What effect did awareness of devastating bombing at home have on the fighting spirit of German troops on the Eastern front?
Upvote:11
It should be a more demoralizing effect overall, but there aren't data for Operation Barbarossa. First off, according to the US Strategic Bombing Survey, civilians in the most heavily bombed areas saw a drop in support for the Nazi Party and felt their personal morale drop 14% of the time. This is surprisingly small, but it means that eventually, the bombings were causing morale to decline. These measurements are after the war ended though, so during the period 1941-1944, morale was likely much higher, despite bombing. In other words, for our purposes, we should consider bombing to have had no significant effect on morale only.
The troops in Operation Barbarossa were subject to propaganda and false information about the bombings, though, not the bombings themselves. The Nazis would have controlled information to provide a more positive view. The British Political Warfare Executive had great success with its Whisper Campaign during the planned invasion of the UK, Operation Sea Lion, by the Nazis, and continued the campaign against troops invading Russia. Some of the rumors it spread are still believed by members of the British public today. For example, many people believe that the Nazis attempted to invade the island nation, and a small invasion force was repulsed off-shore, causing charred bodies to wash up on the beaches of Great Britain.
The Whisper Campaign often spread awful and sometimes graphic rumors (some true) about enormous deaths, and exaggerations about the Nazi's inability to protect civilians through defense measures (e.g., all the concrete is needed for the war effort, so no more bomb shelters will be built; all the doctors are killing the elderly and the disabled due to shortages). The campaign also tried to instill animosity against the Nazis by making them seem corrupt (Mr. Nazi is having food imported). The wartime control of information, including constant propaganda, made rumors seem more true.
Unfortunately, the PWE didn't collect data on its effects during the war, so we don't know if the troops were demoralized. But it seems likely. "Disinformation" tactics are typically very effective and still used today in warfare to demoralize troops. Even though the fact of the bombings didn't change, the way the troops viewed them would have.
Reference: The United States PSYOP Organization in Europe During World War II http://www.psywarrior.com/PSYOPOrgWW2.html Lee Richards. The British are Coming! British Aerial Propaganda to Germany, 1940–44 http://www.psywar.co.uk/psywar/reproductions/day.pdf
More post
- 📝 Why the laws re the burial of slaves in the Twelve Tables?
- 📝 How do archaeologists prove that two settlements belonged to the same civilization?
- 📝 Why did the Nazis invent videotelephony?
- 📝 Were the events in Nemmersdorf a PR stunt of the Nazi propaganda?
- 📝 What happened to aircraft if their aircraft carrier was damaged?
- 📝 Why was uranium mined in the 1500s, but only "discovered" in 1789?
- 📝 What was the first scientific article to give a recognisably "modern" citation to another article?
- 📝 Did the U.S Constitution revoke or merely amend the the Articles of Confederation?
- 📝 What is the source for John Adams Sr. writing about Hamilton taking blame for Washington?
- 📝 Why was Newton's observation of the falling apple significant?
- 📝 In which East European country in the 1980s did people put their TVs in front of windows and turn them facing outside?
- 📝 How can we explain the decline of Buddhism in India around the 12th century?
- 📝 Sources on St. Patrick
- 📝 What was the role of Nigeria in Soviet invasion of Afghanistan
- 📝 How often would monks leave their monasteries in the Middle Ages?
- 📝 Did the US quarter shrink in size?
- 📝 Journeys from Gujarat in India to Dare es Salaam in what was then, Tanganyika in 1925 and 1948
- 📝 Couldn't Japan have solved the problem of drifting at sea?
- 📝 Did medieval archers shoot from both sides of the bow?
- 📝 Who are the 'Tiursk tribe' of Central Asia?
- 📝 Which military first mandated After-Action Review?
- 📝 Were there any abolitionists imprisoned for being critical of the Congress or the President during the American Civil War?
- 📝 What were the types of currency used in ancient Mesopotamia?
- 📝 What was the troop ratio between the Reds and the Whites in the Russian Revolution?
- 📝 Which single-car accident in history caused the most deaths?
- 📝 Was Brezhnev's rule an "era of stagnation"
- 📝 What trains were used on the Dakar-Niger Railway in the late 1950s and early 1960s?
- 📝 What was the equivalent of "Shoulder Arms, Fire!" for archers in Ancient Rome?
- 📝 Did USS Buck (DD-761) send the message “Temper, Temper”?
- 📝 Real-life examples of finding long-lost treasure?
Source: stackoverflow.com
Search Posts
Related post
- 📝 What effect did awareness of devastating bombing at home have on the fighting spirit of German troops on the Eastern front?
- 📝 What effect did the Attack on Mers-el-Kébir have on Great Britain's international relations during WW2?
- 📝 What effect did the Bronze Age collapse have on India?
- 📝 What effect did the Mafia have during World War 2?
- 📝 What effect did the execution of Louis XVI have on French foreign policy?
- 📝 What advantages did Catholic missionaries to the Indians have over Protestant missionaries in old Oregon Country?
- 📝 What reasons did the Confederacy have for believing they would have a quick victory?
- 📝 What did the top minds of the late 17th century have to say about Salem witch trials?
- 📝 To what extent did the CPC avoid fighting with the Japanese?
- 📝 What role did the media have in the outcome of the "Arab Spring" revolt in Tunisia?
- 📝 What impact did the Seven Years War have on the American Revolution?
- 📝 What impact did Trotsky's armoured train have on the Russian civil war?
- 📝 Did the Germans have enough bombers to conduct "strategic" bombing of the Soviet Union?
- 📝 At what point did the United States have a truly federal army?
- 📝 What alternate north-south supply routes did the Soviet Union have when the Volga and Stalingrad were under attack?
- 📝 What literary or philosophical works did the ancient Egyptians have that have influenced ancient civilizations or the modern word?
- 📝 How did the news of the reality Nazi concentration camps reach the United State's mainstream? What were the waves of awareness and when?
- 📝 What did the Japanese military do to maintain their fighting edge during the Edo era/Bakufu (1603-1868)?
- 📝 What did sectionalism have to do with the American civil war?
- 📝 What access did people in the Warsaw pact countries have to Western television and radio?
- 📝 What rights did women have in Switzerland in the first few years of the 20th century?
- 📝 What effect did tanks have on warfare strategies upon their introduction?
- 📝 What intelligence successes did the Axis have in WW2?
- 📝 What kind of heating did Moscow have in the early Soviet Union (1917 - 1930)?
- 📝 Did West Russia really have a rock shortage in WW2? And if so, what was the cause?
- 📝 What specifically did Einstein have in mind when he called the Israeli Freedom Party fascistic?
- 📝 What authority did the Catholic Church have over European monarchs from 900–1450?
- 📝 What involvement did Jonathan Edwards have with the Conspiracy of 1741?
- 📝 What economic incentives (if any) did France have to aid the American army during the revolution?
- 📝 What impact did the migration of Germanic tribes have on languages in the rest of Europe?