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Douhet & First Person to Drop a Bomb From an Aeroplane - HH > . Douhet > .Countdown to War: Italy: Mussolini's Fascists Prepare for WW2 - Waro > .
22-12-11 Is strategic bombing of infrastructure ever effective - Perun > .
2022 - Special Douhetesque Blunder ..
In 1921 Douhet completed a hugely influential treatise on strategic bombing titled The Command of the Air (Il dominio dell'aria) and retired from military service soon after. Except for a few months as the head of aviation in Mussolini's government in 1922, Douhet spent much of the rest of his life [died 1930] theorizing about the impact of military air power.
In his book Douhet argued that air power was revolutionary because it operated in the third dimension. Aircraft could fly over surface forces, relegating them to secondary importance. The vastness of the sky made defense almost impossible, so the essence of air power was the offensive. The only defense was a good offense. The air force that could achieve command of the air by bombing the enemy air arm into extinction would doom its enemy to perpetual bombardment. Command of the air meant victory.
Douhet believed in the morale effects of bombing. Air power could break a people's will by destroying a country's "vital centers". Armies became superfluous because aircraft could overfly them and attack these centers of the government, military and industry with impunity, a principle later called "The bomber will always get through". Targeting was central to this strategy and he believed that air commanders would prove themselves by their choice of targets. These would vary from situation to situation, but Douhet identified the five basic target types as: industry, transport infrastructure, communications, government and "the will of the people".
The last category was particularly important to Douhet, who believed in the principle of total war.
The chief strategy laid out in his writings, the Douhet model, is pivotal in debates regarding the use of air power and bombing campaigns. The Douhet model rests on the belief that in a conflict, the infliction of high costs from aerial bombing can shatter civilian morale. This would unravel the social basis of resistance, and pressure citizens into asking their governments to surrender. The logic of this model is that exposing large portions of civilian populations to the terror of destruction or the shortage of consumer goods would damage civilian morale into submission. By smothering the enemy's civilian centers with bombs, Douhet argued the war would become so terrible that the common people would rise against their government, overthrow it with revolution, then sue for peace.
This emphasis on the strategic offensive would blind Douhet to the possibilities of air defense or tactical support of armies. In his second edition of The Command of the Air he maintained such aviation was "useless, superfluous and harmful". He proposed an independent air force composed primarily of long-range load-carrying bombers. He believed interception of these bombers was unlikely, but allowed for a force of escort aircraft to ward off interceptors. Attacks would not require great accuracy. On a tactical level he advocated using three types of bombs in quick succession; explosives to destroy the target, incendiaries to ignite the damaged structures, and poison gas to keep firefighters and rescue crews away.
In many cases, he had hugely exaggerated the effects of bombing. His calculations for the amount of bombs and poison gas required to destroy a city were ludicrously optimistic. WW2 would prove many of his predictions to be wrong, particularly on the vulnerability of public morale to bombing.
In "Rivista Aeuronautica" in July 1928, he wrote that he believed that 300 tons of bombs over the most important cities would end a war in less than a month. During WW2 however, the Allies dropped over 2.5 million tons of bombs on Europe without decisive effect. [Though 2 nuclear devices induced Japan to surrender.]
Outside Italy, Douhet's reception was mixed. His theories were discussed and disseminated in France, Germany and America which were very receptive; In America, Billy Mitchell was a strong advocate. In Britain however, The Command of the Air was not required reading at the RAF Staff College.
A supporter of Mussolini, Douhet was appointed commissioner of aviation when the Fascists assumed power but he soon gave up this bureaucrat's job to continue writing, which he did up to his death from a heart attack in 1930. More than 70 years on, many of his predictions have failed to come true, but some of his concepts (gaining command of the air, terror bombing and attacking vital centers) continue to underpin air power theory to this day.
Douhet advocated a new strategic application for what he identified as the airplane’s superior capabilities in order to avoid the destructive stalemate of WW1 in future wars. Promising a quick and decisive end to war, The Command of The Air synthesized concepts, namely strategic bombing, an independent air force, the dominance of an offensive strategy, and breaking the will of the civilian population, among others, which contributed to the development of the modern air force. Though he was one of many who reflected on airpower’s rapid strategic development, Douhet “stated the case for airpower as no one else did—with all the stops out.”
https://www.classicsofstrategy.com/2015/09/the-command-of-the-air-by-giulio-douhet-19211927.html .
Classic Works in Strategy and Diplomacy ..
Classic Works in Strategy and Diplomacy .
https://www.classicsofstrategy.com/classicworks.html .
2022 - Special Douhetesque Blunder ..
General Giulio Douhet (30 May 1869 – 15 February 1930) was an Italian general and air power theorist. He was a key proponent of strategic bombing in aerial warfare. He was a contemporary of the 1920s air warfare advocates Walther Wever, Billy Mitchell and Hugh Trenchard.
In his book Douhet argued that air power was revolutionary because it operated in the third dimension. Aircraft could fly over surface forces, relegating them to secondary importance. The vastness of the sky made defense almost impossible, so the essence of air power was the offensive. The only defense was a good offense. The air force that could achieve command of the air by bombing the enemy air arm into extinction would doom its enemy to perpetual bombardment. Command of the air meant victory.
Douhet believed in the morale effects of bombing. Air power could break a people's will by destroying a country's "vital centers". Armies became superfluous because aircraft could overfly them and attack these centers of the government, military and industry with impunity, a principle later called "The bomber will always get through". Targeting was central to this strategy and he believed that air commanders would prove themselves by their choice of targets. These would vary from situation to situation, but Douhet identified the five basic target types as: industry, transport infrastructure, communications, government and "the will of the people".
The last category was particularly important to Douhet, who believed in the principle of total war.
The chief strategy laid out in his writings, the Douhet model, is pivotal in debates regarding the use of air power and bombing campaigns. The Douhet model rests on the belief that in a conflict, the infliction of high costs from aerial bombing can shatter civilian morale. This would unravel the social basis of resistance, and pressure citizens into asking their governments to surrender. The logic of this model is that exposing large portions of civilian populations to the terror of destruction or the shortage of consumer goods would damage civilian morale into submission. By smothering the enemy's civilian centers with bombs, Douhet argued the war would become so terrible that the common people would rise against their government, overthrow it with revolution, then sue for peace.
This emphasis on the strategic offensive would blind Douhet to the possibilities of air defense or tactical support of armies. In his second edition of The Command of the Air he maintained such aviation was "useless, superfluous and harmful". He proposed an independent air force composed primarily of long-range load-carrying bombers. He believed interception of these bombers was unlikely, but allowed for a force of escort aircraft to ward off interceptors. Attacks would not require great accuracy. On a tactical level he advocated using three types of bombs in quick succession; explosives to destroy the target, incendiaries to ignite the damaged structures, and poison gas to keep firefighters and rescue crews away.
In many cases, he had hugely exaggerated the effects of bombing. His calculations for the amount of bombs and poison gas required to destroy a city were ludicrously optimistic. WW2 would prove many of his predictions to be wrong, particularly on the vulnerability of public morale to bombing.
In "Rivista Aeuronautica" in July 1928, he wrote that he believed that 300 tons of bombs over the most important cities would end a war in less than a month. During WW2 however, the Allies dropped over 2.5 million tons of bombs on Europe without decisive effect. [Though 2 nuclear devices induced Japan to surrender.]
Outside Italy, Douhet's reception was mixed. His theories were discussed and disseminated in France, Germany and America which were very receptive; In America, Billy Mitchell was a strong advocate. In Britain however, The Command of the Air was not required reading at the RAF Staff College.
A supporter of Mussolini, Douhet was appointed commissioner of aviation when the Fascists assumed power but he soon gave up this bureaucrat's job to continue writing, which he did up to his death from a heart attack in 1930. More than 70 years on, many of his predictions have failed to come true, but some of his concepts (gaining command of the air, terror bombing and attacking vital centers) continue to underpin air power theory to this day.
https://www.classicsofstrategy.com/2015/09/the-command-of-the-air-by-giulio-douhet-19211927.html .
Classic Works in Strategy and Diplomacy ..
Classic Works in Strategy and Diplomacy .
https://www.classicsofstrategy.com/classicworks.html .
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