The Command of the Air

The Command of the Air
Unknown authorUnknown author · Public domain · source
Name	The Command of the Air
Author	Giulio Douhet
Country	Italy
Language	Italian
Subject	Air power
Publisher	Unknown (original editions various)
Pub date	1921

The Command of the Air is a seminal interwar treatise advocating decisive aerial supremacy as the core of modern conflict. Written by Giulio Douhet after World War I, it argues that control of the skies enables strategic bombing to break national morale and render land forces secondary, influencing thinkers across Royal Air Force, United States Army Air Corps, and Regia Aeronautica. The work shaped interwar debates among figures such as Hugh Trenchard, Billy Mitchell, Giulio Douhet (dup) and institutions like the Air Ministry and United States Army Air Forces.

Overview and Thesis

Douhet contends that aircraft, once granted freedom of action, can strike vital centers, forcing political capitulation; therefore, establishing air superiority — the titular command — is a prerequisite for victory. The thesis intersects with theories advanced by Hermann Göring's contemporaries, debated by Winston Churchill, analyzed alongside Basil Liddell Hart and contrasted with proponents in John Boyd's later work. Douhet situates strategic bombing as decisive in the same conversation that includes Alfred Thayer Mahan, Helmuth von Moltke the Elder, and Antoine-Henri Jomini on decisive means.

Historical Context and Development

The text emerges from the aftermath of World War I, reflecting lessons from the Battle of Britain's precursors and proposals seen during the Paris Peace Conference (1919). Douhet’s ideas developed amid debates involving Giulio Douhet (person), Italian Fascist Party, Benito Mussolini, and air advocates inside the Royal Flying Corps and Aéronautique Militaire. The treatise circulated alongside contemporaneous works by Giulio Ghetti and responses from critics such as Ernst Udet and voices in Imperial Japanese Army Air Service circles. Douhet drew on events like the Italian-Turkish War and observations of Paris raids to argue for independent air doctrine.

Principles of Air Power

Core principles include the primacy of offensive action, concentration of force, and the moral effect of bombing on civilian populations and leadership. These precepts echo strategic thought from Clausewitz, filtered through interwar practitioners including Billy Mitchell, Hugh Trenchard, and theorists at the Air War College and École Supérieure de Guerre. Douhet advocates for the creation of a national air force separate from army bureaucracies, a debate mirrored in reforms at institutions such as the Royal Air Force, United States Air Force, and Luftwaffe. He emphasizes technological trends exemplified by manufacturers like Sikorsky, Fokker, and Breguet and the role of platforms such as the Handley Page and Savoia-Marchetti.

Strategic and Tactical Implications

Strategically, Douhet predicts that strategic bombing campaigns aimed at capital cities, industry, and transportation hubs will decapitate adversaries, an assertion that influenced planning for campaigns like Operation Millennium, Operation Gomorrah, and Operation Tidal Wave. Tactically, he stresses massed bomber formations, aircrew training standards seen in RAF Bomber Command and VIII Bomber Command, and escorts developed by units like Fighter Command and Eighth Air Force. The interplay with naval strategy involved debates with proponents of aircraft carrier doctrine represented by Chester Nimitz, Isoroku Yamamoto, and William "Bull" Halsey Jr..

Case Studies and Applications

Douhet’s logic was tested in examples ranging from Spanish Civil War bombardments to World War II strategic campaigns such as The Blitz, Bombing of Dresden, Strategic bombing of Germany, and Bombing of Tokyo (1945). Air commanders including Arthur Harris, Carl Andrew Spaatz, and Curtis LeMay implemented doctrines that partially reflected Douhetian emphasis on morale and infrastructure targeting. Counterexamples involve failures like the Bombing of Guernica and interdiction challenges faced during the Vietnam War and Korean War, where air supremacy did not guarantee strategic success against adversaries such as Ho Chi Minh’s forces or Kim Il-sung’s troops.

Influence on Military Doctrine and Policy

The treatise shaped doctrine in organizations such as the United States Air Force, Royal Air Force, Luftwaffe, and Regia Aeronautica, informing institutions like the Air War College, RAF Staff College, and United States Army War College. Its influence extended into policy arenas involving figures including Franklin D. Roosevelt, Harry S. Truman, Winston Churchill, and Benito Mussolini and impacted arms-development programs at firms like Boeing, Lockheed, and Northrop. Cold War strategies including Mutual Assured Destruction debates and planning at Strategic Air Command show Douhet’s legacy in nuclear-era thinking alongside theorists such as Bernard Brodie and Henry Kissinger.

Criticisms and Controversies

Critics argue Douhet overestimated bombing’s capacity to break will, citing ethical concerns raised after incidents like Bombing of Hamburg (1943) and legal debates culminating in instruments such as the Geneva Conventions amendments and discussions at Nuremberg Trials. Opponents including Basil Liddell Hart, John Keegan, and political leaders in Washington, D.C. and London emphasize the resilience shown in Stalingrad and insurgent campaigns like those led by Mao Zedong and Vo Nguyen Giap. Scholars from institutions such as RAND Corporation and International Committee of the Red Cross critique assumptions about civilian morale, while operational lessons from Operation Desert Storm, NATO bombing of Yugoslavia, and Operation Allied Force continue to fuel debate.

Category:Air power theory