“The Nazis entered this war under the rather childish delusion that they were going to bomb everyone else, and nobody was going to bomb them. At Rotterdam, London, Warsaw, and half a hundred other places, they put their rather naive theory into operation. They sowed the wind, and now they are going to reap the whirlwind.”
I am too. Fun fact (you probably know if you support that message, but for everyone else): Dresden’s destruction is just so well-known because it was abused by Nazi propaganda to “show how evil those allies are”. Other German cities, and of course cities which fell victim to the Luftwaffe, saw much worse destruction.
I mean, Dresden was one of the harder-hit cities, because it was a rare instance when American and British Bomber Command (and, while not participating directly, at the behest of the Soviet Union) agreed on a single target in the same time period. There were only a handful of other coordinated raids of that scale in the war.
Fun fact: A good part of the relatively high casualty rate resulting from the raid on Dresden was caused by the utter lack of preparedness of Dresden’s administration. I think I vaguely recall some Nazi official preferring to use funds meant for building air raid shelters and other precautions to enhance his personal lifestyle, because his shining example of a Nazi model city surely wouldn’t be bombed, also who gives a fuck about the population anyway?
I am from Dresden and I support this message.
I am too. Fun fact (you probably know if you support that message, but for everyone else): Dresden’s destruction is just so well-known because it was abused by Nazi propaganda to “show how evil those allies are”. Other German cities, and of course cities which fell victim to the Luftwaffe, saw much worse destruction.
Interestingly, the GDR continued to propagate the myth of “Innocent Dresden” (major logistics hub) to show how barbaric the imperialist West was.
I mean, Dresden was one of the harder-hit cities, because it was a rare instance when American and British Bomber Command (and, while not participating directly, at the behest of the Soviet Union) agreed on a single target in the same time period. There were only a handful of other coordinated raids of that scale in the war.
Fun fact: A good part of the relatively high casualty rate resulting from the raid on Dresden was caused by the utter lack of preparedness of Dresden’s administration. I think I vaguely recall some Nazi official preferring to use funds meant for building air raid shelters and other precautions to enhance his personal lifestyle, because his shining example of a Nazi model city surely wouldn’t be bombed, also who gives a fuck about the population anyway?