What made Germany different from Italy? An estimated 50,000–60,000 people died as a result of the air raids in Italy throughout the war; this was comparable to the losses sustained in Britain and France. By September 1944, the civilian death toll from bombing in Germany was closer to 200,000. What made Germany so different from Italy was not the absolute number killed, but the social impact of bombing. Italian cities lacked civil defences: there were few shelters, little antiaircraft artillery and almost no fighter squadrons. Their absence made people feel utterly undefended. As the Fascist
...more
