Giulio DouhetArticle Free Pass Trained as an artillery officer,
from 1912 to 1915 Douhet served as commander of the Aeronautical
Battalion, Italy’s first aviation unit (also the first to
practice aerial bombardment, in Libya during Italy’s war with
Turkey, 1911–12). Largely because of his efforts, the three-
engine Caproni bomber was ready for use by the time Italy
entered World War I. He soon grasped the potential of air power
and at every opportunity expounded his theories. His severe
criticism of the conduct of the war resulted in his court-
martial, imprisonment, and retirement. But investigation of the
Italian defeat at Caporetto in 1917 justified his criticisms;
his conviction was reversed, and he was appointed head of the
aviation service. Douhet’s most noted book is Il dominio
dell’aria (1921; The Command of the Air, 1942). He challenged
the violent opposition it aroused until strategic air power
became an accepted part of military thinking. Although
technological developments have made some of his idea