I seem to recall that the Dresden bombing was done to placate Stalin. The Germans were on the ropes, it was the tail end of the war. Dresden was a city of refugees fleeing from the communists. They weren’t all Germans. Kurt Vonnegut was one of many POWs kept there. Coventry England was bombed, but the difference was the English knew it was coming. The Brit. Gov’t. chose not inform the populous for fear that the Germans would find out that their code was broken. By the time Dresden was bombed most of the German Cities were in total ruin and their army was surrending to us in droves. Well, Stalin appreciated it.
‘Coventry England was bombed, but the difference was the English knew it was coming. The Brit. Gov’t. chose not inform the populous for fear that the Germans would find out that their code was broken.’
Same reason the British didn’t warn America about Pearl Harbour. We knew you were going to be attacked from broken codes but we needed to force liberal America out from isolationism and into the war. In wartime you have to break a few eggs. . . .