In the summer of 1943, the Allied bombing attack against Hamburg

forced the Germans to revamp their air defenses.

The Americans put together their biggest bombing raid so far,

while Churchill and Roosevelt met at Quebec to discuss their next moves.

Welcome to the history of the 20th century.

The 20th century. Episode Episode 400.

Dios in the air, part two.

Last week I told you about the RAF bombing campaign over Germany in the first half of 1943,

culminating in the devastating raids on Hamburg in late July and early August.

Today, I want to begin by talking about the aftermath.

The devastation of Hamburg was something of a game changer for the Allied

strategic bombing effort. The news of the city's destruction was received gladly in London and

Washington. Allied and neutral nation press reports were estimating the death toll at over

100,000, though the true figure was probably around 30 to 40,000.

As you know from past episodes in which we looked at strategic bombing, the threat of mass air raids on

cities was viewed with terror in the 30s. It was widely believed that such attacks might, in a period of time as

short as a few weeks, forced capitulation. It might even reduce the enemy nation to a pre-industrial

economy. But in practice, the results of aerial bombing had been far less dramatic than most expected,

not to mention far more costly to the attacker in terms of losses of aircraft and air crews.

The first sustained effort to defeat an enemy nation by strategic bombing alone, the Battle of Britain,

was an abject failure. Yes, it caused death and destruction and

terror in Britain and produced a small drop in the nation's war production, but it did not come near to

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