- Churchill Supported Area Bombing - Karl Piehl Photo Image
Sir Winston Churchill is considered one of the heroes of the 20th Century, a larger-than-life leader often referred to as the man “who saved Europe.” At the same time, however, increasing archival information is slowly emerging to paint a more multi-faceted picture. This includes the extent of Churchill’s imperialist attitudes, his early response to the Holocaust, the forced migration of millions of “eastern” Germans from such areas as Silesia in 1945, and the bombing of German cities, notably Dresden on February 13, 1945.
Area Bombing of German Cities in World War II
It should never be ignored that Germany instigated bombing cities in England, destroying Coventry and relentlessly showering London with bombs during the Blitz. Thousands lost their lives. Military analyst and consultant Martin Caidin argues, however, that Sir Arthur Harris’ response, beginning in 1942 and with full approval of Churchill, was disproportionate. Oxford historian Frederick Taylor points to a secret memorandum issued by Churchill on March 28, 1945 to General Ismay in which he used the phrase, “bombing…simply for the sake of increasing terror, though under other pretexts.”
Jorg Friedrich, in his highly controversial and debated 2002 book on area bombing states that, “From 1940 to 1945 Churchill eliminated the people of Cologne, Berlin, and Dresden as Huns.” Writing about Cologne, Friedrich asserts that, “In seventy-seven minutes, the substance of 1,900 years was liquidated.” The same can be said of the utter destruction of Hamburg in the summer of 1943. But the bitterest criticism of Churchill’s destruction of German cities related to the obliteration of Dresden, “Florence on the Elbe.”
According to Friedrich, on March 8, 1944 Churchill ordered “half a million anthrax bombs from the United States.” The British military had already developed a bomb that could deliver anthrax. As unseemly as this might sound, Spiegel (August 20, 2010), in an article on Churchill, states that he “even toyed with the idea of dropping poison gas on German cities, but his generals objected.”
The Forced Removal of Germans from Eastern Europe
As early as the 1943 Teheran Conference of the “Big Three,” Josef Stalin of the Soviet Union had been promised land in what was then still called Eastern Europe. This was confirmed in early 1945 at the Yalta Conference. In practice, it meant the immediate, forced removal of Germans that had been living in some of these regions for generations, such as Silesia. Part of the reason was to give Stalin eastern Poland and this necessitated moving Poland’s western border further into German land.
These forced migrations resulted in thousands of deaths, many caused by Soviet aircraft machine-gunning the long convoys of wagons making their way west. A German deaconess sister who later came to the United States related that her Motherhouse community had one hour to gather what they wanted to take before the arrival of occupation troops.
Spiegel writer Klaus Wiegrefe claims that “Churchill did… contribute to the expulsion of Germans from Eastern Europe, as historian Detlef Brandes has shown,” and that this was “…one of Churchill’s darkest hours…”
Reexamining Churchill does not Detract from German War Guilt
Germans are as mindful today as they were after the war of their national atrocities. Since 1945, Germany has paid billions in war-time reparations. Whenever neo fascists parade their slogans, Germans are ready to respond negatively: there is no national amnesia. Excusing the past is simply not tolerated.
At the same time, it is appropriate to evaluate the motives and methods of the victors. Churchill was elated when the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor, according to many sources; the action brought the U.S. into the world war. The over-stretched British navy could be partially redeployed from Asia as long as the Americans fought Yamamoto’s fleet.
The preservation of empire was another Churchill goal and he played all sides to accomplish this. According to the Spectator (November 2, 2006), Churchill, rankled by Egypt’s intransigence, said to Foreign Secretary Sir Anthony Eden in 1951, “Tell them [Egypt] that if we have any more of their cheek, we will set the Jews on them and drive them into the gutter, from which they should never have emerged.”
Churchill’s Other Side Deserves Historical Scrutiny
Studying the flaws as well as the strengths of great men and women provides historical balance. Churchill’s March 28, 1945 memorandum urging restraint in area bombing may, as some writers point out, have had political motivations; the Dresden raid was particularly heinous in public opinion and Churchill knew that the end of the war was rapidly approaching. But there might have been sincere regret as well. As more documents emerge, it will become possible to see this historical balance through a broader spectrum.
Sources:
- Martin Caidin, The Night Hamburg Died (Ballantine, 1960)
- Jorg Friedrich, The Fire: The Bombing of Germany 1940-1945 (Columbia University Press, 2006)
- Keith Lowe, Inferno: The Fiery Destruction of Hamburg 1943 (Scribner, 2007)
- Frederick Taylor, Dresden: Tuesday, February 13, 1945 (HarperCollins, 2004)
