Bombing to Surrender: The Contribution of Airpower to the Collapse of Italy, 1943

Throughout this first century of airpower, military theorists have proposed numerous schemes as the best use of airpower. Airmen of many nations tried and tested these theories in wars large and small, and they have learned, ignored, or forgotten many lessons. Of the four major coercive mechanisms available to airpower -- punishment, risk, military denial, and decapitation -- Robert Pape in Bombing to Win: Air Power and Coercion in War concludes that military denial is the best use of airpower. Furthermore, Pape argues that recent technological advances only enhance the military denial mechanism. In his appendix, Pape categorizes the Italian example as another case of successful military denial.