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The Defence of the Reich ((ドイツ語:Reichsverteidigung)) is the name given to the strategic defensive aerial campaign fought by the ''Luftwaffe'' over German-occupied Europe and Germany itself during World War II. Its aim was to prevent the destruction of German civilians, military and civil industries by the Western Allies. The day and night air battles over Germany during war involved thousands of aircraft, units and aerial engagements to counter the Allied strategic bombing campaign. The campaign was one of the longest sustained in the history of aerial warfare. Along with the Battle of the Atlantic and the Allied blockade of Germany, it was the longest campaign during 1939–45. The ''Luftwaffe''s fighter force (''Jagdwaffe'') defended the airspace of German-occupied territory against attack, first by RAF Bomber Command, and then Bomber Command and the United States Army Air Forces (USAAF). In the early years, the ''Luftwaffe'' was able to inflict a string of defeats on Allied strategic air forces. In 1939, RAF Bomber Command was forced to operate at night as casualties to unescorted heavy bombers became too heavy. In 1943, the USAAF suffered several reverses in daylight and called off the offensive over Germany in October that year. The British built up their bomber force and introduced navigational aids and tactics such as the bomber stream that enabled them to mount larger and larger attacks with an acceptable loss rate. In February 1944, the USAAF introduced the P-51 Mustang, a fighter capable of escorting the USAAF bombers to and from their targets. By the spring of 1944, the aerial defenders of the ''Third Reich'', the ''Reichsluftverteidigung'' (RLV), were stretched to the limit and the ''Luftwaffe'' lost air superiority. By the summer of 1944, the ''Luftwaffe'' was suffering from chronic fuel shortages and a lack of trained pilots. It ceased to be an effective fighting force by 1945. The intensification of night bombing by the RAF and daylight attacks by the USAAF added to the destruction of German industries and cities which caused the economy to collapse in the winter of 1944–45. By this time, the Allied armies had reached the German border and the strategic campaign became fused with the tactical battles over the front. The air campaign continued until April 1945 when the last strategic bombing missions were flown. It ended upon the capitulation of Germany in May 1945. ==German defensive strategy== The ''Luftwaffe'' lacked an effective air defence system early in the war. Allied daylight actions over German controlled territory were sparse in 1939–1940. The responsibility of the defence of German air space fell to the ''Luftgaukommandos'' (air district commands). The defence systems relied mostly on the Anti-aircraft artillery (AAA) arm. The defences were not coordinated and communication was poor. This lack of understanding between the AAA and flying branches of the defence would plague the ''Luftwaffe'' throughout the war.〔Caldwell & Muller 2007, p. 42.〕 Adolf Hitler in particular wanted the defence to rest on AAA as it gave the civilian population a "psychological crutch" no matter how ineffective the weapons.〔Murray 1983, p. 132.〕〔Overy 1980, p. 409.〕 Germany's Ruhr region, frequently targeted by Allied raids during this time, proved particularly difficult to defend as resources became increasingly strained. Frequently, the only air units available for Ruhr defence were the ''Luftgaukommandos'', which were assigned specific objectives and lacked an effective ground-to-air control system to aid in interception of enemy aircraft.〔 On 21 September 1939, Hans Jeschonnek, the ''Luftwaffe''s Chief of Staff, clarified the role of the day fighter force in the defence of German territory. Fighter units earmarked for specific defensive tasks would remain under local air-defence command. However, all other fighter units would be organised under one of several ''Luftflotten'' (Air Fleets), which would prosecute the defence of German targets in a manner "linked directly with the strategic concept for the continued conduct of the air war". In other words, the ''Luftwaffe'' fighter force would act as both a defensive and offensive force, maintaining air superiority over enemy air space would prevent enemy attacks on German-held territory.〔Caldwell & Muller 2007, p. 43.〕 This kind of strategy worked well at the front, but it soon became clear that a lack of training, experience and coordination between the ''Fliegerdivisions'' (Flying Divisions) and the AAA arm, when dealing with strategic defensive operations, made an effective defence difficult.〔 With the AAA defences ineffective and seven ''Gruppen'' covering German air space, the vital industries were not well protected. This system remained in place for so long because the Allied air forces were too weak to take advantage of the situation.〔 Most of the battles fought by the ''Luftwaffe'' on the Western Front would be against the RAF's "Circus" raids and the occasional daylight raid into German air space. This was a fortunate position since the ''Luftwaffe's'' strategy of focusing its striking power on one front started to unravel with the failure of ''Operation Barbarossa'', the invasion of the Soviet Union. The "peripheral" strategy of the ''Luftwaffe'', advocated by Jeschonnek, had been to deploy its fighter defences at the edges of Axis occupied territory, with little protecting the inner depths.〔Caldwell & Muller 2007, p. 46.〕 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Defence of the Reich」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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