Dave Rogers
Bandaged ice that stampedes inexpensively through
The Germans were perfectly capable of bombing Prague in 1938, and it would not have been very nice for the Czechs. Churchill would not have been much help to the Czechs in that situation. There is a bit of background to the Luftwaffe at this website:
http://www.ibiblio.org/hyperwar/AAF/AAF-Luftwaffe/AAF-Luftwaffe-1.html
Interesting that you should choose an article entitled "Strategy for Defeat" to demonstrate the might of the 1938 Luftwaffe.
The fuel situation in the summer of 1938 reflects the extent of the problem. In June of that year, supplies in storage tanks could cover only 25 percent of mobilization requirements--on the average, four months of full wartime needs. Supplies of aviation lubricants were as low as 6 percent of mobilization requirements.
Not ideal for a major bombing offensive, although I would infer they had about enough for 4 weeks' effort. But then...
Concluding the 1939 spring planning effort, Felmy admitted to his subordinates that the Luftwaffe did not yet possess any of the prerequisites for a successful "strategic" bombing offensive against Great Britain.
Remind me, was 1939 before or after 1938?
And as for the effectiveness of strategic bombing in achieving overall victory:
Conversely, Captain Heye of the Seekriegsleitung (naval high command) gained a different impression after talking with Luftwaffe officers during a 1938 visit to Spain. He reported on his return to Berlin:
Disregarding the military success accompanying the Luftwaffe's use in immediate support of army operations, one gets the impression that our attacks on objects of little military importance, through which in most cases many women and children. . . were hit, are not a suitable means to break an opponent's resistance. They seem to strengthen his resistance. . . . The memory of the air attack on Guemica by the (Condor] Legion still today affects the population and permits no friendly feelings for Germany in the population of the Basques, who earlier were thoroughly friendly to Germany and in no manner Communistic.
And as for attitudes in Britain at the time of Munich:
Nevertheless, in the final analysis, fears about the Luftwaffe probably were not decisive in molding the British response to German threats before Munich. In fact, by September 1938 many leading appeasers felt that the West could beat Germany in a war,92 while the British military in late September came around to the view that "the latent resources of our Empire and the doubtful morale of our opponents under the stress of war give us confidence as to the ultimate outcome [of a war]."
All in all, this source does a great deal to utterly demolish your claim that Germany could have defeated Britain in a week at 1938 levels of military strength.
I agree that the Luftwaffe had all sorts of problems, including technical problems, but its dive bombers did a lot of damage, even in Soviet Russia.
If they'd been used to attack Britain in 1938, the only thing they would have done a lot of damage to was the North Sea when they ran out of fuel and crashed into it.
Dave