5 ms·

Not all Europeans, just Germans.

by kgabis 9y ago

pselbert 9y ago
It was what stopped the British led allied bombing which had escalated out of the Blitz. Dresden was not a military target and its destruction killed so many civilians that they stopped night time bombing raids.
- lostlogin 9y ago
  Have you any source for that? It certainly raised questions but the war was winding down and destroying things the allies would need wasn’t in their interest. Bigger raids happened after Dresden as well and Harris gave his opinion: “I do not personally regard the whole of the remaining cities of Germany as worth the bones of one British Grenadier.” Luckily he alone didn’t make describe I guess.
- KineticLensman 9y ago
  > It was what stopped the British led allied bombing which had escalated out of the Blitz. Dresden was not a military target and its destruction killed so many civilians that they stopped night time bombing raids. No. Dresden was bombed on 15 February 1945 [0]. The British continued night raids until the end of the war, peaking in March, and with the last raid on Berlin on the night of 21/22 April (76 Mosquitos) and the final raid on the night of 25/26 April [1] [0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dresden#Second_World_War https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dresden#Second_World_War [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RAF_Bomber_Command#Strategic_bombing_1942%E2%80%9345 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RAF_Bomber_Command#Strategic_b...
jacquesm 9y ago
The Dresden firebombing is very well known outside of Germany. And if you've seen the 'before' and 'after' pictures of Hiroshima, Nagasaki and Dresden you won't be surprised that people consider them to be on the same scale.
- kgabis 9y ago
  Bombing of Dresden is well known, of course, but it doesn't compare to a single bomb that can level cities when it comes to deterring your enemy. I'm not trying to diminish the scale of destruction in Dresden, but there are many cities other than it that got destroyed in similar, "conventional" way (like Warsaw, Breslau or Tokyo), so I don't see why it should be treated in a special way.
  - jacquesm 9y ago
    > Bombing of Dresden is well known, of course, but it doesn't compare to a single bomb that can level cities when it comes to deterring your enemy. It does actually. The only difference is how long it took and arguably Dresden was in worse shape than Hiroshima or Nagasaki. > I'm not trying to diminish the scale of destruction in Dresden Well, forgive me. > but there are many cities other than it that got destroyed in similar, "conventional" way No, there aren't. That's exactly why Dresden stands out. > I don't see why it should be treated in a special way. You really should go and have a look at those before and after pictures then. They are nothing short of incredible. Warsaw, Breslau or Tokyo (and Rotterdam, for that matter) do not compare even though the destruction there was widespread.
    - kgabis 9y ago
      > No, there aren't. That's exactly why Dresden stands out. I don't think it should be treated as a "most destroyed city" contest, but you should really research the scale of destruction in the cities I've mentioned. [1] looks quite comparable to [2], [3] looks arguably worse. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Planned_destruction_of_Warsaw#/media/File:Destroyed_Warsaw,_capital_of_Poland,_January_1945.jpg https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Planned_destruction_of_Warsaw#... [2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bombing_of_Dresden_in_World_War_II#/media/File:Bundesarchiv_Bild_146-1994-041-07,_Dresden,_zerstörtes_Stadtzentrum.jpg https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bombing_of_Dresden_in_World_Wa... [3] https://i.pinimg.com/736x/2d/10/af/2d10af195da2779dbd4c31ddfd88bd93--warsaw-ghetto-warsaw-poland.jpg https://i.pinimg.com/736x/2d/10/af/2d10af195da2779dbd4c31ddf...

Not all Europeans, just Germans.

by kgabis 9y ago

Not all Europeans, just Germans.

It was what stopped the British led allied bombing which had escalated out of the Blitz. Dresden was not a military target and its destruction killed so many civilians that they stopped night time bombing raids.

lostlogin 9y ago
Have you any source for that? It certainly raised questions but the war was winding down and destroying things the allies would need wasn’t in their interest. Bigger raids happened after Dresden as well and Harris gave his opinion: “I do not personally regard the whole of the remaining cities of Germany as worth the bones of one British Grenadier.” Luckily he alone didn’t make describe I guess.
KineticLensman 9y ago
> It was what stopped the British led allied bombing which had escalated out of the Blitz. Dresden was not a military target and its destruction killed so many civilians that they stopped night time bombing raids. No. Dresden was bombed on 15 February 1945 [0]. The British continued night raids until the end of the war, peaking in March, and with the last raid on Berlin on the night of 21/22 April (76 Mosquitos) and the final raid on the night of 25/26 April [1] [0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dresden#Second_World_War https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dresden#Second_World_War [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RAF_Bomber_Command#Strategic_bombing_1942%E2%80%9345 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RAF_Bomber_Command#Strategic_b...

jacquesm 9y ago

The Dresden firebombing is very well known outside of Germany. And if you've seen the 'before' and 'after' pictures of Hiroshima, Nagasaki and Dresden you won't be surprised that people consider them to be on the same scale.

kgabis 9y ago
Bombing of Dresden is well known, of course, but it doesn't compare to a single bomb that can level cities when it comes to deterring your enemy. I'm not trying to diminish the scale of destruction in Dresden, but there are many cities other than it that got destroyed in similar, "conventional" way (like Warsaw, Breslau or Tokyo), so I don't see why it should be treated in a special way.
- jacquesm 9y ago
  > Bombing of Dresden is well known, of course, but it doesn't compare to a single bomb that can level cities when it comes to deterring your enemy. It does actually. The only difference is how long it took and arguably Dresden was in worse shape than Hiroshima or Nagasaki. > I'm not trying to diminish the scale of destruction in Dresden Well, forgive me. > but there are many cities other than it that got destroyed in similar, "conventional" way No, there aren't. That's exactly why Dresden stands out. > I don't see why it should be treated in a special way. You really should go and have a look at those before and after pictures then. They are nothing short of incredible. Warsaw, Breslau or Tokyo (and Rotterdam, for that matter) do not compare even though the destruction there was widespread.
  - kgabis 9y ago
    > No, there aren't. That's exactly why Dresden stands out. I don't think it should be treated as a "most destroyed city" contest, but you should really research the scale of destruction in the cities I've mentioned. [1] looks quite comparable to [2], [3] looks arguably worse. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Planned_destruction_of_Warsaw#/media/File:Destroyed_Warsaw,_capital_of_Poland,_January_1945.jpg https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Planned_destruction_of_Warsaw#... [2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bombing_of_Dresden_in_World_War_II#/media/File:Bundesarchiv_Bild_146-1994-041-07,_Dresden,_zerstörtes_Stadtzentrum.jpg https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bombing_of_Dresden_in_World_Wa... [3] https://i.pinimg.com/736x/2d/10/af/2d10af195da2779dbd4c31ddfd88bd93--warsaw-ghetto-warsaw-poland.jpg https://i.pinimg.com/736x/2d/10/af/2d10af195da2779dbd4c31ddf...