Carpet bombing

aerial bombing done on a massive scale to damage every part of a selected area

Carpet bombing, or saturation bombing describes the bombardment of a given area with bombs destroying as much as possible in the given area. Like a carpet that covers the floor, bombs should cover the area. Carpet bombing is usually done by dropping a large number of unguided bombs.

The first carpet bombing from air in history was the Bombing of Barcelona. 1,300 people were killed in 3 days, March 16–18, 1938
On 14 May 1940 at 1:22 pm, in the Rotterdam Blitz, German bombers set the entire inner city on fire with incendiary bombs, killing 814 inhabitants
Wesel was 97% destroyed before it was finally taken by Allied troops in 1945

Carpet bombing of cities, towns, villages, or other areas containing a concentration of protected civilians has been a war crime since 1977. [1] It is explained in Article 51 of Protocol I of the Geneva Conventions.[2][3][4]

The term obliteration bombing is sometimes used to describe especially intensified bombing with the intention of destroying a city or a large part of the city. The term area bombing refers to indiscriminate bombing of an area and also encompasses cases of carpet bombing, including obliteration bombing. It was used in that sense especially during World War II and the Korean War.

The use of atomic weapons is automatically a case of carpet bombing in its effect, but there are no modern examples of their use. Their use against Japan in WWII was the last and only example of a real attack using an atomic weapon.

References change

  1. "Crimes of War – Carpet or Area Bombing". Archived from the original on 2 December 2015. Retrieved 2015-12-08.
  2. "Carpet bombing". Britannica.com. Retrieved 21 June 2019.
  3. "Treaties, States parties, and Commentaries - Additional Protocol (I) to the Geneva Conventions, 1977 - 51 - Protection of the civilian population". International Committee of the Red Cross. June 8, 1977. Retrieved June 21, 2019.
  4. "Treaties, States parties, and Commentaries - Additional Protocol (I) to the Geneva Conventions, 1977 - 51 - Protection of the civilian population - Commentary of 1987". Paragraph 5. International Committee of the Red Cross. Retrieved June 21, 2019.

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