The bombing of Hiroshima & Nagasaki (new)

introduction:

World war 2 has begun in september 1st 1939 and lasted until september 2nd 1945. The war involved almost every country in the world, including: Europe, Pacific, Atlantic, South-East Asia, China, Middle East, Mediterranean, North Africa and Horn of Africa, briefly North and South America.

Until 1941 the war focused only in Europe, Mediterranean and Africa. On the morning of December 7 1941 the  Imperial Japanese Navy Air Service commited a major air attack on the U.S. navy military base in Pearl Harbor which was in Hawaii and was the biggest and the most important U.S. military base in the whole area. The attack was a complete surprise for the Americans and caused them many lives and sunked almost every single vessel there counting about 20 battelships and sumburines and about 300 aircrafts.

The reasons to bomb japan:

During this this time the president of the United States was Harry Truman, which replaced Franklin roosevelt that died in April 12th, 1945. So why would the Americans want to bomb japan? What made them do that?

From the very begining of the war, the Americans knew that they want to end the war as soon as possible. There were mainly 2 options for the Americans. The first one was ground assualt but that option disqualified beacuse they decided it will cost them in too many soliders and citizens lives. The second option were the nuclear attack. The Amercians were developing a nuclear bomb since 1942 to 1946 as a part of “Manhattan Project”, they knew that such an powerfull weapon can end the war quickly and without any live losses from their side.

There were 5 targets that were chosen by their importance to Japan. 2 of them were Hiroshima and Nagasaki. The first target, Nagasaki, held one of the most important ports in the country. The second target, Hiroshima, an industrial center that was the site of a major military headquarters.

The bombing of Hiroshima- August 6, 1945 :

• A “little boy” bomb is thrown at the city at 8:15 pm.
• Anula Gay was the name of the plane that dropped the bomb.
• 80,000 people are killed immediately.
• 100,000 seriously injured.
• It turns out in retrospect that the blast heat was a million degrees Celsius, The city was destroyed in a firestorm.
• Truman announces the bombing of Hiroshima by an atomic bomb.

• The bombing of Nagasaki-August 9, 1945:

• This time the pluton bomb “fat man” is being used.
• The plane that had to lift the huge load took off and almost crashed, the city that was supposed to be blown up was a city called Kokura, but it was very cloudy and visibility was bad, target number 3 was chosen and Nagasaki is bombed at 11:02.
• The bomb weighted 22 kg’s.
• 74,000 were killed instantly.
• 75 thousand were seriously injured.
• Because the city is surrounded by mountains the area of ​​the injury is reduced.

The implications on Japan :

The Japanese were stunned by the terrible destruction the bomb had caused. The Japanese assumed that the US had more bombs, which was not true. And, on September 2, 1945, Japan formally surrendered. The bombings also had long-term health effects on Japanese residents:

About 46% of leukemia deaths and 11% of cancer deaths among city dwellers were caused by radiation exposure.

Japan’s perception of wars has changed completely since, and today, the country supports pacifism.

global impications

The distribution of Hiroshima and Nagasaki was the opening shot for a nuclear arms race between the world powers.
Various countries such as Russia, China and even Israel now hold nuclear heads.
Today, there is a very large taboo on nuclear weapons and is considered a non-conventional weapon of war with many restrictions.