How the Allies Went From 10% Losses to Total Air Dominance

Video Description

Begin the full course now at https://bit.ly/2HUwedg to watch the other free lectures, including an introduction from Larry P. Arnn. This is the second lecture in our free online course on World War II featuring military historian Victor Davis Hanson. World War II, the greatest armed conflict in human history, encompassed global fighting in unprecedented ways. This course analyzes Allied and Axis investments and strategies that led one side to win and the other to lose. It also considers how the war’s diverse theaters, belligerents, and ways of fighting came eventually to define a single war. Hillsdale College is an independent institution of higher learning founded in 1844 by men and women “grateful to God for the inestimable blessings” resulting from civil and religious liberty and “believing that the diffusion of learning is essential to the perpetuity of these blessings.” It pursues the stated object of the founders: “to furnish all persons who wish, irrespective of nation, color, or sex, a literary, scientific, [and] theological education” outstanding among American colleges “and to combine with this such moral and social instruction as will best develop the minds and improve the hearts of its pupils.” As a nonsectarian Christian institution, Hillsdale College maintains “by precept and example” the immemorial teachings and practices of the Christian faith. The College also considers itself a trustee of our Western philosophical and theological inheritance tracing to Athens and Jerusalem, a heritage finding its clearest expression in the American experiment of self-government under law. By training the young in the liberal arts, Hillsdale College prepares students to become leaders worthy of that legacy. By encouraging the scholarship of its faculty, it contributes to the preservation of that legacy for future generations. By publicly defending that legacy, it enlists the aid of other friends of free civilization and thus secures the conditions of its own survival and independence. Timecodes 00:00 Introduction 0:59 Air Power in WWII: Key Concepts & Theories 4:05 Why Germany's Early Air Victories Were Misleading 7:45 The Allies vs. the Axis: Two Very Different Approaches to Air Power 12:34 Germany's Fatal Mistake: Never Building a Four-Engine Bomber 15:23 The Allied Strategic Bombing Advantage 19:00 The Air War Turns: Allied Fighters Match & Surpass the Luftwaffe 22:50 Strategic Bombing: Did It Actually Work? 28:35 Germany's Last Gamble: Jets, V1 & V2 Rockets 35:17 The B-29 & the Firebombing of Japan 43:56 The Atomic Bombs: Why They Were Used & What They Prevented