It nauseates me to no end when the Krauts start crying about Dresden and totally ignore how the Luftwaffe flattened Warsaw, burnt the heart out Rotterdam and Coventry, sent millions up the chimneys of Auschwitz and then have the unmitigated gall to complain about how they were treated. Years ago I got into an argument with some Kraut on line who was moaning about that very subject, Dresden and I said "Fick dich!(F you) I said "You're lucky my nation didn't teach you the lesson it taught Japan about starting wars with The United States. Shut him up.
A lot of people don't realize that Germany bombed London in WWI as well, from zeppelins, and did a lot of damage then too. The British called it the First Blitz.
According to Wikipedia: "Airships made 51 bombing raids on Britain during the war in which 557 people were killed and 1,358 injured. The airships dropped 5,806 bombs, causing damage worth £1,527,585. Eighty-four airships took part, of which 30 were either shot down or lost in accidents. Aeroplanes carried out 52 raids, dropping 2,772 bombs of 73.5 long tons (74.7 t) weight for the loss of 62 aircraft, killing 857 people, injuring 2,058, and causing £1,434,526 of damage."
I got to visit Coventry during a 3 week bus tour of the British Isles back in 2006. That one raid killed 176 people and injured around 680. The cathedral they destroyed was beautiful from photos of the inside I have seen. I went into the new cathedral they built right next to the bombed ruins. It is horrible to me. Way too modern for my taste. I didn't feel comfortable in it, and it certainly didn't have the grandness that you would expect when you walk into other cathedrals in Britain. Coventry Cathedral had been built in the 14th and 15th centuries.
My feeling about the bombing of Dresden is as yours. Germany was the one that started the bombing. The British finished it, and they had every right to do so.
The one thing about Germany is that after they surrendered in WWI, they signed the Treaty of Versailles, then they cried about it (especially Hitler), because they said it was too hard on them, and extremely restrictive. Well, then don't start wars. And if you do start a war, make sure you win it. The thing is, Germany never stopped producing arms despite being restricted to do so by the Treaty of Versailles.
At the Nuremberg Trials, Krupp, the major arms manufacturer in Germany admitted they had never stop manufacturing military arms after the Treaty of Versailles. Gustav Krupp was the head of the company during WWII, and conveniently became incapacitated in 1941, and his son Alfried Krupp took over the company. He continued to produce war machinery for Germany, even using slave labor in his factories. At Nuremberg Alfried was convicted of crimes against humanity. He was given a 12 year sentence and was ordered to sell off at least half of the company shares, but nobody would buy them. In three years, he was released from prison, and the forfeiture of his property was reversed under political pressure. Like a lot of Nazis that had committed crimes, he got away without punishment. And he never admitted any guilt for his crimes.
I laugh at the Uke propaganda that paints Russian soldiers as raping monster because of their behavior in invading Germany. Really? I’ve seen the pictures of roads in Russia lined with gallows with Russian women hanging from them. The pits of corpses with women and children. The Germans got off easy.