PCMech Forums - View Single Post

Paul Victorey · 03-31-2003, 08:00 PM

Germany, though, was hit so much harder than others by the depression because of the reparations they had to pay. They tried to pay by minting more currency, but their currency devalued to the point where it began to cost them more to make the money than it was worth when they were done.

Dresden was an excellent example of the US targetting civilians. The firebombing of Dresden killed a minimum of 35,000 civilians, although some sources estimate it to be as high as 130,000. Dresden had little military value; it was filled with refugees, not soldiers, and it was the site of the most intensive allied bombing in the European theater. Over 80% of the city was destroyed.

In fact, the RAF briefing notes for the mission said one of the goals was to "show the Russians what our bombers can do" -- that is, to awe the Russian army, nearly at Dresden, with the might of their allies. They were also doing this to "cause confusion in the evacuation from the east" -- the evacuation mentioned was not a retreat of the army, but rather civilians fleeing the Russian advance.

Further, there were reports that machine gunners of the British and US armies opened fire on civilians fleeing the city.

03-31-2003, 08:00 PM	#18
Paul Victorey Member (12 bit) Join Date: Mar 1999 Location: MN or WI Posts: 3,017	Germany, though, was hit so much harder than others by the depression because of the reparations they had to pay. They tried to pay by minting more currency, but their currency devalued to the point where it began to cost them more to make the money than it was worth when they were done. Dresden was an excellent example of the US targetting civilians. The firebombing of Dresden killed a minimum of 35,000 civilians, although some sources estimate it to be as high as 130,000. Dresden had little military value; it was filled with refugees, not soldiers, and it was the site of the most intensive allied bombing in the European theater. Over 80% of the city was destroyed. In fact, the RAF briefing notes for the mission said one of the goals was to "show the Russians what our bombers can do" -- that is, to awe the Russian army, nearly at Dresden, with the might of their allies. They were also doing this to "cause confusion in the evacuation from the east" -- the evacuation mentioned was not a retreat of the army, but rather civilians fleeing the Russian advance. Further, there were reports that machine gunners of the British and US armies opened fire on civilians fleeing the city. Last edited by Paul Victorey; 03-31-2003 at 08:07 PM.