Death from the Skies: How the British and Germans Survived Bombing in World War II

Description

The German 'Blitz' that followed the Battle of Britain killed tens of thousands and laid waste to large areas of many British cities. And although the destruction of 1940-1 was never repeated on the same scale, fears that Hitler possessed a secret weapon of mass destruction never entirely died, and were partially realized in the VI and V2 raids of 1944-5. The British and American response to the 'Blitz', especially from 1943 onwards, was massive and incomparably more devastating - with apocalyptic consequences for German cities such as Hamburg, Dresden, and Berlin, to name but the most prominent. In this ground-breaking new book, German historian Dietmar Suss investigates the effects of the bombing on both Britain and Nazi Germany, showing how these two very different societies sought to withstand the onslaught and keep up morale amidst the material devastation and psychological trauma that was visited upon them. And, as he reflects in the conclusion, this is not a story that is safely confined to the past: the debate over the rights and the wrongs of the mass bombing of British and German cities during World War II remains a highly emotional subject even today. Cover DEATH FROM THE SKIES: HOW THE BRITISH AND GERMANS SURVIVED BOMBING IN WORLD WAR II Copyright Acknowledgements Preface to the English Edition Contents List of Illustrations Introduction War from the Skies The Battle over Morale: Methods and Perspectives Aerial War, the National Community, and the People’s War: Research Problems 1: The War of the Future 1900–1939 The Shock of London Visions of Aerial Warfare Air Defence and the Nation Germany The Lessons of Guernica Britain 2: Bombing, the Public Sphere, and Morale The Struggle to Win Trust and Maintain Morale Mass Observation and morale The ‘air defence community’ The Policy on Rumours and the Representation of the State A shift away from hushing things up Evacuations and Rumours Evacuation in the Third Reich The Image and Memory of the War Visualizing the Blitz The British public and the bombing of Germany Retaliation, Word of Mouth Propaganda, and the Struggle to Win Over a Sceptical Population 3: Social Organization under a State of Emergency Institutions for Dealing with Emergencies Führer rulings and special agencies The State and the National Emergency Marginalization of institutions by agents of the Führer Justice and Repression Looting and criminal justice in Britain War Damages and Wartime Morale War damage compensation in Germany 4: Cities at War Preparations for War Local government and the state in Britain ‘The national community at war’ and air defence Plunder and Aid Local government and coping with crisis in Britain The Extent of Damage and Interregional Strategies for Dealing with Crisis German cities under a ‘state of emergency’ Local Authorities, Coping with Crisis, and the Mobilization of the Nazi Party The Air War as an Opportunity: Planning and Reconstruction ‘Grand Designs’ for the Modern British City 5: The Churches and the Air War A Just War, with Just Bombing? Why Us? The Theology of War and the Destruction of the ‘Homeland’ Day-to-Day Religious and Pastoral Practice Pastoral care in Britain Christian Iconography and Ecumenical Experience Ecumenical practice in Nazi Germany Loss, Guilt, and Reconstruction 6: Fear and Order: Life in Air-Raid Shelters Security and Unrest Fortress and national community Underground The Organization of Fear Races, Classes, and Genders Sites of protection, control, and violence Iconography of the Underworld Sickness and Health Shelter illnesses 7: Experiences of the Air War Wartime Morale as an Object of Research War and illness in Germany Speaking and Remaining Silent A Time for Feelings Everyday alarms The threat from miracle weapons Habituation and violence Guided memory Masculine and feminine emotions Keeping on working Children in the Air War Fear and discipline Children and their teachers 8: Death in the Air War Simulations Recovering the Dead Learning from catastrophe Death and Mourning Death and mourning in Britain Rituals of Death ‘Völkisch’ rituals of death 9: Memories of the Air War in the Early Post-War Peri The Guilt of the Victors Victims of the Air War Psychological Damage, Psychiatry, and the Experience of War Britain Church, Cities, and a Fresh Start 10: Lessons of the Air War The Politics of Reconciliation Coventry and Dresden Monumentalization and Witnesses to History ‘Taboos’ and ‘Traumatization’ The End of the ‘Good War’ Conclusion War and Order Shelter Society and Coping with Crisis Death, Mourning, Faith Memory Contests after 1945 Abbreviations Used in the Notes Notes INTRODUCTION CHAPTER 1 CHAPTER 2 CHAPTER 3 CHAPTER 4 CHAPTER 5 CHAPTER 6 CHAPTER 7 CHAPTER 8 CHAPTER 9 CHAPTER 10 CONCLUSION Sources and Bibliography PRIMARY SOURCES PRINTED PRIMARY SOURCES Newspapers and Journals Secondary Literature Picture Acknowledgements Index