--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: We are going to scourge the Third Reich…" description: "\"We are going to scourge the Third Reich from end to end. We are bombing Germany city by city and ever more terribly in order to make it impossible for ..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/37b/sir-arthur-harris-1st-baronet_air-power_we-are-going-to-scourge-the-third-reich_1212807.jpg" --- # We are going to scourge the Third Reich from end to end… ![“We are going to scourge the Third Reich from end to end. We are bombing Germany city by city and ever more terribly in order to make it impossible for her to go in with the war. That is our object, and we shall pursue it relentlessly.” quote by Sir Arthur Harris, 1st Baronet](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/37b/sir-arthur-harris-1st-baronet_air-power_we-are-going-to-scourge-the-third-reich_1212807.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/37b/sir-arthur-harris-1st-baronet_air-power_we-are-going-to-scourge-the-third-reich_1212807.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/37b/sir-arthur-harris-1st-baronet_air-power_we-are-going-to-scourge-the-third-reich_1212807.jpg) > “We are going to scourge the Third Reich from end to end. We are bombing Germany city by city and ever more terribly in order to make it impossible for her to go in with the war. That is our object, and we shall pursue it relentlessly.” [Sir Arthur Harris, 1st Baronet](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sir-arthur-harris-1st-baronet/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The strategy is total aerial bombing of Germany to cripple its war capability, pursued without hesitation. **In simple terms:** Bomb Germany everywhere to stop its war effort. Key Takeaway Understand the moral cost of total war. Themes war strategic bombing total war Mood somber historical Type military political When to use this quote - military planning - historical analysis - ethical debate Key Concepts military ethics political strategy Questions to Reflect On - Was total bombing justified? - What alternatives existed? A Different Perspective It caused massive civilian casualties and moral controversy. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Air power](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/air-power/) [Aviation](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/aviation/) [Bombing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/bombing/) [Cities](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/cities/) [Germany](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/germany/) [Order](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/order/) [War](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/war/) ## Related quotes > [To the extent that the (ISIS's) advance is a series of urban revolts against the government of PM Nouri al-Maliki, the US would end…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/juan-cole/to-the-extent-that-the-isis-s-advance-is-a-series-of-urban-revolts/) [Juan Cole](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/juan-cole/) > [Victory, speedy and complete, awaits the side which first employs air power as it should be employed. 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But…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sir-arthur-harris-1st-baronet/war-is-a-nasty-dirty-rotten-business-it-s-all-right-for-the-navy-to/) [Sir Arthur Harris, 1st Baronet](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sir-arthur-harris-1st-baronet/) > [I will ignore all ideas for new works and engines of war, the invention of which has reached its limits and for whose improvement…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frontinus/i-will-ignore-all-ideas-for-new-works-and-engines-of-war-the/) Frontinus > [Aviation is fine as a sport. But as an instrument of war, it is worthless.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ferdinand-foch/aviation-is-fine-as-a-sport-but-as-an-instrument-of-war-it-is/) [Ferdinand Foch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ferdinand-foch/) > [I am purely evil; Hear the thrum of my evil engine; Evilly I come. The stars are thick as flowers In the meadows of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ethel-mannin/i-am-purely-evil-hear-the-thrum-of-my-evil-engine-evilly-i-come-the/) Ethel Mannin > [If we had these rockets in 1939, we should never have had this war.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adolf-hitler/if-we-had-these-rockets-in-1939-we-should-never-have-had-this-war/) [Adolf Hitler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adolf-hitler/) > [The Navy can lose us the war, but only the Air Force can win it. Therefore our supreme effort must be to gain overwhelming…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/winston-churchill/the-navy-can-lose-us-the-war-but-only-the-air-force-can-win-it/) [Winston Churchill](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/winston-churchill/) > [Why don't we just buy one airplane and let the pilots take turns flying it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/calvin-coolidge/why-don-t-we-just-buy-one-airplane-and-let-the-pilots-take-turns/) [Calvin Coolidge](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/calvin-coolidge/) > [Air power alone does not guarantee America's security, but I believe it best exploits the nation's greatest asset - our technical skill.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hoyt-vandenberg/air-power-alone-does-not-guarantee-america-s-security-but-i-believe/) Hoyt Vandenberg > ["He who wants to protect everything, protects nothing," is one of the fundamental rules of defense.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adolf-galland/he-who-wants-to-protect-everything-protects-nothing-is-one-of-the/) [Adolf Galland](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adolf-galland/) > [This strongly asserted but ill-defined license to kill without accountability is not an entitlement which the United States or other states can have without…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/philip-alston/this-strongly-asserted-but-ill-defined-license-to-kill-without/) Philip Alston > [A thing of orchestrated hell-a terrible symphony of light and flame.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-r-murrow/a-thing-of-orchestrated-hell-a-terrible-symphony-of-light-and-flame/) [Edward R. Murrow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-r-murrow/) > [There is something more important than any ultimate weapon. That is the ultimate position-the position of total control over Earth that lies somewhere out…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lyndon-b-johnson/there-is-something-more-important-than-any-ultimate-weapon-that-is/) [Lyndon B. Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lyndon-b-johnson/) ## More by Sir Arthur Harris, 1st Baronet > [The enzyme beta-glucoronidase is necessary to ...'trigger off'.. laetrile…after the laetrile injection, we injected directly into the tumor...beta-glucoronidase. The result was white slough which…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sir-arthur-harris-1st-baronet/the-enzyme-beta-glucoronidase-is-necessary-to-trigger-off-laetrile/) [Sir Arthur Harris, 1st Baronet](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sir-arthur-harris-1st-baronet/) > [...HH Beard has perfected ...3 excellent (urine) cancer tests, all of proven accuracy of 95% or better… in 1942 and onwards.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sir-arthur-harris-1st-baronet/hh-beard-has-perfected-3-excellent-urine-cancer-tests-all-of-proven/) [Sir Arthur Harris, 1st Baronet](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sir-arthur-harris-1st-baronet/) > [Attacks on cities are strategically justified in so far as they tend to shorten the war and so preserve the lives of allied soldiers.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sir-arthur-harris-1st-baronet/attacks-on-cities-are-strategically-justified-in-so-far-as-they-tend/) [Sir Arthur Harris, 1st Baronet](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sir-arthur-harris-1st-baronet/) > [Dresden? There is not such a place any longer." "I want to point out, that besides Essen, we never actually considered any particular industrial…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sir-arthur-harris-1st-baronet/dresden-there-is-not-such-a-place-any-longer-i-want-to-point-out-that/) [Sir Arthur Harris, 1st Baronet](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sir-arthur-harris-1st-baronet/) > [The Nazis entered this war under the rather childish delusion that they were going to bomb everyone else, and nobody was going to bomb…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sir-arthur-harris-1st-baronet/the-nazis-entered-this-war-under-the-rather-childish-delusion-that/) [Sir Arthur Harris, 1st Baronet](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sir-arthur-harris-1st-baronet/) > [Victory, speedy and complete, awaits the side that employs air power as it should be employed.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sir-arthur-harris-1st-baronet/victory-speedy-and-complete-awaits-the-side-that-employs-air-power-as/) [Sir Arthur Harris, 1st Baronet](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sir-arthur-harris-1st-baronet/) > [War is a nasty, dirty, rotten business. It's all right for the Navy to blockade a city, to starve the inhabitants to death. But…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sir-arthur-harris-1st-baronet/war-is-a-nasty-dirty-rotten-business-it-s-all-right-for-the-navy-to/) [Sir Arthur Harris, 1st Baronet](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sir-arthur-harris-1st-baronet/) > [In spite of all that happened at Hamburg, bombing proved a relatively humane method.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sir-arthur-harris-1st-baronet/in-spite-of-all-that-happened-at-hamburg-bombing-proved-a-relatively/) [Sir Arthur Harris, 1st Baronet](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sir-arthur-harris-1st-baronet/) > [I do not personally regard the whole of the remaining cities of Germany as worth the bones of one British Grenadier. It therefore seems…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sir-arthur-harris-1st-baronet/i-do-not-personally-regard-the-whole-of-the-remaining-cities-of/) [Sir Arthur Harris, 1st Baronet](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sir-arthur-harris-1st-baronet/) > [There are a lot of people who say that bombing cannot win the war. My reply to that is that it has never been…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sir-arthur-harris-1st-baronet/there-are-a-lot-of-people-who-say-that-bombing-cannot-win-the-war-my/) [Sir Arthur Harris, 1st Baronet](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sir-arthur-harris-1st-baronet/) > [Victory, speedy and complete, awaits the side which first employs air power as it should be employed. Germany, entangled in the meshes of vast…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sir-arthur-harris-1st-baronet/victory-speedy-and-complete-awaits-the-side-which-first-employs-air/) [Sir Arthur Harris, 1st Baronet](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sir-arthur-harris-1st-baronet/) [Explore all 12 Sir Arthur Harris, 1st Baronet quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sir-arthur-harris-1st-baronet/) ## More Air power quotes > [There is something more important than any ultimate weapon. That is the ultimate position-the position of total control over Earth that lies somewhere out…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lyndon-b-johnson/there-is-something-more-important-than-any-ultimate-weapon-that-is/) [Lyndon B. Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lyndon-b-johnson/) > [A thing of orchestrated hell-a terrible symphony of light and flame.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-r-murrow/a-thing-of-orchestrated-hell-a-terrible-symphony-of-light-and-flame/) [Edward R. Murrow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-r-murrow/) > [This strongly asserted but ill-defined license to kill without accountability is not an entitlement which the United States or other states can have without…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/philip-alston/this-strongly-asserted-but-ill-defined-license-to-kill-without/) Philip Alston > [Air power is new to all our countries. It brings advantages to some and weakens others; it calls for readjustment everywhere.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-lindbergh/air-power-is-new-to-all-our-countries-it-brings-advantages-to-some/) [Charles Lindbergh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-lindbergh/) > [“Smith proposed not to use air power, but to employ an ad hoc group to open Mount Igman road into Sarajevo. This was the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jan-willem-honig/smith-proposed-not-to-use-air-power-but-to-employ-an-ad-hoc-group-to/) [Jan Willem Honig](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jan-willem-honig/) > [Air power and military are meant to fight the enemy and not your own citizens... How do you differentiate a Maoist?... It will create…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kishore-chandra-deo/air-power-and-military-are-meant-to-fight-the-enemy-and-not-your-own/) [Kishore Chandra Deo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kishore-chandra-deo/) > [Air power will not defeat ISIS. It has not been able to deny ISIS freedom of maneuver and the ability to attack at will.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jack-keane/air-power-will-not-defeat-isis-it-has-not-been-able-to-deny-isis/) [Jack Keane](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jack-keane/) > ["He who wants to protect everything, protects nothing," is one of the fundamental rules of defense.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adolf-galland/he-who-wants-to-protect-everything-protects-nothing-is-one-of-the/) [Adolf Galland](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adolf-galland/) > [Air power alone does not guarantee America's security, but I believe it best exploits the nation's greatest asset - our technical skill.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hoyt-vandenberg/air-power-alone-does-not-guarantee-america-s-security-but-i-believe/) Hoyt Vandenberg > [Why don't we just buy one airplane and let the pilots take turns flying it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/calvin-coolidge/why-don-t-we-just-buy-one-airplane-and-let-the-pilots-take-turns/) [Calvin Coolidge](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/calvin-coolidge/) > [The Navy can lose us the war, but only the Air Force can win it. Therefore our supreme effort must be to gain overwhelming…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/winston-churchill/the-navy-can-lose-us-the-war-but-only-the-air-force-can-win-it/) [Winston Churchill](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/winston-churchill/) > [If we had these rockets in 1939, we should never have had this war.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adolf-hitler/if-we-had-these-rockets-in-1939-we-should-never-have-had-this-war/) [Adolf Hitler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adolf-hitler/) > [I am purely evil; Hear the thrum of my evil engine; Evilly I come. The stars are thick as flowers In the meadows of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ethel-mannin/i-am-purely-evil-hear-the-thrum-of-my-evil-engine-evilly-i-come-the/) Ethel Mannin > [If we maintain our faith in God, love of freedom, and superior global air power, the future looks good.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/curtis-lemay/if-we-maintain-our-faith-in-god-love-of-freedom-and-superior-global/) [Curtis LeMay](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/curtis-lemay/) > [This counter-terrorism campaign will be waged through a steady, relentless effort to take out Isil wherever they exist, using our air power and our…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barack-obama/this-counter-terrorism-campaign-will-be-waged-through-a-steady/) [Barack Obama](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barack-obama/) [Browse all 114 Air power quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/air-power/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "We are going to scourge the Third Reich from end to end. 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