This playlist is Lord HardThrasher’s series on the bomber war over Europe in the Second World War, covering RAF Bomber Command, the USAAF, strategic bombing, bombing accuracy, the Butt Report, the Norden bombsight, Hamburg, Dresden, area bombing, precision bombing, and the moral and military arguments around the Allied bombing campaign. It asks whether strategic bombing worked, why early bombing failed so badly, how Bomber Command improved, what the Americans and British got right and wrong, and why the bomber offensive remains one of the most controversial parts of the war.
Curated by: HardThrasher (15 videos)
Was Dresden a war crime or a late-war military decision made in cold blood? The firebombing of Dresden (13–14 Feb 1945) remains one of the most infamous episodes of the WW2 history : a firestorm, a shattered city, and a death toll that still sparks argument today. But most of what “everyone knows” about Dresden is wrong. In Part 1 of this two-part series, you and I will dig into the real reasons Dresden became a target. We also ask the uncomfortable questions: Was Dresden an “innocent” city? How Nazi was it? And what does Dresden reveal about the logic — and limits — of strategic bombing? And because this is my video and I'll do as I damn well please, we'll also do a quick overview of nearly 1,000 years of history because why not. Thus in this you will also get the Northern Crusades, a discussion of pottery, a smattering of Central European history and long dicussion of how the Nazis subverted power and used it to abuse people whilst being wildly incompetent at the basics Join the Hellfire Club here! - patreon.com/LordHardThrasher Buy Merch here! - https://hardthrasher-shop.fourthwall.com/en-gbp Email me here! – lordhardthrasher@gmail.com Shout at my Socials here ! – Twitter @hardthrashe Bluesky @lordhardthrasher.bsky.social Insta - https://www.instagram.com/lordhardthrasher/?hl=en TikTok - @lordhardthrasher 00:00 - Start 04:39 – Part 1 – A Brief History of Everything in Central Europe 17:36 – Rise of the Nazis and the Nuremberg Laws 30:25 – Military and Industrial Dresden 34:03 – Failure to Prepare for War 40:37 – How did it become a target? 52:37 – Survivor’s Club i) Dresden, Taylor, Bloomsbury Books, 2004 (Electronic version 2011)p.19 ii) Ibid p.53 iii) Ibid p.87 iv) The Hitler Years – Holocaust – 1933-1945, McDonough, Bloomsbury, 2025, p.24 v) Dresden, Taylor, Bloomsbury Books, 2004 (Electronic version 2011) p.65 vi) The Hitler Years – Holocaust – 1933-1945, McDonough, Bloomsbury, 2025, p.30 and on. vii) Ibid p.43 and on viii) Dresden, Taylor, Bloomsbury Books, 2004 (Electronic version 2011) p.68 ix) Ibid p.95-97 x) Ibid p.100 xi) McDonough, Frank. The Hitler Years: Holocaust 1933–1945 (p. 371). Bloomsbury Publishing. Kindle Edition. xii) Railways in Dresden 1939 to 1945, Neutzner (1999) xiii) The Bombing War in Europe, Overby, Penguin, 2014 p.35 xiv) Dresden, Taylor, Bloomsbury Books, 2004 (Electronic version 2011) p.188 and on xv) Ibid p.188 xvi) Ibid p.252-254 xvii) The Bombing War, Overby, Penguin, 2014 p.390 xviii) Carl A Spaatz and the Air War in Europe, Richard G. Davis, Centre for Air Force History, 1993, p.543 xix) Ibid p.550 xx) Dresden, Taylor, Bloomsbury Books, 2004 (Electronic version 2011)p.236 xxi) Carl A Spaatz and the Air War in Europe, Richard G. Davis, Centre for Air Force History, 1993, p.552 xxii) Bomber Offensive, Arthur Harris, Pen & Sword Aviation, Kindle Edition p.315