Breaking the civilian population with brute force is rarely working. See the battle of Britain, the bombs in London or the carpet bombing over Germany. It only leads to people digging in and becoming determined. Yet, little assaults like the drone one to keep the war uncomfortably close and spread a lingering feeling of insecurity might work.

[–] Entropywins@kbin.social 9 points 2 years ago

Actually it did effect the German population and they learned the war was lost and over. Also the Dutch gave up after some carpet bombing during wwii. I'd also present Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Breaking the civilian population is a goal and is often attained in total war imho...

[–] snooggums@kbin.social 7 points 2 years ago (1 children)

As a response to an invasion, sure.

As a result of doing dumb shit your country started? Not so much.

[–] cryball@sopuli.xyz 3 points 2 years ago* (last edited 2 years ago)

This! Britain, Germany etc. didn't have a reasonable exit strategy for avoiding the bombing. There is a potential exit for russia.

Russian population has to understand at some level, that these events are a result of actions russia has taken in a foreign country. They didn't happen before russian leadership dragged the country into this mess. The west has also given clear signals that the sanctions and military support are a direct result of russian actions. Their magnitude is driven by russian actions and escalation.

This is a form of backlash instead of oppression. Backlash is for signaling that what you're doing is a bad idea. The other is completely different.

[–] Moonguide@lemmy.world 7 points 2 years ago

Yeah, I can only remember what I read about how the attitudes of the men on the frontlines of the first world war changed after the leaders obligated a dehumanized view of each other following the first christmas truce. This very well could have the opposite effect.

[–] Hank@kbin.social 6 points 2 years ago* (last edited 2 years ago) (1 children)

My ADHD riddled mind literally just before I got here sent me down the Wikipedia rabbit hole of the history of bombers. There was this millennium fucking thing where over 1000 bombers bombed the shit out of the city of Cologne in like 1943. On Wikipedia it was stated that the expected demoralization of the public didn't happen but instead it increased solidarity between the public and the military.

[–] psycho_driver@lemmy.world 2 points 2 years ago

One of the only times war can be morally justified is in defense of your homeland. Another would be stopping genocidal actions by the other side.