Controversy Surrounding Dresden Bombing Mary Saunders, Bridget Taylor, Jennifer Sybrandt, Caroline Edwards

Summary The Allies motives were very unclear since the bombing did not give them a tactical or strategic advantage. There is a debate about how many civilians perished in February 13-15th 1945, with numbers ranging from 8,000 to 200,000 The most probable, and the currently accepted number of deaths is around 135,000 Many cultural and historical buildings and museums were lost to these air raids Before the bombing, Dresden was regarded as one of the world’s most beautiful cities (Bombing of Dresden)

War Context In January 1945, Soviet troops began to discover and liberate Nazi concentration camps. (“1945”) The Soviets take Warsaw, a Nazi stronghold, on January 17, Poland held most of the Nazi death camps, including Auschwitz-Birkenau (liberated January 17, 1945). (“1945”) The Battle of the Bulge ends January 28, 1945; the Germans cannot recover from the massive loss of troops and next to no one believes Germany can win the war anymore. (“1945”) Soviets sink a German submarine on January 30, 1945 killing 6,000-10,000 people (most of whom were refugees and wounded German soldiers), making it one of the deadliest sinkings in history. (“1945”) Yalta Conference February 4, 1945 (“1945”) United States (Roosevelt), Britain (Churchill), and the USSR (Stalin) (“Yalta Conference”) discuss plans for Europe after the war (“Yalta Conference”) USSR diverges from these plans, sparking the Cold War (“Yalta Conference”) They decide Germany MUST surrender unconditionally (“Yalta Conference”) USSR declares war on Japan (“Yalta Conference”) Allies retake the Philippines from Japan (“1945”)

Significance to WWII Germans initially twisted it into a violation of the Geneva Convention on the Western Front(“The Bombing of Dresden”) Germans used it for propaganda purposes (“Bombing of Dresden”) Germans claimed it was a “Bombenholocaust” Was successful in swaying neutral countries at the time Primary purpose was to prevent Germans from advancing and stop all movement in general, as well as destroy German morale and cause a surrender(“Bombing of Dresden”) Germany surrendered 3 months later(“The Bombing of Dresden”)

Impact on Modern Times  Critics to this day argue the true motives of the Allies and the significance of this bombing to the war  Some say Dresden was a cultural landmark with no military importance  Others argue that Dresden was a major communication and industrial center of Germany and it needed to be destroyed  There is debate of whether or not to classify this as a war crime  (Bombing of Dresden in WWII)  The Dresden bombing was a tragedy since it killed so many civilians, however, Germans have a hard time recognizing while learning from this tragedy. Neo- Nazis in Germany march to commemorate this firebombing, but other civilians lead silent protests against them. (nbcnews)

"1945." World War II Timeline. Interesting.com, Web. 07 Dec "Bombing of Dresden." History.com. A&E Television Networks, n.d. Web. 07 Dec “Bombing of Dresden in WWII” Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, n.d. Web. 10 Dec "Germans Still Grapple with WWII Legacy." Msnbc.com. N.p., 05 May Web. 10 Dec "Yalta Conference." History.com. A&E Television Networks, n.d. Web. 07 Dec Works Cited