To what extent did Allied strategic bombing have significant strategic Essay

To what extent did Allied strategic bombing have significant strategic effects on the successful outcome of the war (WWII) Did this Allied employment of air p - Essay Example nge of strategy in the later stages of the war was also responsible for the attainment of the political objectives of the war - to cripple Germany and destroy her continued occupation of territories in Europe, including her attacks on Britain. What Britain was unable to achieve on the political front in arresting German occupation of Europe, was however achieved through the change in the strategic bombing policy of the allied forces. Strategic bombing by allied air power was the decisive factor that led to victory for the allies in World War II. The change in the British war policies and the bombing effort was the direct effort of political pressures. One of these was the growing tide of British public opinion in favor of bombing of German cities, in the aftermath of 1940, when France fell to Germany. Another significant reason for the shift in policy to direct bombing of German cities was the pressure exerted by Stalin on the British, to open up a second front to allow for some relief on the German-Soviet frontlines. However, Clausewitz’s abstract theory of war is based upon the premise that war commanders must decide at the outset â€Å"the kind of war on which they are embarking†2 and politics and war cannot be mingled with each other; policy should not be the guiding force that influences military operations. If one looks at the political objectives of strategic bombing as the twin destruction of a country’s will to fight as well as its ability to produce materiel, the Allied missions between 1942 a nd 1944 were the hammer blows on German industry and morale. Had the Allies not developed their long-range fighters, or had they not decided to move their targets to large cities instead of small, industrial targets, the outcome might have been much different, even with the addition of the Eastern Front. This entailed a change in war policy that was directly the result of political pressures, disproving the notion that politics and war cannot be mingled with