Douhet and the postwar case for attacking civilians

Was the idea of bombing civilian societies into submission dismissed after the First World War?

No. Douhet and other interwar theorists retained the idea, even advocating chemical and biological attacks, while fear of retaliation constrained wartime use.

The idea of bombing civilian populations into submission survived the First World War in Giulio Douhet's air-power theory. Douhet advocated direct attacks on civilians, including chemical and biological warfare. This account links such thinking to the large stocks of those weapons held by Second World War combatants. Fear of retaliation in kind is offered as the explanation for their restraint.