air forces: Evolution of the Modern Air Force

As the effectiveness of aircraft as a tactical weapon increased, consideration was given to the establishment of air forces independent of a nation's ground forces. After the war a few allied strategists, including Giulio Douhet and others, such as Gen. William Mitchell of the United States, fought for the intensive development of airpower and pleaded for large air forces, arguing that future wars would be won by strategic bombardment of an enemy's industrial centers, thereby destroying the economic means of conducting a war. In the 1920s and 1930s the French, British, and Italians used airplanes for reconnaissance and strategic bombing in colonial wars in Africa, the Middle East, and India. These experiences, combined with the rapid and extensive advances in aeronautical technique that followed World War I, resulted in a much broader application of airpower in World War II.

Sections in this article:

• Introduction
• Postwar Use of Airpower
• During World War II
• Evolution of the Modern Air Force
• Early Military Use of Aircraft
• Bibliography

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