Compare And Contrast Trenchard And Douhet

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Compare and contrast the main ideas articulated by General Giulio Douhet and Marshall of the RAF Hugh Trenchard General Giulio Douhet was a professional artillery officer in the Italian army. He very quickly recognised the military potential of the aircraft and wrote ‘Rules for the Use of Airplanes in War’ in 1912, this was the first doctrine of its kind. Mussolini appointed Douhet as commissioner of aviation this enabled him to create a vital impact on the development of airpower theories during the inter war period, the theories of which were detailed in his most renowned text, Command of the Air, 1921. Similarly, Sir Hugh Trenchard was another revolutionary Air Power Theorist. He gained military experience from his time serving as an army officer in the Boer and West Africa, as well as his role as a pilot and head of the Royal Flying Corps in France during World War I. Furthermore, his role as Chief of the Air Staff, from …show more content…

Shown by the evidence their opposing theories can be attributed to their difference of opinion of targeting civilians. As explored in the evidence above Douhet did not try to avoid collateral damage and brutality caused to civilians through his area bombing, On the other hand the evidence provided shows Trenchard was cautious with collateral damage and as a result he chose to utilize precision bombing. Another difference shown is the types of bomb used. Douhet advocated the explosive, incendiary and chemical mix in order to cause the largest decimation to the civilian population possible. Whereas Trenchard advocated the use of precision explosive bombs which were less destructive to the civilian