Position:Home>History> Atomic Bomb of Japan [10 points]?

No!. The atomic bomb was dropped in an attempt to bring the war to a close!. In this it succeeded; it has been estimated that the war could have dragged on for another two years with heavy casualties on both sides!. The Japanese code of honour (bushido) forbade a soldier to surrender under any circumstances!.
This is a letter from President Harry Truman:

THE WHITE HOUSE
Washington
January 12, 1953

My Dear Professor Cate;
Your letter of December 6, 1952 has just been delivered to me!. When the message came to Potsdam that a successful atomic explosion had taken place in New Mexico, there was much excitement and conversation about the effect on the war then in progress with Japan!. The next day I told the Prime Minsiter of Great Britain and Generalissimo Stalin that the explosion had been a success!. The British Prime Minister understood and appreciated what I'd told him!. Premier Stalin smiled and thanked me for reporting the explosion to him, but I'm sure he did not understand its significance!. I called a meeting of the Secretary of State, Mr!. Byrnes, the Secretary of War, Mr!. Stimson, Admiral Leahy, General Marshall, General Eisenhower, Admiral King and some others, to discuss what should be done with this awful weapon!.

I asked General Marshall what it would cost in lives to land on the Tokyo plain and other places in Japan!. It was his opinion that such an invasion would cost at a minimum one quarter of a million casualties, and might cost as much as a million, on the American side alone, with an equal number of the enemy!. The other military and naval men present agreed!. I asked Secretary Stimson which sites in Japan were devoted to war production!. He promptly named Hiroshima and Nagasaki, among others!. We sent an ultimatum to Japan!. It was rejected!.

I ordered atomic bombs dropped on the two cities named on the way back from Potsdam, when we were in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean!. In your letter, you raise the fact that the directive to General Spaatz to prepare for delivering the bomb is dated July twenty-fifth!. It was, of course, necessary to set the military wheels in motion, as these orders did, but the final decision was in my hands, and was not made until we were returning from Potsdam!. Dropping the bombs ended the war, saved lives, and gave the free nations a chance to face the facts!. When it looked as if Japan would quit, Russia hurried into the fray less than a week before the surrender, so as to be in at the settlement!. No military contribution was made by the Russians toward victory over Japan!. Prisoners were surrendered and Manchuria occupied by the Soviets, as was Korea, North of the 38th parallel!.

Sincerely,

(The letter was signed by Harry Truman!.)Www@QuestionHome@Com

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Well, that's hard to know for sure since it gets in the mind of the decision makers!. I wouldn't say it was a retaliation, though, and here's why!.

1!. The US wanted to demonstrate to Japan and the USSR (it's soon to be global rival) how advanced the US was in military might!. By dropping two atomic bombs, it convinced Japan to exit the war!. It was also to show the USSR that the US would be more powerful, and the US hoped that the USSR would be less provocative towards US interests around the globe!.

2!. This exit by Japan allowed the US to declare victory after Japan immediately surrendered!. The US was fearful that without dropping the bombs, they'd have to invade the main islands of Japan!. Based on previous islands they had conquered for the Japanese (and the fierce resistance civilians in Japan were expected to play), the US estimated that roughly 1 million US soldiers would die and they thought it'd be less bloody to drop atomic bombs (for sure for the US, but also the large number of casualties in Hiroshima and Nagasaki was lower than what would have been expected had their been a ground invasion)!.

3!. Atomic weapons were never used before and it was a good opportunity to test them!.

I believe those reasons are more pressing than simple revenge!. Geopolitics, ending a war, and preventing US casualties I think were factored into the decision to drop the bombs than was a revenge motive (not that that had *nothing* to do with it, but I don't really think so, and if it did, it might've been a side thought to the more pressing issues above)!.

Sorry I don't have sources on hand, but this info comes of years of study of WWII and the Cold War so I can't point to any specific source right now!. I'm not the first to suggest these hypotheses, though!.Www@QuestionHome@Com

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I am under the impression that the demonstration of the power of the atomic bombs in a city like Hiroshima, or Nagasaki, would give the Japanese the impression that the Americans had a unknown number of atomic weapons and would use them all to incinerate all major urban centres in Japan - including the Emperor's palace in Tokyo!.

This certainly demonstated to the Japanese that they could not effectively defend their home islands with their sharpened bamboo sticks and their suicidal tactics, and had to face an unconditional surrender or perish as a civilisation altogether!. Wisely, they chose to surrender, as hard as it was for a culture that found no honour in surrender!.

As for the revenge for Pearl Harbor (and wanting to show the Soviets their military power), this is an ongoing myth, I can see why you are asking for sources!.Www@QuestionHome@Com

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The point of the atomic bombs was a calculated mathematical decision!. With invasion, and because of the Samurai code, it was estimated that the losses for the USA forces were in the neighborhood of 100,000 men!. The losses for Japan and its citizens were estimated in the 2 million range!. Now, you "may believe" that these numbers are high and cutting them in half would be more appropriate!.

OK, I'll play with you!. USA losses 50,000 and Japanese losses 1 million!. The result of the atomic bombs were zero (0) losses for the USA and the two bombs produced a total of about 300,000 japanese losses!.

Well, increasingly, the secondary role of the bombs as a deterrant to Stalin has become more and more clear; yes, they forced the Japanese to surrender and avoid either a horrific Home Islands invasion campaign that would have killed millions or the alternative strategy of a blockade and campaign to force the Japanese civilians to overthrow the government or face mass deaths by starvation ( and , as we saw in Iraq from 1991 to 2003, sanctions and depravation of the public usually do nothing to bring about the overthrow of a military ruling party)!.

However, and ultimately more importantly, the bombs showed Stalin, albeit without an overt threat from the West, what could be the Soviets fate, should they continue their opportunistic land grab in 1945!.!.!.

Did Pearl Harbour have a bearing on the decision!? Most likely it strengthened our resolve to carry on total war, but that resolve was also seen in the events leading up to the nuclear attacks with Midway and the island hopping campaign!.Www@QuestionHome@Com

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OK, according to many reports, the American government did it to prevent later bloodshed of American soldiers, which was estimated to be at least 1,000,000 if we invaded Japan!.

Of course, there are some that claim we used the bombs on Japan to try and scare the crap out of Stalin ( who already knew about our bombs by this time and was working on one of his own ), going on to state that the estimates citing 1 million lives lost prediction was ambiguous, in that no formal study was ever done!.Www@QuestionHome@Com

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nope, they bombed because they could!.Www@QuestionHome@Com

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wikipedia,encarta, and more!.!.!.!.!.!.!.!.!.!.!.!.!.!.!.!.!.


The United States, with assistance from the United Kingdom and Canada,[5] designed and built the first atomic bombs under what was called the Manhattan Project!. The scientific research was directed by American physicist J!. Robert Oppenheimer!. The Hiroshima bomb, a gun-type bomb called "Little Boy", was made with uranium-235, a rare isotope of uranium!. The atomic bomb was first tested at Trinity Site, on July 16, 1945, near Alamogordo, New Mexico!. The test weapon, "the gadget," and the Nagasaki bomb, "Fat Man", were both implosion-type devices made primarily of plutonium-239, a synthetic element!.[6]


Choice of targets
Although many political and military leaders, including General Eisenhower, argued against dropping the bombs on civilian targets, the Target Committee seemed to have few qualms about using them on civilian targets!.[citation needed]


Map showing the locations of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Japan where the two atomic weapons were employedThe Target Committee at Los Alamos on May 10–11, 1945, recommended Kyoto, Hiroshima, Yokohama, and the arsenal at Kokura as possible targets!. Hiroshima was described as "This is an important army depot and port of embarkation in the middle of an urban industrial area!. It is a good radar target and it is such a size that a large part of the city could be extensively damaged!. There are adjacent hills which are likely to produce a focussing effect which would considerably increase the blast damage!. Due to rivers it is not a good incendiary target!." The Target Committee stated that "It was agreed that psychological factors in the target selection were of great importance!. Two aspects of this are (1) obtaining the greatest psychological effect against Japan and (2) making the initial use sufficiently spectacular for the importance of the weapon to be internationally recognized when publicity on it is released!. In this respect Kyoto has the advantage of the people being more highly intelligent and hence better able to appreciate the significance of the weapon!. Hiroshima has the advantage of being such a size and with possible focussing from nearby mountains that a large fraction of the city may be destroyed!. The Emperor's palace in Tokyo has a greater fame than any other target but is of least strategic value!."[7]

During World War II, Edwin O!. Reischauer was the Japan expert for the U!.S!. Army Intelligence Service, where he is said to have prevented the bombing of Kyoto during the war,[8] as explained by Robert Jungk in Brighter Than a Thousand Suns: A personal history of the atomic scientists:

"On the short list of targets for the atom bomb, in addition to Hiroshima, Kokura and Niigata, was the Japanese city of temples, Kyoto!. When the expert on Japan, Professor Edwin O!. Reischauer, heard this terrible news, he rushed into the office of his chief, Major Alfred MacCormack, in a department of the Army Intelligence Service!. The shock caused him to burst into tears!. MacCormack, a cultivated and humane New York lawyer, thereupon managed to persuade Secretary of War Stimson to reprieve Kyoto and have it crossed off the black list!."[9]
In his autobiography, Reischauer specifically refuted the validity of this broadly-accepted version:

"I probably would have done this if I had ever had the opportunity, but there is not a word of truth to it!. As has been amply proved by my friend Otis Cary of Doshisha in Kyoto, the only person deserving credit for saving Kyoto from destruction is Henry L!. Stimson, the Secretary of War at the time, who had known and admired Kyoto ever since his honeymoon there several decades earlier!."[10]

The Potsdam ultimatum
On July 26, Truman and other allied leaders issued The Potsdam Declaration outlining terms of surrender for Japan!. It was presented as an ultimatum and stated that without a surrender, the Allies would attack Japan, resulting in "the inevitable and complete destruction of the Japanese armed forces and just as inevitably the utter devastation of the Japanese homeland" but the atomic bomb was not mentioned!. On July 28, Japanese papers reported that the declaration had been rejected by the Japanese government!. That afternoon, Prime Minister Kantaro Suzuki declared at a press conference that the Potsdam Declaration was no more than a rehash (yakinaoshi) of the Cairo Declaration and that the government intended to ignore it (mokusatsu)!.[11] The statement was taken by both Japanese and foreign papers as a clear rejection of the declaration!. Emperor Hirohito, who was waiting for a Soviet reply to noncommittal Japanese peace feelers made no move to change the government position!.[12] On July 31, he made clear to Kido that the Imperial Regalia of Japan had to be defended at all costs!.[13]

In early July, on his way to Potsdam, Truman had re-examined the decision to use the bomb!. In the end, Truman made the decision to drop the atomic bombs on Japan!. His stated intention in ordering the bombings was to bring about a quick resolution of the war by inflicting destruction, and instilling fear of further destruction, that was sufficient to cause Japan to surrender!.[14]


Hiroshima

Hiroshima during World War II
At the time of its bombing, Hiroshima was a city of some industrial and military significance!. A number of military camps were located nearby, including the headquarters of the Fifth Division and Field Marshal Shunroku Hata's 2nd General Army Headquarters, which commanded the defense of all of southern Japan!. Hiroshima was a minor supply and logistics base for the Japanese military!. The city was a communications center, a storage point, and an assembly area for troops!. It was one of several Japanese cities left deliberately untouched by American bombing, allowing a pristine environment to measure the damage caused by the atomic bomb!. Another account stresses that after General Spaatz reported that Hiroshima was the only targeted city without prisoner of war (POW) camps, Washington decided to assign it highest priority[citation needed]!.


A postwar "Little Boy" casing mockupThe center of the city contained several reinforced concrete buildings and lighter structures!. Outside the center, the area was congested by a dense collection of small wooden workshops set among Japanese houses!. A few larger industrial plants lay near the outskirts of the city!. The houses were of wooden construction with tile roofs, and many of the industrial buildings also were of wood frame construction!. The city as a whole was highly susceptible to fire damage!.[citation needed]

In front of the harbor of the city, on the island of Okunoshima, was a toxic gas factory linked to Unit 731!.[15] Different types of chemical weapons were produced there during the first part of the Shōwa era like mustard gas, yperite, lewisite and cyanide!.[16]

The population of Hiroshima had reached a peak of over 381,000 earlier in the war, but prior to the atomic bombing the population had steadily decreased because of a systematic evacuation ordered by the Japanese government!. At the time of the attack the population was approximately 255,000!. This figure is based on the registered population used by the Japanese in computing ration quantities, and the estimates of additional workers and troops who were brought into the city may be inaccurate!.


Seizo Yamada's ground level photo taken from approximately 7 km northeast of Hiroshima!.
The bombing
For the composition of the USAAF mission see 509th Composite Group!.
Hiroshima was the primary target of the first nuclear bombing mission on August 6, with Kokura and Nagasaki being alternative targets!. August 6 was chosen because there had previously been cloud cover over the target!. The 393d Bombardment Squadron B-29 Enola Gay, piloted and commanded by 509th Composite Group commander Colonel Paul Tibbets, was launched from North Field airbase on Tinian in the West Pacific, about six hours flight time from Japan!. The Enola Gay (named after Colonel Tibbets' mother) was accompanied by two other B29s, The Great Artiste which carried instrumentation, commanded by Major Charles W!. Sweeney, and a then-nameless aircraft later called Necessary Evil (the photography aircraft) commanded by Captain George Marquardt!.[17]

After leaving Tinian the aircraft made their way separately to Iwo Jima where they rendezvoused at 2440 m (8000 ft) and set course for Japan!. The aircraft arrived over the target in clear visibility at 9855 m (32,000 ft)!. On the journey, Navy Captain William Parsons had armed the bomb, which had been left unarmed to minimize the risks during takeoff!. His assistant, 2nd Lt!. Morris Jeppson, removed the safety devices 30 minutes before reaching the target area!.[17]


Hiroshima, in the aftermath of the bombingThe release at 08:15 (Hiroshima time) was uneventful, and the gravity bomb known as "Little Boy", a gun-type fission weapon with 60 kg (130 pounds) of uranium-235, took 57 seconds to fall from the aircraft to the predetermined detonation height about 600 meters (1,900 ft) above the city!. It created a blast equivalent to about 13 kilotons of TNT!. (The U-235 weapon was considered very inefficient, with only 1!.38% of its material fissioning!.)[18] The radius of total destruction was about 1!.6 km (1 mile), with resulting fires across 11!.4 km2 (4!.4 square miles)!.[19] Infrastructure damage was estimated at 90 percent of Hiroshima's buildings being either damaged or completely destroyed!.

About an hour before the bombing, Japanese early warning radar detected the approach of some American aircraft headed for the southern part of Japan!. An alert was given and radio broadcasting stopped in many cities, among them Hiroshima!. At nearly 08:00, the radar operator in Hiroshima determined that the number of planes coming in was very smallWww@QuestionHome@Com

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All best answers are 10 points, btw, and all answers are two points, so you are not offering anything -- it's just a pet peeve of mine!. I answer because I am interested in the question, not the points!.!.!.!.

No, the United States did not drop the atomic bombs due to the attack on Pearl Harbor!. They did it to end the war without having to invade the main islands of Japan!.

Given the nature of Japan today and the low understanding of history among Americans today, few here have an understanding of the Pacific Theater!. The Japanese soldier was a religious fanatic, preferring death for the emperor over surrender and defeat!. There is a reason that very few Japanese soldiers were taken prisoner!.

As American forces came closer to the Japanese homeland, the fighting intensified!. In the Battle of Okinawa, which was the first of the Japanese home islands to be attacked, Japan lost 66,000 dead from a garrison of 100,000 soldiers!. An additional 75,000 to 140,000 civilians died, with the majority committing suicide by throwing themselves off cliffs!. In contrast, the bombing of Hiroshima killed 140,000 and Nagasaki killed 80,000!.

There are those who believe that the Japanese government would have surrendered following a successful invasion of the home islands!. Post-war discoveries of Japanese plans and preparations for an invasion simply show that to be false!. The Japanese government and military planned a spirited, hard-nosed defense of their main islands!. Despite their losses in the Pacific theater, the Japanese had managed to marshal about 10,000 aircraft for the defense of their main islands!.

Would the Japanese fight!? The Japanese launched over 1,500 kamikaze attacks during the Battle of Okinawa!. Very few of the 10,000 aircraft marshaled for the defense of the home islands were capable of conventional air operations!. However, loaded with explosives those planes became guided missiles with human pilots at the controls!. In addition to the suicide air force, the Japanese Navy had 1,000 Kaiten manned torpedoes and the Army had 800 Shin'yō suicide boats!. A Kaiten torpedo was basically a torpedo that was guided to its target by a swimmer!. A Japanese commander once complained to his general that his attack failed because he ran out of ammo!. The general informed the commander that lack of ammo was not an excuse for failure!.

U!.S!. commanders were expecting between 500,000 and one million American casualties during an assault on the main islands!. To give you an idea, commanders ordered 500,000 Purple Hearts manufactured in preparation for the assault!. The Purple Hearts that are being issued today in Afghanistan and Iraq were made to be given to troops injured in attacking Japan!. That stockpile has supplied Purple Hearts to soldiers in Korea and Vietnam!. Given the standard ratio of WW2 deaths to injuries, estimates were that 100,000 to 250,000 American soldiers would die in an invasion of Japan!.

Japanese casualties depended on whether or not civilians would fight or commit suicide, as they did on Okinawa!. Japan had 60 divisions at its disposal to combat an invasion of the main islands, although only 30 had adequate equipment and ammo!. The Japanese also had raised a Patriotic Citizens Fighting Corps consisting of all able-bodied men and women not in the military!. The Patriotic Citizens Fighting Corps was armed with muzzle-loading muskets, longbows and bamboo spears!. American estimates of Japanese casualties from an invasion of Japan were between five million (5,000,000) and 10 million (10,000,000)!. Given the evidence of Japanese resistance during the Pacific Campaign, where death was preferred to surrender, most of those would be dead (remember, 66,000 Japanese troops out of a garrison of 100,000 on Okinawa were killed in action -- there were 17,000 injured and just under 7,500 taken prisoner)!.

Some have said that we could have bombed Japan conventionally!. If you look at pictures of Tokyo in 1945 and Hiroshima after the bomb, it's hard to tell the difference!. On March 9-10, U!.S!. bombers dropped 17 tons of bombs, setting off a firestorm in Tokyo that killed an estimated 100,000 people, more than the Hiroshima and Nagasaki bombings!. That was one raid!. From February to August, 1945, the U!.S!. launched about 15 raids on Tokyo!.

The atomic bombs dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki were demonstrations to the Japanese government of what we could do!. The cities were chosen because they had suffered little damage prior to the dropping of the atomic bombs and American military and political leaders wanted Japanese military and political leaders to know the damage came from a single bomb!.

There is some question about whether the Nagasaki bomb needed to be dropped with some saying that the bomb on Hiroshima had the desired effect and that Japan was talking about surrender after the first bomb!. Still, I note that Japan did not surrender until after the bomb was dropped on Nagasaki!.Www@QuestionHome@Com

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