The Allied bombing of German cities in World War II was unjustifiable

Intelligence Squared

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🗓️ 10 August 2017

⏱️ 59 minutes

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Summary

No one doubts the bravery of the thousands of men who flew and died in Bomber Command. The death rate was an appalling 44%. And yet until the opening of a monument in Green Park in 2012 they had received no official recognition, with many historians claiming that the offensive was immoral and unjustified. How can it be right, they argue, for the Allies to have deliberately targeted German cities causing the death of hundreds of thousands of civilians? Even on a strategic level the offensive failed to bring about the collapse of civilian morale that was its intention. Others, however, maintain that the attacks made a decisive contribution to the Allied victory. Vast numbers of German soldiers and planes were diverted from the eastern and western fronts, while Allied bombing attacks virtually destroyed the German air force, clearing the way for the invasion of the continent. Arguing for the motion were AC Grayling, philosopher and author of 'Among the Dead Cities: Is the Targeting of Civilians in War Ever Justified?'; and Richard Overy, Professor of history at Exeter University who has published extensively on World War II and air power in the 20th century. Arguing against them were Antony Beevor, award-winning historian and author of the No. 1 international bestseller 'The Second World War'; and Patrick Bishop, historian and author of 'Bomber Boys'. The debate was chaired by Jeremy O'Grady, Editor-in-chief of The Week magazine and co-founder of Intelligence Squared. Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/intelligencesquared. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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0:00.0	So you've arrived you head to the brasserie then the terrace cocktail don't mind if I do
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0:38.0	Like sneaking some chili into the gravy for some extra ink,
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0:55.0	Welcome, ladies and gentlemen.
0:59.0	So nice to see so many of you here today and I think tonight is all going to be about the
1:05.8	intersection of moral principle and historical fact and the extent to which historical fact may or may not incline you to change your mind from the great historical principle that
1:23.0	Anthony Graling cites in the title of his own book on this subject
1:26.0	whether it is ever justifiable to bomb civilians.
1:31.0	And some of the questions that you will probably be asking yourself tonight
1:36.3	as we get more and more into the history of this is, for example, if it were the case that the bombing of civilians was
1:49.5	crucial in stopping Hitler becoming victorious, would that change your mind?
1:56.6	Would it change your mind if that were not the case, you were persuaded that the decision-makers of the time were convinced it was the case.
2:07.0	These are some of the things that I hope you will be thinking about and our speakers will be persuading you about as we go on to this evening.
2:17.0	All right, without more ado, let us begin this evening with our first speaker, Anthony Graling, author of more than 20 books on philosophy,
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