Popular support for the war effort, and its consequent devastation, should have produced a lasting hatred of war and nationalism. While some social organisations have led the movement to abolish war and modern weaponry, the social support for total war has remained and, in recent years, is growing. Government and social suppression of pacifism and anti-war views is a significant factor in contributing to the deterioration of international relations, including war. The memory of the war is also a dangerous site for contemporary society, for if it avoids discussion of the worst aspects of the Second World War, it may enable future conflicts. After we have abandoned the fallacy of the air war’s necessity in the Second World War, we may be able to accept that targeting civilians is criminal behaviour, and not any form of victory that we would like to achieve.