What was the purpose of Hitler bombing Britain in the Battle of Britain?

Answer 1

Well the traditional view is that the Luftwaffe accidentally bombed London, the British retaliated against Berlin and thus began the cycle bombing of civilian targets by both sides. This view is naive to say the least. Firstly, let's not forget that Germany had practiced indiscriminate bombing of London from Zeppelins during the First World War. Also, the Luftwaffe had been "unleashed" against Warsaw, Rotterdam, etc so the precedent already existed. Until the bombing of London German attacks were mainly confined to legitimate targets - shipping, airfields, radar stations, factories, dockyards, etc. Obviously some civilian targets were hit as well but this is what would today be called co-lateral damage. This tactic was working. The RAF was suffering heavy losses, particularly on the ground and essential industrial production such as aero engines suffered. So why then did Hitler change the strategy to unrestrained bombing of London? The answer is that Hitler appreciated power and force more than tactics and although the Luftwaffe was gaining a slight upper hand it was taking them too long. At the rate they were going by the time they had complete air superiority they would have lost the opportunity for the invasion. By targeting the population of London he anticipated the British would quickly want to accept peace terms. The first raid on London (in my opinion) was no mere accident by a lost aircraft but was specifically designed to test the water - how will the British react? By retaliating the British appear to have played into his hands. Now, he could (as he always did) play the aggrieved victim and launch massive raids against civilians in order to terrorize them into surrender. His belief was flawed however, because the attacks merely spurred on the British to face whatever came next. Worse still British fighter bases were left alone and RAF loses fell. The Luftwaffe had further to go, making them open to attack for longer. Their fighters lacked sufficient fuel to engage in combat over London for more than a few minutes leaving the bombers largely unprotected. Luftwaffe loses rose as dramatically as RAF loses fell. Tactically it was a failure and more to the point, Luftwaffe bombers lacked the bomb loads necessary to make the raids truly devastating on the scale and with consistency needed to succeed.