In WW1 in OTL the trench warfare on the western front because such a frustrating stalemate that both sides were willing to invest enormous resources on finding a breakthrough.
The Germans tried mustard gas and unrestricted submarine warfare.
The British/French began experimenting with tanks.
Initially these had some shock value but eventually the British pilots and ground gunners perfected techniques that brought the raids to an end.
The first Zeppelins had an operating ceiling of about 14000 ft, a speed of about 135km and could carry about 2000 kg of explosives
(not a bad payload for the time).
Towards the end of the war the Germans began experiments with special "Height Climber" airships but the war ended before they
could be fully exploited. There were even plans to do long distance bombing raids over New York!
(Interesting article here
http://sped2work.tripod.com/zeppelins.html )
My question is,
would it have been possible to take the resources that they put into the U-Boat program and put that same effort into building a fleet of Super Zepplins?
What do I mean by "Super Zeppelins"?
Well my understanding of the B-29 Super-fortress project was that it was designed to make a plane that could fly at a superior altitude to any enemy fighters.
i.e.
Fly so high that the enemy couldnt touch you whilst you deliver bomb loads with impunity.
Would it be possible, in say 1915/1916 for the Germans to build a Zeppelin (with all the necessary pressurization equipment) that could fly at
30,000 ft?
Also keep in mind that a Zeppelin has the ability to stop more or less stationery relative to a ground target, allowing the crew to deliver bomb loads with close to pin point accuracy.
If Germany had a fleet of two or three hundred of these Super Z's raiding England and Scotland with impunity what would be the effect on the British involvement in the war?
Questions about an Armistice would have to be asked.
The other factor in favor of a Super Z strategy is that it means no unrestricted U-Boat warfare and therefore no USA entry into the war.
Thoughts and critique?