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???? PIX to support the channel: ▶ [email protected] The air campaign over Germany introduced a dark new dimension to the fighting during World War II. This was now all-out war, a savage new era in which technology would lead the way as each side fought for supremacy. The Allies developed new weapons and devised new tactics as the war moved closer to the heart of the Reich. Now the Germans were forced to respond in a desperate attempt to protect their vulnerable cities and towns. Like the other major nations, Germany had experimented with various uses of aircraft before World War I. When war finally broke out, Germany used aircraft primarily in the role of spotter and artillery spotter, as they had not yet developed their own military aircraft, but they did have the use of the huge airships that would soon be put to good use. The airships were under the control of the military air service and were used to bomb enemy territory. Because most early aircraft were slow, airships could outrun some enemy aircraft and operate at greater heights and distances. As the war progressed, however, and aircraft became faster and began to carry weapons, airships became more vulnerable, and by 1917 they were practically obsolete, as the Allies were shooting down more and more of them. It was the Germans who developed their first true bomber, which joined their already growing number of fighter aircraft. What caused the downfall of an air force that was in many ways vastly superior to the Allies in WWII? Was there a distinct turning point that caused Germany's air arsenal to become powerless against the combined might of Britain, America, and the Soviet Union? What exactly caused the failure of the Luftwaffe?