Was the Bombing of Dresden and Hamburg Necessary?
Roberta Messman
American Public University
History 102
Marc Wenner

Was the Bombing of Dresden and Hamburg Necessary?
The United States joined World War II on the side of the Allies. It was yet another large destructive war in Europe, and the Allies needed assistance in defeating Germany quickly. The Soviet Union was successful in pushing Germany westward in this battle. As Germany got closer to other fronts, the Allies knew that something needed to be done to aid the Soviet Union in stopping them. The United States and Great Britain felt the air bombings on the German cities of Dresden and Hamburg were the way to cripple Germany. The fire bombs caused much damage to the cities and many lives were lost; however it did put an end to the war sooner and a victory for the Allies. (Ross, 2003) These cities of Dresden and Hamburg had most of Germany’s needed resources and materials needed for their military were made and produced. Some deemed these bombings to be unnecessary and immoral for killing many innocent people. However is also viewed as a necessary part of the war and some had to die to prevent even more deaths. Because of how many lives were lost due to these bombings it is hard to imagine, but it was an action of war that was crucial to take down Germany. The bombings were destructive but extremely successful by taking down these cities stopping them from producing need supplies for the war. The bombings did put the war to an end quickly. (Ross, 2003) Great Britain and the United States (on the side of the Allies) bombed the city of Dresden Germany during World War II. These attacks were a destructive but highly effective act of war. There were four raids between February 13th and 15th 1945. The British Royal Air Force (RAF) had over 700 bombers, and the United States Army Air Forces (USAAF) had over to 500. The USAAF bombers dropped close to 4000 tons highly explosive bombs on the city of Dresden. The firestorm air bombings destroyed over 1,600 acres of the city center. Over 25,000 people’s lives were taken. Three more USAAF air raids followed, two of them occurred on 2 March 2nd an April 17th aimed at the city's railroad and another raid on April 17th on the industrial areas. (Ross, 2003)
“In 1945, Arthur Harris decided to create a firestorm in the medieval city of Dresden. He considered it a good target as it had not been attacked during the war and was virtually undefended by anti-aircraft guns.”(Simkin, 2007) Arthur Harris was the marshal of the Royal Air Force. He was a strong and determined leader and knew these air raids would weaken Germany greatly. With the assistance of the United States help with the air raids, it was successful.
The city of Dresden was an important target in this war it housed many factories that produced war materials, it was a center of communication and a major rail transport. Taking all these resources would hurt Germany significantly and eventually stop the war quickly in the Allies favor. The bombings in Dresden were devastating as much as destructive. Many lives were taken, and landscapes destroyed. Dresden was a beautiful ancient city that was destroyed in many ways, physically and degrading the moral of the German people. The bombing was a devastating, but was what was necessary in order to stop the Germans and for the Allies to end the war promptly. (Surh, 2008)
“Dresden has become a legitimate symbol of the horrors of modern warfare, but reality about the bombing has been obscured by a fog of exaggeration and oversimplification. Dresden during the raid was hell on earth—but 25,000 to 40,000 died not 135,000, or 200,000, or more, as David Irving and others have claimed. Dresden was hardly a prime military target, but it did have manufacturing and transport facilities of military importance. And planners of the raid, including British Air Chief Marshal Sir Arthur “Bomber” Harris, surely hoped to demoralize the
Civilian population, but that was not their sole motivation”(Surh, 2008)

The Allied bombing of the City of Hamburg Germany occurred during the week of July 24, 1945 during the Second World War this attack included numerous strategic bombing missions and raids. Hamburge was a large port and industrial center for Germany. It also had shipyards for the U-boat pens, and oil refineries. Bombing and taking out of these would give the Allies the advantage then need in the war. The industry lost was huge, and they never were able to recover to full production again after this raid. This operation called Gomorrah, created on of the largest firestorms by The RAF and USAAF killing over 42, 00 civilians and wounding 37,000.00.People who tried to escape these bombing could not and if they tried they would only get sucked back into the fire. This air raid was very destructive and practically destroyed the whole city. The RAF did see these bombings as a success, and they served what they meant to do. (Ross, 2003)
Both these bombing were destructive and killed many. Some saw these bombings as a crime. Other saw them as the need to put an end to the War and stop Germany. Their bombers came in relentless and attacked at night with the element of surprise. The killing of innocent women and children raised the question if this was a moral attack. It is hard think of all the lives that taken and cities and homes destroyed because of these bombings. Many felt that this could should have been avoided; however; the bombings did serve a purpose and took out many significant German military resources. It did cripple Hitler and help to win the war. These cities were chosen for that fact alone, their military resources. The killing of many innocents was not the goal of the Allies only to stop Germany and Hitler in this war. That is a casualty of war as devastating as it can be. Britain and The U.S. felt at the time this large air raid was necessary to take out Germany’s resources that would help end the war quickly. Maybe the raids could have been more thought out and planned to spare the many innocent lives it took but they were not. These Bombings were planned and executed by the USAAF and RAF. So not long after these fire bombings WWII did come to an end with an Allied victory. So the bombings of Dresden and Hamburg were horrific but necessary.

References
Ross, S. H. (2003). Strategic Bombing by the United States in World War II: the Myths and Facts. Jefferson, NC: McFarland and Company, Inc., Publishers. 201405111802471152175188Ross SH 2003 Strategic Bombing by the United States in
Simkin, J. (2007, September). Spartus-Educational.com. Retrieved May 11, 2014, from http://spartacus-educational.com/2WWdresden.htm 201405111944111370768190Simkin J 2007 Spartus-Educational.com
Surh, G. (2008, May 1). The Historian, 70(1), 141-142. 20140511203104556389332Surh G 20080501 zzzzzzz ======Reference placeholder, don't delete====== zzzzzz