26 Facts About Giulio Douhet

General Giulio Douhet was an Italian general and air power theorist.

Giulio Douhet was a key proponent of strategic bombing in aerial warfare.

Giulio Douhet was a contemporary of the air warfare advocates Walther Wever, Billy Mitchell, and Hugh Trenchard.

Giulio Douhet believed that by inflicting enough terror and destruction from the air, the morale of the civilian population would collapse, forcing the enemy government to capitulate.

Giulio Douhet's theories were critically examined during his time, although the actual effectiveness of such strategies remains debated.

Giulio Douhet saw the pitfalls of allowing air power to be fettered by ground commanders and began to advocate the creation of a separate air arm commanded by airmen.

Giulio Douhet teamed up with the young aircraft engineer Gianni Caproni to extol the virtues of air power in the years ahead.

Giulio Douhet wrote a report on the aviation lessons learned in which he suggested high altitude bombing should be the primary role of aircraft.

However, Giulio Douhet's preaching on air power marked him as a radical.

When World War I began, Giulio Douhet began to call for Italy to launch a massive military build-up, particularly in aircraft.

When Italy entered the war in 1915 Giulio Douhet was shocked by the army's incompetence and unpreparedness.

Giulio Douhet proposed a force of 500 bombers that could drop 125 tons of bombs daily to break the bloody stalemate with Austria, but he was ignored.

Giulio Douhet corresponded with his superiors and government officials, criticising the conduct of the war and advocating an air power solution.

Giulio Douhet was court-martialed and was imprisoned for one year for criticizing Italian military leaders in a memorandum to the cabinet.

Giulio Douhet continued to write about air power from his cell, finishing a novel on air power and proposing a massive Allied fleet of aircraft in communications to ministers.

Giulio Douhet was released and returned to duty shortly after the disastrous Battle of Caporetto in 1917.

Giulio Douhet was recalled to service in 1918 to serve as head of the Italian Central Aeronautic Bureau.

Giulio Douhet was exonerated in 1920 and promoted to general officer in 1921.

Except for a few months as the head of aviation in Benito Mussolini's government in 1922, Giulio Douhet spent much of the rest of his life theorizing about the impact of military air power.

Giulio Douhet died of a heart attack in 1930 in Rome, Italy.

The last category was particularly important to Giulio Douhet, who believed in the principle of total war.

The chief strategy laid out in his writings, the Giulio Douhet model, is pivotal in debates regarding the use of air power and bombing campaigns.

The Giulio Douhet model rests on the belief that in a conflict, the infliction of high costs from aerial bombing can shatter civilian morale.

Giulio Douhet proposed an independent air force composed primarily of long-range load-carrying bombers.

Giulio Douhet believed interception of these bombers was unlikely, but allowed for a force of escort aircraft to ward off interceptors.

Giulio Douhet's was an apocalyptic vision that gripped the popular imagination.