August Schreitmüller's sculpture "Güte" ("Goodness") overlooks the destroyed city.[1]

The bombing of Dresden by the British Royal Air Force (RAF) and United States Army Air Force (USAAF) between February 13 and February 15, 1945, 12 weeks before the surrender of the Armed Forces (Wehrmacht) of Nazi Germany, remains one of the most controversial Allied actions of the Second World War. The raids saw 1,300 heavy bombers drop over 3,900 tons of high-explosive bombs and incendiary devices in four raids, destroying 13 square miles (34 km²) of the city, the baroque capital of the German state of Saxony, and causing a firestorm that consumed the city centre.^[2] Estimates of civilian casualties vary greatly, but recent publications place the figure between 24,000 and 40,000.^[3] RAF redirects here. ... The United States Army Air Forces, or USAAF, was a part of the U.S. military during World War II. The direct precursor to the U.S. Air Force, the USAAF formally existed between 1941 and 1947. ... is the 44th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... is the 46th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1945 (MCMXLV) was a common year starting on Monday (link will display the full calendar). ... The German Instrument of Surrender was the legal instrument by which the High Command of the German Armed Forces surrendered simultaneously to the Supreme Commander of the Allied Expeditionary Force and to the Soviet High command at the end of World War II in Europe. ... The straight-armed Balkenkreuz, a stylized version of the Iron Cross, the emblem of the Wehrmacht. ... Nazi Germany, or the Third Reich, commonly refers to Germany in the years 1933–1945, when it was under the firm control of the totalitarian and fascist ideology of the Nazi Party, with the Führer Adolf Hitler as dictator. ... Combatants Allied powers: China France Great Britain Soviet Union United States and others Axis powers: Germany Italy Japan and others Commanders Chiang Kai-shek Charles de Gaulle Winston Churchill Joseph Stalin Franklin Roosevelt Adolf Hitler Benito Mussolini Hideki Tōjō Casualties Military dead: 17,000,000 Civilian dead: 33,000... For other uses, see Baroque (disambiguation). ... Location Time zone CET/CEST (UTC+1/+2) Administration Country NUTS Region DED Capital Dresden Minister-President Georg Milbradt (CDU) Governing parties CDU / SPD Votes in Bundesrat 4 (from 69) Basic statistics Area  18,416 km² (7,110 sq mi) Population 4,252,000 (11/2006)[1]  - Density 231 /km... This article does not cite its references or sources. ...

The Allies described the operation as the justified bombing of a military and industrial target, which was a major rail transportation and communication centre, housing 110 factories and 50,000 workers in support of the German war effort.^[4] Against this, several researchers have argued that Dresden was a cultural landmark of little or no military significance, a "Florence on the Elbe," as it was known, and the attacks were indiscriminate area bombing and not proportional for the commensurate military gains.^[5][6] This article is about the city in Germany. ... Florence (or Firenze, Florentia and Fiorenza) is the capital city of the Italian region of Tuscany, and of the province of Florence. ... This article is about a river in Central Europe. ... Area bombardment is the policy of indiscriminate bombing of an enemys cities, for the purpose of destroying civilian morale. ... Within law, the principle of proportionality is used to describe the idea that the punishment of a certain crime should be in proportion to the severity of the crime itself. ... Military necessity along with distinction, and proportionality are three important principles of international humanitarian law governing the legal use of force in an armed conflict. ...

In the first few decades after the war, some death toll estimates were as high as 250,000. However, figures in the regions of hundreds of thousands are considered disproportionate.^[7] Today's historians estimate a death toll of between 25,000 and 40,000, with an independent investigation commissioned by the city itself to be released some time in 2008.^[8] Post-war discussion of the bombing includes debate by commentators and historians as to whether or not the bombing was justified, and whether or not its outcome constituted a war crime. Nonetheless, the raids continue to be included among the worst examples of civilian suffering caused by strategic bombing, and have become one of the moral causes célèbres of the Second World War.^[9] Look up cause célèbre in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ...

Background

Dresden circa 1900 (Dresden Frauenkirche, Augustus Bridge, Katholische Hofkirche)

A view from the town hall over the Altstadt (old town), 1910.

The end of 1944 found the German military retreating on both fronts, but not yet defeated. In the east, the Soviets were pushing the Germans westward. On February 8, 1945, they crossed the Oder River, with positions just 70 km from Berlin.^[10] As the eastern and western fronts were getting closer, the Western Allies started to consider how they might aid the Soviets with the use of the strategic bomber force. The plan was to bomb Berlin and several other eastern cities in conjunction with the Soviet advance, in order to cause confusion among German troops evacuating from the east and to hamper their reinforcement from the west. Image File history File links Download high resolution version (3498x2562, 1758 KB) Description Modifications denoising and manual dust removal, contrast adjustment, cropped to standard aspect ratio, rescaled, sharpened, and converted to JPEG Other versions Image:Dresden Altstadt 1905. ... Image File history File links Download high resolution version (3498x2562, 1758 KB) Description Modifications denoising and manual dust removal, contrast adjustment, cropped to standard aspect ratio, rescaled, sharpened, and converted to JPEG Other versions Image:Dresden Altstadt 1905. ... The Dresden Frauenkirche in October 2005, only two weeks prior to its reconsecration and opening to the public. ... Katholische Hofkirche is a Roman Catholic Church, located in the Altstadt in the heart of Dresden, in east Germany. ... Image File history File links Size of this preview: 800 × 547 pixelsFull resolution (1617 × 1106 pixel, file size: 1. ... Image File history File links Size of this preview: 800 × 547 pixelsFull resolution (1617 × 1106 pixel, file size: 1. ... Combatants Soviet Union,[1] Poland, Tannu Tuva (until 1944 incorporation with USSR), Mongolia Germany,[2] Italy (to 1943), Romania (to 1944), Finland (to 1944), Hungary, Slovakia, Croatia, Spain (to 1943, unofficial) Commanders Joseph Stalin, Aleksei Antonov, Ivan Konev, Rodion Malinovsky, Ivan Bagramyan, Kirill Meretskov, Ivan Petrov, Alexander Rodimtsev, Konstantin Rokossovsky... is the 39th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1945 (MCMXLV) was a common year starting on Monday (link will display the full calendar). ... The Oder (known in Czech, Slovak and Polish as Odra) is a river in Central Europe. ... This article is about the capital of Germany. ... This article does not cite any references or sources. ...

A special British Joint Intelligence Subcommittee report titled German Strategy and Capacity to Resist, prepared for Churchill's eyes only, predicted that Germany might collapse as early as mid-April if the Soviets overran them at their eastern defenses. Alternatively, the report warned that the Germans might hold out until November if they could prevent the Soviets from taking Silesia. Hence any assistance provided to the Soviets on the eastern front could shorten the war.^[11] Silesia (English pronunciation [], Czech: ; German: ; Latin: ; Polish: ; Silesian: Ślůnsk) is a historical region in central Europe, located along the upper and middle Oder River, upper Vistula River, and along the Sudetes, Carpathian (Silesian Beskids) mountain range. ...

Plans for a large and intense offensive targeting Berlin and the other eastern cities had been discussed under the code name Operation Thunderclap in the summer of 1944, but it had been shelved on August 16.^[12] These were now re-examined, and the decision made to draw up a more limited operation.^[13] is the 228th day of the year (229th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ...

On January 26, Winston Churchill pressed the Secretary of State for Air, Sir Archibald Sinclair: "I asked [last night] whether Berlin, and no doubt other large cities in east Germany, should not now be considered especially attractive targets. ... Pray report to me tomorrow what is going to be done."^[14] Sinclair approached Sir Norman Bottomley, the Deputy Chief of the Air Staff, who asked Arthur "Bomber" Harris, Commander-in-Chief of RAF Bomber Command and an ardent supporter of area bombing, to undertake attacks on Berlin, Dresden, Leipzig, and Chemnitz, "with the particular object of exploiting the confused conditions which are likely to exist in the above mentioned cities during the successful Russian advance."^[14] On January 27 Sinclair replied to Churchill: is the 26th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... Churchill redirects here. ... Archibald Henry Macdonald Sinclair, 1st Viscount Thurso KT CMG PC (October 22, 1890 – June 15, 1970), known as Sir Archibald Sinclair from 1912 until 1952, was a Scottish politician and leader of the British Liberal Party. ... Air Chief Marshal Sir Norman Howard Bottomley KCB CIE DSO AFC (September 18, 1891 - August 13, 1970) was the Yorkshire-born successor to Arthur Bomber Harris as Commander-in-Chief of Royal Air Force Bomber Command in 1945. ... Sir Arthur Travers Harris, 1st Baronet (April 13, 1892 - April 5, 1984), commonly known as Bomber Harris, and often, in the RAF, as Butcher Harris, was commander of RAF Bomber Command and later a Marshal of the Royal Air Force during the latter half of World War II. In 1942... Bomber Command badge RAF Bomber Command was the organisation that controlled the RAFs bomber forces. ... Area bombardment is the policy of indiscriminate bombing of an enemys cities, for the purpose of destroying civilian morale. ... This article is about the capital of Germany. ... Leipzig ( ; Sorbian/Lusatian: Lipsk from the Sorbian word for Tilia) is, with a population of over 506,000, the largest city in the federal state of Saxony, Germany. ... Chemnitz (Sorbian/Lusatian Kamjenica, 1953-1990 called Karl-Marx-Stadt; Czech: Saská Kamenice) is a city in the Free State of Saxony, Germany. ... is the 27th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ...

During the Yalta Conference on February 4, the Deputy Chief of the Soviet General Staff, General Aleksei Antonov, raised the issue of hampering the reinforcement of German troops from the western front by paralysing the junctions of Berlin and Leipzig with aerial bombardment. In response, Sir Charles Portal, the Chief of the Air Staff, who was in Yalta, asked Norman Bottomley to send him a list of objectives to be discussed with the Soviets. Bottomley's list included oil plants, tank and aircraft factories, and the cities of Berlin and Dresden. In the discussions which followed, the Western Allies argued that, unless Dresden was bombed, the Germans would be able to route rail traffic through Dresden to compensate for any damage caused to Berlin and Leipzig. Antonov agreed that Dresden be added to his list of requests.^{[citation needed]} The Big Three at the Yalta Conference, Winston Churchill, Franklin D. Roosevelt and Joseph Stalin. ... is the 35th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... Categories: Wikipedia cleanup | Russia-related stubs | People stubs | Military of the Soviet Union ...

Military and industrial profile

Dresden was the seventh largest German city, and according to the RAF at the time, the largest unbombed built-up area left.^[16] British historian Frederick Taylor writes that an official 1942 guide to the city described it as "one of the foremost industrial locations of the Reich," and in 1944, the German Army High Command's Weapons Office listed 127 medium-to-large factories and workshops that were supplying the army with material.^[17] The Oberkommando des Heeres (OKH) was Germanys Army High Command from 1936 to 1945. ...

The U.S. Air Force Historical Division wrote a report in response to the international concern about the bombing, which was classified until December 1978.^[18] This said that there were 110 factories and 50,000 workers in the city supporting the German war effort at the time of the raid.^[19] According to the report, there were aircraft components factories; a poison gas factory (Chemische Fabric Goye and Company); an anti-aircraft and field gun factory (Lehman); an optical goods factory (Zeiss Ikon AG); as well as factories producing electrical and X-ray apparatus (Koch and Sterzel AG); gears and differentials (Saxoniswerke); and electric gauges (Gebruder Bassler). It also said there were barracks, and hutted camps, and a munitions storage depot.^[20] Early detection of chemical agents Sociopolitical climate of chemical warfare While the study of chemicals and their military uses was widespread in China, the use of toxic materials has historically been viewed with mixed emotions and some disdain in the West (especially when the enemy were doing it). ... Lehman Brothers (NYSE: LEH) is an investment banking and financial services firm. ... Carl Zeiss in middle age. ...

At least some of the factories relied on forced labour, including Jews from concentration camps. Michal Salomonovic, a survivor of the Łódź ghetto and Auschwitz concentration camp, told Radio Praha that he volunteered for a work detail and was sent to an SS-run cigarette factory in Dresden that was actually manufacturing dum-dum bullets. After the bombing, the SS led him on a "death march" to the West, but he was able to escape.^[21] It has been suggested that Internment be merged into this article or section. ... The Łódź Ghetto (historically the Litzmannstadt Ghetto) was the second-largest ghetto (after the Warsaw Ghetto) established for Jews and Roma in Nazi-occupied Poland. ... Auschwitz (Konzentrationslager Auschwitz) was the largest of the Nazi German concentration camps. ... ... Dachau concentration-camp inmates on a death march through a German village in April 1945. ...

The USAF report also states that two of Dresden's traffic routes were of military importance: north-south from Germany to Czechoslovakia, and east-west along the central European uplands.^[22] The city was at the junction of the Berlin-Prague-Vienna railway line, as well as Munich-Breslau, and Hamburg-Leipzig.^[22] Colonel Harold E. Cook, an American POW held in the Friedrichstadt marshaling yard the night before the attacks, later said that "I saw with my own eyes that Dresden was an armed camp: thousands of German troops, tanks and artillery and miles of freight cars loaded with supplies supporting and transporting German logistics towards the east to meet the Russians."^[23] Geneva Convention definition A prisoner of war (POW) is a soldier, sailor, airman, or marine who is imprisoned by an enemy power during or immediately after an armed conflict. ...

An RAF memo issued to airmen on the night of the attack said:

This article is about the City of Manchester in England. ... Bomber Command badge RAF Bomber Command was the organisation that controlled the RAFs bomber forces. ...

The attacks

In the air

A Lancaster dropping bundles of 4 lb (1.8 kg) stick incendiaries over Duisburg on October 14/15, 1944.

Seconds later, the same aircraft releases the main part of its load, a 4,000 lb (1,800 kg) HC "cookie" and 108 30 lb "J" incendiaries.

The Avro Lancaster was a British four-engine Second World War bomber aircraft made initially by Avro for the British Royal Air Force (RAF). ... Duisburg (IPA: ) is a German city in the western part of the Ruhr Area (Ruhrgebiet) in North Rhine-Westphalia. ... A Lancaster drops bundles of incendiary bombs (left), incendiary bombs and a “cookie” (right) on Duisburg on 15 October 1944 Blockbuster or Cookie was the name given to several of the largest conventional bombs used in World War II by the Royal Air Force (RAF). ...

The night of February 13–14

The Dresden attack was to have begun with a USAAF Eighth Air Force bombing raid on February 13, 1945. The Eighth Air Force had already bombed the railway yards near the centre of the city twice in daytime raids: once on October 7, 1944 with 70 tons of high-explosive bombs killing more than 400,^[25] then again with 133 bombers on January 16, 1945, dropping 279 tons of high-explosives and 41 tons of incendiaries.^[4] The United States Army Air Forces (USAAF) was the aviation component of the United States Army primarily during World War II. The title of Army Air Forces succeeded the prior name of Army Air Corps in June 1941 during preparation for expected combat in what came to be known as... The Eighth Air Force is a numbered air force (NAF) of the major command (MAJCOM) of Air Combat Command of the United States Air Force and it is headquartered at Barksdale Air Force Base, Louisiana. ... is the 44th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1945 (MCMXLV) was a common year starting on Monday (link will display the full calendar). ... is the 280th day of the year (281st in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1944 (MCMXLIV) was a leap year starting on Saturday (link will display full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... This article is concerned solely with chemical explosives. ... is the 16th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1945 (MCMXLV) was a common year starting on Monday (link will display the full calendar). ... hey hey you no i rock at soccer cuz no i made the school team!! yay me aka katelyn ♥ Incendiary devices or incendiary bombs are bombs designed to start fires or destroy sensitive equipment using materials such as napalm, thermite, chlorine trifluoride, or white phosphorus. ...

On February 13, 1945, bad weather over Europe prevented any USAAF operations, and it was left to RAF Bomber Command to carry out the first raid. It had been decided that the raid would be a so-called double strike, in which a second wave of bombers would attack three hours after the first, just as the rescue teams were trying to put out the fires.^[26] Other raids were carried out that night to confuse German air defences. Three hundred and sixty heavy bombers (Lancasters and Halifaxes) bombed a synthetic oil plant in Böhlen, 60 miles (97 km) from Dresden, while de Havilland Mosquito medium bomber attacked Magdeburg, Bonn, Misburg near Hannover, and Nuremberg.^[27] is the 44th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1945 (MCMXLV) was a common year starting on Monday (link will display the full calendar). ... Bomber Command badge RAF Bomber Command was the organisation that controlled the RAFs bomber forces. ... The Avro Lancaster was a British four-engine Second World War bomber aircraft made initially by Avro for the British Royal Air Force (RAF). ... The Handley Page Halifax was one of the British front-line, four-engine heavy bombers of the Royal Air Force during the Second World War. ... Böhlen is a German town, south of Leipzig. ... The de Havilland Mosquito[1] was a British combat aircraft that excelled in a number of roles during the Second World War. ... This article is about the German city. ... Bonn is the 19th largest city in Germany. ... Map of Germany showing Hanover Hanover (in German: Hannover [haˈnoːfɐ]), on the river Leine, is the capital of the state of Lower Saxony (Niedersachsen), Germany. ... Nürnberg redirects here. ...

The first of the British aircraft took off at around 17:20 hours CET for the 700-mile (1,100 km) journey.^[28] This was a group of Lancasters from Bomber Command's 83 Squadron, No. 5 Group, acting as the Pathfinders or flare force, whose job it was to find Dresden and drop magnesium parachute flares to light up the area for the bombers. The next set of aircraft to leave England were the Mosquito marker planes — wooden planes known as the "Timber terrors" — who would identify the target areas and drop 1,000-pound target indicators (TIs), known to the Germans as "Christmas trees,"^[29] which gave off a red glow for the bombers to aim at.^[30] The attack was to be centered on the sports stadium, next to the city's medieval Altstadt (old town), with its congested, and highly combustible, timbered buildings.^[31] Time zones of Europe: Light colours indicate countries that do not observe summer time Central European Time (CET) is one of the names of the time zone that is 1 hour ahead of Coordinated Universal Time. ... The Avro Lancaster was a British four-engine Second World War bomber aircraft made initially by Avro for the British Royal Air Force (RAF). ... No. ... The Pathfinder squadrons of the Royal Air Force were elite squadrons of RAF Bomber Command during World War II. At the start of the war Bomber command made many daylight raids but the losses incurred due to lack of escorting fighters when operating over Europe led them to switch the... General Name, symbol, number magnesium, Mg, 12 Chemical series alkaline earth metals Group, period, block 2, 3, s Appearance silvery white solid at room temp Standard atomic weight 24. ... The de Havilland Mosquito[1] was a British combat aircraft that excelled in a number of roles during the Second World War. ...

Mosquito marker planes, so-called "timber terrors," dropped the target indicators, which glowed red to guide the bombers.

The main bomber force, called "Plate Rack", took off shortly after the Pathfinders. This was a group of 254 Lancasters carrying 500 tons of high explosives and 375 tons of incendiaries, or fire bombs. There were 200,000 incendiaries in all, with the high-explosive bombs ranging in weight from 500 pounds to 4,000 pounds — the so-called two-ton "cookies,"^[31] also known as "blockbusters," because they had the power to destroy a city block. The high explosives were intended to rupture water mains, and blow off roofs, doors, and windows, creating an air flow that would feed the fires caused by the incendiaries that followed.^[32][33][34] The de Havilland Mosquito[1] was a British combat aircraft that excelled in a number of roles during the Second World War. ... hey hey you no i rock at soccer cuz no i made the school team!! yay me aka katelyn ♥ Incendiary devices or incendiary bombs are bombs designed to start fires or destroy sensitive equipment using materials such as napalm, thermite, chlorine trifluoride, or white phosphorus. ... A Lancaster drops bundles of incendiary bombs (left), incendiary bombs and a “cookie” (right) on Duisburg on 15 October 1944 Blockbuster or Cookie was the name given to several of the largest conventional bombs used in World War II by the Royal Air Force (RAF). ...

The Lancasters crossed into French airspace near the Somme, then into Germany just north of Cologne. At 22:00 hours, the force heading for Böhlen split away from Plate Rack, which turned south east toward the Elbe. By this time, 10 of the Lancasters were out of service, leaving 244 to continue to Dresden.^[35] Airspace means the portion of the atmosphere controlled by a particular country on top of its territory and territorial waters or, more generally, any specific three-dimensional portion of the atmosphere. ... This article is about the French department. ... Cologne (German: , IPA: ; local dialect: Kölle ) is Germanys fourth-largest city after Berlin, Hamburg and Munich, and is the largest city both in the German Federal State of North Rhine-Westphalia and within the Rhine-Ruhr Metropolitan Area, one of the major European metropolitan areas with more than...

Dresden from the air during the night attack.

The sirens started sounding in Dresden at 21:51 (CET)^[36][37] Wing Commander Maurice Smith, flying in a Mosquito, gave the order to the Lancasters: "Controller to Plate Rack Force: Come in and bomb glow of red target indicators as planned. Bomb the glow of red TIs as planned.".^[38] The first bombs were released at 22:14, the Lancasters flying in low at 8,000 feet,^[39] with all but one Lancaster's bombs released within two minutes, and the last one releasing at 22:22. The fan-shaped area that was bombed was one-and-a-quarter miles long, and at its extreme about one-and-three-quarter miles wide.^[40] Image File history File linksMetadata Dresden_Aerial_View_-_February_13_14_1945. ... Image File history File linksMetadata Dresden_Aerial_View_-_February_13_14_1945. ... A Wing Commanders sleeve/shoulder insignia A Wing Commanders command flag Wing Commander is a commissioned rank in the Royal Air Force and the air forces of many other Commonwealth countries. ...

The second attack, three hours later, was by Lancaster aircraft of 1, 3, 6 and 8 (Pathfinder Force) Groups, 8 Group being the Pathfinders. By now, the thousands of fires from the burning city could be seen more than 60 miles (97 km) away on the ground, and 500 miles (800 km) away in the air, with smoke rising to 15,000 feet.^[41] The Pathfinders therefore decided to expand the target, dropping flares on either side of the firestorm, including the Hauptbahnhof, the main train station, and the Großer Garten, a large park, both of which had escaped damage during the first raid. The German sirens sounded again at 01:05, but as there was practically no electricity, these were small hand-held sirens that were heard within only a block.^[35] Between 01:21 and 01:45, 529 Lancasters dropped more than 1,800 tons of bombs. Number 1 Group of the Royal Air Force is one of the two groups in Strike Command. ... Number 3 Group of the Royal Air Force is one of the three groups in RAF Strike Command. ... No. ... No. ... This is a list of Royal Air Force groups. ... To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article or section may require cleanup. ... Grosser Garten (German spelling Großer Garten) is a large Baroque garden in Hanover, part of the heritage of the Kings of Hanover. ...

February 14–15

On the morning of 14 February, 431 bombers of the 1st Bombardment Division of the United States VIII Bomber Command were scheduled to bomb Dresden at around midday, and the 3rd Bombardment Division were to follow the 1st and bomb Chemnitz, while the 2nd Bombardment Division would bomb a synthetic oil plant in Magdeburg. The bomber groups would be protected by the 784 P-51 Mustangs of the Eighth Fighter Command which meant that there would be almost 2,100 aircraft of the United States Eighth Air Force over Saxony during 14 February.^[42] is the 45th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... Chemnitz (Sorbian/Lusatian Kamjenica, 1953-1990 called Karl-Marx-Stadt; Czech: Saská Kamenice) is a city in the Free State of Saxony, Germany. ... Mobil 1 synthetic motor oil Synthetic oil is oil consisting of chemical compounds which were not originally present in crude oil (petroleum) but were artificially made (synthesized) from other compounds. ... This article is about the German city. ... The North American Aviation P-51 Mustang was an American long-range single-seat fighter aircraft that entered service with Allied air forces in the middle years of World War II. The P-51 became one of the conflicts most successful and recognizable aircraft. ... The Eighth Air Force is a numbered air force (NAF) of the major command (MAJCOM) of Air Combat Command of the United States Air Force and it is headquartered at Barksdale Air Force Base, Louisiana. ... is the 45th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ...

There is some confusion in the primary sources over what was the target in Dresden whether it was the marshalling yards near the centre or centre of the built up area. The report by the 1st Bombardment Division's commander to his commander states that the targeting sequence was to be the centre of the built up area in Dresden if the weather was clear. If clouds obscured Dresden then if it was clear over Chemnitz then Chemnitz was to be the target and if both were obscured then the centre of Dresden would be bombed using H2X radar.^[43] The mix of bombs to be used on the Dresden raid was about 40% incendiaries, much closer to the RAF city busting mix than that usually used by the Americans in precision bombardments.^[44] This was quite a common mix when the USAAF anticipated cloudy conditions over the target.^[45] A classification yard or marshalling yard (including hump yards) is a railroad yard found at some freight train stations, used to separate railroad cars on to one of several tracks. ... The H2X radar, nicknamed the Mickey set, provided a ground mapping capability for both navigation and in daylight when overcast (and at night) for the USAAF during World War II. The H2X system replaced the British H2S radar. ...

316 B-17 Flying Fortresses bombed Dresden, dropping 771 tons of bombs^[46][47] The rest misidentified their targets. Sixty bombed Prague, dropping 153 tons of bombs on the Czech city while others bombed Brux and Pilsen.^[47] The 379th bombardment group started to bomb Dresden at 12:17 aiming at marshalling yards in the Friedrichstadt district west of the city centre as the area was not obscured by smoke and cloud. The 303rd group arrived over Dresden 2 minutes after the 379th found that the their view was obscured by clouds so they bombed Dresden using H2X radar for target this location. The groups that followed the 303rd, (92nd, 306th, 379th, 384th and 457th) also found Dresden obscured by clouds and they too used H2X to locate the target. H2X aiming caused the groups to bomb inaccurately with a wide dispersal over the Dresden area. The last group to bomb Dresden was the 306th and they had finished by 12:30.^[48] The Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress is an American four-engine heavy bomber aircraft developed for the US Army Air Corps (USAAC). ... The Bombing of Prague occurred during the end of World War II (February 14, 1945) when the US Army Air Forces carried out an air raid over Prague. ... Brux is a commune of the Vienne département, in France. ... Plzeň (Czech name) or Pilsen (German equivalent, sometimes used in English) is a city in western Bohemia in the Czech Republic. ... The H2X radar, nicknamed the Mickey set, provided a ground mapping capability for both navigation and in daylight when overcast (and at night) for the USAAF during World War II. The H2X system replaced the British H2S radar. ...

According to an RAF webpage on the history of RAF Bomber Command, "[p]art of the American Mustang-fighter escort was ordered to strafe traffic on the roads around Dresden to increase the chaos and disruption to the important transportation network in the region."^[49]. Kurt Vonnegut, an American POW at Dresden, records an attack on his party of POWs by American fighters on 14 February in his work Slaughterhouse-Five.^[50] Historian Gotz Berganger asserted in Dresden Im Luftkrieg (1977) that tales of civilians being strafed by the Mustangs were untrue. However, historian Alexander McKee interviewed some eyewitnesses (Gerhard Kuhnemund, Annemarie Waehmann etc.) in Dresden in the winter 1980-81 who told him strafing did occur.^[51] These claims are dismissed by Fredrick Taylor and Helmut Schnatz in studies of the issue in their books.^[52][53]Frederick Taylor, in Dresden: Tuesday, February 13, 1945 (2004) alleges that there was a brief, but possibly intense, dogfight between American and German fighters, and some rounds may have been mistaken for strafing fire when they struck the ground.^[54] Bomber Command badge RAF Bomber Command was the organisation that controlled the RAFs bomber forces. ... Kurt Vonnegut, Jr. ... Slaughterhouse-Five, or The Childrens Crusade: A Duty Dance With Death is a 1969 novel by best-selling author Kurt Vonnegut. ... This article is about the aerial combat maneuver. ...

On February 15 the 1st Bombardment Division's primary target — the Böhlen synthetic oil plant near Leipzig — was obscured by cloud so the Division's groups diverted to their secondary target which was the city of Dresden. As Dresden was also obscured by clouds the groups targeted the city using H2X. The first group to arrive over the target was the 401th, but they missed the centre and bombed southeastern suburbs with bombs landing on the near by towns of Meissen and Pirna. The other groups all bombed between 12:00 and 12:10. They failed to hit the marshalling yards in the Friedrichstadt district and, as on the previous raid, their ordinance was scattered over a wide area.^[55] is the 46th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... Böhlen is a German town, south of Leipzig. ... Leipzig ( ; Sorbian/Lusatian: Lipsk from the Sorbian word for Tilia) is, with a population of over 506,000, the largest city in the federal state of Saxony, Germany. ... Old town of Meißen. ... This term is ambiguous for Piwi-interacting RNA (piRNA) Pirna is a city in the Free State of Saxony, Germany in the administrative district of the Sächsische Schweiz. ...

On the ground

Corpses in the central square after the attack.

The sirens had started sounding in Dresden at 21:51 (CET)^[37] Frederick Taylor writes that the Germans could see that a large enemy bomber formation — or what they called "ein dicker Hund" (a fat dog) — was approaching somewhere in the east. At 21:39, the Reich Air Defense Leadership issued an enemy aircraft warning for Dresden, though at that point it was thought Leipzig might be the target. At 21:59, the Local Air Raid Leadership confirmed that the bombers were in the area of Dresden-Pirna.^[57] Taylor writes the city was largely undefended; a night fighter force of ten Messerschmitts at Klotzsche airfield was scrambled, but it took them half an hour to get into an attack position. At 22:03, the Local Air Raid Leadership issued the first definitive warning: "Achtung! Achtung! Achtung! The lead aircraft of the major enemy bomber forces have changed course and are now approaching the city area."^[58]

By early morning on February 14, Ash Wednesday, the center of the city, including its Altstadt, was engulfed in a firestorm, with temperatures peaking at over 1500 °C (2700 °F).^[59] is the 45th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... In the Western Christian calendar, Ash Wednesday is the first day of Lent. ... This article does not cite its references or sources. ... For other uses, see Celsius (disambiguation). ... For other uses, see Fahrenheit (disambiguation). ...

Over ninety percent of the city centre was destroyed.

There were very few public air raid shelters — the largest, underneath the main train station, was housing 6,000 refugees.^[61] As a result, most people took shelter in their cellars, but one of the air raid precautions the city had taken was to remove the thick cellar walls between rows of buildings, and replace them with thin partitions that could be knocked through in an emergency. The idea was that, as one building collapsed or filled with smoke, those using the basement as a shelter could knock the walls down and run into adjoining buildings. With the city on fire everywhere, those fleeing from one burning cellar simply ran into another, with the result that thousands of bodies were found piled up in houses at the end of city blocks.^[62]

A Dresden police report written shortly after the attacks reported that the old town and the inner eastern suburbs had been engulfed in a single fire that had destroyed almost 12,000 dwellings.^[63] The same report said that the raids had destroyed 24 banks, 26 insurance buildings, 31 stores and retail houses, 640 shops, 64 warehouses, 2 market halls, 31 large hotels, 26 public houses, 63 administrative buildings, 3 theatres, 18 cinemas, 11 churches, 6 chapels; 5 other cultural buildings, 19 hospitals including auxiliary, overflow hospitals, and private clinics, 39 schools, 5 consulates, the zoo, the waterworks, the railways, 19 postal facilities; 4 tram facilities; and 19 ships and barges. The Wehrmacht's main command post in the Taschenberg Palais, 19 military hospitals and a number of less significant military facilities were also destroyed.^[63] Almost 200 factories were damaged, 136 seriously damaged (including several of the Zeiss Ikon precision optical engineering works), 28 with medium to serious damage, and 35 with light damage.^[64] This article refers to public transport vehicles running on rails. ... Carl Zeiss The Carl Zeiss AG is a German manufacturer of optical systems, industrial measurements and medical devices, located in Oberkochen with important subsidiaries in Aalen and Jena. ...

An RAF assessment showed that 23 percent of the industrial buildings, and 56 percent of the non-industrial buildings, not counting residential buildings, had been seriously damaged. Around 78,000 dwellings had been completely destroyed; 27,700 were uninhabitable; and 64,500 damaged, but readily repairable.^[4]

Casualties

A pyre of bodies in the aftermath.

The tonnage of bombs dropped on Dresden was actually lower than in many other areas,^[65] but ideal weather conditions for a firestorm, the wooden-framed buildings, the "breakthroughs" linking the cellars of contiguous buildings, and the city's lack of preparation^[29] conspired to make the attack particularly devastating. For these reasons, the loss of life in Dresden was considerably higher than in many other bombing raids. One contributing factor to the large loss of life in Dresden was the lack of preparation for the effects of air-raids by Gauleiter Martin Mutschmann, as the city did not expect to be bombed.^[66] For example when Braunschweig was bombed on nights of October 14 and 15, 1944, hochbunkers and well trained fire fighters saved 23,000 people from death in a firestorm. An Ubud cremation ceremony in 2005. ... A Gauleiter was the party leader of a regional branch of the NSDAP (more commonly known as the Nazi Party) or the head of a Gau or of a Reichsgau. ... The Bombing of Braunschweig (or Brunswick) in World War II on 15 October 1944 by the Royal Air Forces No. ... is the 287th day of the year (288th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... The Bombing of Braunschweig (or Brunswick) in World War II on 15 October 1944 by the Royal Air Forces No. ...

Exact figures are difficult to ascertain. Estimates are complicated by the fact that the city and surrounding suburbs, which had a population of 642,000 in 1939,^[67] was crowded at the time of the bombing with up to 200,000 refugees,^[68] and thousands of wounded soldiers. Earlier reputable estimates of casualties varied from 25,000 to more than 60,000, but historians now view around 25,000–35,000 as the likely range^[69][70] with Dresden historian Friedrich Reichert pointing toward the lower end of it.^[71] It would appear from such estimates that the casualties suffered in the Dresden bombings were similar to those suffered in other German cities subject to firebombing during area bombardment.^[4][72] Aerial area bombardment is the policy of indiscriminate bombing of an enemys cities, for the purpose of destroying the enemys means of producing military materiel, communications, government centres and civilian morale. ...

According to official German report Tagesbefehl (Order of the Day) no. 47 ("TB47") issued on 22 March the number of dead recovered by that date was 20,204, including 6,865 who were cremated on the Altmarkt, and the total number of deaths was expected to be about 25,000^[73][74][75] Another report on 3 April put the number of corpses recovered at 22,096.^[73] The municipal cemetery office recorded 21,271 victims of the raids were buried in the city cemeteries, of which 17,295 were placed in the Heidefriedhof cemetery (a total that included the ashes of those cremated at the Altmarkt). These numbers were probably supplemented by a number of additional private burials in other places.^[73] A further 1,858 bodies of victims were found during the rebuilding of Dresden between the end of the war and 1966.^[76] Since 1989 despite the extensive excavation for new buildings no war-related bodies have been found.^[76] The number of people registered with the authorities as missing was 35,000; around 10,000 of those were later found to be alive.^[70] is the 81st day of the year (82nd in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... is the 93rd day of the year (94th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ...

Wartime political responses

German

Development of a German political response to the raid took several turns. Initially, some of the leadership, especially Robert Ley and Joseph Goebbels, wanted to use it as a pretext for abandonment of the Geneva Conventions on the Western Front. In the end, the only political action the German government took was to exploit it for propaganda purposes.^[77] Dr Robert Ley Dr. Robert Ley (15 February 1890 – 25 October 1945), Nazi German politician, was head of the German Labour Front from 1933 to 1945. ... Paul Joseph Goebbels (German pronunciation: IPA: ; English generally IPA: ) (October 29, 1897 – May 1, 1945) was a German politician and Minister for Public Enlightenment and Propaganda during the National Socialist regime from 1933 to 1945. ... Original document. ... Combatants  United Kingdom  United States Poland  France Canada Free France  Netherlands  Belgium Germany Italy Commanders Winston Churchill, Trafford Leigh-Mallory, Harold Alexander, Bertram Ramsay, Bernard Montgomery, Lord Gort, Trafford Leigh-Mallory, Franklin Roosevelt,, George Marshall, Dwight Eisenhower, Omar Bradley, Jacob Devers, WÅ‚adysÅ‚aw Anders, WÅ‚adysÅ‚aw Sikorski, Stanis...

Joseph Goebbels

On February 16, the Propaganda Ministry issued a press release that stated that Dresden had no war industries; it was a city of culture.^[78] Image File history File links Goebbels. ... Image File history File links Goebbels. ... Paul Joseph Goebbels (German pronunciation: IPA: ; English generally IPA: ) (October 29, 1897 – May 1, 1945) was a German politician and Minister for Public Enlightenment and Propaganda during the National Socialist regime from 1933 to 1945. ... is the 47th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ...

On February 25, a new leaflet with photographs of two burned children was released under the title "Dresden — Massacre of Refugees," stating that 200,000 had died. Since no official estimate had been developed, the numbers were speculative, but newspapers such as the Stockholm Svenska Morgonbladet used phrases such as "privately from Berlin," to explain where they had obtained the figures.^[79] Frederick Taylor states that "there is good reason to believe that later in March copies of — or extracts from — [an official police report] were leaked to the neutral press by Goebbels's Propaganda Ministry ... doctored with an extra zero to make [the total dead from the raid] 202,040."^[80]On March 4, Das Reich, a weekly newspaper founded by Goebbels, published a lengthy article emphasizing the suffering and destruction of a cultural icon, without mentioning any damage the attacks had caused to the German war effort.^[74][81] is the 56th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... For other uses, see Stockholm (disambiguation). ... is the 63rd day of the year (64th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... German word translated as The Empire. Used in conjunction with the Nazi Party belief that they were the Third Reich ...

Taylor writes that this propaganda was effective, as it not only influenced attitudes in neutral countries at the time, but also reached the British House of Commons when Richard Stokes, a Labour Party Member of Parliament (MP) opposed to area bombing, quoted information from the German Press Agency (controlled by the Propaganda Ministry). It was Stokes' questions in the House of Commons that were in large part responsible for the shift in the UK against this type of raid. Taylor suggests that, although the destruction of Dresden would have affected people's support for the Allies regardless of German propaganda, at least some of the outrage did depend on Goebbel's massaging of the casualty figures.^[82] Type Lower House Speaker Michael Martin, (Non-affiliated) since October 23, 2000 Leader Harriet Harman, (Labour) since June 28, 2007 Shadow Leader Theresa May, (Conservative) since May 5, 2005 Members 659 Political groups Labour Party Conservative Party Liberal Democrats Scottish National Party Plaid Cymru Democratic Unionist Party Sinn F̩in... Richard Rapier Stokes ( 1897Р1957) was a British Labour Party politician who served briefly as Lord Privy Seal in 1951. ... The Labour Party is a political party in the United Kingdom. ... A Member of Parliament, or MP, is a representative elected by the voters to a parliament. ...

British

Prime Minister Winston Churchill amid the ruins of Coventry Cathedral in 1942. Churchill tried to distance himself from the Dresden bombing after the fact.^[83]

The destruction of the city provoked unease in intellectual circles in Britain. According to Max Hastings, by February 1945, attacks upon German cities had become largely irrelevant to the outcome of the war and the name of Dresden resonated with cultured people all over Europe — "the home of so much charm and beauty, a refuge for Trollope’s heroines, a landmark of the Grand Tour." He writes that the bombing was the first time the public in Allied countries seriously questioned the military actions used to defeat the Nazis.^[84] Churchill redirects here. ... The Bombing of Coventry was a massive raid launched by the Luftwaffe which saw Britains major armaments production centre decimated. ... Sir Max Hastings (born December 28, 1945) is a British journalist, editor, historian and author. ... Anthony Trollope (April 24, 1815 – December 6, 1882) became one of the most successful, prolific and respected English novelists of the Victorian era. ... For other uses, see Grand Tour (disambiguation). ...

The unease was made worse by an Associated Press story that the Allies had resorted to terror bombing. At a press briefing held by the Supreme Headquarters Allied Expeditionary Force two days after the raids, British Air Commodore Colin McKay Grierson told journalists: The Associated Press, or AP, is an American news agency, the worlds largest such organization. ... Badge of SHAEF Supreme Headquarters Allied Expeditionary Force (abbreviated as SHAEF, pronounced shāf), was the headquarters of the Commander of Allied forces in north west Europe, from late 1943 until the end of World War II. General Dwight Eisenhower was in command of SHAEF throughout its existence. ... {{}}Air Commodore Colin McKay Grierson, CBE, (born May 29, 1975) He joined the Royal Air Force (RAF) as an Aircraft Apprentice in 1921. ...

First of all they [Dresden and similar towns] are the centres to which evacuees are being moved. They are centres of communications through which traffic is moving across to the Russian Front, and from the Western Front to the East, and they are sufficiently close to the Russian Front for the Russians to continue the successful prosecution of their battle. I think these three reasons probably cover the bombing.^[85]

One of the journalists asked whether the principal aim of bombing of Dresden would be to cause confusion among the refugees or to blast communications carrying military supplies. Grierson answered that the primary aim was communications to prevent them moving military supplies, and to stop movement in all directions if possible. He then added in an offhand remark that the raid also helped destroying "what is left of German morale." Howard Cowan, an Associated Press war correspondent, subsequently filed a story saying that the Allies had resorted to terror bombing. There were follow-up newspaper editorials on the issue and a long time opponent of strategic bombing, Richard Stokes MP, asked questions in the House of Commons on March 6.^[86][87] A Member of Parliament, or MP, is a representative elected by the voters to a parliament. ... is the 65th day of the year (66th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ...

Churchill subsequently distanced himself from the bombing.^[83][88][89] On March 28, in a memo sent by telegram to General Ismay for the British Chiefs of Staff and the Chief of the Air Staff, he wrote: is the 87th day of the year (88th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... General Hastings Lionel Ismay, 1st Baron Ismay of Wormington (June 21, 1887 - 1965) was a British soldier and diplomat. ...

It seems to me that the moment has come when the question of bombing of German cities simply for the sake of increasing the terror, though under other pretexts, should be reviewed. Otherwise we shall come into control of an utterly ruined land… The destruction of Dresden remains a serious query against the conduct of Allied bombing. I am of the opinion that military objectives must henceforward be more strictly studied in our own interests than that of the enemy.
The Foreign Secretary has spoken to me on this subject, and I feel the need for more precise concentration upon military objectives such as oil and communications behind the immediate battle-zone, rather than on mere acts of terror and wanton destruction, however impressive.^[90][91]

Air Chief Marshal Arthur Harris, head of RAF Bomber Command, strongly objected to Churchill's comparison of the raid to an "act of terror," a comment Churchill withdrew in the face of Harris's protest.

Having been given a paraphrased version of Churchill's memo by Bottomley, on March 29, Air Chief Marshal Arthur Harris ("Bomber Harris") wrote to the Air Ministry:^[92] Image File history File links Download high resolution version (538x658, 41 KB) Description: Air Chief Marshal Sir Arthur Harris, Commander in Chief of Royal Air Force Bomber Command, seated at his desk at Bomber Command HQ, High Wycombe. ... Image File history File links Download high resolution version (538x658, 41 KB) Description: Air Chief Marshal Sir Arthur Harris, Commander in Chief of Royal Air Force Bomber Command, seated at his desk at Bomber Command HQ, High Wycombe. ... Sir Arthur Travers Harris, 1st Baronet (April 13, 1892 - April 5, 1984), commonly known as Bomber Harris, and often, in the RAF, as Butcher Harris, was commander of RAF Bomber Command and later a Marshal of the Royal Air Force during the latter half of World War II. In 1942... Bomber Command badge RAF Bomber Command was the organisation that controlled the RAFs bomber forces. ... is the 88th day of the year (89th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Sir Arthur Travers Harris, 1st Baronet (April 13, 1892 - April 5, 1984), commonly known as Bomber Harris, and often, in the RAF, as Butcher Harris, was commander of RAF Bomber Command and later a Marshal of the Royal Air Force during the latter half of World War II. In 1942...

I ... assume that the view under consideration is something like this: no doubt in the past we were justified in attacking German cities. But to do so was always repugnant and now that the Germans are beaten anyway we can properly abstain from proceeding with these attacks. This is a doctrine to which I could never subscribe. Attacks on cities like any other act of war are intolerable unless they are strategically justified. But they are strategically justified in so far as they tend to shorten the war and preserve the lives of Allied soldiers. To my mind we have absolutely no right to give them up unless it is certain that they will not have this effect. I do not personally regard the whole of the remaining cities of Germany as worth the bones of one British Grenadier. The feeling, such as there is, over Dresden, could be easily explained by any psychiatrist. It is connected with German bands and Dresden shepherdesses. Actually Dresden was a mass of munitions works, an intact government centre, and a key transportation point to the East. It is now none of these things.^[93]

The phrase "worth the bones of one British grenadier" was an echo of a famous sentence used by Otto von Bismarck: "The whole of the Balkans is not worth the bones of a single Pomeranian grenadier."^[92] Under pressure from the Chiefs of Staff and in response to the views expressed by Portal and Harris among others, Churchill withdrew his memo and issued a new one.^[93][94][95] This was completed on April 1, 1945: Bismarck redirects here. ... is the 91st day of the year (92nd in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1945 (MCMXLV) was a common year starting on Monday (link will display the full calendar). ...

It seems to me that the moment has come when the question of the so called 'area-bombing' of German cities should be reviewed from the point of view of our own interests. If we come into control of an entirely ruined land, there will be a great shortage of accommodation for ourselves and our allies… We must see to it that our attacks do no more harm to ourselves in the long run than they do to the enemy's war effort.^[93][96]

Post-war reconstruction and reconciliation

The ruins of the Frauenkirche in 1991.

Catalogued fragments of the Frauenkirche in 1999.

Further information: Dresden Frauenkirche, Semperoper, Zwinger, and Coventry Cathedral

After the war, and especially after German reunification, great efforts were made to rebuild some of Dresden's former landmarks, such as the Frauenkirche, the Semperoper (the Saxony state opera house), and the Zwinger Palace (the later two were rebuilt in GDR-time). Image File history File links Frauenkirche_Dresden_1991. ... Image File history File links Frauenkirche_Dresden_1991. ... The Dresden Frauenkirche in October 2005, only two weeks prior to its reconsecration and opening to the public. ... The Dresden Frauenkirche in October 2005, only two weeks prior to its reconsecration and opening to the public. ... Semperoper in Dresden Semperoper front facade The Semperoper or Saxon State Opera Dresden (Ger: Sächsische Staatsoper Dresden) is an opera house in Dresden, Germany, and is one of the most famous in the world. ... Aerial view of the Zwinger Palace The Zwinger Palace in Dresden, is a major German landmark. ... The roofless ruins of the old cathedral. ... This article is about the 1990 German reunification. ... The Dresden Frauenkirche in October 2005, only two weeks prior to its reconsecration and opening to the public. ... Semperoper in Dresden Semperoper front facade The Semperoper or Saxon State Opera Dresden (Ger: Sächsische Staatsoper Dresden) is an opera house in Dresden, Germany, and is one of the most famous in the world. ... Aerial view of the Zwinger Palace The Zwinger Palace in Dresden, is a major German landmark. ...

The Dresdener synagogue was also rebuilt, having been burned to the ground during Kristallnacht on November 9, 1938, when Jews, as well as their homes, businesses, and synagogues, were attacked in cities all over Germany — Dresden's Jewish population was virtually wiped out by the Nazis, falling from 6,000 to 50. The original Star of David on the synagogue was installed above the entrance of the new building; Alfred Neugebauer, a local firefighter during Kristallnacht, had saved it, hiding it in his home until the end of the war.^[97] The synagogue Scolanova Trani in Italy. ... Nazism in history Nazi ideology Nazism and race Outside Germany Related subjects Lists Politics Portal         Kristallnacht, also known as Reichskristallnacht, Reichspogromnacht, Crystal Night and the Night of the Broken Glass, was a pogrom that occurred throughout Nazi Germany on November 9–November 10, 1938. ... is the 313th day of the year (314th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1938 (MCMXXXVIII) was a common year starting on Saturday (link will display the full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... This article is about a Jewish symbol. ... Nazism in history Nazi ideology Nazism and race Outside Germany Related subjects Lists Politics Portal         Kristallnacht, also known as Reichskristallnacht, Reichspogromnacht, Crystal Night and the Night of the Broken Glass, was a pogrom that occurred throughout Nazi Germany on November 9–November 10, 1938. ...

Despite its location in the Soviet occupation zone as the Deutsche Demokratische Republik, in 1956 Dresden entered a twin-town relationship with Coventry, which had suffered some of the worst attacks on any English city at the hands of the Luftwaffe, during the Coventry Blitz, including the destruction of its cathedral. CCCP redirects here. ... This article is about the state which existed from 1949 to 1990. ...   (German IPA: ) is a generic German term for an air force. ... The Coventry blitz was a series of bombing raids (blitzes) that took place in the English city of Coventry. ... The roofless ruins of the old cathedral. ...

The reconstructed Frauenkirche in 2005.

In 1990, after the fall of the Berlin Wall, a group of prominent Dresdeners formed an international appeal known as the "Call from Dresden," requesting help to rebuild the Lutheran Frauenkirche, the destruction of which had over the years become a symbol of the bombing. The baroque Church of Our Lady, completed in 1743, had appeared to survive the raids themselves, but it collapsed a few days later, the ruins left in place by later Communist governments as a symbol of British aggression.^[98] Berlin Wall on November 16, 1989 The Berlin Wall (German: Berliner Mauer) was a long barrier separating West Berlin from East Berlin and the surrounding territory of East Germany. ... Martin Luther (November 10, 1483 – February 18, 1546) was a German monk,[1] priest, professor, theologian, and church reformer. ...

A British charity, the Dresden Trust, was formed in 1993 to raise funds in the UK in response to the call for help, raising £600,000 from 2,000 people and 100 companies and trusts in Britain. One of the gifts they made to the project was an eight-metre high orb and cross made in London by goldsmiths Gant MacDonald, using medieval nails recovered from the ruins of the roof of Coventry Cathedral, and crafted in part by Alan Smith, the son of a pilot who took part in the raid.^[99] The roofless ruins of the old cathedral. ...

During her visit to Germany in November 2004, Queen Elizabeth II hosted a concert in Berlin to raise money for the reconstruction of the Frauenkirche. The visit was accompanied by speculation in the British and German press, fuelled mostly by the tabloids, over a possible apology for the attacks, but none was forthcoming. Elizabeth II (Elizabeth Alexandra Mary Windsor; born 21 April 1926) is Queen of sixteen sovereign states, holding each crown and title equally. ...

The new Frauenkirche — reconstructed over seven years by architects using 3D computer technology to analyse old photographs and every piece of rubble that had been kept — was formally consecrated on October 30, 2005, in a service attended by some 1,800 guests, including Germany's president, Horst Köhler; previous and current chancellors, Gerhard Schröder and Angela Merkel; and the Duke of Kent.^[100] To consecrate an inanimate object is to dedicate it in a ritual to a special purpose, usually religious. ... is the 303rd day of the year (304th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 2005 (MMV) was a common year starting on Saturday (link displays full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ...

Post-war debate

A memorial at cemetery Heidefriedhof in Dresden. It reads: "Wieviele starben? Wer kennt die Zahl?/An deinen Wunden sieht man die Qual/der Namenlosen die hier verbrannt/im Hoellenfeuer aus Menschenhand." ("How many died? Who knows the number/ In your wounds one can see the agony/ of the nameless ones, who burned to death here/ in a hellfire made by human hand.")

Another memorial to the bombing.

British historian Frederick Taylor wrote of the attacks: "The destruction of Dresden has an epically tragic quality to it. It was a wonderfully beautiful city and a symbol of baroque humanism and all that was best in Germany. It also contained all of the worst from Germany during the Nazi period. In that sense it is an absolutely exemplary tragedy for the horrors of 20th century warfare and a symbol of destruction."^[101] Frederick Taylor is a British historian, author of , Bloomsbury 2004 (ISBN 0747570787) about the bombing of Dresden in World War II. He was educated at Aylesbury Grammar School and read History and Modern Languages at Oxford University. ... For the specific belief system, see Humanism (life stance). ... National Socialism redirects here. ...

A number of factors have made the bombing a unique point of contention and debate. These include the beauty of the city, and its importance as a cultural icon; the deliberate creation of a firestorm; the number of victims killed; the extent to which it was a necessary military target; and the fact that it was attacked toward the end of the war, raising the question of whether the bombing was needed to hasten the end.

That the bombing was necessary or justified

Marshall inquiry

An inquiry conducted at the behest of U.S. Army Chief of Staff, General George C. Marshall, alleged that the raid was justified by the available intelligence. The inquiry declared that the elimination of the German ability to reinforce a counter-attack against Marshall Konev's extended line or, alternatively, to retreat and regroup using Dresden as a base of operations, were important military objectives. As Dresden had been largely untouched during the war due to its location, it was one of the few remaining functional rail and communications centres. A secondary objective was to disrupt the industrial use of Dresden for munitions manufacture, which American intelligence believed to be the case. The shock to military planners and to the Allied civilian populations of the Nazi counter attack known as the Battle of the Bulge had ended speculation that the war was almost over, and may have contributed to the decision to continue with the aerial bombardment of German cities.^[102] George C. Marshall George Catlett Marshall (December 31, 1880–October 16, 1959), an American military leader and statesman, was born into a middle-class family in Uniontown, Pennsylvania. ... For the 1965 film, see Battle of the Bulge (film). ...

The inquiry concluded that by the presence of active German military units nearby, and the presence of fighters and anti-aircraft within an effective range, Dresden qualified as "defended".^[4] By this stage in the war both the British and the Germans had integrated air defences at the national level. The German national air-defence system could be used to argue — as the tribunal did — that no German city was "undefended".

Marshall's tribunal declared that no extraordinary decision was made to single out Dresden (e.g. to take advantage of the large number of refugees, or purposely terrorize the German populace). It was argued that the intent of area bombing was to disrupt communications and destroy industrial production. The American inquiry established that the Soviets, pursuant to allied agreements for the United States and the United Kingdom to provide air support for the Soviet offensive toward Berlin, had requested area bombing of Dresden in order to prevent a counter attack through Dresden, or the use of Dresden as a regrouping point after a strategic retreat.^[103]

U.S. Air Force Historical Division report

A U.S. Air Force table showing the amount of bombs dropped by the Allies on Germany's seven largest cities during the war.^[4]

Table showing the amount of explosives dropped on Dresden during WWII.

A report by the U.S. Air Force Historical Division (USAFHD) analyzed the circumstances of the raid and concluded that it was militarily necessary and justified, based on the following points:^[4]

1. The raid had legitimate military ends, brought about by exigent military circumstances.
2. Military units and anti-aircraft defenses were sufficiently close that it was not valid to consider the city "undefended."
3. The raid did not use extraordinary means but was comparable to other raids used against comparable targets.
4. The raid was carried out through the normal chain of command, pursuant to directives and agreements then in force.
5. The raid achieved the military objective, without excessive loss of civilian life.

The first point regarding the legitimacy of the raid depends on two claims: first, that the railyards subjected to American precision bombing were an important logistical target, and that the city was also an important industrial centre.^[4] Even after the main firebombing, there were two further raids on the Dresden railway yards by the USAAF. The first was on March 2, 1945, by 406 B-17s, which dropped 940 tons of high-explosive bombs and 141 tons of incendiaries. The second was on April 17, when 580 B-17s dropped 1,554 tons of high-explosive bombs and 165 tons of incendiaries.^[4] Military necessity along with distinction, and proportionality are three important principles of international humanitarian law governing the legal use of force in an armed conflict. ... -1... Year 1945 (MCMXLV) was a common year starting on Monday (link will display the full calendar). ... is the 107th day of the year (108th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ...

As far as Dresden being a militarily significant industrial centre, an official 1942 guide described the German city as "one of the foremost industrial locations of the Reich" and in 1944, the German Army High Command's Weapons Office listed 127 medium-to-large factories and workshops which supplied the army with material.^[17] Dresden was the seventh largest German city and by far the largest unbombed built-up area left and thus was contributing to the defense of Germany itself.^[104] The Oberkommando des Heeres (OKH) was Germanys Army High Command from 1936 to 1945. ...

According to the USAFHD, there were 110 factories and 50,000 workers supporting the German war effort in Dresden at the time of the raid.^[4] These factories manufactured aircraft components, Anti-aircraft guns, field guns and small guns, poison gas, optical components (Zeiss Ikon A.G., Germany’s largest optics manufacturer), gears and differentials, electrical and X-ray apparatus, electric gauges, gas masks, Junkers aircraft engines, and Messerschmitt fighters cockpit parts.^[105][4] German 88 mm guns were used in anti-aircraft and anti-tank roles. ... A field gun is an artillery piece. ... Chemical warfare involves using the toxic properties of chemical substances to kill, injure or incapacitate an enemy. ... Carl Zeiss in middle age. ... For other uses, see Gear (disambiguation). ... In an automobile and other four-wheeled vehicles, a differential is a device, usually consisting of gears, that allows each of the driving wheels to rotate at different speeds, while supplying equal torque to each of them. ... Belgian 1930s era L.702 model civilian mask. ... Junkers & Co was a major German aircraft manufacturer. ... Messerschmitt is a famous German aircraft manufacturer, known primarily for their World War II fighter aircraft, notably the Bf 109 and Me 262. ...

The second of the five points addresses the prohibition in the Hague Conventions, of "attack or bombardment" of "undefended" towns. The USAFHD report states that Dresden was protected by antiaircraft defenses, antiaircraft guns and searchlights, under the Combined Dresden (Corps Area IV) and Berlin (Corps Area III) Luftwaffe Administration Commands.^[4] The Hague Conventions were international treaties negotiated at the First and Second Peace Conferences at The Hague, Netherlands in 1899 and 1907, respectively, and were, along with the Geneva Conventions, among the first formal statements of the laws of war and war crimes in the nascent body of secular international...

The third and fourth points say that the size of the Dresden raid — in terms of numbers, types of bombs and the means of delivery — were commensurate with the military objective and similar to other Allied bombings. On February 23, 1945, the Allies bombed Pforzheim and caused an estimated 20,000 civilian fatalities; a raid on Tokyo on March 9–10 caused civilian casualties over 100,000. The tonnage and types of bombs listed in the service records of the Dresden raid were comparable to (or less than) throw weights of bombs dropped in other air attacks carried out in 1945. One contributing factor to the large loss of life in Dresden was the lack of preparation for the effects of air-raids by Gauleiter Martin Mutschmann, as the city did not expect to be bombed.^[66] When Braunschweig was bombed on nights of October 14 and 15, 1944, hochbunkers and well trained fire fighters saved 23,000 people from death in a firestorm. In the case of Dresden, as in many other similar attacks, the hour break in between the RAF raids was a deliberate ploy to attack the fire fighters and rescue crews.^[106] is the 54th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1945 (MCMXLV) was a common year starting on Monday (link will display the full calendar). ... During the latter stages of World War II Pforzheim, a town in south west Germany was bombed on a number of times. ... Collateral damage is a U.S. Military term for unintended or incidental damage during a military operation. ... The bombing of Tokyo by the United States Army Air Forces took place at several times during the Pacific campaigns of World War II and included the most destructive conventional bombing raid in all of history. ... is the 68th day of the year (69th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... The Bombing of Braunschweig (or Brunswick) in World War II on 15 October 1944 by the Royal Air Forces No. ... is the 287th day of the year (288th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Air raid shelters are structures for the protection of the civil population as well as military personnel against enemy attacks from the air. ... The Bombing of Braunschweig (or Brunswick) in World War II on 15 October 1944 by the Royal Air Forces No. ...

In late July 1943, the city of Hamburg was bombed in Operation Gomorrah by combined RAF and USAAF strategic bomber forces. Four major raids were carried out in the span of 10 days, of which the most notable, on July 27-28, created a devastating firestorm effect similar to Dresden's, killing approximately 40,000 people. Two thirds of the remaining population reportedly fled the city after the raids.^[107] For other uses, see Hamburg (disambiguation). ... Firestorm in Hamburg Operation Gomorrah was the military codename for a series of air raids conducted by the Royal Air Force on the city of Hamburg beginning in the end of July 1943. ... This article does not cite its references or sources. ...

The fifth point is that the firebombing achieved the intended effect of disabling the industry in Dresden. It was estimated that at least 23% of the city's industrial buildings were destroyed or severely damaged. The damage to other infrastructure and communications was immense, which would have severely limited the potential use of Dresden to stop the Soviet advance. The report concludes with:

The specific forces and means employed in the Dresden bombings were in keeping with the forces and means employed by the Allies in other aerial attacks on comparable targets in Germany. The Dresden bombings achieved the strategic objectives that underlay the attack and were of mutual importance to the Allies and the Russians.^[4]

That the bombing was not necessary or justified

The Semperoper, the Dresden state opera house, in 1900. It was destroyed during the bombing, but was rebuilt, opening exactly 40 years later, on February 13, 1985, marking its opening with the same opera that was last performed before its destruction, Der Freischütz by Carl Maria von Weber.

Frederick Taylor told Der Spiegel, "I personally find the attack on Dresden horrific. It was overdone, it was excessive and is to be regretted enormously", but "a war crime is a very specific thing which international lawyers argue about all the time and I would not be prepared to commit myself nor do I see why I should. I'm a historian."^[101] This view is supported by British historian Robin Neillands who writes that, "although hindsight indicates that it was probably an unnecessary operation, that was not the opinion at the time."^[108] Semperoper in Dresden Semperoper front facade The Semperoper or Saxon State Opera Dresden (Ger: Sächsische Staatsoper Dresden) is an opera house in Dresden, Germany, and is one of the most famous in the world. ... is the 44th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... This article is about the year. ... Der Freischütz (English: The Freeshooter) is an opera in three acts by Carl Maria von Weber to a libretto by Friedrich Kind. ... Carl Maria von Weber Carl Maria Friedrich Ernst, Freiherr von Weber (November 18, 1786 in Eutin, Holstein – June 5, 1826 in London, England) was a German composer, conductor, pianist and critic, one of the first significant composers of the Romantic school. ... Robin Hunter Neillands was a British writer, specialising in travel and military history. ...

British philosopher A. C. Grayling has described British area bombardment as an "immoral act" and "moral crime" because "destroying everything ... contravenes every moral and humanitarian principle debated in connection with the just conduct of war", but "it is not strictly correct to describe area bombing as a 'war crime'."^[109] Anthony Clifford Grayling MA, DPhil (Oxon) FRSA (born 3 April 1949) is a British philosopher and author. ... Just War theory is a doctrine of military ethics studied by moral theologians, ethicists and international policy makers which holds that a conflict can and ought to meet the criteria of philosophical, religious or political justice, provided it follows certain conditions. ...

Allegations that it was a war crime

Donald Bloxham has argued that there was a strong prima facie for trying Winston Churchill among others and that there is theoretical case the he could have been found guilty. "This should be a sobering thought. If, however it is also a startling one, this is probably less the result of widespread understanding of the nuance of international law and more because in the popular mind 'war criminal', like 'paedophile' or 'terrorist', has developed into a moral rather than a legal categorisation."^[110] Look up prima facie in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ...

Günter Grass, the German novelist and Nobel laureate for literature, is one of a number of intellectuals and commentators who have called the bombing a war crime.^[111] Günter Wilhelm Grass (born October 16, 1927) is a Nobel Prize-winning German author and playwright. ... The Nobel Prize in literature is awarded annually to an author from any country who has produced the most outstanding work of an idealistic tendency. The work in this case generally refers to an authors work as a whole, not to any individual work, though individual works are sometimes...

Proponents of the "war crime" position argue that the devastation known to be caused by firebombing was greater than anything that could be justified by military necessity alone, and that this establishes their case on a prima facie basis. The Allies were aware of the effects of firebombing, as British cities had been subject to them during the Blitz.^[112] "War crime" proponents say that Dresden did not have a military garrison, that most of the industry was in the outskirts and not in the targeted city centre,^[113] and that the cultural significance of the city should have precluded the Allies from bombing it. Military necessity along with distinction, and proportionality are three important principles of international humanitarian law governing the legal use of force in an armed conflict. ... ‹ The template below (Citations missing) is being considered for deletion. ...

British historian Anthony Beevor wrote that Dresden was considered relatively safe, having been spared previous RAF night attacks, and that at the time of the raids there were up to 300,000 refugees in the city seeking sanctuary from the fighting on the Eastern Front.^[114] In Fire Sites, German revisionist historian Jörg Friedrich agrees that the RAF's relentless bombing campaign against German cities in the last months of the war served no military purpose.^[115] The Eastern Front was the theatre of combat between Nazi Germany and its allies against the Soviet Union during World War II. It was somewhat separate from the other theatres of the war, not only geographically, but also for its scale and ferocity. ... In Parson Weems Fable (1939) Grant Wood takes a sly poke at a traditional hagiographical account of George Washington Historical revisionism has both a legitimate academic use and a pejorative meaning. ... Jörg Friedrich (born August 17, 1944 in Kitzbühel; often also spelt Joerg or just Jorg in English) is a Berlin-based author of books on history commonly described as an independent German Historian. Friedrich is best known for his publication Die Brand in wich he showes the massmurder...

Far-right in Germany

Further information: The Holocaust and Holocaust denial

A demonstration by the German far-right on February 13, 2005. The image shows Holger Apfel (Nationaldemokratische Partei Deutschlands), Gerhard Frey (Deutsche Volksunion), Udo Voigt (NPD), and Franz Schönhuber (former Waffen-SS and member of the Republikaner party). The text says: "Never more bomb-terror"

Far-right politicians in Germany have sparked a national debate in the country about the carpet bombing of Dresden and other German cities, promoting the term "Bombenholocaust" ("holocaust by bomb") to describe the raids.^[116] Der Spiegel writes that, for decades, the Communist government of East Germany promoted the bombing as an example of "Anglo-American terror," and now the same rhetoric is being used by the far right.^[117] “Shoah” redirects here. ... Richard Harwoods Did Six Million Really Die? Holocaust denial is the claim that the mainstream historical version of the Holocaust is either highly exaggerated or completely falsified. ... Holger Apfel is is a current member of the Saxon Landtag. ... The National Democratic Party of Germany (German: , NPD) is a German nationalist political party. ... Gerhard Frey (* 18. ... The German Peoples Union (German: Deutsche Volksunion, DVU) is a far-right political party in Germany. ... Udo Voigt (born 1952) is the political chief of the National Democratic Party of Germany (NPD), which is a right-extremist political party. ... The National Democratic Party of Germany (German: , NPD) is a German nationalist political party. ... Franz Xaver Schönhuber (January 10, 1923 in Trostberg - November 27, 2005 in Munich) was a German journalist and author. ... Waffen-SS recruitment poster; Volunteer to the Waffen-SS The Waffen-SS was the armed wing of the Schutzstaffel. ... The Republicans (German: Die Republikaner; REP) is a ultranationalist conservative political party in Germany. ... Far right, extreme right, ultra-right, or radical right are terms used to discuss the qualitative or quantitive position a group or person occupies within a political spectrum. ...

During a meeting on January 21, 2005 of the Saxony Landestag (parliament) to discuss how to commemorate the bombing's 60th anniversary, 12 members of the Nationaldemokratische Partei Deutschlands (NPD) walked out during a minute's silence for victims of the Holocaust.^[118] The NPD won nine percent of the vote during the state election in 2004, which gave them 12 seats in the Landestag,^[118] and is calling for the creation of a new "Reich" in Germany. The party's Juergen Gansel later described the Dresden raids as "mass murder," and "Dresden's Holocaust of bombs," and said that the NPD was fighting the "political battle for historical truth, and against the servitude of guilt of the German people." The expression "historical truth" is a veiled reference to Holocaust denial, which is a crime in Germany.^[118] is the 21st day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 2005 (MMV) was a common year starting on Saturday (link displays full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... The National Democratic Party of Germany (German: , NPD) is a German nationalist political party. ... “Shoah” redirects here. ... Richard Harwoods Did Six Million Really Die? Holocaust denial is the claim that the mainstream historical version of the Holocaust is either highly exaggerated or completely falsified. ...

British historian Frederick Taylor needed police protection during a visit in 2005 to Dresden's city hall, after publication of his book, Dresden: February 13-14, 1945, which seeks to explain the Allies' decision to launch the attacks. The German tabloid Bild started a campaign against what it called the "scandal author," asking Germans to write to the newspaper expressing their outrage.^[117] The Bild-Zeitung (often abbreviated Bild, lit. ...

The New York Times writes that the apparently aggressive attitude in Dresden toward the bombing was stoked by the publication in 2003 of German historian Jörg Friedrich's The Fire, which argued that the Allied bombing of cities, particularly Dresden, served no military purpose.^[118]

Taylor told Der Spiegel: This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ...

Since the demonstrations of the far right there are also counter-demonstrations of the German far left every year, for example the Anti-Germans. They normally wave flags of the Allies and Israel. They use slogans like "Germans are no victims", "No tear for Dresden" and "Bomber Harris do it again." (for sources and images see also German Wikipedia) They have called for the Frauenkirche to be torn down in recognition that "all the victims were perpetrators".^[119] “Shoah” redirects here. ... Anti-Germans are activists and groups coming out of the antifascist Left in Germany that call for a solidarity with Israel based on Marxism. ... Sir Arthur Travers Harris, 1st Baronet (April 13, 1892 - April 5, 1984), commonly known as Bomber Harris, and often, in the RAF, as Butcher Harris, was commander of RAF Bomber Command and later a Marshal of the Royal Air Force during the latter half of World War II. In 1942... Frauenkirche (German for Church of Our Lady) is the name of various churches: Dresden Frauenkirche (Protestant) in Dresden Nuremberg Frauenkirche (Catholic) in Nuremberg Munich Frauenkirche (Roman Catholic) in Munich Category: ...

Notable survivors

• Gerhart Hauptmann
• Kurt Vonnegut was a combat infantryman in the US 106th Infantry Division. He was captured during the Battle of the Bulge and sent to an underground POW camp in Dresden, where he witnessed the bombing and cleanup efforts first-hand. His novel Slaughterhouse-Five (1969) is based on his experiences.
• Victor Klemperer, known for his 1933-1945 diaries, was living in Dresden when the city was bombed. He and his wife got away safely. In the confusion that followed, he tore off the yellow Star of David that identified him as a Jew.

Gerhart Hauptmann Gerhart Hauptmann (November 15, 1862 - June 6, 1946), German dramatist, was born on at Obersalzbrunn, Prussia (now Szczawno Drój, Poland) in Silesia, the son of a hotel-keeper. ... Kurt Vonnegut, Jr. ... The 106th Infantry Division was a unit of the United States Army in World War II well known to be the hardest hit division of the Battle of the Bulge. ... For the 1965 film, see Battle of the Bulge (film). ... Slaughterhouse-Five, or The Childrens Crusade: A Duty Dance With Death is a 1969 novel by best-selling author Kurt Vonnegut. ... Victor Klemperer (Landsberg (Prussia), now Gorzów Wielkopolski, Poland, October 9, 1881–February 11, 1960, Dresden, GDR), decorated veteran of World War I, businessman, journalist and eventually a Professor of Literature, specialising in the French Enlightenment at the Technical College of Dresden (now Technische Universität Dresden). He was the... This article is about a Jewish symbol. ...

See also

The Zwinger Palace in 1900.

• Baedeker Blitz
• The Blitz
• Bombing of Hamburg
• Bombing of Tokyo
• Carpet bombing
• Erich Kästner
• Great Fire of London
• Guernica
• Laws of war
• Rotterdam Blitz
• Strategic bombing
• Terror bombing
• Total war

Aerial view of the Zwinger Palace The Zwinger Palace in Dresden, is a major German landmark. ... The Baedeker Blitz or Baedeker raids were a series of reprisal raids for the bombing of the erstwhile Hanseatic League city of Lübeck during World War II, which was being used to supply the Russian front. ... ‹ The template below (Citations missing) is being considered for deletion. ... The large port city of Hamburg, Germany, was very heavily bombed many times by the Royal Air Force (RAF) and the United States Army Air Forces (USAAF) during World War II. During one of the attacks in July 1943 a firestorm was created that caused tens of thousands of mostly... The bombing of Tokyo by the United States Army Air Forces took place at several times during the Pacific campaigns of World War II and included the most destructive conventional bombing raid in all of history. ... The phrase carpet bombing refers to the use of large numbers of unguided gravity bombs, often with a high proportion of incendiary bombs, to attempt the complete destruction of a target region, either to destroy personnel and materiel, or as a means to demoralize the enemy (see terror bombing). ... Erich Kästner (February 23, 1899 - July 29, 1974) is one of the most famous German authors of the 20th century. ... Detail of painting from 1666 of the Great Fire of London by an unknown artist, depicting the fire as it would have appeared on the evening of Tuesday, 4 September from a boat in the vicinity of Tower Wharf. ... Guernica is a painting by Pablo Picasso, depicting the Nazi German bombing of Guernica, Spain, by twenty-eight bombers, on April 26, 1937 during the Spanish Civil War. ... The two parts of the laws of war (or Law of Armed Conflict (LOAC)): Law concerning acceptable practices while engaged in war, like the Geneva Conventions, is called jus in bello; while law concerning allowable justifications for armed force is called jus ad bellum. ... The city heart of Rotterdam after the bombing, the ruin of the (now restored) Laurens Kerk is the only building that reminds people of the Rotterdams medieval architecture. ... The city heart of Rotterdam after being terror bombed by Germany in 1940, the ruin of the (now restored) Laurens Kerk is the only building that reminds people of Rotterdams medieval architecture. ... Terror bombing is a strategy of deliberately bombing and/or strafing civilian targets in order to break the morale of the enemy, make its civilian population panic, bend the enemys political leadership to the attackers will, or to punish an enemy. ... Total war is a military conflict in which nations mobilize all available resources in order to destroy another nations ability to engage in war. ...

Notes

is the 10th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... Paul Addison is a British author and historian. ... Sir Arthur Travers Harris, 1st Baronet (April 13, 1892 - April 5, 1984), commonly known as Bomber Harris, and often, in the RAF, as Butcher Harris, was commander of RAF Bomber Command and later a Marshal of the Royal Air Force during the latter half of World War II. In 1942... The bombing of Tokyo by the United States Army Air Forces took place at several times during the Pacific campaigns of World War II and included the most destructive conventional bombing raid in all of history. ... USAAF recruitment poster. ... This article does not cite its references or sources. ... Black: Zenith of the Axis Powers Capital Not applicable Political structure Military alliance Historical era World War II  - Tripartite Pact September 27, 1940  - Anti-Comintern Pact November 25, 1936  - Pact of Steel May 22, 1939  - Dissolved 1945 This article is about the independent countries (states) that comprised the Axis powers. ... The bombing of Tokyo by the United States Army Air Forces took place at several times during the Pacific campaigns of World War II and included the most destructive conventional bombing raid in all of history. ... The large port city of Hamburg, Germany, was very heavily bombed many times by the Royal Air Force (RAF) and the United States Army Air Forces (USAAF) during World War II. During one of the attacks in July 1943 a firestorm was created that caused tens of thousands of mostly... Time zones of Europe: Light colours indicate countries that do not observe summer time Central European Time (CET) is one of the names of the time zone that is 1 hour ahead of Coordinated Universal Time. ... British Summer Time (BST), known in Ireland as Irish Summer Time (IST), is the daylight saving time in effect in the United Kingdom and Republic of Ireland between the last Sunday in March and the last Sunday in October each year. ... British Summer Time (BST), known in Ireland as Irish Summer Time (IST), is the daylight saving time in effect in the United Kingdom and Republic of Ireland between the last Sunday in March and the last Sunday in October each year. ... This article is about strategic bombing raids on Berlin. ... is the 34th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... is the 57th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 2005 (MMV) was a common year starting on Saturday (link displays full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... is the 42nd day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 2005 (MMV) was a common year starting on Saturday (link displays full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... Anthony Clifford Grayling MA, DPhil (Oxon) FRSA (born 3 April 1949) is a British philosopher and author. ... TIME redirects here. ... is the 222nd day of the year (223rd in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 2003 (MMIII) was a common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar. ... is the 57th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 2005 (MMV) was a common year starting on Saturday (link displays full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... is the 265th day of the year (266th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... For other uses, see 1941 (disambiguation). ... This article is about the German international broadcaster. ... is the 299th day of the year (300th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 2005 (MMV) was a common year starting on Saturday (link displays full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... is the 294th day of the year (295th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... This article concerns the British newspaper. ... is the 41st day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 2005 (MMV) was a common year starting on Saturday (link displays full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ...

References

Antony Beevor (born on December 14, 1946) is a British historian, educated at Winchester College and Sandhurst. ... PDF is an abbreviation with several meanings: Portable Document Format Post-doctoral fellowship Probability density function There also is an electronic design automation company named PDF Solutions. ... Anthony Grayling Anthony Clifford Grayling (born 3 April 1949) is a British philosopher and author. ...

Further reading

v • d • e World War II city bombing Area bombardment · Aerial bombing of cities · Terror bombing · V-Weapons Aomori · Athens · Augsburg · Baedeker Raids · Bangkok · Belfast · Belgrade · Berlin · Birmingham · Braunschweig · Breslau · Bristol · Bucharest · Budapest · Caen (Operation Charnwood) · Cardiff · Chemnitz · Chişinău · Chongqing · Clydebank · Cologne · Coventry · Danzig · Darmstadt · Darwin  · Dresden  · Dublin  · Duisburg · Düsseldorf · Essen · Frampol · Frankfurt · Frascati · Fukui · Fukuoka · Fukuyama · Gelsenkirchen · Glasgow · Gifu · Greenock  · Guangzhou · Haifa  · Hamburg · Hamm · Hanau · Heilbronn · Helsinki · Hildesheim · Hiroshima · Innsbruck · Kagoshima · Kaiserslautern · Kassel · Kobe · Königsberg · Kure · Liverpool · London · Lübeck · Mainz · Malta · Manchester · Manila · Mannheim · Minsk · Mito · Munich · Nagaoka · Nagasaki · Nagoya · Naha · Naples · Nara · Nuremberg · Omuta · Osaka · Peenemünde · Pforzheim · Phnom Penh · Ploiesti · Plymouth · Podgorica · Prague · Rabaul · Remscheid · Rome · Rothenburg ob der Tauber · Rotterdam · Saarbrücken · Salzburg · Schaffhausen · Schwäbisch Hall · Schweinfurt · Sendai · Shanghai · Sheffield · Sofia · Southampton · Stalingrad · Stettin · Stuttgart · Swansea · Taipei · Tallinn  · Tel Aviv  · Thessaloníki · Tokyo · Toyama  · Treviso · Tsu · Ujiyamada · Ulm · Vienna · Warsaw · Wesel · Wieluń · Wuppertal · Würzburg · Yokohama · Zara

v • d • e World War II
Western Europe · Eastern Europe · Africa · Mediterranean · Asia and the Pacific · Atlantic Strategic bombing during World War II was greater in scale than any wartime attack the world had previously witnessed. ... RAF redirects here. ... Bomber Command badge RAF Bomber Command was the organisation that controlled the RAFs bomber forces. ... The city heart of Rotterdam after being terror bombed by Germany in 1940, the ruin of the (now restored) Laurens Kerk is the only building that reminds people of Rotterdams medieval architecture. ... The remains of German town of Wesel after intensive allied area bombing in 1945 (destruction rate 97% of all buildings) The aerial bombing of cities began in 1911, developed through World War I, grew to a vast scale in World War II, and continued to the present day. ... ... On on 30 March 1942 Lord Cherwell, the British governments leading scientific adviser, sent to the British Prime Minister Winston Churchill a memorandum which after it had become accepted by the Cabinet became known as the dehousing cabinet paper. ... Archibald Henry Macdonald Sinclair, 1st Viscount Thurso KT CMG PC (October 22, 1890 – June 15, 1970), known as Sir Archibald Sinclair from 1912 until 1952, was a Scottish politician and leader of the British Liberal Party. ... RAF Air Chief Marshal Charles Portal (left) and Polish Commander in Chief Władysław Sikorski (right) visit an airbase of the 300th Polish Bomber Squadron in England. ... Air Chief Marshal Sir Norman Howard Bottomley KCB CIE DSO AFC (September 18, 1891 - August 13, 1970) was the Yorkshire-born successor to Arthur Bomber Harris as Commander-in-Chief of Royal Air Force Bomber Command in 1945. ... Marshal of the Royal Air Force Sir Arthur Travers Harris, 1st Baronet GCB OBE AFC RAF (April 13, 1892 - April 5, 1984), commonly known as Bomber Harris by the press, and often within the RAF as Butcher Harris[1], was commander of RAF Bomber Command and later a Marshal of... Arthur William Tedder, 1st Baron Tedder (July 11, 1890–June 3, 1967) was a significant British Marshal of the Royal Air Force. ... Professor Frederick Alexander Lindemann, 1st Viscount Cherwell (April 5, 1886 - July 3, 1957) was a physicist who became an influential scientific adviser to the British government and a close associate of Winston Churchill. ... The Bavarian city of Augsburg, Germany, was bombed twice by the RAF during World War II 1942 The Augsburg air raid on 17 April 1942 was one of the most daring of World War II. The first squadron to take delivery of the 4-engined Avro Lancaster was No. ... This article is about strategic bombing raids on Berlin. ... Combatants No. ... Cologne in 1945 The City of Cologne was bombed in 262 separate air raids by the Allies during World War II. During the war the Royal Air Force (RAF) bombed Cologne more than thirty one times. ... Similar to Operation Pointblank against the WWII German aircraft industry, Operation Crossbow specialized in offensive and defensive countermeasures against the Bodyline[1] and Peenemünde 20,[2] the British code names for the 40 ft x 7 ft object with blunt nose and three fins and the small winged aircraft... The large port city of Hamburg, Germany, was very heavily bombed many times by the Royal Air Force (RAF) and the United States Army Air Forces (USAAF) during World War II. During one of the attacks in July 1943 a firestorm was created that caused tens of thousands of mostly... During WWII, the German city of Heilbronn was raided and bombed many times by both the British and the Americans. ... Operation Hurricane was a joint RAF Bomber Command and the USAAF VIII Bomber Command operation during October 1944 to demonstrate to the enemy in Germany generally the overwhelming superiority of the Allied Air Forces in this theatre[1] A Lancaster drops bundles of incendiary bombs (left), incendiary bombs and a... The city of Kassel in Germany was severely bombed during World War II and more than 10,000 civilians died during these raids. ... During the latter stages of World War II Pforzheim, a town in south west Germany was bombed on a number of times. ... During World War II, on March 16, 1945, 89% of the city was laid to ruins by a British Royal Air Force bombing raid. ... The Bristol Blenheim is also the name of the main model produced by Bristol Cars since 1994. ... The Douglas DB-7 was a family of attack, light bomber and night fighter aircraft of World War II, serving primarily with Soviet, US and British airforces. ... The Handley Page Halifax was one of the British front-line, four-engine heavy bombers of the Royal Air Force during the Second World War. ... The Handley Page HP.52 Hampden was a twin-engine medium bomber of the Royal Air Force that was one of the main front-line bombers at the start of World War II. Along with the Whitley and Wellington bombers, the Hampden bore the brunt of the early bombing war... The Avro Lancaster was a British four-engine Second World War bomber aircraft made initially by Avro for the British Royal Air Force (RAF). ... The de Havilland Mosquito[1] was a British combat aircraft that excelled in a number of roles during the Second World War. ... The Stirling was a World War II heavy bomber design built by Short Brothers. ... Lockheed PV-1 Ventura The Lockheed Ventura was a bomber and patrol aircraft of World War II, used by American and British forces in several guises. ... The Vickers Wellington was a twin-engine, medium bomber designed in the mid-1930s at Brooklands in Weybridge, Surrey, by Vickers-Armstrongs Chief Designer, R.K. Pierson. ... The Armstrong Whitworth A.W.38 Whitley was one of three twin-engine, front-line medium bombers in service with the Royal Air Force at the outbreak of World War II. // Developed from the A.W.23 bomber-transport to meet Air Ministry Specification B.3/34 and manufactured by... Window was the WWII UK codename for a system called chaff, intended to confuse German radar. ... An early H2S picture of the Pembroke and Milford Haven area The H2S radar was used in bombers of RAF Bomber Command. ... ×GEE or AMES Type 7000 was a British radio navigation system used by the Royal Air Force during World War II. GEE was designed to improve aircraft navigation accuracy, thereby increasing the destructiveness of raids by Avro Lancasters and various other bombers. ... The navigators Oboe CRT display Oboe (Observer Bombing Over Enemy) was a British aerial blind bombing targeting system in World War II, based on radio transponder technology. ... G-H was a radio navigation system developed by Britain during World War II to aid RAF Bomber Command. ... Monica was a range-only tail warning radar for bombers, introduced by the RAF in June 1943. ... A Lancaster drops bundles of incendiary bombs (left), incendiary bombs and a “cookie” (right) on Duisburg on 15 October 1944 Blockbuster or Cookie was the name given to several of the largest conventional bombs used in World War II by the Royal Air Force (RAF). ... The bouncing bomb was a kind of bomb designed by Barnes Wallis of Vickers-Armstrong at Brooklands, Surrey. ... The earth quake bomb concept was invented by Barnes Wallis before the Second World War. ... A British 22,000 lb (10,000 kg) Grand Slam bomb The Grand Slam (Earth Quake bomb), was a very large freefall bomb developed by the British aeronautical engineer Barnes Wallis (who also made the bouncing bomb) in late 1944. ... The Tallboy was an Earth quake bomb developed by Barnes Wallis and brought into operation by the British in 1944. ... Aerial area bombardment is the policy of indiscriminate bombing of an enemys cities, for the purpose of destroying the enemys means of producing military materiel, communications, government centres and civilian morale. ... A map of part of the Kammhuber Line showing the belt and nightfighter boxes through which the bomber stream flew The bomber stream was a tactic developed by the Royal Air Force (RAF) Bomber Command to overwhelm the German aerial defences of the Kammhuber Line during World War II. The... Firebombing is a bombing technique designed to damage a target, generally an urban area, through the use of fire rather than the blast effects of large bombs. ... The Pathfinder squadrons of the Royal Air Force were elite squadrons of RAF Bomber Command during World War II. At the start of the war Bomber command made many daylight raids but the losses incurred due to lack of escorting fighters when operating over Europe led them to switch the... Combatants RAF Bomber Command Luftwaffe Strength 56 Avro Lancaster 5 Group 4 Avro Lancaster 8 Group (Pathfinders) Operation Bellicose was the name of a British aircraft strategic bombing mission that began on June 20, 1943 during World War II. The target was the Zeppelin Works, the suspected manufacturing site of... The United States Army Air Forces (USAAF) was the aviation component of the United States Army primarily during World War II. The title of Army Air Forces succeeded the prior name of Army Air Corps in June 1941 during preparation for expected combat in what came to be known as... The German Luftwaffe was one of the most powerful, doctrinally advanced, and battle-experienced air forces in the world when World War II started in Europe in September 1939. ... Strategic bombing during World War II was greater in scale than any wartime attack the world had previously witnessed. ... Aerial area bombardment is the policy of indiscriminate bombing of an enemys cities, for the purpose of destroying the enemys means of producing military materiel, communications, government centres and civilian morale. ... The remains of German town of Wesel after intensive allied area bombing in 1945 (destruction rate 97% of all buildings) The aerial bombing of cities began in 1911, developed through World War I, grew to a vast scale in World War II, and continued to the present day. ... Terror bombing is a strategy of deliberately bombing and/or strafing civilian targets in order to break the morale of the enemy, make its civilian population panic, bend the enemys political leadership to the attackers will, or to punish an enemy. ... Vergeltungswaffe (German for retaliation weapon, reprisal weapon or vengeance weapon) was a term assigned during World War II by the Nazis to a number of revolutionary superweapons, the V1 flying bomb, the V2 rocket and the V3 long range gun. ... Aomori (Japanese: ; Aomori-shi) is the capital city of Aomori Prefecture (青森県; Aomori-ken), the north end of HonshÅ«. The city faces Mutsu Bay connecting Tsugaru Channel and the Hakkoda Mountains lie in the southern part of Aomori. ... This article is about the capital of Greece. ... The Bavarian city of Augsburg, Germany, was bombed twice by the RAF during World War II 1942 The Augsburg air raid on 17 April 1942 was one of the most daring of World War II. The first squadron to take delivery of the 4-engined Avro Lancaster was No. ... The Baedeker Blitz or Baedeker raids were a series of reprisal raids for the bombing of the erstwhile Hanseatic League city of Lübeck during World War II, which was being used to supply the Russian front. ... Location Coordinates: , Country Settled Ayutthaya Period Founded as capital 21 April 1782 Government  - Type Special administrative area  - Governor Apirak Kosayothin Area  - City 1,568. ... The Belfast Blitz was an event that occurred on Easter Tuesday, April 15, 1941, when 200 German Luftwaffe bombers attacked Belfast, Northern Ireland. ... he bombing of Belgrade occurred in the initial phases of World War II when German forces bombed the city in preperation for the invasion of Yugoslavia. ... This article is about strategic bombing raids on Berlin. ... The Birmingham Blitz was the heavy bombing of the city of Birmingham in the United Kingdom during the Second World War. ... The Bombing of Braunschweig (or Brunswick) in World War II on 15 October 1944 by the Royal Air Forces No. ... The Battle of Breslau, otherwise known as the Siege of Breslau was a four months long siege of the city of Breslau (now WrocÅ‚aw, Poland) in Lower Silesia, Germany. ... Bristol was the fifth most heavily bombed city of World War II. // [edit] First Raid Hitler claimed that Bristol had been completely destroyed in a night raid on November 2, 1940 in which 5000 incendiary and 10. ... The bombing of Bucharest (the capital of Romania) in World War II comprised operations by the Allies and Axis Powers at separate intervals in 1944. ... For other uses, see Budapest (disambiguation). ... During World War 2, Operation Charnwood (Allies, 1944) had the objective to capture Caen and its surroundings during the ongoing Battle of Normandy. ... Chemnitz (Sorbian/Lusatian Kamjenica, 1953-1990 called Karl-Marx-Stadt; Czech: Saská Kamenice) is a city in the Free State of Saxony, Germany. ... Location of ChiÅŸinău in Moldova Coordinates: , Country Founded 1436 Government  - Mayor Dorin Chirtoacă, since 2007 Area  - City 120 km² (46. ... The Bombing of Chongqing (February 18, 1938 - August 23, 1943) was a Japanese strategic bombing campaign against the Chinese provisional capital of Chongqing that lasted 5 1/2 years. ... Clydebank Blitz is During World War II Clydebanks production of ships and munitions for the allies made the town a target for the German Luftwaffe: 439 bombers dropped over 1000 bombs on 13th and 14th of March 1941. ... Cologne in 1945 The City of Cologne was bombed in 262 separate air raids by the Allies during World War II. During the war the Royal Air Force (RAF) bombed Cologne more than thirty one times. ... The Coventry blitz was a series of bombing raids (blitzes) that took place in the English city of Coventry. ... History Early times Before Gdansk was established, the vicinity was inhabited by populations belonging to the various archealogical cultures of the Stone Age, Bronze Age and Iron Age. ... Darmstadt was bombed a number of times during World War II. The most defestating air raid on Darmstadt occured on the night of 11/12 September 1944 when No. ... Belligerents Australia United States Empire of Japan Commanders David V. J. Blake Chuichi Nagumo Strength 30 planes 242 planes Casualties and losses 251 killed 23 planes destroyed 10 ships sunk one aircrew confirmed killed, several missing in action, six airmen taken prisoner; six Japanese aircraft confirmed destroyed, four probably destroyed. ... The Bombing of Dublin in World War II occurred on May 31, 1941, when amid World War II, the German luftwaffe (air force) bombed Dublin, the capital of neutral Ireland (Éire)[1], killing 34 persons. ... Duisburg was bombed a number of times by the Allies during World War II. The most devastating air raids on Duisburg occurred during October 1944 when the city was bombed by the Royal Air Force (RAF). ... Düsseldorf (IPA: ) is the capital city of the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia. ... Essen, a town of the Ruhr area in Germany was mercilessly bombed about 50 times by the Allies in World War II. // Some of the earliest air raids were in March, 1942 by the RAF Bomber Command. ... The Bombing of Frampol happened during the Polish Defence War of 1939. ... September 8, 1943 is the date of the bombing raid of USAAF in Frascati because there were the German General Headquarters for the Mediterranean zone - O.B.S. and the Italian headquarters, scattered in buildings and Villas nearby the town. ... , Please wikify (format) this article or section as suggested in the Guide to layout and the Manual of Style. ... This article is about a city in Fukuoka Prefecture, Japan. ... Fukuyama (福山市; -shi) is a city located in Hiroshima, Japan. ... Gelsenkirchen, an industrial town in the Ruhr area of Germany was bombed many times in World War II. On the night of June 25, 1943, 473 RAF bombers attacked the city. ... Clydebank (Bruach Chluaidh in Gaelic) is a town in West Dunbartonshire, Scotland, lying on the north bank of the river Clyde. ... The city of Gifu ) is located in the south-central portion of Gifu Prefecture, Japan, and serves as the prefectural capital. ... The Greenock Blitz is the name given to two nights of intensive bombing of the town of Greenock by the Luftwaffe in May 1941. ... CITIC Plaza Guangzhou (simplified Chinese: ; traditional Chinese: ; pinyin:  ; jyutping : Gwong²zau¹) is the capital and a sub-provincial city of Guangdong Province in the southern part of the Peoples Republic of China. ... The Italian bombings on Palestine in World War II, which started in July 1940, were part of an Italian effort to strike at the United Kingdom and the Commonwealth of Nations where ever possible. ... The large port city of Hamburg, Germany, was very heavily bombed many times by the Royal Air Force (RAF) and the United States Army Air Forces (USAAF) during World War II. During one of the attacks in July 1943 a firestorm was created that caused tens of thousands of mostly... Map of Germany showing Hamm Hamm is a city in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. ... Hanau, Germany, the birthplace of the Grimm Brothers, had a long and vibrant heritage. ... During WWII, the German city of Heilbronn was raided and bombed many times by both the British and the Americans. ... An 88 mm AA-gun at the Finnish anti-aircraft museum Search lights at the Finnish anti-aircraft museum The capital of Finland, Helsinki was bombed several times during the second World War. ... The 1,100 year-old German town of Hildesheim was ravaged by Allied air raids in the last days of World War II. March 22, 1945 was a bright mid-day when 280 Avro Lancasters and 8 Mosquito bombers destroyed the town in 17 minutes, flying low and starting fires. ... The mushroom cloud over Hiroshima after the dropping of Little Boy. ... Innsbruck, an Austrian city, was annexed by Nazi Germany in 1938. ... Kagoshima (鹿児島市; -shi) the capital city of Kagoshima Prefecture at the southwest tip of the Kyushu island of Japan. ... This article is about the city. ... The city of Kassel in Germany was severely bombed during World War II and more than 10,000 civilians died during these raids. ... On March 17th, 1945, three hundred and thirty-one American B-29 bombers launched a firebombing attack against the city of Kobe, Japan. ... In 1944, the city of Königsberg was extensively bombed from the air by the British and burned for several days. ... Kure (呉市; -shi) is a city located in Hiroshima, Japan. ... The Liverpool Blitz was the heavy and sustained bombing of the city of Liverpool in the United Kingdom during the Second World War. ... [[Media:Italic textLondon has a recorded history that goes back over 2,000 years. ... Lübeck was bombed for the first time by the Royal Air Force on the night of 28/29 March 1942. ... Mainz is a city in Germany and the capital of the German federal state of Rhineland-Palatinate. ... The Island of Malta The Siege of Malta was a significant military event in the Mediterranean Theatre of World War II that occurred between 1940 and 1943 on the island of Malta. ... The Manchester Blitz was the heavy bombing of the city of Manchester in the United Kingdom during the Second World War. ... For other meanings of the word, see Manila (disambiguation). ... From December 1940 till the end of World War II, Mannheim saw over 150 air raids. ... The Minsk Blitz was the heavy bombing of the city of Minsk (population was 270 000) in the USSR during the Second World War. ... Mito (水戸市; -shi) is the capital of Ibaraki Prefecture, Japan and has a central location, moderately offset towards the coast in that prefecture. ... For other uses, see Munich (disambiguation). ... Nagaoka (長岡市) is a city located in the central part of Niigata Prefecture, Japan. ... The mushroom cloud over Hiroshima after the dropping of Little Boy. ... Nagoya faced several air raids in World War II. The first came on the night of March 11, 1945, two days after the attack on Tokyo. ... Combatants  United States  United Kingdom  Canada  Australia  New Zealand Empire of Japan Commanders Simon B. Buckner â€  Joseph W. Stilwell Ray Spruance Mitsuru Ushijima â€  Isamu Cho â€  Strength 548,000 soldiers, 1,300 ships,  ? aircraft 100,000 regulars and militia,  ? ships,  ? aircraft Casualties 12,513 dead or missing, 38,916 wounded, 33... Naples was the most bombed Italian city in World War II. Category: ... Nara ) is the capital city of Nara Prefecture in the Kansai region of Japan. ... Nürnberg redirects here. ... ÅŒmuta ) is a city located in Fukuoka prefecture, Japan. ... The U.S. bombing of Osaka during World War II took place on 13th and 14th March 1945. ... Peenemünde was bombed by 596 British and Canadian aircraft, on August 17 and 18, 1943, so as to hamper the manufacture of the German V-Weaposns. ... During the latter stages of World War II Pforzheim, a town in south west Germany was bombed on a number of times. ... Nickname: Location of Phnom Penh, Cambodia Coordinates: , Country Province Settled 1372 Became Capital 1865 Government  - Type Municipality  - Mayor & Governor H.E. Keb Chutema (Khmer: )  - Vice Governors H.E. Than Sina, H.E. Map Sarin, H.E. Seng Tong Area  - Total 376 km² (145. ... Operation Tidal Wave was a military operation by the allied forces to destroy Ploiesti, consisting of air raids conducted on August 1, 1943 Links http://www. ... During World War II, the Luftwaffe launched the Blitz, a night-bombing campaign of British towns. ... The Bombing of Prague occurred during the end of World War II (February 14, 1945) when the US Army Air Forces carried out an air raid over Prague. ... The eastern part of the Territory of New Guinea, and the northern Solomon Islands; the area in which Operation Cartwheel took place, from June 1943. ... Remscheid is a city in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. ... The bombing of Rome in World War II took place on several occasions in 1943 and 1944, by both Allied and Axis aircraft, before the city was freed from Axis occupation by the Allies on June 4, 1944. ... The German town of Rothenburg was more than 1,000 years old when it lost many historic buildings to air raids in World War II. On March 31, 1945, a day before Easter, a raid destroyed the eastern old town (40% of the original city). ... The city heart of Rotterdam after the bombing, the ruin of the (now restored) Laurens Kerk is the only building that reminds people of the Rotterdams medieval architecture. ... Capital Saarbrücken Language(s) Rhine Franconian; see language of the Saarland Government Principality Historical era Middle Ages  - Joined Holy Roman Empire 925  - Established ca 1120  - Passed to Nassau-Weilburg 1353  - Occupied by France 1793  - Annexed by France 1797  - Passed to Prussian Grd     Dchy Lwr Rhine   June 9, 1815 Saarbr... This article is about the capital of the Austrian state of Salzburg. ... This article, image, template or category belongs in one or more categories. ... Schweinfurt is a city in the Unterfranken region of Bavaria in Germany on the right bank of the canalized Main, which is here spanned by several bridges, 27 km North-East of Würzburg. ... This April 2007 does not cite its references or sources. ... For other uses, see Shanghai (disambiguation). ... The Sheffield Blitz is the name given to the worst nights of bombing in Sheffield, England during the Second World War. ... The Bulgarian capital of Sofia suffered a series of Allied bombing raids during World War II, from late 1943 to early 1944. ... Southampton was bombed heavily by the Luftwaffe during World War II. It was targetted mainly in the first phase of the Blitz. ... The Soviet city and industrial centre Stalingrad was bombed heavily by the Luftwaffe during the Battle of Stalingrad in World War II. 40,000 people were killed. ... History of Szczecin (German: Stettin) in Poland. ... Stuttgart faced 53 air raids during World War II. A well-known raid was on 6 September 1943. ... The History of Swansea generally refers to the history of the town, not the considerably larger local government area. ... Combatants  Empire of Japan  United States Strength Virtually nonexistent 117 B-24 Casualties Civilians killed: 3,000+ Wounded/Displaced: tens of thousands none Taipei Air Raid (Traditional Chinese: 台北大空襲), which took place on May 31, 1945, was the largest Allied air raid on the city of Taipei, known back then as... The Estonian capital of Tallinn was bombed several times during WW2. ... The Italian bombings on Palestine in World War II, which started in July 1940, were part of an Italian effort to strike at the United Kingdom and the Commonwealth of Nations where ever possible. ... Thessaloniki or Salonica (Greek: ) is Greeces second-largest city and the capital of Macedonia, the largest Region of Greece. ... The bombing of Tokyo by the United States Army Air Forces took place at several times during the Pacific campaigns of World War II and included the most destructive conventional bombing raid in all of history. ... Toyama Castle in Spring Toyama (富山市; -shi) is the capital city of Toyama Prefecture, Japan. ... Treviso suffered a carpet bombing on 7 April 1944. ... Tsu (津市; -shi) is the capital of Mie Prefecture, Japan. ... This article is about the city in Mie Prefecture. ... Ulm, for its size, was the most heavily bombed city of south Germany during World War II. The heaviest air raid was on December 17, 1944 which killed and injuring hundreds but left 25,000 people homeless. ... Vienna was bombed 52 times during World War II. // [edit] Early 1945 Vienna had already faced 1800 bombs. ... The Bombing of Warsaw in World War II refers both to the terror bombing campaign on Warsaw by Luftwaffe during the September Campaign (siege of Warsaw and to the German bombing raids during the Warsaw Uprising. ... The German town of Wesel was devastated in Allied air raids during World War II. In March 1945, the city was attacked by Bomber command Group No. ... Bombing of WieluÅ„ in World War II refers to the German bomb raid on a Polish city of WieluÅ„ at the outbreak of World War II. On September 1, 1939 at 4. ... Wuppertal was bombed extensively in the Battle of the Ruhr of World War II. In two attacks on Wuppertal, more than 6,000 people died. ... During World War II, on March 16, 1945, 89% of the city was laid to ruins by a British Royal Air Force bombing raid. ... For the town of Yokohama in Aomori Prefecture, see Yokohama, Aomori. ... now. ... Survivor of German aerial bombardment of Warsaw This image has been released into the public domain by the copyright holder, its copyright has expired, or it is ineligible for copyright. ... Combatants Allied powers: China France Great Britain Soviet Union United States and others Axis powers: Germany Italy Japan and others Commanders Chiang Kai-shek Charles de Gaulle Winston Churchill Joseph Stalin Franklin Roosevelt Adolf Hitler Benito Mussolini Hideki Tōjō Casualties Military dead: 17,000,000 Civilian dead: 33,000... Combatants  United Kingdom  United States Poland  France Canada Free France  Netherlands  Belgium Germany Italy Commanders Winston Churchill, Trafford Leigh-Mallory, Harold Alexander, Bertram Ramsay, Bernard Montgomery, Lord Gort, Trafford Leigh-Mallory, Franklin Roosevelt,, George Marshall, Dwight Eisenhower, Omar Bradley, Jacob Devers, WÅ‚adysÅ‚aw Anders, WÅ‚adysÅ‚aw Sikorski, Stanis... Combatants Soviet Union,[1] Poland, Tannu Tuva (until 1944 incorporation with USSR), Mongolia Germany,[2] Italy (to 1943), Romania (to 1944), Finland (to 1944), Hungary, Slovakia, Croatia, Spain (to 1943, unofficial) Commanders Joseph Stalin, Aleksei Antonov, Ivan Konev, Rodion Malinovsky, Ivan Bagramyan, Kirill Meretskov, Ivan Petrov, Alexander Rodimtsev, Konstantin Rokossovsky... 219. ... The Mediterranean region. ... For other uses, see Pacific War (disambiguation). ... Combatants  United Kingdom  Canada  United States(1941–5)  Norway Poland Free French Navy  Germany  Italy (1940–3) Commanders  Sir Percy Noble  Sir Max K. Horton  Percy W. Nelles  Leonard W. Murray  Ernest J. King  Erich Raeder  Karl Dönitz Casualties 30,248 merchant sailors 3,500 merchant vessels 175 warships...
Major participants Map of the World with the Participants in World War II. The western allies are shown in blue, the eastern allies in red, the Axis Powers in black, and neutral countries in grey. ...			Timeline For events preceding September 1, 1939, see the timeline of events preceding World War II. This is a timeline of events that stretched over the period of World War II. // 1: The Invasion of Poland begins at 4:30 a. ...		Aspects
To 1945 unless otherwise indicated. Principal co-belligerents in italics.			Prelude • Causes • in Asia • in Europe This article is concerned with the events that preceded World War II in Asia. ... In Europe, the origins of the war are closely tied to the rise of fascism, especially in Nazi Germany. ... 1939 • Invasion of Poland • Phoney War • Winter War • Battle of the Atlantic5 For the Soviet Unions military action against Poland under the same alliance, see Soviet invasion of Poland (1939). ... British Ministry of Home Security Poster of a type that was common during the Phony War The Phony War or the Bore War, also called Sitzkrieg, was a phase in early World War II from September 1939 until May 1940 marked by few military operations in Continental Europe, in the... Combatants Finland Soviet Union Commanders Carl Gustaf Emil Mannerheim Kliment Voroshilov Semyon Timoshenko Strength 250,000 men 30 tanks 130 aircraft[1][2] 1,000,000 men 6,541 tanks [3] 3,800 aircraft[4][5] Casualties 26,662 dead 39,886 wounded 1,000 captured[6] 126,875 dead... Combatants Royal Navy Royal Canadian Navy United States Navy (1941–5) Kriegsmarine Regia Marina (1940–3) Commanders Sir Percy Noble Sir Max K. Horton Percy W. Nelles Leonard W. Murray Ernest J. King Erich Raeder Karl Dönitz Casualties 30,248 merchant sailors 3,500 merchant vessels 175 warships 28... 1940 • Denmark and Norway • Battle of France • Battle of Britain • Libya and Egypt • British Somaliland • Baltic Occupation • Bessarabia and Bukovina • Invasion of Indochina • Invasion of Greece Combatants Germany Denmark Norway Operation Weserübung was the German codename for Nazi Germanys assault on Denmark and Norway during World War II and the opening operation of the Norwegian Campaign. ... Belligerents France United Kingdom Canada Czechoslovakia Poland Belgium Netherlands Luxembourg Germany Italy Commanders Maurice Gamelin, Maxime Weygand Lord Gort (British Expeditionary Force) Leopold III H.G. Winkelman WÅ‚adysÅ‚aw Sikorski Gerd von Rundstedt (Army Group A) Fedor von Bock (Army Group B) Wilhelm von Leeb (Army Group C) H... This article is about the Second World War battle. ... Combatants  Australia Free France  New Zealand  Poland South Africa  United Kingdom India Italy Germany Commanders to June 22 1941: Archibald Wavell to August 8 1942: Claude Auchinleck to February 1943: Harold Alexander Ugo Cavallero Rodolfo Graziani Erwin Rommel The Western Desert Campaign, also known as the Desert War was the... Belligerents United Kingdom British India British Somaliland Northern Rhodesia British East Africa Italy Italian East Africa Commanders Reade Godwin-Austen Arthur Chater Guglielmo Nasi Carlo De Simone Luigi Frusci Strength 4,000 24,000 Casualties and losses 38 killed[1] 71 wounded[1] 49 missing[1] Total:205[2] Destroyed... Molotov signing the German-Soviet Nonaggression Pact The occupation of Baltic states refers to the occupation of the Baltic states (Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania) first by the Soviet Union under the provisions of the 1939 Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact with Nazi Germany, by Nazi Germany from 1941-1944, and again by... On June 28, 1940 Bessarabia and northern Bukovina were occupied by the Soviet Union. ... Combatants Empire of Japan Vichy France Commanders Akihito Nakamura Takuma Nishimura Maurice Martin Strength 34,000 men 2,000 men Casualties  ? 800 The Invasion of French Indochina ), also known as the Vietnam Expedition, the Japanese Invasion of Vietnam, was an attempt by the Empire of Japan, during the Second Sino... Belligerents Italy Albania Greece Commanders Sebastiano Visconti Prasca Ubaldo Soddu Ugo Cavallero Giovanni Messe Alexander Papagos Strength 529,000 men, 463 aircraft[1] Under 300,000 men, 77 aircraft[1] Casualties and losses 63,000[2][3][4] dead, 100,000+[2] wounded, 25,067 missing, 12,368 incapacitated by... 1941 • East Africa Campaign • Invasion of Yugoslavia • Invasion of the USSR • Middle East campaign • Siege of Leningrad • Battle of Moscow • Attack on Pearl Harbor Combatants United Kingdom Anglo-Egyptian Sudan British Somaliland British East Africa British India Gold Coast Nigeria N. Rhodesia S. Rhodesia Union of S. Africa Belgium Belgian Congo Free France Ethiopian irregulars Italy Italian East Africa German Motorized Company Commanders Archibald Wavell William Platt Alan Cunningham Duke of Aosta Guglielmo Nasi... “April War” redirects here. ... Belligerents Germany Romania Finland Italy Hungary Slovakia Croatia Soviet Union Commanders Adolf Hitler Franz Halder Wilhelm Ritter von Leeb Fedor von Bock Gerd von Rundstedt Ernst Busch Erich Hoepner Alfred Keller Georg von Küchler Günther von Kluge Heinz Guderian Hermann Hoth Albrecht Kesselring Adolf Strauss Carl-Heinrich von... The Middle East Campaign was a part of the Middle East Theatre of World War II. // This campaign included: The British police actions in Palestine. ... Belligerents Nazi Germany Finland[1][2][3] Soviet Union Commanders Wilhelm von Leeb Georg von Küchler Carl Gustaf Mannerheim[4][5][6] Kliment Voroshilov Georgiy Zhukov Leonid Govorov Strength 725,000 930,000 Casualties and losses Wehrmacht (est. ... Combatants Nazi Germany Soviet Union Commanders Fedor von Bock, Heinz Guderian Georgy Zhukov, Aleksandr Vasilevsky Strength As of October 1: 1,000,000 men, 1,700 tanks, 14,000 guns, 950 planes[1] As of October 1: 1,250,000 men, 1,000 tanks, 7,600 guns, 677 planes[2... This article is about the actual attack. ... 1942 • Battle of Midway • Battle of Stalingrad • 2nd Battle of El Alamein • Operation Torch • Guadalcanal Campaign Belligerents United States Imperial Japanese Navy Commanders Chester W. Nimitz Frank J. Fletcher Raymond A. Spruance Isoroku Yamamoto Chuichi Nagumo Tamon Yamaguchi† Strength 3 carriers, ~50 support ships, 233 carrier aircraft, 127 land-based aircraft 4 carriers, 7 battleships, ~150 support ships, 264 carrier aircraft,[1] 16 floatplanes Casualties and... Belligerents Germany Romania Italy Hungary Soviet Union Commanders Adolf Hitler Friedrich Paulus # Erich von Manstein Wolfram von Richthofen Petre Dumitrescu Constantin Constantinescu Italo Gariboldi Gusztáv Vitéz Jány Viktor Pavičić Josef Stalin Vasily Chuikov Aleksandr Vasilevsky Georgiy Zhukov Semyon Timoshenko Konstantin Rokossovsky Rodion Malinovsky Andrei Yeremenko Strength... Belligerents Australia Free French Greece New Zealand South Africa United Kingdom Indian Empire Germany Italy Commanders Harold Alexander Bernard Montgomery Erwin Rommel Georg Stumme Ettore Bastico Strength 220,000 men 1,029 tanks[1] 750 aircraft (530 serviceable) 900 medium and field artillery guns[2] 1,401 Anti Tank Guns... Belligerents Free French Forces United Kingdom United States Vichy France Commanders Dwight Eisenhower Andrew Cunningham François Darlan Strength 107,000 (33,000 in Morocco,39,000 near Algiers,35,000 near Oran) 60,000 Casualties and losses 479+ dead 720 wounded 1,346+ dead 1,997 wounded Operation Torch... Combatants Allied forces including: United States Australia New Zealand British Solomon Is. ...	1943 • End in Africa • Battle of Kursk • Solomon Islands • Invasion of Sicily • Invasion of Italy5 • Gilbert and Marshall Islands Combatants United Kingdom United States France Germany Italy Commanders Dwight D. Eisenhower Harold Alexander Keneth Anderson Bernard Montgomery Albert Kesselring Erwin Rommel Hans-Jürgen von Arnim Giovanni Messe The Tunisia Campaign (also known as the Battle of Tunisia), was a series of World War II battles that took place... Belligerents Nazi Germany Soviet Union Commanders Erich von Manstein Günther von Kluge Hermann Hoth Walther Model Hans Seidemann Robert Ritter von Greim Georgiy Zhukov Konstantin Rokossovskiy Nikolay Vatutin Ivan Konyev Strength 2,700 tanks 800,000 infantry 2,109 aircraft[1] 3,600 tanks 20,000 guns[2] 1... Belligerents United States United Kingdom Canada Australia South Africa Free French Germany Italy Commanders Dwight D. Eisenhower Harold Alexander Bernard Montgomery George S. Patton Albert Kesselring Alfredo Guzzoni Fridolin von Senger und Etterlin Strength 160,000 personnel 14,000 vehicles 600 tanks 1,800 guns 300,000 Italian personnel 40... This article or section is in need of attention from an expert on the subject. ... In the Pacific Theater of World War II, the Gilbert and Marshall Islands campaigns, from November 1943 through February 1944, were the first offensive operations of the United States Navy and Marine Corps in the Central Pacific. ... 1944 • Cassino and Anzio • Invasion of Normandy • Mariana and Palau Islands • Operation Bagration • Battle of the Dnieper • Warsaw Uprising • Iassy-Kishinev Operation • Liberation of Paris • Operation Market Garden • Operation Crossbow • Operation Pointblank • Battle of Leyte Gulf • Battle of the Bulge Combatants United Kingdom United States Poland New Zealand Canada Free France India and others Germany Commanders Harold Alexander Mark Clark Oliver Leese Albert Kesselring Heinrich von Vietinghoff Frido von Senger Strength 105,000 80,000 Casualties 54,000 20,000 The Battle of Monte Cassino (also known as the Battle... Combatants United States, United Kingdom Germany Commanders Harold Alexander Mark W. Clark John P. Lucas Lucian Truscott Albert Kesselring Eberhard von Mackensen Strength 22 Jan 1944: 36,000 soldiers and 2,300 vehicles End May:150,000 soldiers and 1,500 guns 22 Jan 1944: 20,000 soldiers End May... This article is about the first few weeks of the Invasion of Normandy (D-Day). ... In the Pacific theater of World War II, the American Marianas Campaign, known as Operation Forager, pushed westward from the Marshall Islands in the summer of 1944 to capture the islands of Saipan, Tinian, and Guam. ... Combatants Germany Soviet Union Commanders Ernst Busch (to 28 June), Walter Model (Army Group Centre) Georg-Hans Reinhardt (Third Panzer Army) Hans Jordan (Ninth Army) Kurt von Tippelskirch (Fourth Army) Walter Weiss (Second Army) Georgy Zhukov Konstantin Rokossovsky (3rd Belorussian Front) Hovhannes Bagramyan (1st Baltic Front) Ivan Chernyakhovsky (1st Belorussian... Combatants Axis Soviet Union Commanders Erich von Manstein Konstantin Rokossovsky, Ivan Konev Strength 1,250,000 men 12,600 guns 2,100 tanks 2,000 planes 2,650,000 men 51,000 guns 2,400 tanks 2,850 planes Casualties Low est. ... For other uses, see Warsaw Uprising (disambiguation). ... Combatants Soviet Union Germany Romania Commanders Rodion Malinovsky Fyodor Tolbukhin Johannes Friessner Ion Antonescu Strength 1,341,200, 1,874 tanks and assault guns ca. ... Belligerents Free French Forces Germany Commanders Philippe Leclerc Raymond Dronne Henri Rol-Tanguy Jacques Chaban-Delmas Dietrich von Choltitz # Strength 2nd Armoured Division, French resistance 5,000 Inside Paris, 15,000 At outskirts Casualties and losses 1,500 dead French resistance 71 dead, 225 wounded Free French Forces[1] 3... Belligerents Poland United Kingdom United States Germany Commanders Field Marshal Montgomery Lieutenant-General Dempsey Lieutenant-General Horrocks Major-General Urquhart Major General Taylor Brigadier General Gavin Walter Model Wilhelm Bittrich Kurt Student Strength 35,000 (airborne only) 20,000 Casualties and losses Poland: 1st Polish Brigade: 378 Casualties[1] United... Similar to Operation Pointblank against the WWII German aircraft industry, Operation Crossbow specialized in offensive and defensive countermeasures against the Bodyline[1] and Peenemünde 20,[2] the British code names for the 40 ft x 7 ft object with blunt nose and three fins and the small winged aircraft... Operation Pointblank was the code name for the Combined Bomber Offensive of the USAAF and the RAF during World War II. It ordered Arthur Bomber Harris, head of the RAF and Carl Spaatz, head of the U.S. 8th Air Force, to bomb specific targets in support of the run... Combatants  United States  Australia Empire of Japan Commanders William Halsey, Jr (3rd Fleet) Thomas C. Kinkaid (7th Fleet) Takeo Kurita (Centre Force) Shoji Nishimura â€  (Southern Force) Kiyohide Shima (Southern Force) Jisaburo Ozawa (Northern Force) Strength 17 aircraft carriers 18 escort carriers 12 battleships 24 cruisers 141 destroyers and destroyer escorts... For the 1965 film, see Battle of the Bulge (film). ... 1945 • Battle of Iwo Jima • Battle of Okinawa • Battle of Berlin • Germany surrenders • Hiroshima and Nagasaki • Japan surrenders Belligerents United States Empire of Japan Commanders Holland Smith Tadamichi Kuribayashi â€  Strength 110,000 21,000 Casualties and losses 6,821 dead 19,189 wounded,[1] 494 missing[1] Total: 26,504 20,703 dead,[1] 216 captured[1] Total: 20,919 The Battle of Iwo Jima took place between... Combatants  United States  United Kingdom  Canada  Australia  New Zealand Empire of Japan Commanders Simon B. Buckner â€  Joseph W. Stilwell Ray Spruance Mitsuru Ushijima â€  Isamu Cho â€  Strength 548,000 soldiers, 1,300 ships,  ? aircraft 100,000 regulars and militia,  ? ships,  ? aircraft Casualties 12,513 dead or missing, 38,916 wounded, 33... Belligerents Soviet Union Poland Germany Commanders 1st Belorussian Front – Georgiy Zhukov 2nd Belorussian Front – Konstantin Rokossovsky 1st Ukrainian Front – Ivan Konev Army Group Vistula – Gotthard Heinrici then Kurt von Tippelskirch[3] Army Group Centre – Ferdinand Schörner Berlin Defence Area – Hellmuth Reymann then Helmuth Weidling #[4] Strength Total strength 2... During the Battle for Berlin, the Red Flag was raised over the Reichstag, May 1945. ... The mushroom cloud over Hiroshima after the dropping of Little Boy. ... The Japanese representatives, Mamoru Shigemitsu and Yoshijiro Umezu, on board USS Missouri during the surrender ceremonies on 2 September 1945. ... • List of military engagements USS Lexington explodes during the Battle of the Coral Sea. ...	• Attacks on North America • Blitzkrieg • Comparative military ranks • Cryptography • Home front • Military awards • Military equipment • Military production • Nazi plunder • Resistance • Technology • Total war Attacks on North America during World War II by the Axis Powers were rare, mainly due to the continents geographical separation from the central theaters of conflict in Europe and Asia. ... This article is about the military term. ... The following table shows comparative officer ranks of major Allied and Axis powers during World War II. For modern ranks refer to Comparative military ranks. ... Cryptography was used extensively during World War II, with a plethora of code and cipher systems fielded by the nations involved. ... Publicity photo of American machine tool worker in Texas. ... Military awards of World War II were presented by most of the combatants. ... // Aircraft List of aircraft of World War II List of World War II military aircraft of Germany List of aircraft of the Armée de lAir, World War II List of aircraft of the USAAF, World War II List of aircraft of the Royal Air Force, World War II... During World War II women worked in factories throughout much of the Western and Eastern United States. ... Nazi plunder stored in a church at Elligen, Germany, 1945 Nazi plunder refers to art theft and other items stolen as a result of the organized spoliation of European countries during the time of the Third Reich by agents acting on behalf of the ruling Nazi Party of Germany. ... Members of the Dutch Eindhoven Resistance with troops of the US 101st Airborne Division in front of the Eindhoven cathedral during Operation Market Garden in September 1944. ... Technology during World War II played a crucial role in determining the outcome of the war. ... Total war is a military conflict in which nations mobilize all available resources in order to destroy another nations ability to engage in war. ... Aftermath /consequences • Effects/Casualties • Expulsion of Germans • Operation Paperclip • Occupation of Germany • Morgenthau plan • Territorial changes • Occupation of Japan • Franco-Vietnamese War • Cold War • in contemporary culture The bumsItalic textBold text effects of World War II had far-reaching implications for the international community. ... Chart showing World War II deaths by country in millions as well as by percentage of population, and piechart with percentage of military and civilian deaths for the Allies and the Axis Powers. ... Germans expelled from the Sudetenland The expulsion of Germans after World War II refers to the forced migration and ethnic cleansing of German nationals (Reichsdeutsche) and ethnic Germans (Volksdeutsche) from Germany and parts of territory formerly claimed by Germany in the first three years after World War II. The policy... Operation Paperclip scientists pose together. ... The C-Pennant Occupation zones in Germany (1945) Capital Berlin (de jure) Political structure Military occupation Governors (1945)  - UK zone F.M. Montgomery  - French zone Gen. ... The Morgenthau Plan showing the planned partitioning of Germany into a North State, a South State, and an International zone. ... The Oder-Neisse line (Polish: , German: ) marked the border between German Democratic Republic and Poland between 1950 and 1990. ... Capital Tokyo Language(s) Japanese Political structure Military occupation Military Governor  - 1945-1951 Douglas MacArthur  - 1951-1952 Matthew Ridgway Emperor  - 1926-1989 Hirohito Historical era Post-WWII  - Surrender of Japan August 15, 1945  - San Francisco Treaty April 28, 1952 At the end of the Second World War, Japan was occupied... Combatants France French Indochina Việt Minh Strength 500,000 at least 63,000, but estimates 100,000-950,000 Casualties 94,581 dead 78,127 wounded 40,000 captured 300,000+ dead 500,000+ wounded 100,000 captured The First Indochina War (also known as the French Indochina War... For other uses, see Cold War (disambiguation). ... The influence of World War II has been profound and diverse, having an impact on many parts of life. ... Civilian impact / atrocities • Allied war crimes • German war crimes • Italian war crimes • Japanese war crimes • Soviet war crimes • The Holocaust • Bombing of civilians Allied war crimes were violations of the laws of war committed by the Allies of World War II against civilian populations or military personnel of the Axis Powers. ... Germany committed war crimes in both World War I and World War II. The most notable of these is the Holocaust, where millions of people, about half of which were Jews, were murdered. ... This article needs a complete rewrite for the reasons listed on the talk page. ... Japanese war crimes occurred during the period of Japanese imperialism. ... Soviet war crimes gives a short overview about serious crimes committed by the Red Armys (1918-1946, later Soviet Army) leadership and an unknown number of single members of the Soviet armed forces from 1919 to 1990 inclusive including those in Eastern Europe in late 1944 and early 1945... “Shoah” redirects here. ... Strategic bombing during World War II was greater in scale than any wartime attack the world had previously witnessed. ...
Allies		Axis
at war from 1937  China This article is about the independent states that comprised the Allies. ... Black: Zenith of the Axis Powers Capital Not applicable Political structure Military alliance Historical era World War II  - Tripartite Pact September 27, 1940  - Anti-Comintern Pact November 25, 1936  - Pact of Steel May 22, 1939  - Dissolved 1945 This article is about the independent countries (states) that comprised the Axis powers. ... Image File history File links Flag_of_the_Republic_of_China. ... entered 1939  Czechoslovakia  Poland  UK  India  France  Australia  New Zealand  South Africa  Canada Image File history File links Flag_of_Czechoslovakia. ... Image File history File links Flag_of_Poland. ... Image File history File links Flag_of_the_United_Kingdom. ... Image File history File links British_Raj_Red_Ensign. ... The Indian National Congress led by Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi was opposed to Fascism, Nazism and colonialism. ... Image File history File links This is a lossless scalable vector image. ... Image File history File links This is a lossless scalable vector image. ... Image File history File links Flag_of_New_Zealand. ... Image File history File links Flag_of_South_Africa_1928-1994. ... entered 1940  Norway  Belgium  Netherlands  Greece Image File history File links Flag_of_Norway. ... Image File history File links Flag_of_Belgium. ... Image File history File links Flag_of_the_Netherlands. ...	entered 1941  Yugoslavia  USSR  USA Image File history File links Flag_of_the_Kingdom_of_Yugoslavia. ... General location of the political entities known as Yugoslavia. ... Image File history File links This is a lossless scalable vector image. ... Image File history File links US_flag_48_stars. ... entered 1942  Mexico  Brazil Image File history File links Flag_of_Mexico_(1934-1968). ... Image File history File links This is a lossless scalable vector image. ... // Depression, coffee oligarchs, and the Revolution of 1930 The Great Depression The tenente rebellion (See History of Brazil (1889-1930)) did not mark the revolutionary breakthrough of Brazils bourgeois social reformers. ... entered 1943  Italy   Image File history File links Flag_of_Italy_(1861-1946). ... entered 1944  Romania  Bulgaria  Finland Image File history File links Flag_of_Romania. ... Image File history File links Flag_of_Finland. ... Combatants Germany Finland Commanders Lothar Rendulic Hjalmar Siilasvuo Strength 200,000 60,000 Casualties 950 killed 2,000 wounded 1,300 captured 774 killed 3,000 wounded 262 missing The Lapland War (Finnish: ; German: ; Swedish: ) is a name used for the hostilities between Finland and Germany between September 1944 and... • others This article is about the independent states that comprised the Allies. ...	at war from 1937  Japan Image File history File links Flag_of_Japan_-_variant. ... entered 1939  Germany  Slovakia Image File history File links Flag_of_Germany_1933. ... entered 1940  Italy  to 1943 Image File history File links Flag_of_Italy_(1861-1946). ... entered 1941  Bulgaria  to 1944 Croatia Finland  to 1944  Hungary  Iraq  to 1941  Romania  to 1944 Image File history File links Flag_of_Bulgaria. ... Image File history File links Flag_of_Croatia_Ustasa. ... Image File history File links Flag_of_Finland. ... Belligerents Finland Germany Italy1 Soviet Union  United Kingdom2 Commanders C.G.E. Mannerheim Kirill Meretskov Leonid Govorov Strength 530,000 Finns[1] 220,000 Germans 900,000–1,500,000 Soviets[2] Casualties and losses 58,715 dead or missing 158,000 wounded 1,500 civilian deaths[3] 3401 captured... Image File history File links Flag_of_Hungary_1940. ... // In Hungary, the Great Depression induced a drop in the standard of living and the political mood of the country shifted further toward the right. ... Image File history File links Flag_of_Iraq_1924. ... Combatants Kingdom of Iraq United Kingdom India Commanders Rashid Ali General Sir Edward Quinan Strength five divisions about two divisions Casualties 2,500 KIA, about 6,000 POWs 1,200 (KIA, MIA, WIA) The Anglo-Iraqi War is the name of hostilities between the United Kingdom and the Iraqi nationalist... Image File history File links Flag_of_Romania. ... entered 1942  Thailand Image File history File links Flag_of_Thailand. ... This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ... entered 1943  RSI Image File history File links Flag_of_Italy. ... Anthem Giovinezza (The Youth)¹ From the Gustav Line to the Gothic Line Capital Salò Language(s) Italian Religion None defined. ... • others Black: Zenith of the Axis Powers Capital Not applicable Political structure Military alliance Historical era World War II  - Tripartite Pact September 27, 1940  - Anti-Comintern Pact November 25, 1936  - Pact of Steel May 22, 1939  - Dissolved 1945 This article is about the independent countries (states) that comprised the Axis powers. ...
• Allied Leaders • Axis Leaders • Commanders This article does not cite any references or sources. ... The Axis leaders of World War II were the important political and military figures during the war. ... The Commanders of World War II were for the most part career officers. ...
Resistance movements Austria · Baltic1 · Czech lands · Denmark · Ethiopia France · Germany2 · Greece · Italy Jewish2 · Korea · Netherlands · Moldavia2 Norway · Philippines · Poland · Thailand · Soviet Union Slovakia4 · Ukraine3 · Vietnam Yugoslavia · others Members of the Dutch Eindhoven Resistance with troops of the US 101st Airborne Division in front of the Eindhoven cathedral during Operation Market Garden in September 1944. ... The Forest Brothers (also: Brothers of the Forest, Forest Brethren; Forest Brotherhood; in Estonian: metsavennad, in Latvian meža brāļi, in Lithuanian miÅ¡ko broliai) were Estonian, Latvian, and Lithuanian partisans who waged guerrilla warfare against Soviet rule and for German Nazis during the Soviet invasion and occupation of... Czech resistance to Nazi occupation during World War II is a scarcely documented subject, by and large a result of little formal resistance and an effective German policy that deterred acts of resistance or annihilated organizations of resistance. ... The Jewish resistance during the Holocaust was the resistance of the Jewish people against Nazi Germany leading up to and through World War II. Due to the careful organization and overwhelming military might of the Nazi German State and its supporters, many Jews were unable to resist the killings. ... The Korean Liberation Army was the armed force of the Provisional Government of the Republic of Korea, and was created on September 17, 1941 in Chongqing, China. ... General location of the political entities known as Yugoslavia. ... Members of the Dutch Eindhoven Resistance with troops of the US 101st Airborne Division in front of the Eindhoven cathedral during Operation Market Garden in September 1944. ...
				Lists
				Category · Topics Conferences // Military engagements For military topics (land, naval, and air engagements as well as campaigns, operations, defensive lines and sieges), please see List of military engagements of World War II. Political and social aspects of the war Causes of World War II Appeasement Occupation of Denmark Netherlands in World War II... List of World War II conferences of the Allied forces In total Churchill attended 14 meetings, Roosevelt 12, Stalin 5. ...
1 Anti-Soviet. 2 Anti-Soviet and anti-Nazi. 3 Anti-Nazi, anti-Polish, and anti-Soviet. 4 Anti-Magyar, anti-Nazi, and anti-Soviet. 5 Lasted to May 1945. This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ...		World War II at Wiktionary  WWII textbooks at Wikibooks      WWII quotes at Wikiquote  WWII source texts at Wikisource        WWII media at Commons  WWII news stories at Wikinews

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