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Not every German is a nazi but a Jap is a Jap: differentiation in USAAF bombings of Germany and Japan
thesis
posted on 2022-03-28, 14:40 authored by Dominic CaronThe Second World War saw aerial warfare on an unprecedented scale. The United States Army Air Force(USAAF)had an extensive bombing campaign in both Europe and the Pacific,however, the campaign in Japan was substantially more aggressive than the campaign in Europe. In Europe the USAAF seemed determined to follow their official policy of precision bombing, yet extensive firebombing campaigns against Japan prove this policy was not adhered to in the Pacific. Why was the USAAF's campaign against the Japanese more aggressive than their campaign against the Germans? In Europe the enemy was a political entity, Nazismand fascism. Victory would be achieved when these parties were removed from power.In the Pacific the enemy was not a political system, the enemy was Japan. Not the Japanese government. Not Japanese Imperialism. Japan. In the Pacific the enemy was a people, in Europe the enemy was an ideology. There existed 'good Germans' who were victims of Nazism. While as far as the USAAF was concerned, 'There are no civilians in Japan."