Strategy and Doctrine

Strategic Bombing Doctrine

Modern

Citation Formats

General Reference

War and Military Atlas. "Strategic Bombing Doctrine." Accessed September 8, 2026. https://military.interactiveatlas.org/doctrines/strategic-bombing-doctrine.

APA Style

War and Military Atlas. (n.d.). Strategic Bombing Doctrine. Retrieved September 8, 2026, from https://military.interactiveatlas.org/doctrines/strategic-bombing-doctrine

BibTeX

@misc{warandmilitaryatlas-strategic-bombing-doctrine,
  author = {War and Military Atlas},
  title = {Strategic Bombing Doctrine},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://military.interactiveatlas.org/doctrines/strategic-bombing-doctrine},
  note = {Accessed September 8, 2026}
}

Strategic bombing doctrine, founded by the Italian general Giulio Douhet in his 1921 book The Command of the Air, holds that an air force able to strike an enemy's cities and industry directly can break the enemy population's will to continue the war without the stalemate and cost of a ground campaign.

Facts

Core Claim

An air force that can strike an enemy's cities and industry directly can break its population's will to continue the war without the stalemate and cost of a ground campaign. 1

Origin Year

1921 1

Cross-Tradition Connections