Europe
The Survey was formed on 3 November 1944 by Henry Stimson in response to a directive by President Roosevelt. The Survey was tasked with producing an impartial report on the effects of the bombing against Nazi Germany, in order to:
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- aid the upcoming campaign against the Japanese home islands,
- to establish a basis for evaluating the importance and potentialities of air power as an instrument of military strategy,
- for planning the future development of the United States armed forces, and
- for determining future economic policies with respect to the national defense.
The Report, along with some 200 supporting documents, was released on 30 September 1945. The major conclusion of the report was that strategic bombing, particularly the destruction of the oil industry and truck manufacturing had greatly contributed to the success of the Allies in World War II. However, despite the overall contribution of the bombing, the survey concluded that the impact of strategic bombing could not be separated from the general collapse of Germany in 1945.
Read more about this topic: Strategic Bombing Survey
Famous quotes containing the word europe:
“We are participants, whether we would or not, in the life of the world.... We are partners with the rest. What affects mankind is inevitably our affair as well as the nations of Europe and Asia.”
—Woodrow Wilson (1856–1924)
“Should the German people lay down their arms, the Soviets ... would occupy all eastern and south-eastern Europe together with the greater part of the Reich. Over all this territory, which with the Soviet Union included, would be of enormous extent, an iron curtain would at once descend.”
—Joseph Goebbels (1897–1945)
“Of one thing I can assure you with comparative certainty, whoever wins, Europe will be economically ruined. This war is America’s great opportunity.”
—John Dos Passos (1896–1970)