1. Firebombing of Dresden (Churchill’s Revenge) Amelia Nathan, Bryce Smith, Kevin Zhu, and Michael Bania

2. Thesis In the autumn of 1940, Hitler ordered a bombing on London and Coventry. Hitler’s plan was aimed to lower morale in Britain, but instead increased Winston Churchill’s civilian support. Once the Allies had solidified their victory in 1945, they met at the Yalta Conference. Complying with his agreement with Stalin to continue bombing Germany, Churchill ordered the Firebombing of Dresden as an act of revenge. Churchill aimed to get retribution and to frighten the rising Soviet Union away from attacking Britain in the coming Cold War, while causing the deaths of thousands of innocent civilians.

4. The City of Dresden Eastern Germany No major contribution to the war: The British claimed it was a communication base after the bombing. Refugee camp One of the World’s most beautiful cities, known for architecture and museums

5. Historical Context of War Began February 13, 1945 East – Red Army had captured East Prussia and reached Oder River (Less than 50 miles from Berlin) Allies dominated skies over Europe, dropping thousands of bombs on Germany every day The war was drawing to a close, Germany was close to surrender

6. 1939194019411942194319441945 Germany Invades Poland, beginning WWII 9/1/1939 The Blitz 9/7/1940 Axis Surrenders in North Africa 5/12/1943 Yalta Conference 2/4/1945 2/13/1945 Timeline Germany Surrenders May 8, 1945 Bombing of Dresden Begins

7. Yalta Conference February 4-11, 1945 Allied leaders (US - President Franklin Roosevelt, Britain – Prime Minister Winston Churchill, Soviet Union – Joseph Stalin) met at Yalta in the USSR Visions of postwar world Decided on: German territory to be conquered Churchill and Roosevelt promised Stalin to continue bombing against eastern Germany to prepare for advancing Soviet forces

8. Operation Thunderclap Churchill’s plan to fly over Germany and bomb highly populated areas including Berlin in an attempt to make defense against the advancing Russians more difficult on the eastern front. It was meant to precipitate total surrender after many air raids two months after D-Day.

9. Strategy Minority Opinion: Strategically bombed because it was a communication city for the Germans, and destroying it would prevent the Nazi forces from getting messages to their army. Majority Opinion: Bombed to punish the Germans and kill civilians as an act of revenge/weaken their moral Very destructive - damage disproportionate to what was strategically accomplished Still controversial today “German cities… will be subjected to an ordeal the like of which has never been experienced by a country in continuity, severity and magnitude… To achieve this end there are no lengths of violence to which we will not go” -Winston Churchill

10. Bombing in WWII – Saturation Bombing An important aspect of the Allied air war against Germany involved what is known as “area” or “saturation” bombing. All enemy cities (including civilian areas) are obliterated along with troop areas. Cities were effectively destroyed with incendiary bombs that caused fires. Allies thought bombing attacks would ravage the German economy, break the morale of the German people and force an early surrender. The Allies never admitted that they were engaged in saturation bombing (controversial); specific military targets were announced in relation to every attack.

11. Bombing of Dresden 3 days of bombing RAF bombers descended on Dresden in two waves The city’s air defenses were so weak that only six Lancaster bombers were shot down By the morning, 800 British bombers had dropped more than 1,400 tons of high-explosive bombs and more than 1,100 tons of incendiaries on Dresden, creating a great firestorm that destroyed most of the city Later that day, as survivors made their way out of the city, more than 300 U.S. bombers began bombing Dresden’s railways, bridges killing thousands more. On February 15, another 200 U.S. bombers continued their assault on the city

14. Altstadt District, Red-75-100% Destroyed, Green 25-75% destroyed, Circles – stray bomb hits, hospital, train station, rail lines, red arrows: 1 st attack, orange arrows 2 nd attack

19. Significance Most destructive bombing of WWII Killed 30,000 - 135,000 people Churchill got revenge although it brought criticism towards him. Was actually appalled by the actual effects of the bombing. At the end of the war, Dresden was so badly damaged that the city was basically leveled. A handful of historic buildings–the Zwinger Palace, the Dresden State Opera house and several fine churches–were carefully reconstructed out of the rubble, but the rest of the city was rebuilt with plain modern buildings. Marked the transition from the notion that targeting civilians was forbidden. At the end of the war, the Germans could not blame their loss on the collapse of their home front and therefore the stab-in-the- back myth was eliminated

20. “The Dresden atrocity, tremendously expensive and meticulously planned, was so meaningless…” -Kurt Vonnegut Cold War Dresden bombing used as Cold War propaganda Intimidated the Red Army Some viewed the bombing as post-war aggression since the war was almost over Dresden was seen as a representation of innocent German victims under the Nazi regime and later the Cold War Significance cont.

21. Works Cited Benda-Beckmann, Bas Von. "A German Catastrophe? : German Historians and the Allied Bombings, 1945-2010. (2010): n. pag. Web. 26 Apr. 2016. "Bombing of Dresden." History.com. A&E Television Networks, 01 Jan. 2009. Web. 10 Apr. 2016. "Firebombing of Dresden." History.com. A&E Television Networks, 2009. Web. 9 Apr. 2016. "Hellstorm - The Dresden Holocaust." YouTube. YouTube, 11 Feb. 2015. Web. 25 Apr. 2016. Kadidal, Akhil. "Dresden 1945." Hermes Wings. N.p., 22 Apr. 2011. Web. 24 Apr. 2016. “Strategic Bombing.”The Reader's Companion to Military History. 2001. History Study Center. Web. 6 Apr. 2016. Selwood, Dominic. "Dresden Was a Civilian Town with No Military Significance. Why Did We Burn Its People?" The Telegraph. Telegraph Media Group, 13 Feb. 2013. Web. 16 Apr. 2016. "The Firebombing of Dresden - Original Newsreel." YouTube. YouTube, 09 Dec. 2014. Web. 25 Apr. 2016. Trueman, Chris. "The Bombing of Dresden - History Learning Site." The History Learning Site. N.p., n.d. Web. 25 Apr. 2016. Whitlock, Craig. "As Dresden Recalls Days of Ruin, Neo-Nazis Issue a Rallying Cry." Washington Post. The Washington Post, 5 Feb. 2005. Web. 13 Apr. 2016.