried out yet another raid by 210 bombers on February 15. Perhaps 100,000 persons died in Dresden in the air attacks, and much of the beautiful city was reduced to ashes.

After the war, the German and Russian authorities considered leveling the Dresden ruins to make way for new construction. But local leaders forced a compromise for rebuilding part of the city center and placing [Page 219]the modern construction outside, in effect encircling old Dresden with a newer city. After reunification, Germany undertook the extensive reconstruction of the inner city over a period of years as a moral and political objective, unveiling the new works at various stages with much fanfare in an effort still ongoing.

Thus, Dresden has returned to its former grandeur as a center for art and culture. The bombing continues to rank as a historic benchmark in the power of conventional bombardment and the use of airpower against targets containing large numbers of civilians. However, its military value, critics say, did not justify its near destruction, and the city could have been spared, like Rome, Paris, Kyoto, and other cities in enemy territory during the war.