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Re: Bombing civilian targets by the Luftwaffe?
Laurent
one motive of Rotterdam bombing was that the German Paras (only some 50 soldiers) in the bridgehead over Maas in the inner city were under hard pressure from Dutch troops and the German battaillon at the southern end of the bridge could not get over the bridge to reinforce them. And the target area for the KG 54 He 111s was just north of the paras position. So in that sense it was a tactical mission. But it had also a strategic funtion, I think. Dutch resistance had been more intensive than the Germans had predicted and the other purpose of the bombing was to terrorize the Dutch to surrender. IIRC Germans made treats to bomb also some other Dutch towns if Dutch would not surrender. So in that sense it had same goal than British "area bombing" or the atomic bombs but the big difference was that both Germany and Japan were aggressors and "big powers" but Holland was a small state and a victim of unprovocated aggression by an aggressive "big power".
Juha
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