Industrial web theory is the military concept that an enemy's industrial power can be attacked at nodes of vulnerability, and thus the enemy's ability to wage a lengthy war can be severely limited, as well as his
morale
Morale, also known as esprit de corps (), is the capacity of a group's members to maintain belief in an institution or goal, particularly in the face of opposition or hardship. Morale is often referenced by authority figures as a generic value ...
—his will to resist.
[ The theory was formulated by American airmen at the ]Air Corps Tactical School
The Air Corps Tactical School, also known as ACTS and "the Tactical School", was a military professional development school for officers of the United States Army Air Service and United States Army Air Corps, the first such school in the world. C ...
(ACTS) in the 1930s.
The term "industrial web theory" cannot be found in any official United States Army Air Corps
The United States Army Air Corps (USAAC) was the aerial warfare service component of the United States Army between 1926 and 1941. After World War I, as early aviation became an increasingly important part of modern warfare, a philosophical r ...
(USAAC) doctrine.[McMullen, John K. ''The United States Strategic Bombing Survey and Air Force Doctrine''. Graduate thesis, School of Advanced Airpower Studies, Air University, Maxwell Air Force Base, Alabama. 2001.] Instead, the term was coined in the 1930s by Donald Wilson, an instructor at ACTS, to cover the concept then under development.
Theory
Prior theories of bombing were developed by Italian General Giulio Douhet
General Giulio Douhet (30 May 1869 – 15 February 1930) was an Italian general and air power theorist. He was a key proponent of strategic bombing in aerial warfare. He was a contemporary of the 1920s air warfare advocates Walther Wever, Billy ...
, British Sir Hugh Trenchard
Marshal of the Royal Air Force Hugh Montague Trenchard, 1st Viscount Trenchard, (3 February 1873 – 10 February 1956) was a British officer who was instrumental in establishing the Royal Air Force. He has been described as the "Father of the ...
and American Colonel Billy Mitchell
William Lendrum Mitchell (December 29, 1879 – February 19, 1936) was a United States Army officer who is regarded as the father of the United States Air Force.
Mitchell served in France during World War I and, by the conflict's end, command ...
, each of whom advocated bombing an enemy's population centers as a method of shortening wars and thus ''saving'' more lives than were taken.[ This theory of ]area bombardment
In military aviation, area bombardment (or area bombing) is a type of aerial bombardment in which bombs are dropped over the general area of a target. The term "area bombing" came into prominence during World War II.
Area bombing is a form of str ...
was taught at ACTS until 1934 but was unpopular in the press and in government. In 1922, a treaty to limit aerial bombardment of civilians was written and promoted by the United States, called ''The Hague Rules of Air Warfare'', but it was not adopted.[The Hague Rules of Air Warfare](_blank)
December 1922 to February 1923. ''This convention was never adopted''. A similar international proposal was drafted in Tokyo in 1934 regarding the "Protection of Civilian Persons in Time of War," but this, too, was not ratified by treaty.[
In 1935, ACTS instructors studied the probable results of area bombardment and concluded that not enough economic damage resulted from attacks on civilian population centers.][ Mitchell and the ACTS adjusted their bombing strategy to avoid direct attacks on civilians to be "more in keeping with our humanitarian ideals," though the possibility of attacks on general population centers was retained as a "last resort."][
The industrial web theory was based on the idea that the economic strength of an industrial nation is composed of interdependent sectors such as manufacturing, mining, utilities and transportation. Any one of the sectors could be targeted with bombs to make the whole system suffer breakdowns and shortages. From 1935, instructors such as ]Robert M. Webster
Robert Morris Webster (October 19, 1892 – March 1, 1972). Retrieved on November 5, 2009. was a United States Air Force major general who was an early advocate of daylight precision bombing as a war-winning strategy. A rated command pilot, he c ...
and Muir S. Fairchild
General (United States), General Muir Stephen Fairchild (September 2, 1894 – March 17, 1950) was a United States Air Force officer and the service's second Vice Chief of Staff of the United States Air Force, Vice Chief of Staff.
Early service
...
at ACTS studied the industrial interdependence of the United States as a model for targeting an aggressor enemy state.[ They drew up lists of optimal targets that would produce the greatest disruption for the least expenditure of bombs. Transportation and electric power industries were seen as vital targets, as well as iron ore mining and steel manufacturing.][Finney, Robert T. (1998) Air Force History and Museums Program]
''History of the Air Corps Tactical School 1920–1940.''
Third imprint. Retrieved on November 3, 2009.
With the loss of an enemy's economic strength through crippling attack on a vital sector, the theory held that the enemy's will to fight would collapse and that they would surrender or be forced to the bargaining table.[
In 1934, six ACTS leaders appeared before the Howell Commission to advocate for an independent military air arm for the United States. Webster was joined by Donald Wilson, ]Robert Olds
Robert Olds (June 15, 1896 – April 28, 1943) was a general officer in the United States Army Air Forces, theorist of strategic air power, and proponent of an independent United States Air Force. Olds is best known today as the father of Brig. ...
, Kenneth Walker, Claire Chennault
Claire Lee Chennault (September 6, 1893 – July 27, 1958) was an American military aviator best known for his leadership of the "Flying Tigers" and the Chinese Air Force in World War II.
Chennault was a fierce advocate of "pursuit" or fighte ...
, and Harold L. George
Harold Lee George (July 19, 1893 – February 24, 1986) was an American aviation pioneer who helped shape and promote the concept of daylight precision bombing. An outspoken proponent of the industrial web theory, George taught at the Air Corps T ...
—all six spoke about the critical opportunity that could be taken in attacking the cohesiveness of an enemy's industrial web.[Johnson, David E. ''Fast Tanks and Heavy Bombers: Innovation in the U.S. Army, 1917–1945''. Cornell studies in security affairs. Cornell paperbacks. Cornell University Press, 2003, pp. 160–162. ] George submitted his opinion that a bomber with a range would be available within two years.[ The Howell Commission (which would develop into the Federal Aviation Commission and then into the ]Federal Aviation Administration
The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) is the largest transportation agency of the U.S. government and regulates all aspects of civil aviation in the country as well as over surrounding international waters. Its powers include air traffic m ...
) was interested in the industrial web theory and in the possibility that an independent air arm might stop an enemy from making war. They authorized the General Headquarters Air Force
The United States Army Air Corps (USAAC) was the aerial warfare service component of the United States Army between 1926 and 1941. After World War I, as early aviation became an increasingly important part of modern warfare, a philosophical ri ...
(GHQ Air Force) as a semi-independent arm within the United States Army
The United States Army (USA) is the land service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army of the United States in the U.S. Constitution.Article II, section 2, cla ...
.[
]
Industrial targets
Traditional military targets had primarily been fielded enemy forces[Rizer, Kenneth R. "Bombing Dual-Use Targets: Legal, Ethical, and Doctrinal Perspectives." ''Air & Space Power Journal'', May 1, 2001. Retrieved on November 6, 2009.] and concentrations of supplies held in rear areas.[ After aerial bombardment became a possibility, tactical targets such as communications (supply and signal lines) and troop concentrations became the focus of bombing efforts.][ The industrial web theory instead targeted choke points and bottlenecks in an enemy's economic and industrial base, deep inside the interior of an enemy nation.][Brauer, 2008, pp. 207–209.] If precision bombing could be used to destroy an industrial node with resulting paralysis of enemy industry, the particular node was given serious consideration as a target.[
Suitable targets included railroad lines, junctions and marshaling areas, oil drilling and fuel refining industries, iron ore mining and transportation, steel refining and manufacturing industries, electric power generation and distribution, and, in general, all forms of transportation.][
]
Enemy morale
A hold-over element of area bombardment strategies that was incorporated into the industrial web theory was that enemy morale would deteriorate in the face of bombing attacks that vitally reduced an enemy's economy. The enemy's will to resist would fail, and the enemy would surrender or would at least be forced to end the war by diplomatic means. In 1939, Fairchild said of a theoretical enemy that the "nation-wide reaction to the stunning discovery that the sources of the country's power to resist and to sustain itself are being relentlessly destroyed, can hardly fail to be decisive."[
]
Weapons development
Before the development of aerial warfare
Aerial warfare is the use of military aircraft and other flying machines in warfare. Aerial warfare includes bombers attacking enemy installations or a concentration of enemy troops or strategic targets; fighter aircraft battling for control o ...
, especially the long-range heavy bomber
Heavy bombers are bomber aircraft capable of delivering the largest payload of air-to-ground weaponry (usually bombs) and longest range (takeoff to landing) of their era. Archetypal heavy bombers have therefore usually been among the larges ...
, large-scale attacks on an enemy's industrial might were impossible. No military weapon system was able to penetrate deep into enemy territory and reliably deliver the quantity of munitions required to limit the enemy's ability to wage war. Zeppelin
A Zeppelin is a type of rigid airship named after the German inventor Count Ferdinand von Zeppelin () who pioneered rigid airship development at the beginning of the 20th century. Zeppelin's notions were first formulated in 1874Eckener 1938, pp ...
raids during World War I
World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...
came near to achieving this capability—their bomb load and range were greater than any other aircraft—but they were very vulnerable to weather and attack.
Bomber
A bomber is a military combat aircraft designed to attack ground and naval targets by dropping air-to-ground weaponry (such as bombs), launching aerial torpedo, torpedoes, or deploying air-launched cruise missiles. The first use of bombs dropped ...
s and Zeppelins in World War I proved vulnerable to pursuit aircraft, so each of the belligerents quickly moved to a strategy of bombing at night when the attackers were much safer. However, night bombing suffered from imprecision in targeting. As early as 1926, American airmen noted that small targets which were difficult to see at night would have to be attacked in daylight hours.[ Still, night bombing was emphasized. In 1932, the staff at ACTS moved to embrace daylight bombing as the primary method to get the greatest bomb tonnage on target.][ To survive this kind of risky offensive action, the bombers would have to be flying higher than their pursuers, and higher than the effective range of anti-aircraft artillery. ACTS bombing proponents began calling for higher service ceilings for their bombers: for light bombers and for the heavy bombers.][
]
As well, bomber strategy began to emphasize the mutually supporting defensive fire of multiple machine guns found within a squadron of bombers flying in close formation.[ It was thought that bombers in formation were too difficult a target for defensive aircraft. Kenneth Walker lectured to his students in the Bombardment Section of ACTS: "Military airmen of all nations agree that a determined air attack, once launched, is most difficult, if not impossible to stop."][
With the first successful trials of the Y1B-17 Flying Fortress service test aircraft in 1937, the ACTS was convinced that this aircraft could prove their theories.][ The new bomber could fly above , was faster and could carry a larger bomb load than any previous bomber. Its potential for use against targets deep within an enemy nation was far greater than any previous aircraft.][ These qualities combined with its massive amount of defensive firepower brought ACTS theorists to conclude that the B-17 bomber fleet was invincible, that it was indeed true that "]The bomber will always get through
"The bomber will always get through" was a phrase used by Stanley Baldwin in a 1932 speech "A Fear for the Future" given to the British Parliament. His speech stated that contemporary bomber aircraft had the performance necessary to conduct a s ...
", a phrase uttered in 1932 by Stanley Baldwin, 1st Earl Baldwin of Bewdley.
With increasing altitude, the circular error of probability (CEP) also increased, resulting in decreased damage to the target. Bombs dropped from high altitudes would fall over a wide area below, and in order for the bombers to significantly damage a target, the number of bombers would have to be prohibitively large. The Norden bombsight
The Norden Mk. XV, known as the Norden M series in U.S. Army service, is a bombsight that was used by the United States Army Air Forces (USAAF) and the United States Navy during World War II, and the United States Air Force in the Korean and t ...
, tested in 1933, held the promise of much greater accuracy in high altitude bombing, and helped the ACTS theorists conclude that pinpoint bombing was possible.[
]
Results
The industrial web theory was put into concrete plan form by the Air War Plans Division
The Air War Plans Division (AWPD) was an American military organization established to make long-term plans for war. Headed by Harold L. George, the unit was tasked in July 1941 to provide President Franklin D. Roosevelt with "overall production ...
: Kenneth Walker, Laurence S. Kuter
General Laurence Sherman Kuter (May 28, 1905 – November 30, 1979) was a Cold War-era U.S. Air Force general and former commander of the North American Air Defense Command ( NORAD). Kuter (pronounced COO-ter) was born in Rockford, Illinois i ...
and Haywood S. Hansell
Haywood Shepherd Hansell Jr. (September 28, 1903 – November 14, 1988) was a general officer in the United States Army Air Forces (USAAF) during World War II, and later the United States Air Force. He became an advocate of the doctrine o ...
, led by Harold L. George. The plan was submitted for approval to the Joint Army-Navy Board in mid-1941 as AWPD-1, standing for Air War Plans Division, plan number one. A refinement to AWPD-1 came in August 1942 after eight months of direct American involvement in World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
. The new plan was called AWPD-42 and was submitted to the Combined Chiefs of Staff
The Combined Chiefs of Staff (CCS) was the supreme military staff for the United States and Britain during World War II. It set all the major policy decisions for the two nations, subject to the approvals of British Prime Minister Winston Churchil ...
. Neither AWPD-1 nor AWPD-42 were approved as combat battle plans or strategies—they were simply accepted as guidelines for the production of materiel
Materiel (; ) refers to supplies, equipment, and weapons in military supply-chain management, and typically supplies and equipment in a commercial supply chain context.
In a military context, the term ''materiel'' refers either to the specifi ...
necessary to carry out the plans intended or subsequent plans. Finally in 1943, a plan was hammered out in meetings between American and British war planners. The industrial web theory would be put into practical plan form with the Anglo-American Combined Bomber Offensive
The Combined Bomber Offensive (CBO) was an Allied offensive of strategic bombing during World War II in Europe. The primary portion of the CBO was directed against Luftwaffe targets which was the highest priority from June 1943 to 1 April 1944. ...
(CBO).[Hansell, 1980, pp. 157–194.]
In the event, the industrial web theory failed to achieve its goals.[Lee, 1997, pp. 219–220.] Various targets were chosen and attacked serially, without evaluating the results in light of their interdependence. American bombing leaders maintained that precision attacks were being carried out, but in early 1944 poor weather over Europe prevented visual sighting, and bombs were dropped indiscriminately by inaccurate radar methods through cloud cover, resulting in general population destruction.[ By September 1944, all pretense to precision was abandoned when General ]Dwight D. Eisenhower
Dwight David "Ike" Eisenhower (born David Dwight Eisenhower; ; October 14, 1890 – March 28, 1969) was an American military officer and statesman who served as the 34th president of the United States from 1953 to 1961. During World War II, ...
ordered the area bombing of Berlin
Berlin ( , ) is the capital and largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's most populous city, according to population within city limits. One of Germany's sixteen constitue ...
.[ By that time, bombing had become as much tactical as strategic, to soften Germany for invasion by ground troops.][ Thousand-bomber raids were not able to diminish industrial production of materiel in time to prevent invasion.][ When arms production in Germany finally faltered in the third quarter of 1944, only 30% of the total of eventual bomb tonnage had been dropped on the country—this ''after'' the French-German border had been reached and the war on the ground had seen its decisive breakthrough.][ Germany was conquered by invasion; it did not surrender solely because of bombing.][ The morale of the enemy was not significantly affected—no population that was bombed in World War II lost their will to resist,][ and it was the Emperor, not the people, who decided Japan must surrender.
Despite its failures in practice, the strategic bombing concept of targeting crucial industrial bottlenecks became in 1947 the first core doctrine of the independent ]United States Air Force
The United States Air Force (USAF) is the air service branch of the United States Armed Forces, and is one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. Originally created on 1 August 1907, as a part of the United States Army Signal ...
.[ Strategic bombing proponents continued to promote the doctrine into the nuclear age, forming the ]Strategic Air Command
Strategic Air Command (SAC) was both a United States Department of Defense Specified Command and a United States Air Force (USAF) Major Command responsible for command and control of the strategic bomber and intercontinental ballistic missile ...
to carry out a vision modified to fit the needs of the Cold War
The Cold War is a term commonly used to refer to a period of geopolitical tension between the United States and the Soviet Union and their respective allies, the Western Bloc and the Eastern Bloc. The term '' cold war'' is used because the ...
and the threat of nuclear warfare
Nuclear warfare, also known as atomic warfare, is a theoretical military conflict or prepared political strategy that deploys nuclear weaponry. Nuclear weapons are weapons of mass destruction; in contrast to conventional warfare, nuclear ...
.[
In the modern United States, Air Force strategic doctrine was redirected in the 1980s by Colonel ]John A. Warden III
John Ashley Warden III (born December 21, 1943) is a retired colonel in the United States Air Force. Warden is a graduate of the United States Air Force Academy. His Air Force career spanned 30 years, from 1965 to 1995, and included tours in Vie ...
who developed his Strategic Ring Theory, a concept of aerial attack in which a number of enemy nodes are attacked simultaneously to result in "physical paralysis" or "strategic paralysis."[ Warden's theory added fielded enemy military units and their leadership to the industrial web theory, and attacks on civilians were at most indirect ones, ]collateral damage
Collateral damage is any death, injury, or other damage inflicted that is an incidental result of an activity. Originally coined by military operations, it is now also used in non-military contexts.
Since the development of precision guided ...
, the result of targeted military and industrial nodes. However, USAF doctrine continues to emphasize the demoralization of the enemy: "Strategic attack objectives often include producing effects to demoralize the enemy’s leadership, military forces, and population, thus affecting an adversary’s capability to continue the conflict."[
]
See also
* Aerial bombardment and international law
Air warfare must comply with laws and customs of war, including international humanitarian law by protecting the victims of the conflict and refraining from attacks on protected persons.
These restraints on aerial warfare are covered by the gene ...
* Bomber mafia
The Bomber Mafia were a close-knit group of American military men who believed that long-range heavy bomber aircraft in large numbers were able to win a war. The derogatory term "Bomber Mafia" was used before and after World War II by those in t ...
* Dehousing
Frederick Lindemann, 1st Viscount Cherwell, Professor Frederick Lindemann, Baron Cherwell, the British government's chief scientific adviser, sent on 30 March 1942 to British Prime Minister Winston Churchill a memorandum which, after it was accep ...
, British area bombardment doctrine
* Strategic bombing during World War II
World War II (1939–1945) involved sustained strategic bombing of railways, harbours, cities, workers' and civilian housing, and industrial districts in enemy territory. Strategic bombing as a military strategy is distinct both from close ...
References
;Notes
;Bibliography
*Brauer, Jurgen and Hubert P. Van Tuyll. ''Castles, battles, & bombs: how economics explains military history''. University of Chicago Press, 2008.
*Hansell, Haywood S. ''The Air Plan that Defeated Hitler''. Reprint, Ayer Publishing, 1980.
*Lee, Loyd E.; Robin D. S. Higham (1997). ''World War II in Europe, Africa, and the Americas, with general sources: a handbook of literature and research''. Greenwood Publishing Group.
*Nalty, Bernard C. ''Winged Shield, Winged Sword 1907–1950: A History of the United States Air Force, Volume 1''. The Minerva Group, Inc., 2003.
{{Refend
1934 establishments in the United States
1930s neologisms
20th-century history of the United States Air Force
Industrial history of the United States
World War II strategic bombing
History of the United States Army
Military theory