Was the bombing of Dresden justified?

Question

In February 1945, British and American bombers firebombed the city of Dresden, Germany. The city was filled with refugees at the time and had virtually no air defence.

A large number of German civilians were killed (somewhere between 35,000 and 135,000, depending on who you believe).

Dresden did have a few defense plants, but the city was mainly known for it's art and architecture. At the time, Dresden's main contribution to the Nazi war effort was serving as a refugee relocation center for bombed out Berliners and German civillians from Poland and Silesia fleeing the approaching Soviet Army.

Were the US Army Air Corps and the Royal Air Force justified in bombing Dresden? Or was it a war crime, on par with the German Luftwaffe bombing of Warsaw, Rotterdam, London and Coventry?

Yes, I have read Slaughterhouse Five by Kurt Vonnegut. In real life, Vonnegut was in the 106th Infantry Division and was captured at the Battle of the Bulge. He was held in a POW camp at Municipal Slaughterhouse # 5 in Dresden - and he was there when the city was bombed!

It's a great book - and he reminds us of the fact that wars are fought by teenagers (most war writers don't like to talk about that)

Answer 1

It was clearly a war crime, as were the firebombing of Tokyo, the atomic bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, and all the other direct air attacks on German population centers.

A.C. Grayling, the British philosopher, published a fascinating book on this subject last year, and came to the same conclusion.

In my view, killing civilians deliberately is always immoral -- no exceptions.

People who justify such crimes often do so on in ways that take it for granted that 'Germany' or 'Japan' was the enemy and therefore anything done to inflict harm on any aspect of those two nations is justified. But this is clearly a mistake. 'Germany' did not fight the allies -- German soldiers and political leaders did. Were the thousands of German children slaughtered in their beds Nazi scum who got what was coming to them? Of course not.

Being a citizen of an aggressor nation does not make make one an aggressor. By this logic, Osama bin Laden would have been right to attack US citizens on 9/11, since America's political leaders and military had been exploiting and oppressing people in the Middle East for so many decades. But Osama was wrong -- because innocent citizens are not to blame for their nation's evil acts. So also it was wrong to murder citizens of Nazi Germany for the crimes of the Nazi regime.

Answer 2

The incendiary bombing of a cultural medievel center of 600,000, let alone civilians in general, is never justified. The war was nearly over, the trains that were the real target were up and running in a few days.

Those who try to humanize or civilize a thing like total war will most likely be defeated. That to me is the lesson of Dresden, Nagasaki and Hiroshima.

Answer 3

From my fairly extensive (but self-guided) research on WW2, I've learned that one of the motivations for the destruction of Dresden was that it was a warning to the Russians not to advance beyond their designated zone of occupation as set out at the Yalta conference (the alliance with Russia was only really on the basis of "any enemy of my enemy is my friend"). In other words "if you break the agreemnent, this is what we'll do to you".

But still not justfied in my opinion. The deliberate targetting of civilians is never justified.

Answer 4

Whether it was right or not and I believe there was some justification, it is very easy to take a moral high ground 60 years later. I wonder how those people who lived n London felt about it? If someone bombed you night after night, for the length of time London was bombed, would you be so worried about those who did that bombing? The V1 and V2 were just weapons of terror. No guidance system just fire them and kill anyone who got in the way. I would also point out central London is rich in heritage and short on defense industries but it got bombed. The Germans set the standards. It was a war of total war, in that you undermine civilian morale. And I have never seen anyone in England claim the bombing of London or Coventry was a war crime.

Answer 5

From a post-war perspective, it certainly is unjustifiable, but that's Monday morning quarterbacking. One could well ask if night bombing was ever justified, and even extending the argument, since the vaunted "drop a bomb in a pickle barrel" accuracy of the Norden bombsight often missed by a couple of miles, whether strategic bombing was justified. Even now, the collateral damage from precision weapons is routinely denounced. It's always a matter of degree and perspective, and one must be careful in judging once the heat of battle has dissipated.

Answer 6

I believe it was a war crime. Killing civilians is never justified, even though they may live in the land of the enemies. It leads to more violence, hatred, and possible support for the other side.

You've probably already read it, but Slaughterhouse Five was an excellent book.

Answer 7

Belfast had its fair share of the blitz with many thousands of innocent civilian men,women and children killed,maimed and injured. being an industrial city at the time with shipbuilding and aircraft manufacturing its biggest assets this being Belfast's only crime was an obvious target for an unprovoked attack. now if you speak to anyone who lived through the blitz they will say you got up dusted yourself down and got on with life the best way you could. do they blame Germany and her allies yes, do they think it was a war crime no, such is life they will say, the past is the past.

Answer 8

I would not say it was a war crime but probably did not effect the outcome of the war by one atom. Killed a lot of people for a net effect of zero.

Answer 9

Was the bombing justified, No.

Dresden was not an industrial city, it was a cultural center. It should have been left untouched just as Paris was (by both the Nazis and the Allies) It was filled with refuges fleeing the Russian advance.

but was it a war crime, No.
I don't believe the record shows that the Allies INTENTIONALLY bombed unarmed civilians.

Despicable, Yes.
Criminal, No

Answer 10

Absolutely not, this was a major war crime perpetrated by the Allies against a civilian population!
But the winners make the rules, and might makes right. And to this day nothing has changed in that regard.