Degree Name

MA (Master of Arts)

Program

History

Date of Award

12-2008

Committee Chair or Co-Chairs

Stephen G Fritz

Committee Members

Ronnie M. Day, William Douglas Burgess Jr.

Abstract

This thesis is a historiographical study concerning the strategic bombing campaign of Germany during World War II. The study questions how effective the campaign was in comparing the prewar theories to wartime practices. Secondly, it questions the morality of the bombings and how and why bombing techniques changed throughout the course of the war. Lastly, the study looks at a recent topic in the historic community, which is the question of remembrance and Germans as victims of the war.

This study concludes that the strategic bombing campaign of Germany was a success but not in the sense that prewar planners had anticipated. The moral implications of the bombings were horrific, but given the severity of the war they were fighting, were a necessity. The question of Germans as victims will be open to debate for some time, especially because Germans and Americans have opposing viewpoints on the matter.

Document Type

Thesis - unrestricted

Copyright

Copyright by the authors.

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