American Airpower Strategy in World War II: Bombs, Cities, Civilians, and Oil

Modern War Studies

by Conrad C. Crane

Resistance is a product of will times means, Carl von Clausewitz postulated in his treatise On War . In his 1993 Bombs, Cities, and Civilians , which the American Historical Review judged “must reading for anyone interested in the subject of air warfare,” Conrad C. Crane focused on the moral dimension of American air strategy in World War II—specifically, the Allied effort to break the enemy’s will through targeting civilians. With decades of research and reflection, and a wealth of new material at his command, Crane returns to the subject of America’s WWII airpower strategy to offer an analysis fully engaged with the “means” side of Clausewitz’s the design and impact of strategic bombing of the enemy’s infrastructure and thus its capacity to fight.

A marked advance in our understanding of the use of airpower in war in general and the Second World War in particular, Crane’s work shows how, despite an undeniable lack of concern about civilian casualties in Germany and Japan late in the war, American strategic bombing in WWII consistently focused on destroying the enemy’s war-making capacity instead of its collapsing will. Further, Crane persuasively argues that in the limited wars since then, separating such targets has become increasingly more difficult, and all air campaigns against states have subsequently escalated to accept greater risks for civilians. American Airpower Strategy in World War II also provides an expanded close look at the use of airpower in the last three months of the strategic air war against Germany, when so many bombing missions relied upon radar aids, as well as the first direct comparison of 8th and 15th Air Force bombing campaigns in Europe.

The result is the most coherent and concise analysis of the application and legacy of Allied strategic airpower in WWII—and a work that will inform all future practical and theoretical consideration of the use, and the role, of airpower in war.

Genres: History, World War II

288 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2016

About the author

Conrad C. Crane is chief historical services, US Army Heritage and Education Center, US Army War College.

Reviews

[Mark · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great book for those of us out there who have studied post-war Germany and who are interested in how the US (and England) applied bombing techniques during the war.

The book does a good job driving home the point that the AAF (predecessor to today's USAF)--unlike the RAF--created and executed a "precision" bombing strategy against Germany. This focused on targets other than civilian centers, though some were also hit towards the end of the war, etc. I wasn't aware of the stark difference between the British and US approaches, though I knew that the British focused on nighttime raids and the US on daylight attacks.

The US, though, ended up loosening this approach in Japan when it came to firebombing Tokyo and dozens of other Japanese cities. Even though they were ostensibly going after industrial targets that supported the war effort, the fact that these were located in urban areas didn't dissuade them from dropping incendiaries.

This book also covers the Korean, Vietnam and Gulf wars and shows how "precision" bombing is still the foundation of US war strategy. This is obviously a positive approach, but also sets expectations that can never be fully met and tend to mask the real horrors of war.

[Beaver · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting