Bombardment

Bombardment

A bombardment is an attack by artillery fire directed against fortifications, troops or towns and buildings. In its strict sense the term is only applied to the bombardment of defenceless or undefended objects, houses, public buildings, etc., by an assailant with the object of disheartening his opponent, and specially to force the civil population and authorities of a besieged place to persuade their military commander to capitulate before the actual defences of the place have been reduced to impotence. The practice was especially common during the 19th century; during the 20th century the tactic was largely superseded by the use of aircraft and missiles in various ways, under the general term "bombing".

Bombardment can only achieve its objective when the amount of suffering inflicted upon non-combatants is sufficient to break down their resolution, and when the commander permits himself to be influenced or coerced by the sufferers. A threat of bombardment will sometimes induce the target to surrender, but instances of its fulfillment being followed by success are rare; in general, with a determined commander, bombardments fail in their objective. Further, intentionally intense fire at a large target, unlike the slow, steady and minutely accurate artillery attacks directed upon the fortifications, requires the expenditure of large quantities of ammunition and wears out the guns of the attack. Bombardments are, however, frequently resorted to in order to test the temper of the garrison and the civil population, a notable instance being the Siege of Strasbourg in 1870. The term has evolved during the twentieth century to incorporate boarder massed artillery attacks by one army against another, for example the front wide bombardment prior to the 1916 attack on the Somme or the massed bombardments proceeding Operation Uranus during the second world war. The term was previously often loosely employed to describe artillery attacks upon forts or fortified positions in preparation for assaults by infantry.

References

*1911

ee also

*Distance in military affairs


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  • Bombardment — Bom*bard ment, n. [F. bombardement.] An attack upon a fortress or fortified town, with shells, hot shot, rockets, etc.; the act of throwing bombs and shot into a town or fortified place. [1913 Webster] || …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • bombardment — index barrage, discharge (shot), onset (assault) Burton s Legal Thesaurus. William C. Burton. 2006 …   Law dictionary

  • bombardment — noun ADJECTIVE ▪ constant, continuous ▪ heavy, intense, massive ▪ aerial, air, artillery, naval …   Collocations dictionary

  • bombardment — UK [bɒmˈbɑː(r)dmənt] / US [bɑmˈbɑrdmənt] noun [countable/uncountable] Word forms bombardment : singular bombardment plural bombardments 1) an attack on a place made by dropping bombs from planes or by firing large guns for a long time There was… …   English dictionary

  • bombardment — bom|bard|ment [ bam bardmənt ] noun count or uncount 1. ) an attack on a place made by dropping bombs from airplanes or by firing large guns for a long time: There was much anger over the bombardment of the capital city. aerial/artillery… …   Usage of the words and phrases in modern English

  • bombardment — [[t]bɒ̱mbɑ͟ː(r)dmənt[/t]] bombardments 1) N VAR: usu with supp A bombardment is a strong and continuous attack of gunfire or bombing. The city has been flattened by heavy artillery bombardments... The capital is still under constant bombardment… …   English dictionary

  • bombardment — n. 1) to conduct a bombardment 2) air; intensive bombardment * * * [bɒm bɑːdmənt] intensive air to conduct a bombardment …   Combinatory dictionary

  • bombardment — bom|bard|ment [bɔmˈba:dmənt US ba:mˈba:rd ] n [U and C] a continuous attack on a place by big guns and bombs ▪ The bombardment continued for a terrible nine hours. aerial/artillery/naval bombardment (=attack from the air, land, or sea) ▪ The… …   Dictionary of contemporary English

  • bombardment — noun (U) a continuous attack on a place by big guns and bombs: Sarajevo is coming under heavy bombardment from Serb forces. | aerial bombardment (=attack by planes dropping bombs) …   Longman dictionary of contemporary English

  • bombardment — apšaudymas statusas T sritis fizika atitikmenys: angl. bombardment vok. Beschießung, f; Beschuß, m; Bombardierung, f rus. бомбардировка, f pranc. bombardement, m …   Fizikos terminų žodynas

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