HISTORY 322 Lecture Notes - Lecture 23: Carpet Bombing, Bombing Of Hamburg In World War Ii, Volks
● Theory of Ruin Value:
○ Regime becomes weary beginning on plot for Hitler’s life July 1944
○ January 1945 - targets own population out of sheer panic
○ Albert Speer - comes up with this concept with Hitler as they come up with post-war
Nazi dominated plans
■ Wanted to build a legacy of buildings that would last thousands of years
■ Nuremberg - ruins/party buildings leftover
● Already completely falling apart
● Ruin value - ruins become part of everyday life
○ Germans were worried what the allies were going to do to them if they lost
○ Germans were not ready to give up Nazis/accept defeat
● Life inside the reich
○ 1942 rations were cut
○ Work hours - worked really long, talking about conscription of the workforce
■ Women who didn’t have family men fighting on front line were pulled into work
○ People become tired of having to wait in line, bombing attacks are unpredictable, etc.
■ WWI - entirely on foreign land
■ Bombs are first time that Germans are effected
○ Youth - found themselves out of school
■ Went out dancing/movies (dancing = prohibited)
● Shouldn’t be doing that when soldiers are dying
■ Swing Youth - liked american/british movie
● Seemed as organized opposition to regime
● Thinks about internal traitors differently
○ Allows population to internally police
● Were not politically opposed - more of a generational opposition
■ Targets mothers who let their children roam the streets etc.
● Goebbels’ Total War Speech
○ Uproar of support
■ Only victory is success
○ Volks peoples community → Schicksalgemeinschaft (fate community)
■ Don’t really have control over war
● Fortress Europe had no roof
○ 1st bombs (may 1940) of germany - not used to them
○ Allied bombings on German cities intensify after January 1941
○ Dramatic examples:
■ Operation Gomorrah: Hamburg July 25 - August 1923
● Carpet bombing -- flatten german cities
● 42% of housing stock = flattened
● Almost 1 million people fled the city against the orders of governor
● No water/electricity
● People trapped in rubble
● 8.5 metric tons of bombs
○ Super hot -- produced firestorm
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Document Summary
Regime becomes weary beginning on plot for hitler"s life july 1944. January 1945 - targets own population out of sheer panic. Albert speer - comes up with this concept with hitler as they come up with post-war. Wanted to build a legacy of buildings that would last thousands of years. Ruin value - ruins become part of everyday life. Germans were worried what the allies were going to do to them if they lost. Germans were not ready to give up nazis/accept defeat. Work hours - worked really long, talking about conscription of the workforce. Women who didn"t have family men fighting on front line were pulled into work. People become tired of having to wait in line, bombing attacks are unpredictable, etc. Bombs are first time that germans are effected. Youth - found themselves out of school. Shouldn"t be doing that when soldiers are dying. Were not politically opposed - more of a generational opposition.
