# data[].attributes.body
The purpose was to destroy the German military and economy, thus, they would have no means to continually waging the war.

# data[].attributes.body
Estimated by the end of the war, 1.5 million civilians had been killed from bombings. 2 million wounded, and 16 million became homeless.

Source: Place Annihilation: Area Bombing and the Fate of Urban Places

# data[].attributes.body
These bombings caused a negative backlash amongst the citizens of the Allied powers.

# data[].attributes.body
3,300 tons of bombs dropped. Many were incendiaries.

# data[].attributes.body
Bombing of Hamburg, July 27, 1943. Much of the city destroyed. 45,000 civilians killed.

# data[].attributes.body
U.S and British Bombing of Dresden, February 13-15, 1945. High civilian casualties, 35,000-45,000 killed.

# data[].attributes.body
Had the U.S not dropped the atomic bombs than a U.S invasion of Japan would have commenced later in 1945. Japanese resistance was expected to be in the high millions. The morality behind dropping the A-bombs was, kill a lot of people in the present to save a lot of people in the future.

# data[].attributes.body
What makes the topic interesting is people criticize the atomic bombs for killing 100,000 to 300,000 civilians, which is a lot. However, people completely bypass the fire bombings of Tokyo which left most of the city homeless and 100,000 dead.

# data[].attributes.body
This information is supported by polls from the PewResearch Center. They also show how support have gone down from 85% in 1945 to 57% in 2005, a large drop.

# data[].attributes.body
Support for the dropping of the bombs and those who deem the bombings justified is dropping. It went from 61% in 1991 to 54% in 2015. While a low drop it shows how many Americans question the morality of dropping the bombs.

# data[].attributes.body
Similar to morale bombing, the dropping of the atomic bombs was/is a highly

# data[].attributes.body
The tactic "officially" was against bombing civilians. However, in reality bombers aimed at civilians, and the air force hoped to shatter German morale and their ability and will to wage war.

# data[].attributes.body
Some generals, like James Dootlittle, opposed the strategy as he believed it would give the Germans an excuse towards brutality and lower America to the level of the Nazi's.

# data[].attributes.body
One such general was General Ira Eaker, one of the commanders of the Eighth U.S Air Force. It was his belief that military resources could be better used elsewhere. Like many others, he had no moral problem

# data[].attributes.body
Additionally, large portions of the civilian population were against civilian bombings. They believed it immoral. Many Americans also held little to no animosity towards Germans.

# data[].attributes.body
American pre-war Air Force doctrines focused on precision bombing, and the official stance of the air force was against bombing civilians.

# data[].attributes.body
Many generals believed targeting civilians was a poor allocation of resources while others rejected the strategy on moral ground.

# data[].attributes.body
The strategy became highly divisive and split the command structure, as depicted in Ronald Schaffer's book, American Military Ethics in World War II: The Bombing of Civilians.

# data[].attributes.body
As the war progressed, Allied commanders believed the best way to hasten Germany's loss, would be to target civilians.

# data[].attributes.body
Later in the war, starting in late 1943, the USAAF began switching to large scale bombardments, regardless of German civilian casualties.

# data[].attributes.body
Early in the war, the USAAF used precision bombing to accurately destroy important German military and economic targets.

# data[].attributes.body
How and why can/do people justify the bombing of civilians while questioning the morality of the use of the atomic bombs?

How do people justify the bombings of civilians and non-military targets during war?

# data[].attributes.body
Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
6 August, 1945, and 9 August 1945.
Estimated Casualties (Combined): 118,000 killed, minimum.
78,000 Hiroshima, 40,000 Nagasaki. --> Mostly civilian casualties, however, there were both military and industrial/economic targets in both citiies.

# data[].attributes.body
- Blitz/Blitzkrieg
- Bombing of Warsaw/Invasion of Poland.
- Battle of Britain and the London Blitz.

# data[].attributes.body
- March, 1945, bombing of Tokyo.
-  Bombing of Dresden
- Bombing of Hamburg

# data[].attributes.body
Prominent examples are, the Bombing of Dresden and the Bombings of Tokyo.

# data[].attributes.body
The Allies employed several types of bombing strategies during the war.

# data[].attributes.body
The Allied High Command tried to break the moral of German civilians and destroy their will to continue fighting.