Bombing of Germany

by Rumpf.

WW II European war over Germany.

Genres: History

256 pages, Hardcover

Published January 1, 1961

Reviews

[Watch Me · Rating 4 out of 5]

‘During the Second World War food supplies were, of course, restricted, but the same disastrous situation as had arisen during the First World War did not arise again, and according to Baade in his book Brot fur ganz Europa {Bread for the Whole of Europe) there was sufficient food during the Second World War to provide the 350 million people of blockaded continental Europe with almost 3,000 calories a day each - though, of course, it was not always possible to distribute the available foodstuffs satisfactorily and uniformly. It was only during the last few chaotic weeks of the war that rations sank to the bare existence minimum of 1,800 calories a day. This time the actual hunger period came after the war had ended, when as a result of the Morgenthau Plan the occupation powers prevented Germany from feeding herself for several years.’
- The Bombing of Germany by Hans Rumpf

[Robert · Rating 3 out of 5]

Dated but still a good early German view of the aerial bombing campaign during WW2.

[Maksym Chornyi · Rating 3 out of 5]

“Bombing of Germany” was not the first thorough research of the strategic bombing of the Third Reich during the World War Two. The author takes dozens of official reports and firsthand sources into operation. Hans Rumpf gradually and systematically summarizes governmental in-war and after-war accounts of the counties on both sides, in particular within the post-WWII occupied Germany. In addition, the author considers and pays sophisticated attention to the memoirs and historical monographs of the former military commanders and political leaders. The most “used” sources of this kind reflect post-war conclusions of such personalities as: Winston Churchill, a British Prime Minister; Sir Arthur Harris, Commander of the RAF Bomber Command; B.H. Liddell Hart, British military historian; Kurt von Tippelskirch, former Wehrmacht general and military historian; Dwight D. Eisenhower, Supreme Commander of the Allied Expeditionary Forces in Europe and 34th American president.

Hans Rumpf emphasizes that the matter of his book has less common with accusation in war crimes and Crimes Against Mankind. His analysis, along with books on dark pages of history, such as the Holocaust, has to be accepted as an obscure reminder for the future generations. Hans Rumpf intentionally left aside the general topics such as: causes of the Second World War, personal accounts of the political leaders and military commanders, a state of national responsibility, war campaigns. His historical focus and our attention narrow on Unrestricted Air War over Europe, its historical background and concepts. “Bombing of Germany’’ details into scaling volumes, year by year. A scale of the catastrophe and casualties of war, sacrificed to implement a doctrine of war against the civil citizens.

“Bombing of Germany” book comprehends a variety of issues, despite a conservative volume of 250 pages. A short abstract review of the pre-war years and every year of the World War Two within a context of the unrestricted air war. Significantly, Hans Rumpf gives us an introspective overview of the issue from the point of Germans , a nation which suffered Air-Bombing War the most. The manner in which a person can live under the conditions of constant danger to life. A union between a personal interests and collective interaction in everyday struggle to survive. The author even deeps into after-war and still bleeding attitude to this topic within the 1950-s, in a time, when the book was in process. ‘’Bombing of Germany’’ presents an accessible and plain language to deal with such serious historical background. It may be referred as an authoritative starting point to maintain the issue of the unrestricted air war, of getting acquainted with comprehensive bibliography and more recent studies, inspired by the Hans Rumpf’s classic work, in particular.