Bombing the People

Charts how Giulio Douhet's pioneering strategy of targeting civilian populations with air power developed from 1884 to World War II.

Giulio Douhet was one of the world's most important early air-power strategists. This book offers the first comprehensive interpretation of Douhet's strategic thinking and its broader context. It charts the development of the strategy of targeting civilian populations from colonial warfare to the wake of World War II.Giulio Douhet is generally considered the world's most important air-power theorist and this book offers the first comprehensive account of his air-power concepts. It ranges from 1884 when an air service was first implemented within the Italian military to the outbreak of the Second World War, and explores the evolution and dissemination of Douhet's ideas in an international context. It examines the impact of the Libyan war, the First World War and Ethiopian war on the development of Italian air-power strategy. It also addresses the issue of Douhet's advocacy of strategic bombing, exploring why it was that Douhet became an advocate of city bombing; the meaning and the limits of his core concept of 'command of the air'; and the mutual impact of air power, military and naval thought. It also takes into account alternatives to Douhetism such as the theories developed by Amedeo Mecozzi and others.