Bombing of Urban Areas During World War II and the Bosnian War

The bombing of cities during WWII took enormous tolls on human life and property. Aerial bombing was initiated by Germany against Poland in 1939. Germany invaded Belgium, Holland, Luxembourg and France in 1940. The aerial bombing of Rotterdam by the German air force proved a successful strategy designed to force the surrender of Holland. It was repeated without success during a 57-day bombing campaign of London and other British cities known as the ‘Blitz’. Retaliatory bombing of German cities by England followed. After the entry of the USA in the war, American air forces launched air raids against Japan and participated in the Allied bombing of cities on Germany. Germany invaded Russia in 1941 and conducted extended bombing raids on Leningrad and Stalingrad. The percentage of urban areas destroyed in Europe and Japan by aerial bombing in the eight cities addressed in this book ranged from 15% in Leningrad to 90% in Stalingrad. Approximately 63% of Hiroshima was destroyed by the atomic bomb. Considerable portions of the urban forests in cities in Europe and Japan were impacted by bombing during WWII. Firebombing of Hamburg, Dresden, and Tokyo took serious tolls on the urban forests.