Zeppelin airships were used by Germany to attack its enemies on all fronts during the First World War (1914-18). Bombing raids, usually conducted at night, targeted key infrastructure like railways and docks, dropping both explosive and incendiary bombs. For the first time in warfare, it was possible to bypass a nation's armed forces and attack the civilian population directly, opening up a new 'front', what became known as the Home Front. The bombing raids caused damage and 4,000 casualties, but, due to technical and numerical limitations, and the threat from ever-improving airplanes, the Zeppelins, despite all the propaganda issued throughout the conflict, actually did little to reduce the enemy's war production or seriously affect civilian morale.
This is a companion discussion topic for the original content at https://www.worldhistory.org/article/2751/the-zeppelin-bombing-raids-of-wwi/.