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Aerial area bombardment is the policy of indiscriminate bombing of an enemy's cities, for the purpose of destroying the enemy's means of producing military materiel, communications, government centres and civilian morale.

World War II

Area bombing in WW2 begun with German bombings of Warsaw, Frampol, Wielun during September Campaign in Poland, were whole cities have been destroyed. In case of Frampol the area bombing was made by Luftwaffe in order to research how effective it could be and was conducted on undefended town with no industry or military presence : Wolfgang Schreyer in book "Eyes on the sky" writes:

Frampol was chosen as an experimental object, because test bombers, flying at low speed, weren't endangered by AA fire. Also, the centrally placed town hall was an ideal orientation point for the crews. We watched possibility of orientation after visible signs, and also the size of village, what guaranteed that bombs nevertheless fall down on Frampol. From one side it should make easier the note of probe, from second side it should confirm the efficiency of used bombs.

The coming of widespread area bombardment during the Second World War was an inevitable consequence of the position in Europe at the end of 1942. The British were being defeated on all fronts, and the only effective way they had to strike back at the Axis forces was by air bombardment. However, as Luftwaffe air superiority meant that the RAF's bombers could only operate over Germany at night, precision bombing was impossible for them.

The purpose of the area bombardment of cities was laid out in a British Air Staff paper, dated September 23 1941:

"The ultimate aim of an attack on a town area is to break the morale of the population which occupies it. To ensure this, we must achieve two things: first, we must make the town physically uninhabitable and, secondly, we must make the people conscious of constant personal danger. The immediate aim, is therefore, twofold, namely, to produce (i) destruction and (ii) fear of death."

Professor Lindemann was liked and trusted by Winston Churchill. Churchill appointed him the British government's leading scientific adviser with a seat in the Cabinet. In 1942, Lindemann presented a seminal paper to the Cabinet advocating the area bombardment of German cities in a strategic bombing campaign. It was accepted by the Cabinet and Harris was appointed to carry out the task. It became an important part of the total war waged against Germany. Professor Lindemann's paper put forward the theory of attacking major industrial centres in order to deliberately destroy as many homes and houses as possible. Working class homes were to be targeted because they had a higher density and fire storms were more likely. This would displace the German workforce and reduce their ability to work. His calculations showed that the RAF Bomber Command would be able to destroy the majority of German houses located in cities quite quickly. The plan was highly controversial even before it started, but the Cabinet thought that bombing was the only option available to directly attack Germany (as a major invasion of the continent was years away), and the Soviets were demanding that the Western Allies do somthing to relieve the pressure on the Eastern Front. Few in Britain opposed this policy, but three notable opponent in the Parliament, Bishop George Bell, and the labour MPs Richard Stokes and Alfred Salter.

Though it was never explicitly declared, the nearest the British got to a declaration was in an Air Ministry directive issued to Harris on 14 February 1942, which said "You are accordingly authorised to use your forces without restriction", and listing a series of 'Primary targets' which included Essen, Duisberg, Düsseldorf and Cologne. 'Secondary targets' included Lübeck, Rostock, Bremen, Kiel, Hanover, Frankfurt, Mannheim, Stuttgart and Schweinfurt. It stated that "Operations should now be focussed on the morale of the enemy civilian population and in particular, the industrial workers". Lest there be any confusion, Sir Charles Portal wrote to Air Chief Marshall Norman Bottomley on the 15 February "..I suppose it is clear that the aiming points will be the built up areas, and not, for instance, the dockyards or aircraft factories"

The first true practical demonstrations were on the 24 March 1942, when 234 aircraft bombed and incendaried the ancient hanseatic port of Lübeck. This target was picked not because it was an important military target, but in fact because it was unimportant, lightly defended and, in Harris' words 'built more like a fire lighter than a city'. The ancient timber structures burned well, and the raid destroyed most of the town centre. A few days later, Rostock suffered the same fate.

However, the most startling, awesome examples of carpet bombing were the 'Thousand Bomber Raids'.

On 30 May 1942, between 00:47 and 0225 hours, 1046 aircraft dropped over 2000 tons of high explosive and incendaries on Cologne, the medieval town, and burned it from end to end. The devastation was total. The fires could be seen 600 miles away at 20,000 feet altitude. 3300 houses destroyed, 10,000 damaged. 12,000 separate fires raged, also destroying 36 factories, damaging 270 more and leaving 45,000 people with nowhere to live or work. Bomber Command lost 40 aircraft, and 384 civilians and 85 soldiers were killed.

Two further 1000 raids were executed over Essen and Bremen, but neither so utterly shook both sides as the scale of the destruction at Cologne. See also the firestorms created in some cites by area bombing, and especially the firestorming of Hamburg, Dresden and Tokyo.

Vietnam War

During the Vietnam War, the Americans, increasing frustrated by there inability to gain the upper hand against a guerilla war conducted by the Vietcong, resorted to area bombing the forests and villages with Napalm and Agent Orange, in order to depirve the Vietcong of their jungle cover, but to no avail.

First Gulf War

Precision bombing had to wait until the First Gulf War in 1990 before it became a practical reality. This has not ended aerial area bombardment completly, because it has been used several times since as a means of softening up front line enemy positions.

Aerial area bombardment and international law

International law in 1945

International law relating aerial area bombardment before and during World War II rests on the treaties of 1864, 1899, 1907 which constituted the definition of most of the laws of at that time. The most relevant of these treaties are the Hague Conventions of 1907 because they were the last treaties ratified before 1939 which specify the laws of war on aerial bombardment. Of these treaties there are two which have a direct bearing on this issue of bombardment. These are "Laws of War: Laws and Customs of War on Land (Hague IV); October 18 1907" and "Laws of War: Bombardment by Naval Forces in Time of War (Hague IX); October 18 1907". It is significant that there is a different treaty which should be invoked for bombardment of land by land (Hague IV) and of land by sea (Hague IX). Hague IV which reaffirmed and updated Hague II (1899) contains the following clauses:

Article 25: The attack or bombardment of towns, villages, habitations or buildings which are not defended, is prohibited.

Article 26: The Commander of an attacking force, before commencing a bombardment, except in the case of an assault, should do all he can to warn the authorities.

Article 27: In sieges and bombardments all necessary steps should be taken to spare as far as possible edifices devoted to religion, art, science, and charity, hospitals, and places where the sick and wounded are collected, provided they are not used at the same time for military purposes.

The besieged should indicate these buildings or places by some particular and visible signs, which should previously be notified to the assailants.

In 1923 a draft convention, promoted by the United States was proposed: The Hague Rules of Air Warfare, December, 1922-February, 1923", There are number of articles which would have directly affected how nations used aerial bombardment and defended against it; these are articles 18, 22 and 24. It was, however, never adopted in legally binding form.

In response to a League of Nations declaration against bombardment from the air, a draft convention in Amsterdam of 1938 would have provided specific definitions of what constituted a "undefended" town, excessive civilian casualties and appropriate warning. This draft convention makes the standard of being undefended quite high - any military units or anti-aircraft within the radius qualifies a town as defended. This convention, like the 1923 draft, was not ratified, nor even close to being ratified, when hostilities broke out in Europe. While the two conventions offer a guideline to what the belligerent powers were considering before the war, neither document was legally binding.

After the war the judgement of the Nuremberg Trials, the records the decision that by 1939 these rules laid down in the 1907 Hague Convention were recognised by all civilised nations, and were regarded as being declaratory of the laws and customs of war. Under this post-war decision, a country did not have to have ratified the 1907 Hague conventions in order to be bound by them.

The legality of the status of area bombardment in during World War II rested on the language of 1899 and 1907, from a time before aerial mass bombardment was possible — language which, despite repeated diplomatic attempts, was not updated in the immediate run up to the conflict.

In examining these events in the light of international humanitarian law, it should be borne in mind that during the Second World War there was no agreement, treaty, convention or any other instrument governing the protection of the civilian population or civilian property, as the Conventions then in force dealt only with the protection of the wounded and the sick on the battlefield and in naval warfare, hospital ships, the laws and customs of war and the protection of prisoners of war.

International law since 1945

In the post war environment, a series of treaties governing the laws of war were adopted starting in 1949. These Geneva Conventions would come into force, in no small part, because of a general reaction against the practices of the Second World War.

• Protocol I
• Legality of the threat or use of nuclear weapons This is useful because nuclear weapons can be seen as a type of area bombardment weapon and it is not clear that their use is illegal.

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Notes

1. Was Churchill Responsible?, author unknown, UK National Archives, verified 26 February 2005
2. Laws of War : Laws and Customs of War on Land (Hague IV); October 18 1907 available from the Avalon Project at the Yale Law School, entered into force: 26 January 1910.
3. Laws of War: Bombardment by Naval Forces in Time of War (Hague IX); October 18 1907, available from the Avalon Project at the Yale Law School,
4. International Review of the Red Cross no 323 cites: Charles Rousseau, References p. 360. "the a nalogy between land and aerial bombardment"
5. Laws of War: Laws and Customs of War on Land (Hague II); July 29 1899, available from the Avalon Project at the Yale Law School, entry into force 4 September 1900
6. The Hague Rules of Air Warfare, 1922-12 to 1923-02, this convention was never adopted'.
7. Rules concerning the Control of Wireless Telegraphy in Time of War and Air Warfare, from the International Committee of the Red Cross's section on international humanitarian law verified 26 February 2005
8. Protection of Civilian Populations Against Bombing From the Air in Case of War, Unanimous resolution of the League of Nations Assembly, 30 September 1938, verified 26 February 2005
9. Draft Convention for the Protection of Civilian Populations Against New Engines of War. Amsterdam, 1938, verified 26 February 2005
10. "Nuremberg Trial Proceedings Vol. 1 Charter of the International Military Tribunal", proceedings of the Nuremberg Trials, available from the Avalon Project at the Yale Law School, verified 26 February 2005.
11. Judgement : The Law Relating to War Crimes and Crimes Against Humanity, available from the Avalon Project at the Yale Law School, verified 26 February 2005.
12. International Review of the Red Cross no 323, p.347-363 The Law of Air Warfare (1998)

References

• U.S. Air Force: List of documents nd web links relating to the law of armed conflict in air and space operations
• International Review of the Red Cross no 323, p.347-363 The Law of Air Warfare (1998)
• Charles Rousseau, Le droit des conflits armés Editions Pedone, Paris, (1983)

• Warfare