| The bombing of Dresden in February 1945 has remained one of the more controversial aspects of World War Two. Dresden, a city unaffected by bombing up to that point in the war, lost many thousands of civilians in the firestorm that was created by the Allies. As the Russians advanced to Berlin from the east and the Allies from the west, why was Dresden bombed when it did appear that the war would be ended in the near future? No-one knows how many people were in Dresden when the city was bombed. Officially, the city's population was 350000, but with the number of refugees there, it would have been a lot higher than this. Between February 13th and February 14th 1945, between 35000 and 135000 people were killed by Allied bombing in Dresden. Historians still argue over the number of deaths. However, there were so many refugees in the city at the time that the real figure will almost certainly never be known. So why was Dresden chosen as a target? Arthur Harris, head of Bomber Command, had always held the view that any city that had anything to do with the Nazi war effort was a target. A number of theories do exist as to why Dresden was chosen so late in the war. 1) The city was in Nazi Germany and for this reason was a legitimate target for attack as the Allies were at war with Nazi Germany. 2) The city was not simply a cultural centre -- there were factories there producing weapons and equipment for the Nazi war effort. Therefore, the city was a legitimate target. It was also ... |
