Hiroshima and Nagasaki
Overview
Atomic Bombs
On 6 August 1945, the US detonated an atomic bomb over the Japanese city of Hiroshima in the first nuclear attack in history. The atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki were partly in reaction to the U.S. casualties suffered in the Iwo Jima and Okinawa Campaigns. In a press release issued after the atomic bombing of Hiroshima, President Harry S. Truman warned Japan to surrender or “expect a rain of ruin from the air, the like of which has never been seen on this Earth.” Three days later, on 9 August, the US dropped another atomic bomb on Nagasaki, which has been the last nuclear attack to date. Between 140,000 and 240,000 people died as a direct result of these two bombings.
Learning Objectives
- Analyze the decision to drop the atomic bombs and discuss the aftermath of World War II.
Key Terms / Key Concepts
Iwo Jima and Okinawa Campaigns: U.S. campaigns for theses Japanese-held islands near the Japanese home islands in the first half of 1945 the length and heavy casualties of each hinting at the high cost of an invasion of the Japanese home islands, which led to the decision to detonate atomic bombs over Hiroshima
atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki: U.S. detonation of atomic bombs over Hiroshima on 6 August 1945 and Nagasaki on 9 August 1945, which forced Japan to surrender, ended World War II, and ushered in the atomic age
The necessity of atomic bombings has long been debated, with detractors claiming that a naval blockade and incendiary bombing campaign had already made invasion and, therefore, the atomic bomb was unnecessary. However, other scholars have argued that the atomic bombings shocked the Japanese government into surrender, with the Emperor finally indicating his wish to stop the war. Another argument in favor of the atomic bombs is that they helped avoid a costly invasion, or a prolonged blockade and conventional bombing campaign, either of which would have exacted much higher casualties among Japanese civilians.
Soviet Entry into the War against Japan
In February 1945 during the Yalta Conference the Soviet Union had agreed to enter the war against Japan 90 days after the surrender of Germany. At the time Soviet participation was seen as crucial to tie down the large number of Japanese forces in Manchuria and Korea, keeping them from being transferred to the Home Islands to mount a defense to an invasion. On 9 August, exactly on schedule, 90 days after the war ended in Europe and with the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, the Soviet Union entered the war by invading Manchuria. A battle-hardened, one million-strong Soviet force, transferred from Europe, attacked Japanese forces in Manchuria and landed a heavy blow against the Japanese Kantōgun (Kwantung Army). This was the last campaign of the Second World War and the largest of the 1945 Soviet–Japanese War, which resumed hostilities between the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics and the Empire of Japan after almost six years of peace.
Learning Objectives
- Analyze the relations between Britain, the United States, and the Soviet Union as they developed during the Tehran Conference, the Yalta Conference, and the Potsdam Conference.
Key Terms / Key Concepts
Yalta Conferencre: February 1945 conference of Allied leaders to discuss the reorganization of Germany and Europe
atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki: U.S. detonation of atomic bombs over Hiroshima on 6 August 1945 and Nagasaki on 9 August 1945, which forced Japan to surrender, ended World War II, and ushered in the atomic age
Soviet gains on the continent were Manchukuo, Mengjiang (Inner Mongolia) and northern Korea. The USSR's entry into the war was a significant factor in the Japanese decision to surrender as it became apparent the Soviet Union were no longer willing to act as an intermediary for a negotiated settlement on favorable terms.
In latter half of 1945, the Soviets also launched a series of successful invasions of the northern Japanese territories of southern Sakhalin Island and the Kuril Islands, in preparation for the possible invasion of the Japanese island of Hokkaido, the northern most Japanese island. These Soviet invasions were as much about consolidating the Soviet strategic position in northeast Asia as it was about defeating the Japanese. After the dissolution of the Soviet Union the Russian Federation retained control of these islands.
Japan's Surrender
The atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, along with the Soviet war declaration forced Japan to surrender. On August 10, 1945 the Japanese Cabinet accepted the Potsdam terms on one condition: the “prerogative of His Majesty as a Sovereign Ruler.” At noon on August 15, after the U.S. government's intentionally ambiguous reply, stating that the “authority” of the emperor “shall be subject to the Supreme Commander of the Allied Powers,” Emperor Hirohito broadcast to the nation and to the world at large the rescript of surrender, ending the Second World War: “Should we continue to fight, it would not only result in an ultimate collapse and obliteration of the Japanese nation, but also it would lead to the total extinction of human civilization.” On 2 September 1945 General Douglas MacArthur as Allied Supreme Commander, representatives of the other Allied nations with a presence in the Pacific, and the Japanese delegation signed the surrender documents. Following this period, MacArthur went to Tokyo to oversee the post-war development of the country. This period in Japanese history is known as the occupation.
Learning Objectives
- Analyze the decision to drop the atomic bombs and discuss the aftermath of World War II.
Key Term / Key Concepts
atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki: U.S. detonation of atomic bombs over Hiroshima on 6 August 1945 and Nagasaki on 9 August 1945, which forced Japan to surrender, ended World War II, and ushered in the atomic age
Japan's surrender marked the end of the Second World War. The weapons and tactics used to force Japan's surrender illustrated a number of ways in which warfare had changed during World War II. High altitude strategic bombing of Japanese cities such as Tokyo by the new U.S. B-29 bombers reflected the strategic bombing that would be one of the defining threats of the Cold War. The Soviet conquest of Manchuria, among other Japanese colonial possessions innortheastern Asia, in the latter half of 1945, at the end of World War II, foreshadowed the competition for territory and influence in northeastern Asia between the U.S. and the U.S.S.R. in the Cold War. The detonation of atomic bombs over Hiroshima and Nagasaki embodied the existential nature of the Second World War; sections of both cities were obliterated, as was the militaristic regime that had ruled Japan throughout the war.
The literal impact of the atomic detonations over Hitoshima and Nagasaki carried within them the limits that would be placed on any usage of these weapons in future wars, first and foremost among them, the Cold War with what would become the threat of mutually assured destruction (MAD) in the form of arsenals of nuclear weapons and their delivery systems constructed and mobilized by the U.S. and the Soviet Union. Atomic weapons also reflected the limits on progress for humanity. World War II had been symmetrical a conflict, with most of the participants using the same kinds of weapons, tactics, strategies, and organizational infrastructure. A number of wars after the Second World War have been asymmetrical conflicts, much more difficult to resolve in the simple ways World War II was. There was the sense after World War II that progress could continue, particularly undership the leadership of the Western Allied powers. As events since the Second World War have demonstrated, progress is not inevitable.
Attributions
Images Courtesy of Wikipedia Commons
Title Image: photo of Hiroshima after atomic bombing, signed by Tibbets. Attribution: U.S. Navy Public Affairs Resources Website, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons. Provided by: Wikipedia Commons. Location: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Hiroshima_aftermath.jpg. License: Creative Commons CC0 License.
Boundless World History
"The End of the War"
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