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| ] over ] after the dropping of ].]] | |||
| ] ] resulting from the ] over ] rises 18 km (11 mi, 60,000 ft) into the air from the ].]] | |||
| {{Campaignbox Japan}} | |||
| {{Campaignbox Pacific War}} | |||
| The '''atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki''' were ]s during ] against the ] by the ] under ] ]. On ], ], the ] "]" was dropped on the city of ], followed on ], ] by the detonation of the "]" nuclear bomb over ]. They were the only instances of the use of nuclear weapons in warfare. | |||
| In estimating the number of deaths caused by the attacks, there are several factors that make it difficult to arrive at reliable figures: inadequacies in the records given the confusion of the times, the many victims who died months or years after the bombing as a result of ] exposure, and the pressure to either exaggerate or minimize the numbers, depending upon ] agenda. That said, it is estimated that as many as 140,000 had died in Hiroshima by the bomb and its associated effects,<ref> Japan's ] estimates are 237,000 for Hiroshima, and 135,000 for Nagasaki including diseases from the aftereffects based on hospital data. | |||
| {{cite book | |||
| | author= | |||
| |title=The Spirit of Hiroshima: An Introduction to the Atomic Bomb Tragedy | |||
| | publisher= Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum | |||
| | year=1999 | |||
| }}</ref><ref> | |||
| {{cite book | |||
| | author=Mikiso Hane | |||
| | title=Modern Japan: A Historical Survey | |||
| | publisher= Westview Press | |||
| | year=2001 | |||
| |id=ISBN 0-8133-3756-9 | |||
| }}</ref><ref> | |||
| Possibly the most extensive review and analysis of the various death toll estimates is in: | |||
| {{cite book | |||
| | author=Richard B. Frank | |||
| | title=Downfall: The End of the Imperial Japanese Empire | |||
| | publisher= Penguin Publishing | |||
| | year=2001 | |||
| | id= ISBN 0-679-41424-X | |||
| }}</ref> | |||
| with the estimate for Nagasaki roughly 74,000.<ref> | |||
| {{cite web | |||
| | last = | |||
| | first = | |||
| | url = http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,165148,00.html | |||
| | title = Nagasaki's Mayor Slams U.S. for Nuke Arsenal | |||
| | accessdate = 2006-06-17 | |||
| }}</ref> | |||
| In both cities, the overwhelming majority of the deaths were those of ]. | |||
| The role of the bombings in ], as well as the effects and justification of them, has been subject to much debate since the time of the bombings. | |||
| On ], ] Japan ], signing the ] on ] which officially ended World War II. Furthermore, the experience of bombing led post-war Japan to adopt ], which forbids Japan from nuclear armament. | |||
| ==The Manhattan Project== | |||
| ], led by General ] (left) and the physicist ], developed the first atomic weapons for use in World War II.]] | |||
| {{main|Manhattan Project}} | |||
| The United States, with assistance from the ] and ], designed and built the first atomic bombs under what was called the ]. The project was initially started at the instigation of European refugee scientists (including ]) and American scientists who feared that ] would also be conducting a full-scale bomb development program (that program was later discovered to be much smaller and further behind). The project itself eventually employed over 130,000 people at its peak at over thirty institutions spread over the United States, and cost a total of nearly US$2 billion, making it one of the largest and most costly research and development programs of all time. | |||
| The first nuclear device, called "]," was detonated during the ] test near ] on ], ]. The Hiroshima and Nagasaki bombs were the second and third to be detonated and as of 2007 the only ones ever detonated in a military action. (See ].) | |||
| During World War II both the ] and ] powers had previously pursued policies of ] and the targeting of civilian infrastructure. In numerous cases these had caused huge numbers of civilian casualties and were (or came to be) controversial. In Germany, the Allied ] resulted in roughly 30,000 deaths. The ] killed 72,489 people, according to the Japan War History office.<ref>John Toland, ''The Rising Sun: The Decline and Fall of the Japanese Empire 1936-1945'', Random House, 1970, p. 676</ref> By August, about 60 Japanese cities had been destroyed through a massive aerial campaign, including massive firebombing raids on the cities of Tokyo and ]. | |||
| Over 3½ years of direct U.S. involvement in World War II, approximately 290,000 Americans had been killed in action and another 110,000 killed as a result of the war,<ref name=MW-USA-KIA>Mathew White DoD: 291,557 KIA + 113,842 other = 405,399. White includes in addition there were about 9,300 Merchant Marine deaths. With the exception of Charles Messenger, ''The Chronological Atlas of World War Two'' that list an undifferentiated total of 300,000, all other sources in White's list are close to the DoD numbers.</ref> 90,000 of them incurred in the war against Japan.<ref>Mathew White </ref> In the months prior to the bombings, the ] resulted in an estimated 50,000–150,000 civilian deaths, 100,000–125,000 Japanese or Okinawan military or conscript deaths and over 72,000 American casualties.{{Fact|date=February 2007}} Deathtoll was given as 107,539 counted dead plus an estimated 23,764 in the closed caves or buried by the Japanese. Since the number was far above the estimated Japanese force on the island the army intelligence supposed that about 42,000 was civilians.<ref>Benis M. Frank "Okinava slutsteg mot segern" next to last page, Swedish translation of "Okinava: touchstone to victory"</ref> A commonly provided justification for the bombings is that an invasion of the Japanese mainland was expected to result in casualties many times greater than in Okinawa. | |||
| ] ] was unaware of the Manhattan Project until ]'s death. Truman asked U.S. Secretary of War ] to head a group of prominent citizens called the Interim Committee, which included three respected scientists and had been set up to advise the President on the military, political, and scientific questions raised by the possible use of the first atomic bomb. On May 31, Stimson put his conclusions to the committee and a four-man Scientific Panel. Stimson supported use of the bomb, stating "Our great task is to bring this war to a prompt and successful conclusion." But Dr. ], one of the Scientific Panel members, stated that a single atomic bomb would probably kill twenty thousand people, and the target should be a military one, not civilian. Another scientist, Dr. ], suggested dropping the bomb on an isolated part of Japan to demonstrate its power while minimizing civilian deaths. But this was soon dismissed, since if Japan was to be notified in advance of an attack, the bomber might be shot down; alternately, the first bomb might fail to detonate.<ref>John Toland, ''ibid'', p. 762</ref> | |||
| In early July, on the way to Potsdam, Truman 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. | |||
| On ], Truman and other allied leaders issued The ] outlining terms of surrender for Japan: | |||
| :"...The might that now converges on Japan is immeasurably greater than that which, when applied to the resisting Nazis, necessarily laid waste to the lands, the industry and the method of life of the whole German people. The full application of our military power, backed by our resolve, will mean the inevitable and complete destruction of the Japanese armed forces and just as inevitably the utter devastation of the Japanese homeland..." | |||
| :"...We call upon the government of Japan to proclaim now the unconditional surrender of all Japanese armed forces, and to provide proper and adequate assurances of their good faith in such action. The alternative for Japan is prompt and utter destruction." | |||
| The next day, Japanese papers reported that the declaration, the text of which had been broadcast and dropped on leaflets into Japan, had been rejected. The atomic bomb was still a highly guarded secret and not mentioned in the declaration. The government of Japan showed no intention of accepting the ultimatum. On ], Prime Minister Suzuki Kantaro declared at a press conference that the Potsdam Declaration was no more than a rehash (''yakinaoshi'') of the ] and that the government intended to ignore it (''mokusatsu''). | |||
| ], who was waiting for a Soviet reply to noncommittal Japanese peace feelers, made no move to change the government position.<ref> | |||
| {{cite book | |||
| | author=] | |||
| | chapter=Japan's Delayed Surrender: A Reinterpretation | |||
| | title=Hiroshima in History and Memory | |||
| | editor=Michael J. Hogan, ed. | |||
| | publisher=Cambridge University Press | |||
| | id= ISBN 0-521-56682-7 | |||
| | year=1996| pages=290}}</ref> On July 31, he made clear to ] that the ] had to be defended at all costs.<ref>''Kido Koichi nikki'', Tokyo, Daigaku Shuppankai, 1966, p.1120-1121</ref> | |||
| ===Choice of targets=== | |||
| ] | |||
| The Target Committee at ] on May 10–11, 1945, recommended ], ], ], and the arsenal at ] as possible targets. The committee rejected the use of the weapon against a strictly military objective because of the chance of missing a small target not surrounded by a larger urban area. The psychological effects on Japan were of great importance to the committee members. They also agreed that the initial use of the weapon should be sufficiently spectacular for its importance to be internationally recognized. The committee felt Kyoto, as an intellectual center of Japan, had a population "better able to appreciate the significance of the weapon." Hiroshima was chosen because of its large size, its being "an important army depot" and the potential that the bomb would cause greater destruction because the city was surrounded by hills which would have a "focusing effect".<ref>{{cite web | title=Atomic Bomb: Decision — Target Committee, May 10–11, 1945 | url=http://www.dannen.com/decision/targets.html | accessmonthday= August 6 | accessyear= 2005 }}</ref> | |||
| Secretary of War ] struck Kyoto from the list because of its cultural significance, over the objections of General ], head of the Manhattan Project. According to Professor ], Stimson "had known and admired Kyoto ever since his honeymoon there several decades earlier." On ] General ] was ordered to bomb one of the targets: Hiroshima, Kokura, ], or ] as soon after ] as weather permitted and the remaining cities as additional weapons became available.<ref>{{cite web|title=Thomas Handy: Memorandum, July 25, 1945|url=http://www.nuclearfiles.org/menu/library/correspondence/handy-thomas/corr_handy_1945-07-25.htm|accessmonthday=April 6 |accessyear=2006}}</ref> | |||
| ==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 ]'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 an ideal 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 ] (POW) camps, Washington decided to assign it highest priority. | |||
| The 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. | |||
| 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. | |||
| ===The bombing=== | |||
| ] | |||
| ] | |||
| :''For composition of USAAF mission see ]'' | |||
| Hiroshima was the primary target (the secondary was Kokura and the tertiary target was Nagasaki) of the first U.S. nuclear attack mission, on ], ]. The ] '']'', piloted and commanded by ] commander Colonel ], was launched from North Field, an airbase on ] in the ], approximately 6 hours flight time away from Japan. The drop date of ] was chosen because there had previously been a cloud formation over the target. At the time of launch, the weather was good, and the crew and equipment functioned properly. Navy Captain ] had armed the bomb shortly after takeoff, since it had been left unarmed to minimize the risks during takeoff, and his assistant, 2nd Lt. ], removed the safeties thirty minutes before reaching the target area.<ref name="SM15"> {{cite web | last = | first = | authorlink = | coauthors = | year = | url = http://www.mphpa.org/classic/HISTORY/H-07L1.htm| title = Timeline #2- the 509th; The Hiroshima Mission | format = | work = |publisher = The Atomic Heritage Foundation| accessmonthday = 5 May|accessyear = 2007}}</ref>The attack was carried out as planned, and the ], a ], with 60 kg (130 pounds) of ], performed as expected. | |||
| ] | |||
| About an hour before the bombing, the Japanese early warning radar net detected the approach of some American aircraft headed for the southern part of Japan. The alert had been given and radio broadcasting stopped in many cities, among them Hiroshima. The planes approached the coast at a very high altitude. At nearly 08:00, the radar operator in Hiroshima determined that the number of planes coming in was very small—probably not more than three—and the air raid alert was lifted (to conserve fuel and aircraft, the Japanese had decided not to intercept small formations). | |||
| The three planes of the strike flight were the '']'' (named after Colonel Tibbets' mother), '']'' (equipped to deploy instrumentation), and a then-nameless B-29 later called '']'' (the photography aircraft).<ref name="SM15"> {{cite web | last = | first = | authorlink = | coauthors = | year = | url = http://www.childrenofthemanhattanproject.org/CG/CG_09C1.htm| title = Timeline #2- the 509th; The Hiroshima Mission | format = | work = | publisher = Children of the Manhattan Project| accessmonthday = 26 July | accessyear = 2006}}</ref> The normal radio broadcast warning was given to the people that it might be advisable to go to air-raid shelters if B-29s were actually sighted, but no raid was expected beyond some sort of reconnaissance. | |||
| At 08:15 (Hiroshima time), the '']'' dropped the nuclear bomb called "]" over the center of Hiroshima. It exploded about 600 meters (2,000 ft) above the city with a blast equivalent to about 13 ]s of ] (the U-235 weapon was ], with only 1.38% of its material fissioning),<ref name="cotmplitboy"> {{cite web | last = | first = | authorlink = | coauthors = | year = | url = http://www.mphpa.org/classic/HISTORY/little_boy.htm/HISTORY/little_boy.htm | title = The Bomb-"Little Boy"| format = | work = |publisher = The Atomic Heritage Foundation| accessmonthday = 5 May|accessyear = 2007}}</ref> killing at least an estimated 90,000 people within two months.<ref>{{cite web | title=RERF Frequently Asked Questions | url=http://www.rerf.or.jp/general/qa_e/qa1.html | accessmonthday= May 13| accessyear= 2007 }}</ref> Of this number, there were approximately 2,000 Japanese Americans who died from the blast and another 800-1,000 who lived on as ]. As U.S. citizens, many of these Japanese Americans were attending school before the war and had been unable to leave Japan.<ref>Rinjiro Sodei. ''Were We the Enemy?: American Survivors of Hiroshima''. Boulder: Westview Press, 1998</ref> It is likely that hundreds of Allied ] also died.<ref>http://www.wagingpeace.org/articles/2005/08/20_rubin_remembering-normand-brissette.htm David Rubin, 2005, "Remembering Normand Brissette" (Downloaded 28/10/06) </ref> The radius of total destruction was about 1.6 km (1 mile), with resulting fires across 11.4 km² (4.4 square miles).<ref>{{cite web | title=''RADIATION DOSE RECONSTRUCTION U.S. OCCUPATION FORCES IN HIROSHIMA AND NAGASAKI, JAPAN, 1945-1946'' (DNA 5512F) | url=http://www.dtra.mil/toolbox/directorates/td/programs/nuclear_personnel/docs/DNATR805512F.pdf | accessmonthday=June 9 | accessyear=2006 }}</ref> Infrastructure damage was estimated at 90% of Hiroshima's buildings being either damaged or completely destroyed. | |||
| ] | |||
| ===Japanese realization of the bombing=== | |||
| ] | |||
| The ] control operator of the ] noticed that the Hiroshima station had gone off the air. He tried to re-establish his program by using another telephone line, but it too had failed. <ref name="No High Ground">{{cite web | title= No High Ground by Knebel et al p175 to p201| url=http://www.uncp.edu/home/berrys/courses/hist102/hist102_docs_abomb.pdf|accessmonthday= April 30 |accessyear = 2007 }}</ref> About twenty minutes later the Tokyo railroad telegraph center realized that the main line telegraph had stopped working just north of Hiroshima. From some small railway stops within 16 kilometers (10 mi) of the city came unofficial and confused reports of a terrible explosion in Hiroshima. All these reports were transmitted to the headquarters of the Japanese General Staff. | |||
| Military bases repeatedly tried to call the Army Control Station in Hiroshima. The complete silence from that city puzzled the men at headquarters; they knew that no large enemy raid had occurred and that no sizable store of explosives was in Hiroshima at that time. A young officer of the Japanese General Staff was instructed to fly immediately to Hiroshima, to land, survey the damage, and return to Tokyo with reliable information for the staff. It was generally felt at headquarters that nothing serious had taken place and that it was all a rumor. | |||
| The staff officer went to the airport and took off for the southwest. After flying for about three hours, while still nearly 100 miles (160 km) from Hiroshima, he and his pilot saw a great cloud of smoke from the bomb. In the bright afternoon, the remains of Hiroshima were burning. Their plane soon reached the city, around which they circled in disbelief. A great scar on the land still burning and covered by a heavy cloud of smoke was all that was left. They landed south of the city, and the staff officer, after reporting to Tokyo, immediately began to organize relief measures. | |||
| Tokyo's first knowledge of what had really caused the disaster came from the ] public announcement in ], sixteen hours after the nuclear attack on Hiroshima.<ref name="White House Press Release">{{cite web | title=White House Press Release on Hiroshima | The Bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki | Historical Documents | atomicarchive.com | url=http://www.atomicarchive.com/Docs/Hiroshima/PRHiroshima.shtml|accessmonthday= June 5 |accessyear= 2006 }} The press release, it should be noted, was written not by Truman but primarily by ], a '']'' reporter allowed access to the Manhattan Project.</ref> | |||
| By ], ], newspapers in the US were reporting that broadcasts from Radio Tokyo had described the destruction observed in Hiroshima. "Practically all living things, human and animal, were literally seared to death," Japanese radio announcers said in a broadcast captured by Allied sources. <ref name="Fulton Sun Retrospective">{{cite web| title=Fulton Sun Retrospective | url=http://72.14.209.104/search?q=cache:jbMd205GWfEJ:www.fultonsun.com/articles/2005/08/07/news/146news11.txt+%22radio+tokyo%22+atomic+bomb&hl=en&ct=clnk&cd=36&gl=us|accessmonthday= April 30 |accessyear=2007 }}</ref> | |||
| === Post-attack casualties === | |||
| ] | |||
| By December of 1945, thousands had died from their injuries and radiation poisoning, bringing the total killed in Hiroshima in 1945 to perhaps 140,000.<ref>Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum. The Spirit of Hiroshima: An Introduction to the Atomic Bomb Tragedy. Hiroshima: Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum, 1999.</ref> In the years between 1950 and 1990, it is statistically estimated that hundreds of deaths are attributable to radiation exposure among atomic bomb survivors from both Hiroshima and Nagasaki.<ref>{{cite web | title=RERF Frequently Asked Questions | url=http://www.rerf.or.jp/eigo/faqs/faqse.htm | accessmonthday= June 12 | accessyear= 2006 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web | title=RERF Life Span Study Report 13 | url=http://www.rerf.or.jp/eigo/lssrepor/rr24-02.htm | accessmonthday= June 12 | accessyear= 2006 }}</ref> | |||
| ===Survival of some structures=== | |||
| Some of the reinforced concrete buildings in Hiroshima were very strongly constructed because of the ] danger in Japan, and their framework did not collapse even though they were fairly close to the center of damage in the city. Akiko Takakura was among the closest survivors to the hypocenter of the blast. She had been in the strongly built Bank of Hiroshima only 300m from ground-zero at the time of the attack. <ref>{{cite web | title=Testimony of Akiko Takakura | url=http://www.inicom.com/hibakusha/akiko.html | accessmonthday= April 30 | accessyear= 2007 }}</ref> Since the bomb detonated in the air, the blast was more downward than sideways, which was largely responsible for the survival of the ''Prefectural Industrial Promotional Hall'', now commonly known as the ''Genbaku, or A-bomb Dome'' designed and built by the ] architect ], which was only 150 meters (490 feet) from ] (the ])<!--Hypocenter (as in "Nagasaki Hypocenter Monument") means below-center and is appropriate, being at ground level. In seismolgy, epicenter would be the right term.-->. The ruin was named '']'' and made a ] ] in 1996 over the objections of the ] and ].<ref>{{cite web | title=unesco.org | url=http://whc.unesco.org/archive/repco96x.htm#annex5 | accessmonthday= August 6 | accessyear= 2005 }}</ref> | |||
| ==Events of August 7-9== | |||
| After the Hiroshima bombing, President Truman announced, "If they do not now accept our terms, they may expect a rain of ruin from the air the likes of which has never been seen on this earth." On ] ], leaflets were dropped and warnings were given to Japan by Radio Saipan. (The area of Nagasaki did not receive warning leaflets until ], though the leaflet campaign covering the whole country was over a month into its operations.)<ref>{{cite web | title=Studies in Intelligence | url=https://www.cia.gov/csi/studies/vol46no3/article07.html | accessmonthday= August 6 | accessyear= 2005 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web | title=American Experience | Truman | Primary Sources | url=http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/truman/psources/ps_leaflets.html | accessmonthday= August 6 | accessyear= 2005 }}</ref> | |||
| The Japanese government still did not react to the ]. Emperor ], the government and the War council were considering four conditions for surrender : the preservation of the ''kokutai'' (Imperial institution and national polity), assumption by the Imperial Headquarters of responsibility for disarmament and demobilization, no occupation and delegation to the Japanese government of the punishment of war criminals. | |||
| The Soviet Foreign Minister ] informed Tokyo of the Soviet Union's unilateral abrogation of the ] on ]. At two minutes past midnight on ], ], Soviet infantry, armor, and air forces ]. Four hours later, word reached Tokyo that the Soviet Union had declared war on Japan. The senior leadership of the ] began preparations to impose ] on the nation, with the support of Minister of War ], in order to stop anyone attempting to make peace. | |||
| Responsibility for the timing of the second bombing was delegated to Colonel Tibbets as commander of the ] on Tinian. Scheduled for ] against Kokura, the raid was moved forward to avoid a five day period of bad weather forecast to begin on ].<ref>{{cite book| author=Martin J. Sherwin| title=A World Destroyed: Hiroshima and its Legacies| edition=2nd edition| publisher=Stanford University Press| year=2003| pages=233-234}}</ref> Three bomb pre-assemblies had been transported to Tinian, labeled F-31, F-32, and F-33 on their exteriors. On ] a dress rehearsal was conducted off Tinian by Maj. Charles Sweeney using '']'' as the drop airplane. Assembly F-33 was expended testing the components and F-31 was designated for the mission ].<ref> | |||
| {{cite book | |||
| | author=Richard H. Campbell | |||
| | chapter= Chapter 2: Development and Production | |||
| | title=The Silverplate Bombers: A History and Registry of the Enola Gay and Other B-29s Configured to Carry Atomic Bombs | |||
| | editor= | |||
| | publisher=McFarland & Company, Inc. | |||
| | id= ISBN 0-7864-2139-8 | |||
| | year=2005| pages=p.114}}</ref> | |||
| ==Nagasaki== | |||
| ===Nagasaki during World War II=== | |||
| ] (Catholic Church in Nagasaki) in January, 1946, destroyed by the atomic bomb, the dome of the church having toppled off.]] | |||
| The city of ] had been one of the largest ]s in southern Japan and was of great wartime importance because of its wide-ranging industrial activity, including the production of ], ships, military equipment, and other war materials. | |||
| In contrast to many modern aspects of Hiroshima, the bulk of the residences were of old-fashioned Japanese construction, consisting of wood or wood-frame buildings, with wood walls (with or without plaster), and tile roofs. Many of the smaller industries and business establishments were also housed in buildings of wood or other materials not designed to withstand explosions. Nagasaki had been permitted to grow for many years without conforming to any definite city zoning plan; residences were erected adjacent to factory buildings and to each other almost as closely as possible throughout the entire industrial valley. | |||
| Nagasaki had never been subjected to large-scale bombing prior to the explosion of a nuclear weapon there. On ] ], however, a number of conventional high-explosive bombs were dropped on the city. A few hit in the shipyards and dock areas in the southwest portion of the city, several hit the ''] Steel and Arms Works'' and six bombs landed at the ''Nagasaki Medical School and Hospital'', with three direct hits on buildings there. While the damage from these bombs was relatively small, it created considerable concern in Nagasaki and many people—principally school children—were evacuated to rural areas for safety, thus reducing the population in the city at the time of the nuclear attack. | |||
| To the north of Nagasaki there was a camp holding ] prisoners of war, some of whom were working in the coal mines and only found out about the bombing when they came to the surface. At least eight known ]s died from the bombing.<ref>As many as 13 POWs may have died in the Nagasaki bombing: | |||
| *1 British Commonwealth ( {Note last link reference use only.} (This last reference also lists at least three other POWS who died on 9-8-1945 but does not tell if these were Nagasaki casualties) | |||
| *7 Dutch {2 names known} died in the bombing. | |||
| *At least 2 ]s reportedly died postwar from cancer thought to have been caused by Atomic bomb (note-last link ].org website). | |||
| </ref> | |||
| ===The bombing=== | |||
| ] | |||
| :''For composition of USAAF mission see ]'' | |||
| On the morning of ] ], the U.S. ] '']''<!-- yes, it is "Bockscar" not "Bock's Car". This is NOT a typo! -->, flown by the crew of 393rd Squadron commander Major ], carried the nuclear bomb code-named "]", with ] as the primary target and ] the secondary target. The mission plan for the second attack was nearly identical to that of the Hiroshima mission, with two B-29's flying an hour ahead as weather scouts and two additional B-29's in Sweeney's flight for instrumentation and photographic support of the mission. Sweeney took off with his weapon already armed but with the electrical safety plugs still engaged.<ref name="SM16"> {{cite web | last = | first = | authorlink = | coauthors = | year = | url = http://www.mphpa.org/classic/HISTORY/H-07m1.htm| title = Timeline #3- the 509th; The Nagasaki Mission| format = | work = | publisher = The Atomic Heritage Foundation| accessmonthday = 5 May| accessyear = 2007}}</ref> | |||
| ] | |||
| Observers aboard the weather planes reported both targets clear. When Sweeney's aircraft arrived at the assembly point for his flight off the coast of Japan, the third plane (flown by the group's Operations Officer, Lt. Col. James I. Hopkins, Jr.) failed to make the rendezvous. ''Bockscar''<!-- yes, it is "Bockscar" not "Bock's Car". This is NOT a typo! --> and the instrumentation plane circled for forty minutes without locating Hopkins. Already thirty minutes behind schedule, Sweeney decided to fly on without Hopkins.<ref name="SM16" /> | |||
| ] | |||
| By the time they reached Kokura a half hour later, a <small> 7/10 </small> cloud cover had obscured the city, prohibiting the visual attack required by orders. After three runs over the city, and with fuel running low because a transfer pump on a reserve tank had failed before take-off, they headed for their secondary target, Nagasaki.<ref name="SM16" /> Fuel consumption calculations made en route indicated that ''Bockscar'' had insufficient fuel to reach ] and they would be forced to divert to ]. After initially deciding that if Nagasaki were obscured on their arrival they would carry the bomb to Okinawa and dispose of it in the ocean if necessary, the weaponeer Navy ] ] decided that a radar approach would be used if the target was obscured.<ref name="Spitzer"> {{cite web | last = | first = | authorlink = | coauthors = | year = | url = http://www.mphpa.org/classic/COLLECTIONS/CG-ASPI/01/Pages/CGP-ASPI-025.htm| title = Spitzer Personal Diary Page 25 (CGP-ASPI-025)| format = | work = | publisher = The Atomic Heritage Foundation| accessmonthday = 5 May| accessyear = 2007}}</ref> | |||
| At about 07:50 Japanese time, an air raid alert was sounded in Nagasaki, but the "all clear" signal was given at 08:30. When only two B-29 Superfortresses were sighted at 10:53, the Japanese apparently assumed that the planes were only on reconnaissance and no further alarm was given. | |||
| A few minutes later, at 11:00, the support B-29 flown by Captain ] dropped instruments attached to three parachutes. These instruments also contained an unsigned letter to Professor Ryokichi Sagane, a ] at the ] who studied with three of the scientists responsible for the atomic bomb at the ], urging him to tell the public about the danger involved with these ]. The messages were found by military authorities but not turned over to Sagane until a month later.<ref>Lillian Hoddeson, et al, ''Critical Assembly: A Technical History of Los Alamos During the Oppenheimer Years, 1943-1945'' (New York: Cambridge University Press, 1993), on 295.</ref> In 1949 one of the authors of the letter, ], met with Sagane and signed the document. <ref name="Stories from Riken"> {{cite web | url = http://www.riken.jp/r-world/info/release/riken88/text/image/pdf/no09e.pdf| title = Stories from Riken | accessmonth = April 30 | accessyear = 2007}}</ref> | |||
| ] | |||
| At 11:01, a last minute break in the clouds over Nagasaki allowed ''Bockscar'''s bombardier, Captain ], to visually sight the target as ordered. The "]" weapon, containing a core of ~6.4 kg (14.1 lb) of ], was dropped over the city's industrial valley. 43 seconds later it exploded 469 meters (1,540 ft) above the ground exactly halfway between the Mitsubishi Steel and Arms Works in the south and the Mitsubishi-Urakami Ordnance Works (Torpedo Works) in the north. This was nearly 3 kilometers (2 mi) northwest of the planned hypocenter; the blast was confined to the ] and a major portion of the city was protected by the intervening hills.<ref>{{cite book| author=Dennis D. Wainstock| title=The Decision to Drop the Atomic Bomb| publisher=Praeger| year=1996| pages=92}}</ref> The resulting explosion had a blast yield equivalent to 21 kilotons of ]. The explosion generated heat estimated at 7000 degrees Fahrenheit and winds that were estimated at 624 mph. | |||
| According to some estimates, about 70,000 of Nagasaki's 240,000 residents were killed instantly,<ref>Rinjiro Sodei. ''Were We the Enemy?: American Survivors of Hiroshima''. Boulder: Westview Press, 1998, ix.</ref> and up to 60,000 were injured. The radius of total destruction was about 1.6 km (1 mile), followed by fires across the northern portion of the city to 3.2 km (2 miles) south of the bomb.<ref>{{cite web | title=''Radiation Dose Reconstruction; U.S. Occupation Forces in Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Japan, 1945-1946'' (DNA 5512F) | url=http://www.dtra.mil/toolbox/directorates/td/programs/nuclear_personnel/docs/DNATR805512F.pdf | accessmonthday=June 9 | accessyear=2006 }}</ref> The total number of residents killed may have been as many as 80,000, including those who died from radiation poisoning in the following months.<ref name="pd">{{cite web|url=http://english.people.com.cn/200508/10/eng20050810_201424.html|title=Nagasaki marks tragic anniversary|publisher=]|date=2005-08-10|accessdate=2007-04-14}}</ref> | |||
| An unknown number of survivors from the Hiroshima bombing made their way to Nagasaki and were bombed again.<ref name="observer">{{cite web|url=http://www.guardian.co.uk/secondworldwar/story/0,,1535197,00.html|title='I saw both of the bombs and lived'|publisher=] (reported in ])|date=2005-07-24|accessdate=2007-04-14}}</ref><ref name="trumbull">{{cite book |last=Trumbull |first=Robert ||title=Nine Who Survived Hiroshima and Nagasaki|year=1957|publisher=]|location= ], ]}}</ref> | |||
| ==Plans for more atomic attacks on Japan== | |||
| The United States expected to have another ] ready for use in the third week of August, with three more in September and a further three in October.<ref name="Generals"> | |||
| {{cite web | |||
| | title = The Atomic Bomb and the End of World War II, A Collection of Primary Sources, | |||
| | publisher = The George Washington University | |||
| | date = ] | |||
| | coauthors General Hull Colone Seazen | |||
| | format = pdf | |||
| | work = National Security Archive Electronic Briefing Book No. 162 | |||
| | url = http://www.gwu.edu/~nsarchiv/NSAEBB/NSAEBB162/72.pdf}}</ref> | |||
| On ], Major General ], military director of the ], sent a memorandum to ] ], ], in which he wrote that "the next bomb . . should be ready for delivery on the first suitable weather after 17 or 18 August." On the same day, Marshall endorsed the memo with the comment, "It is not to be released over Japan without express authority from the President."<ref name="Generals"/> There was already discussion in the War Department about conserving the bombs in production until ], the projected invasion of Japan, had begun. "The problem now is whether or not, assuming the Japanese do not capitulate, to continue dropping them every time one is made and shipped out there or whether to hold them . . . and then pour them all on in a reasonably short time. Not all in one day, but over a short period. And that also takes into consideration the target that we are after. In other words, should we not concentrate on targets that will be of the greatest assistance to an invasion rather than industry, morale, psychology, and the like? Nearer the tactical use rather than other use."<ref name="Generals"/> | |||
| == The surrender of Japan and the U.S. occupation== | |||
| Up to August 9, the War council was still insisting on its four conditions for surrender. On that day ] ordered Kido to "quickly control the situation" "because Soviet Union has declared war against us". He then held an Imperial conference during which he authorized minister ] to notify the Allies that Japan would accept their terms on one condition, that the declaration "does not compromise any demand which prejudices the prerogatives of His Majesty as a Sovereign ruler".<ref>''Kido Koichi nikki'',Tokyo, Daigaku Shuppankai, 1966, p.1223</ref> | |||
| On August 12, the Emperor informed the imperial family of his decision to surrender. One of his uncles, ], then asked whether the war would be continued if the '']'' could not be preserved. Hirohito simply replied "of course".<ref>Terasaki Hidenari, ''Shôwa tennô dokuhakuroku'', 1991, p.129</ref> As the Allied terms seemed to leave intact the principle of the preservation of the Throne, Hirohito recorded on ] his capitulation announcement which was broadcast to the Japanese nation the next day despite a short rebellion by fanatic militarists opposed to the surrender. | |||
| In his declaration, ] referred to the atomic bombings : | |||
| {{cquote|Moreover, the enemy has begun to employ a new and most cruel bomb, the power of which to do damage is, indeed, incalculable, taking the toll of many innocent lives. Should We continue to fight, not only would it result in an ultimate collapse and obliteration of the Japanese nation, but also it would lead to the total extinction of human civilization. | |||
| Such being the case, how are We to save the millions of Our subjects, or to atone Ourselves before the hallowed spirits of Our Imperial Ancestors? This is the reason why We have ordered the acceptance of the provisions of the Joint Declaration of the Powers.}} | |||
| However, in his "Rescript to the soldiers and sailors" delivered on 17 August, he stressed the impact of the Soviet invasion and his decision to surrender, omitting any mention of the bombs. | |||
| During the year after the bombing, approximately 40,000 U.S. occupation troops were in Hiroshima. Nagasaki was occupied by 27,000 troops.<ref>{{cite web | title=DTRA Fact Sheets: ''Hiroshima and Nagasaki Occupation Forces'' | url=http://www.dtra.mil/press_resources/fact_sheets/display.cfm?fs=hn_of | accessmonthday=June 9 | accessyear=2006 }}</ref> Upper limit dose estimates for those troops range from 0.19–0.3 ] for Hiroshima and from 0.8–6.3 mSv for Nagasaki, depending on location.<ref></ref> | |||
| ==The Hibakusha== | |||
| ] | |||
| The survivors of the bombings are called {{nihongo|'']''|被爆者}}, a Japanese word that literally translates to "explosion-affected people". The suffering of the bombing is the root of Japan's postwar ], and the nation has sought the abolition of nuclear weapons from the world ever since. ], there are about 266,000 ''hibakusha'' still living in Japan.<ref>{{cite web | title=''Asahi Shimbun'', quoted by ''San Francisco Chronicle'' | url=http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/gate/archive/2005/08/09/worldviews.DTL | accessmonthday= March 9 | accessyear= 2006 }}</ref> | |||
| === Korean survivors === | |||
| During the war Japan brought many Korean conscripts to both Hiroshima and Nagasaki to work as forced labor. According to recent estimates, about 20,000 Koreans were killed in Hiroshima and about 2,000 died in Nagasaki. It is estimated that one in seven of the Hiroshima victims was of Korean ancestry.<ref>Mikiso Hane. Modern Japan: A Historical Survey. Boulder: Westview Press, 1992.</ref> For many years Koreans had a difficult time fighting for recognition as atomic bomb victims and were denied health benefits.{{Fact|date=February 2007}} Though such issues have been somewhat addressed in recent years, issues and resentments regarding recognition continue to linger. | |||
| ==Debate over bombings== | |||
| ===Support=== | |||
| ====Preferable to invasion==== | |||
| Those who argue in favor of the decision to drop the bombs generally assert that the bombings ended the war months sooner than would otherwise have been the case, thus saving many lives. It is argued that there would have been massive casualties on both sides in the impending ] invasion of Japan,<ref>{{cite book| author=Tsuyoshi Hasegawa| title=Racing the Enemy: Stalin, Truman, and the Surrender of Japan| publisher=The Belknap Press of Harvard University Press| year=2005|pages=298–299}}</ref> and that even if Operation Downfall was postponed, the status quo of conventional bombings and the Japanese occupations in Asia were causing tremendous loss of life. | |||
| The Americans anticipated losing many soldiers in the planned invasion of Japan, although the actual number of ] is subject to some debate. It depends on the persistence and reliability of Japanese resistance, and whether the Allies would have invaded only Kyūshū in November 1945 or if a follow up Allied landing near Tokyo, projected for March 1946, would have been needed. Years after the war, Secretary of State ] claimed that 500,000 "American" lives would have been lost, however in the summer of 1945,{{Fact|date=February 2007}} U.S. military planners projected 20,000–110,000 combat deaths from the initial November 1945 invasion, with about three to four times that number wounded.{{Fact|date=April 2007}} (Total U.S. killed in action on all fronts in World War II in nearly four years of war was 292,000.<ref name=MW-USA-KIA/>) | |||
| ====Japan chose not to surrender==== | |||
| A nation historically suspicious of Western imperialism, Japanese military officials were unanimously opposed to any negotiations before the use of the atomic bomb. The rise of Japanese militarism in the wake of the ] had resulted in countless assassinations of reformers attempting to check military power, such as those of ], ], and ], creating an environment in which opposition to war was itself a risky endeavor.<ref name="Long Day">{{cite book| author= The Pacific War Research Society | title=Japan's Longest Day | publisher=Oxford University Press | year=2005|pages=352}}</ref> | |||
| While some members of the civilian leadership did use covert diplomatic channels to attempt peace negotiation, they could not negotiate surrender or even a cease-fire. Japan, as a ], could only legally enter into a peace agreement with the unanimous support of the Japanese cabinet, and in the summer of 1945, the Japanese Supreme War Council, consisting of representatives of the Army, the Navy and the civilian government, could not reach a consensus on how to proceed.<ref name="Long Day"/> | |||
| A political stalemate developed between the military and civilian leaders of Japan, the military increasingly determined to fight despite all costs and odds and the civilian leadership seeking a way to negotiate an end to the war. Further complicating the decision was the fact that no cabinet could exist without the representative of the ]. This meant that the Army could veto any decision by having its Minister resign, thus making it the most powerful post on the SWC. In early August of 1945 the cabinet was equally split between those who advocated an end to the war and those who would not surrender under any circumstances. The hawks consisted of ], ] and ] and were led by Anami. The doves consisted of Prime Minister ], Naval Minister ],and ] and were led by Togo.<ref name="Long Day"/> | |||
| The peace faction, led by Togo, seized on the bombing as decisive justification of surrender. ], one of Emperor Hirohito's closest advisers, stated: "We of the peace party were assisted by the atomic bomb in our endeavor to end the war." ], the chief Cabinet secretary in 1945, called the bombing "a golden opportunity given by heaven for Japan to end the war." The pro-peace civilian leadership was then able to use the destruction of Hiroshima and Nagasaki to convince the military that no amount of courage, skill, and fearless combat could help Japan against the power of atomic weapons. The cabinet made a unanimous decision to surrender and accept the terms of the Potsdam agreement.<ref name="Long Day"/> | |||
| ====Speedy end of war saved lives==== | |||
| Supporters of the bombing also point out that waiting for the Japanese to surrender was not a cost-free option—as a result of the war, noncombatants were dying throughout Asia at a rate of about 200,000 per month.{{Fact|date=February 2007}} ] had killed well over 100,000 people in Japan since February of 1945, directly and indirectly. That intensive conventional bombing would have continued prior to an invasion. The submarine blockade and the ]'s ] operation, ], had effectively cut off Japan's imports. A complementary operation against Japan's railways was about to begin, isolating the cities of southern Honshū from the food grown elsewhere in the Home Islands. "Immediately after the defeat, some estimated that 10 million people were likely to starve to death," noted historian Daikichi Irokawa. Meanwhile, in addition to the Soviet attacks, fighting continued in ], ] and ], and offensives were scheduled for September in southern China and ]. | |||
| The atomic bomb hastened the end of the war, liberating millions in occupied areas, including thousands of ] civilians and ] from Japanese camps. For example, in the case of the ], these included about 200,000 ] and 400,000 Indonesians '']'' (slave laborers). In ] alone, between four and 10 million ''romusha'' were forced to work by the Japanese military.<ref> Access date: February 9, 2007. </ref> About 270,000 Javanese ''romusha'' were sent to other Japanese-held areas in South East Asia. Only 52,000 were repatriated to Java, meaning that there was a death rate of 80%. | |||
| Moreover, Japanese troops had committed ], by means including the '']'' ("scorched earth") policies, the infamous ] and the use of chemical and bacteriological weapons, and the early end to the war prevented further bloodshed. Millions of Asian civilians died of famine under Japanese rule: for example, a ] report states that four million people died in the Dutch East Indies as a result of famine and forced labor during the Japanese occupation, including 30,000 European civilian internee deaths.<ref>], 1986, ''War Without Mercy''.</ref> These ] were ongoing, and use of the atomic bombs brought them to an abrupt end. | |||
| Supporters also point to an order given by the Japanese War Ministry on ], ], ordering the disposal and execution of all Allied POWs, numbering over 100,000, if an invasion of the Japanese mainland took place.<ref>The only existing original copy of general order was found by ] after the war in the ruins of the ] prisoner of war camp. (] ] Page 260)</ref> | |||
| ====Part of "total war"==== | |||
| Supporters of the bombings have argued that the Japanese government waged ], ordering many civilians (including women and children) to work in factories and military offices and to fight against any invading force. Father John A. Siemes, professor of modern philosophy at Tokyo's Catholic University, and an eyewitness to the atomic bomb attack on Hiroshima wrote: | |||
| :"We have discussed among ourselves the ethics of the use of the bomb. Some consider it in the same category as poison gas and were against its use on a civil population. Others were of the view that in total war, as carried on in Japan, there was no difference between civilians and soldiers, and that the bomb itself was an effective force tending to end the bloodshed, warning Japan to surrender and thus to avoid total destruction. It seems logical to me that he who supports total war in principle cannot complain of war against civilians."<ref>{{cite web | title=The Avalon Project : The Atomic Bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki | url=http://www.yale.edu/lawweb/avalon/abomb/mp25.htm | accessmonthday= August 6 | accessyear= 2005 }}</ref> | |||
| Some supporters of the bombings have emphasized the strategic significance of Hiroshima, as the Japanese 2nd army's headquarters, and of Nagasaki, as a major munitions manufacturing center. | |||
| In his speech to the Japanese people presenting his reasons for surrender, Emperor Hirohito refers specifically to the atomic bombs, stating that if they continued to fight it would result in "...an ultimate collapse and obliteration of the Japanese nation..."<ref>http://www.mtholyoke.edu/acad/intrel/hirohito.htm</ref> | |||
| ===Opposition=== | |||
| ] at the Hiroshima Peace Park is inscribed with an ambiguous sentence: "''Rest in peace, for this mistake will not be repeated.''" This construction, natural in the ], was intended to memorialize the victims of Hiroshima without politicizing the issue.]] | |||
| ====Inherently immoral==== | |||
| A number of notable individuals and organizations have criticized the bombings, many of them characterizing them as ]s or ]. Two early critics of the bombings were ] and ], who had together spurred the first bomb research in 1939 with a ] to President Roosevelt. Szilard, who had gone on to play a major role in the ], argued: | |||
| :"Let me say only this much to the moral issue involved: Suppose Germany had developed two bombs before we had any bombs. And suppose Germany had dropped one bomb, say, on ] and the other on ], and then having run out of bombs she would have lost the war. Can anyone doubt that we would then have defined the dropping of atomic bombs on cities as a war crime, and that we would have sentenced the Germans who were guilty of this crime to death at Nuremberg and hanged them?"<ref>http://www.peak.org/~danneng/decision/usnews.html From ] "President Truman Did Not Understand," | |||
| , August 15, 1960, pages 68-71</ref> | |||
| A number of scientists who worked on the bomb were against its use. Led by Dr. ], seven scientists submitted a report to the Interim Committee (which advised the President) in May 1945, saying: | |||
| :"If the United States were to be the first to release this new means of indiscriminate destruction upon mankind, she would sacrifice public support throughout the world, precipitate the race for armaments, and prejudice the possibility of reaching and international agreement on the future control of such weapons."<ref>John Toland, ''ibid'', p. 762</ref> | |||
| On ], ], ] addressed the bombing of Hiroshima in an editorial in the French newspaper '']'': | |||
| :"Mechanized civilization has just reached the ultimate stage of barbarism. In a near future, we will have to choose between mass suicide and intelligent use of scientific conquests This can no longer be simply a prayer; it must become an order which goes upward from the peoples to the governments, an order to make a definitive choice between hell and reason."<ref> ] in '']'' newspaper, ], ], available in French </ref> | |||
| In 1946, a report by the ] entitled ''Atomic Warfare and the Christian Faith'', includes the following passage: | |||
| :"As American Christians, we are deeply penitent for the irresponsible use already made of the atomic bomb. We are agreed that, whatever be one's judgment of the war in principle, the surprise bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki are morally indefensible." | |||
| In 1963 the bombings were the subject of a ] in '']''.<ref>, Tokyo District Court, ] ]</ref> On the 22nd anniversary of the attack on Pearl Harbor, the District Court of Tokyo declined to rule on the legality of nuclear weapons in general, but found that "the attacks upon Hiroshima and Nagasaki caused such severe and indiscriminate suffering that they did violate the most basic legal principles governing the conduct of war."<ref> | |||
| {{cite news | |||
| | first=Richard A. | |||
| | last=Falk |title=The Claimants of Hiroshima | |||
| | date=]-] |publisher=The Nation}} reprinted in | |||
| {{cite book | |||
| | editor=Richard A. Falk, Saul H. Mendlovitz eds. | |||
| | title=The Strategy of World Order. Volume: 1 | |||
| | publisher=World Law Fund | |||
| | year=1966 |location=New York | |||
| | chapter=The Shimoda Case: Challenge and Response | |||
| | pages=pp. 307-13}}</ref> | |||
| ]In the opinion of the court, the act of dropping an atomic bomb on cities was at the time governed by international law found in ] and the Hague Draft Rules of Air Warfare of 1922–1923<ref> | |||
| {{cite book | |||
| | first=Francis A. | |||
| | last=Boyle |title=The Criminality of Nuclear Deterrence | |||
| | year=2002 | |||
| | publisher=Clarity Press | |||
| | location=Atlanta |pages=58}}</ref> and was therefore illegal.<ref>Falk, ''op. cit.'', p. 308. </ref><!-- Please see talk page for details. The references do support the comments given. --> | |||
| As the first military use of nuclear weapons, the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki represent to some the crossing of a crucial barrier. ], director of the Nuclear Studies Institute at American University in Washington DC wrote of President Truman: | |||
| :”He knew he was beginning the process of annihilation of the species. It was not just a war crime; it was a crime against humanity."<ref name="New Scientist"> | |||
| {{cite web | |||
| | url = http://www.newscientist.com/channel/opinion/dn7706.html | |||
| | title = Hiroshima bomb may have carried hidden agenda | |||
| | accessmonthday = July 28 | |||
| | accessyear = 2006 | |||
| | author = | |||
| | last = | |||
| | first = | |||
| | date = 21 | |||
| | year = 2005 | |||
| | month = July | |||
| | publisher = NewScientist.com | |||
| }}</ref> | |||
| Kurznick is one of several observers who believe that the U.S. was largely motivated in carrying out the bombings by a desire to demonstrate the power of its new weapon to the Soviet Union. Historian Mark Selden of ] has stated "Impressing Russia was more important than ending the war in Japan."<ref name="New Scientist"/> | |||
| Takashi Hiraoka, mayor of Hiroshima, upholding ], said in a hearing to ] ] (ICJ): | |||
| :"It is clear that the use of nuclear weapons, which cause indiscriminate mass murder that leaves survivors for decades, is a violation of international law".<ref name="Hearing"> at La Hague ]</ref><ref> See also , by Takashi Hiraoka, Mayor of Hiroshima </ref> | |||
| ], the mayor of Nagasaki, declared in the same hearing: | |||
| :"It is said that the descendants of the atomic bomb survivors will have to be monitored for several generations to clarify the genetic impact, which means that the descendants will live in anxiety for to come. with their colossal power and capacity for slaughter and destruction, nuclear weapons make no distinction between combatants and non-combatants or between military installations and civilian communities The use of nuclear weapons therefore is a manifest infraction of international law."<ref name="Hearing"/> | |||
| ], former US ambassador to the ], used Hiroshima and Nagasaki as examples why the US should ''not'' adhere to the ] (ICC): | |||
| :"A fair reading of the treaty ] concerning the ICC], for example, leaves the objective observer unable to answer with confidence whether the United States was guilty of war crimes for its aerial bombing campaigns over Germany and Japan in World War II. Indeed, if anything, a straightforward reading of the language probably indicates that the court would find the United States guilty. A fortiori, these provisions seem to imply that the United States would have been guilty of a war crime for dropping atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. This is intolerable and unacceptable."<ref> , by ], current US ambassador to the United Nations, Winter 2001.</ref> | |||
| Although bombings do not meet the definition of ], some consider that this definition is too strict, and that these bombings do represent a genocide.<ref> | |||
| {{cite book | |||
| | last = Frey | |||
| | first =Robert S. | |||
| | title = The Genocidal Temptation: Auschwitz, Hiroshima, Rwanda and Beyond | |||
| | publisher =University Press of America | |||
| | date =2004 | |||
| | id = ISBN 0761827439 }} Reviewed at: | |||
| {{cite journal | |||
| | last = Rice | |||
| | first =Sarah | |||
| | title =The Genocidal Temptation: Auschwitz, Hiroshima, Rwanda and Beyond (Review) | |||
| | journal =Harvard Human Rights Journal | |||
| | volume =Vol. 18 | |||
| | date =2005 | |||
| | url = http://www.law.harvard.edu/students/orgs/hrj/iss18/booknotes-Genocidal.shtml | |||
| | accessdate = }}</ref><ref> | |||
| {{cite journal | |||
| | last = Dower | |||
| | first =John | |||
| | title =The Bombed: Hiroshima and Nagasaki in Japanese Memory | |||
| | journal =Diplomatic History | |||
| | volume =Vol. 19 | |||
| | issue =no. 2 | |||
| | date =1995 | |||
| | url = | |||
| | accessdate = }}</ref> | |||
| For example, ] historian ] states there is a consensus among historians to ]'s statement, that "the Nagasaki bomb was gratuitous at best and genocidal at worst."<ref> | |||
| {{cite book | |||
| | last = Cumings | |||
| | first = Bruce | |||
| | title = Parallax Visions | |||
| | publisher =University Press of Duke | |||
| | date = 1999 | |||
| | pages = 54 | |||
| | id = }} | |||
| {{cite book | |||
| | last = Sherwin | |||
| | first = Martin | |||
| | title = A World Destroyed: The Atomic Bomb and the Grand Alliance | |||
| | publisher = | |||
| | date = 1974 | |||
| | id = }} | |||
| </ref> | |||
| ====Militarily unnecessary==== | |||
| Those who argue that the bombings were unnecessary on military grounds hold that Japan was already essentially defeated and ready to surrender. | |||
| One of the most notable individuals with this opinion was then-General ]. He wrote in his memoir ''The White House Years'': | |||
| :"In 1945 Secretary of War Stimson, visiting my headquarters in Germany, informed me that our government was preparing to drop an atomic bomb on Japan. I was one of those who felt that there were a number of cogent reasons to question the wisdom of such an act. During his recitation of the relevant facts, I had been conscious of a feeling of depression and so I voiced to him my grave misgivings, first on the basis of my belief that Japan was already defeated and that dropping the bomb was completely unnecessary, and secondly because I thought that our country should avoid shocking world opinion by the use of a weapon whose employment was, I thought, no longer mandatory as a measure to save American lives."<ref> | |||
| {{cite book | |||
| | last = Eisenhower | |||
| | first = Dwight D. | |||
| | authorlink =Dwight D. Eisenhower | |||
| | title = The White House Years; Mandate For Change: 1953-1956 | |||
| | publisher = Doubleday & Company | |||
| | date =1963 | |||
| | pages = pp. 312-313 | |||
| | id = }}</ref><ref name="Hiroshima: Quotes"> | |||
| {{cite web | |||
| | title=Hiroshima: Quotes | |||
| | url=http://www.doug-long.com/quotes.htm | |||
| | accessmonthday = August 6 | |||
| | accessyear= 2005 }}</ref> | |||
| Other U.S. military officers who disagreed with the necessity of the bombings include General ] (the highest-ranking officer in the Pacific Theater), ] ] (the Chief of Staff to the President), General ] (commander of the U.S. Strategic Air Forces in the Pacific), and Brigadier General Carter Clarke (the military intelligence officer who prepared intercepted Japanese cables for U.S. officials),<ref name="Hiroshima: Quotes"/> | |||
| and Admiral ], U.S. ], Undersecretary of the Navy ],<ref name="Bard Memorandum"> | |||
| {{cite web | |||
| | title=Bard Memorandum | |||
| | url=http://www.dannen.com/decision/bardmemo.html | |||
| | accessmonthday = May 8 | |||
| | accessyear = 2006 }}</ref> | |||
| and Fleet Admiral ], Commander in Chief of the Pacific Fleet.<ref> | |||
| {{cite web | |||
| | title=Decision: Part I | |||
| | url=http://www.doug-long.com/ga1.htm | |||
| | accessmonthday = August 6 | |||
| | accessyear= 2005 }}</ref> | |||
| :"The Japanese had, in fact, already sued for peace. The atomic bomb played no decisive part, from a purely military point of view, in the defeat of Japan." Fleet Admiral Chester W. Nimitz, Commander in Chief of the U.S. Pacific Fleet.<ref name = "CD"> {{cite journal | |||
| | first =Robert | |||
| | last =Freeman | |||
| | coauthors = | |||
| | year =2006 | |||
| | month =August 6 | |||
| | title =Was the Atomic Bombing of Japan Necessary? | |||
| | journal =CommonDreams.org | |||
| | volume = | |||
| | issue = | |||
| | pages = | |||
| | id = | |||
| | url =http://www.commondreams.org/views06/0806-25.htm | |||
| }}</ref> | |||
| :"The use of at Hiroshima and Nagasaki was of no material assistance in our war against Japan. The Japanese were already defeated and ready to surrender." Admiral William D. Leahy, Chief of Staff to President Truman.<ref name = "CD" /> | |||
| The United States Strategic Bombing Survey, after interviewing hundreds of Japanese civilian and military leaders after Japan surrendered, reported: | |||
| :"Based on a detailed investigation of all the facts, and supported by the testimony of the surviving Japanese leaders involved, it is the Survey's opinion that certainly prior to ] 1945, and in all probability prior to ] 1945, Japan would have surrendered even if the atomic bombs had not been dropped, even if Russia had not entered the war, and even if no invasion had been planned or contemplated."<ref> | |||
| {{cite web | |||
| | url = http://www.ibiblio.org/hyperwar/AAF/USSBS-PTO-Summary.html#jstetw | |||
| | title = United States Strategic Bombing Survey; Summary Report | |||
| | accessmonthday = July 28 | |||
| | accessyear = 2006 | |||
| | author = | |||
| | last = | |||
| | first = | |||
| | authorlink = | |||
| | coauthors = | |||
| | date = | |||
| | year = 1946 | |||
| | month = | |||
| | format = | |||
| | work = | |||
| | publisher = United States Government Printing Office | |||
| | pages = pg. 26 | |||
| }}</ref><ref name = "CD" /> | |||
| ]. The atomic bomb exploded almost directly overhead.]] | |||
| The survey assumed that continued conventional bombing attacks on Japan—with additional direct and indirect casualties—would be needed to force surrender by the November or December dates mentioned. | |||
| Many, including General MacArthur, have contended that Japan would have surrendered before the bombings if the U.S. had notified Japan that it would accept a surrender that allowed Emperor Hirohito to keep his position as titular leader of Japan, a condition the U.S. did in fact allow after Japan surrendered. U.S. leadership knew this, through intercepts of encoded Japanese messages, but refused to clarify Washington's willingness to accept this condition. Before the bombings, the position of the Japanese leadership with regards to surrender was divided. Several diplomats favored surrender, while the leaders of the Japanese military voiced a commitment to fighting a ] on ], hoping that they could negotiate better terms for an armistice afterward. The Japanese government did not decide what terms, beyond preservation of an imperial system, they would have accepted to end the war; as late as ], the ] was still split, with the hard-liners insisting Japan should demobilize its own forces, no war crimes trials would be conducted, and no occupation of Japan would be allowed. Only the direct intervention of the emperor ended the dispute, and even then a military coup was attempted to prevent the surrender. | |||
| Historian Tsuyoshi Hasegawa's research has led him to conclude that the atomic bombings themselves were not even the principal reason for capitulation. Instead, he contends, it was the swift and devastating Soviet victories in Manchuria that forced the Japanese surrender on ] ].<ref> | |||
| {{cite book | |||
| | last = Hasegawa | |||
| | first = Tsuyoshi | |||
| | authorlink = | |||
| | title = Racing the Enemy: Stalin, Truman, and the Surrender of Japan | |||
| | publisher = Belknap Press | |||
| | date = 2005 | |||
| | pages = pg. 298 | |||
| | id = ISBN 0-674-01693-9 }}</ref> | |||
| <br style="clear:both" /> | |||
| ==Cultural references== | |||
| ] walk by the ], the closest building to have survived the city's atomic bombing.]] | |||
| * The book '']'', by ], and the related film, were partly inspired by the bombing. The film version, directed by ], has some documentary footage of the afteraffects, burn victims, devastation. | |||
| * The Japanese ] "Hadashi no Gen" ("]"), also known as "Gen of Hiroshima";{{ref|www.bedetheque.com.336}} ] anime film '']'' which depicts American fire bombings in Japan; and ] '']'' are just a few examples from manga and film which deal with the bombings and/or the wartime context of the bombings. | |||
| * The musical piece "]" by ] (sometimes also called ''Threnody to the Victims of Hiroshima for 52 Strings'', and originally ''8'37"'' as a nod to ]) was written in 1960 as a reaction to what the composer believed to be a senseless act. On the 12th of October, 1964, Penderecki wrote: "Let the Threnody express my firm belief that the sacrifice of Hiroshima will never be forgotten and lost." | |||
| * ] ] has written a musical work for ] and ] entitled ]. Commissioned by the ], ], it was premiered in 2005. | |||
| * Artists Stephen Moore and Ann Rosenthal examine 60 years of living in the shadow of the bomb in their decade-long art project "Infinity City." Their web site http://infcty.net documents their travels to historical sites on three continents and explores their art installations and web works reflecting on America's nuclear legacy. | |||
| *The ] ] band ] performed a song called "The Manhattan Project" depicting the events of and leading up to the bombing of Hiroshima. | |||
| * The story of ], a young Hiroshima survivor diagnosed with ], has been recounted in a number of books and films. Two of the best known of these works are ]'s '']'' (1961), translated into 22 languages and ]'s '']'' (Putnam, 1977). Sasaki, confined to a hospital because of her leukemia, created over 1,000 origami cranes, in reference to a Japanese legend which granted the creator of the cranes one wish. | |||
| * Native American novelist ]`s "] novel", '']'' (2003), compares the aftermath of the Hiroshima bombing to the aftermath of the conquest of the Americas. | |||
| * The Japanese author ] wrote her ] about a story of a family after the atomic bomb, '']'' (2004), and translated into some languages. | |||
| * The rock band Wishful Thinking had a hit in 1971 with "Hiroshima", a song about the bombing. | |||
| ===Films about the events=== | |||
| *{{cite visual | |||
| | director = ] | |||
| | date = 1989 | |||
| | url = http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0097694/ | |||
| | title = Kuroi ame (]) | |||
| | medium = Feature-length drama | |||
| | location = Japan | |||
| | distributor = Toei Co. Ltd. | |||
| }}- The story of the aftermath of the Hiroshima bombing, based on ]'s novel. | |||
| *{{cite visual | |||
| | director = Kurihara, Koreyoshi and Roger Spottiswoode | |||
| | date = 1995 | |||
| | url = http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0113309/ | |||
| | title = Hiroshima | |||
| | medium = Feature-length docudrama | |||
| | location = Canada/Japan | |||
| | distributor = Hallmark Home Entertainment | |||
| }}- A detailed, semi-documentary dramatisation of the political decisions involved with the atomic bombings. | |||
| *{{cite visual | |||
| | director = ] | |||
| | date = 1991 | |||
| | url = http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0101991/ | |||
| | title = Hachi-gatsu no kyôshikyoku (]) | |||
| | medium = Feature-length drama | |||
| | location = Japan | |||
| | distributor = MGM Home Entertainment | |||
| }}- Fictional drama that takes place in Nagasaki at the time of the bombing. | |||
| *{{cite visual | |||
| | director = Sato, Junya | |||
| | date = 2005 | |||
| | url = http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0085218/maindetails | |||
| | title = Hadashi no Gen (Barefoot Gen) | |||
| | medium = Feature-length, animated movie | |||
| | location = Japan | |||
| | distributor = Tara Releasing | |||
| }}- Animated dramatization of the bombing of Hiroshima based on the writer's own experiences and the documented experiences of other surivors. | |||
| ==See also== | |||
| {{commons|Atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki}} | |||
| * ] | |||
| * ] | |||
| * ] | |||
| * ] | |||
| * ] | |||
| * ] | |||
| * ] | |||
| * ] | |||
| * ] | |||
| * ] | |||
| * ] | |||
| * ] | |||
| * ] | |||
| * ] | |||
| * ] | |||
| * ] | |||
| * ] | |||
| * ] | |||
| * ] | |||
| ==References== | |||
| *{{cite book| author=Sadao Asada | chapter= The Mushroom Cloud and National Psyches: Japanese and American Perceptions of the Atomic-Bomb Decision, 1945-1995 | title= | editor=Laura Hein and Mark Selden, eds. | publisher=East Gate Book | id= ISBN 1-56324-967-7 | year=1997| pages=186}} | |||
| *{{cite book | author=] | chapter=Japan's Delayed Surrender: A Reinterpretation | title=Hiroshima in History and Memory | editor=Michael J. Hogan, ed. | publisher=Cambridge University Press | id= ISBN 0-521-56682-7 | year=1996| pages=290}} | |||
| *{{cite book| author=Richard H. Campbell| chapter= Chapter 2: Development and Production | title=The Silverplate Bombers: A History and Registry of the Enola Gay and Other B-29s Configured to Carry Atomic Bombs | editor= | publisher=McFarland & Company, Inc.| id= ISBN 0-7864-2139-8 | year=2005| pages=p.114}} | |||
| *{{cite journal | last = Dower | first =John | title =The Bombed: Hiroshima and Nagasaki in Japanese Memory | journal =Diplomatic History | volume =Vol. 19 | issue =no. 2 | date =1995 | url =| accessdate = }} | |||
| *] ''Banzi you Bastards'', Souviner Press, (paperback 1994), ISBN 0-285-63027-X, Page 260 | |||
| *{{cite book | last = Eisenhower | first = Dwight D | authorlink = Dwight D. Eisenhower | title = The White House Years; Mandate For Change: 1953-1956 | publisher = Doubleday & Company | date = 1963 | pages = pp. 312-313 }} | |||
| *{{cite news | first=Richard A. | last=Falk |title=The Claimants of Hiroshima | date=]-] |publisher=The Nation}} reprinted in {{cite book | editor=Richard A. Falk, Saul H. Mendlovitz eds. | title=The Strategy of World Order. Volume: 1 | publisher=World Law Fund | year=1966 |location=New York | chapter=The Shimoda Case: Challenge and Response | pages=pp. 307-13}} | |||
| *{{cite book | author=Richard B. Frank | title=Downfall: The End of the Imperial Japanese Empire | publisher= Penguin Publishing | year=2001 | id= ISBN 0-679-41424-X}} | |||
| *{{cite journal| first =Robert | last =Freeman | coauthors =| year =2006 | month =August 6 | title =Was the Atomic Bombing of Japan Necessary? | journal =CommonDreams.org | volume =| issue = | pages =| id =| url =http://www.commondreams.org/views06/0806-25.htm}} | |||
| *{{cite book | last = Frey | first =Robert S. | title = The Genocidal Temptation: Auschwitz, Hiroshima, Rwanda and Beyond | publisher =University Press of America | date =2004 | id = ISBN 0761827439 }} Reviewed at: {{cite journal | last = Rice | first =Sarah | title =The Genocidal Temptation: Auschwitz, Hiroshima, Rwanda and Beyond (Review) | journal =Harvard Human Rights Journal | volume =Vol. 18 | date =2005 | url=http://www.law.harvard.edu/students/orgs/hrj/iss18/booknotes-Genocidal.shtml| accessdate = }} | |||
| *{{cite book | author=Mikiso Hane | title=Modern Japan: A Historical Survey | publisher= Westview Press | year=2001 |id=ISBN 0-8133-3756-9 }}<!--Cited twice but citiations not combined--> | |||
| *{{cite book | last = Hasegawa | first = Tsuyoshi| authorlink = | title = Racing the Enemy: Stalin, Truman, and the Surrender of Japan | publisher = Belknap Press| date = 2005| pages = pages 129,298–299| id = ISBN 0-674-01693-9 }}<!-- cited three times difference page numbers twicw--> | |||
| *Lillian Hoddeson, et al, ''Critical Assembly: A Technical History of Los Alamos During the Oppenheimer Years, 1943-1945'' (New York: Cambridge University Press, 1993), on 295. | |||
| *{{cite book | author= |title=The Spirit of Hiroshima: An Introduction to the Atomic Bomb Tragedy | publisher= | year=1999 }} | |||
| *, A Collection of Primary Sources, National Security Archive Electronic Briefing Book No. 162. | |||
| *{{cite book| author=Martin J. Sherwin| title=A World Destroyed: Hiroshima and its Legacies| edition=2nd edition| publisher=Stanford University Press| year=2003| pages=233-234}} | |||
| *''Kido Koichi nikki'', Tokyo, Daigaku Shuppankai, 1966, p.1223, p.1120-1121 <!--Cited twice--> | |||
| *Rinjiro Sodei. ''Were We the Enemy?: American Survivors of Hiroshima''. Boulder: Westview Press, 1998 <!--Cited twice but citations not combined--> | |||
| *{{cite web | author=John A. Siemes|title=The Avalon Project : The Atomic Bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki: Chapter 25 - Eyewitness Account | url=http://www.yale.edu/lawweb/avalon/abomb/mp25.htm | accessmonthday= August 6 | accessyear= 2005 }} | |||
| *{{cite web| url = http://www.ibiblio.org/hyperwar/AAF/USSBS-PTO-Summary.html#jstetw| title = United States Strategic Bombing Survey; Summary Report| accessmonthday = July 28 | accessyear = 2006| author =| last =| first =| authorlink = | coauthors =| date =| year = 1946| month = | format =| work = | publisher = United States Government Printing Office| pages = pg. 26}} | |||
| *{{cite book| author=Dennis D. Wainstock| title=The Decision to Drop the Atomic Bomb| publisher=Praeger| year=1996|id=ISBN 0-275-95475-7| pages=92}} | |||
| ==Further reading== | |||
| <!-- | |||
| * Newman, Robert. ''Enola Gay and the Court of History (Frontiers in Political Communication)'' (New York: Peter Lang Publishing, 2004) ISBN 0-8204-7457-6 | |||
| *{{cite web| last = Craven| first = Wesley Frank| authorlink = | coauthors = James Lea Cate | date = | year = | month = | url = http://www.ibiblio.org/hyperwar/AAF/V/index.html| title = Vol. V: The Pacific: MATTERHORN to Nagasaki, June 1944 to August 1945 | |||
| | format = | work = The Army Air Forces in World War II| pages =| publisher = U.S. Office of Air Force History| language =| accessmonthday = December 12 | accessyear = 2006 }} | |||
| --> | |||
| There is an extensive body of literature concerning the bombings, the decision to use the bombs, and the surrender of Japan. The following sources provide a sampling of prominent works on this subject matter. Because the debate over justification for the bombings is particularly intense, some of the literature may contain claims that are disputed. | |||
| <div class="references-small"> | |||
| *{{cite book | |||
| | author = Hein, Laura and Selden, Mark (Editors) | |||
| | title = Living with the Bomb: American and Japanese Cultural Conflicts in the Nuclear Age | |||
| | publisher = M. E. Sharpe | |||
| | date =1997 | |||
| | id = ISBN 1-56324-967-9}} | |||
| *{{cite book | |||
| | last = Sherwin | |||
| | first = Martin J. | |||
| | authorlink = | |||
| | title = A World Destroyed: Hiroshima and its Legacies | |||
| | publisher = Stanford University Press | |||
| | date =2003 | |||
| | id = ISBN 0-8047-3957-9}} | |||
| *{{cite book | |||
| | last = Newman | |||
| | first = Robert | |||
| | authorlink = | |||
| | title = Enola Gay and the Court of History (Frontiers in Political Communication) | |||
| | publisher = Peter Lang Publishing | |||
| | date =2004 | |||
| | id = ISBN 0-8204-7457-6}} | |||
| *{{cite book | |||
| | last = Eisenhower | |||
| | first = Dwight D. | |||
| | authorlink =Dwight D. Eisenhower | |||
| | title = The White House Years; Mandate For Change: 1953-1956 | |||
| | publisher = Doubleday & Company | |||
| | date =1963 | |||
| | id = }} | |||
| *{{cite web | |||
| | last = Craven | |||
| | first = Wesley Frank | |||
| | coauthors = James Lea Cate | |||
| | url = http://www.ibiblio.org/hyperwar/AAF/USSBS-PTO-Summary.html | |||
| | title = United States Strategic Bombing Survey; Summary Report (Pacific War) | |||
| | work = The Army Air Forces in World War II | |||
| | publisher = U.S. Government Printing Office | |||
| | date = 1946 | |||
| }} | |||
| *, official homepage. | |||
| *, official homepage. | |||
| * | |||
| *{{cite web | |||
| | author = | |||
| | title = Tale of Two Cities: The Story of Hiroshima and Nagasaki | |||
| | url = http://www.atomicarchive.com/History/twocities/index.shtml | |||
| | accessdate = }} | |||
| *{{cite web | |||
| | author = | |||
| | title =Documents on the Decision to Drop the Atomic Bomb | |||
| | date = | |||
| | publisher = The Harry S. Truman Library | |||
| | url = http://www.trumanlibrary.org/whistlestop/study_collections/bomb/large/index.php }} | |||
| *{{cite web | |||
| | author = | |||
| | title =The Atomic Bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki | |||
| | date =1946 | |||
| | publisher = Manhattan Project, U.S. Army | |||
| | url =http://www.atomicarchive.com/Docs/MED/index.shtml }} | |||
| *{{cite web | |||
| | last = Burr | |||
| | first = William (Editor) | |||
| | title = The Atomic Bomb and the End of World War II: A Collection of Primary Sources | |||
| | date =2005 | |||
| | publisher = National Security Archive | |||
| | url = http://www.gwu.edu/~nsarchiv/NSAEBB/NSAEBB162/index.htm }} | |||
| ===Histories and descriptions=== | |||
| ] | |||
| *{{cite book | |||
| | last = Hoddeson | |||
| | first = Lillian, ''et al'' | |||
| | authorlink = | |||
| | title = Critical Assembly: A Technical History of Los Alamos During the Oppenheimer Years | |||
| | publisher = Cambridge University Press | |||
| | date =1993 | |||
| | id = ISBN 0-521-44132-3}} | |||
| *{{cite book | |||
| | last = Sodei | |||
| | first = Rinjiro | |||
| | authorlink = | |||
| | title = Were We the Enemy? American Survivors of Hiroshima | |||
| | publisher = Westview Press | |||
| | date =1998 | |||
| | id = ISBN 081333750X}} | |||
| *{{cite book | |||
| | last = Hachiya | |||
| | first = Michihiko | |||
| | authorlink = Michihiko Hachiya | |||
| | title = Hiroshima Diary | |||
| | publisher = University of North Carolina Press | |||
| | date = 1955 | |||
| | id = ISBN 0-8078-4547-7}} | |||
| :A daily diary covering the months after the bombing, written by a doctor who was in the city when the bomb was dropped. | |||
| *{{cite book | |||
| | last = Hersey | |||
| | first = John | |||
| | authorlink = John Hersey | |||
| | title = Hiroshima | |||
| | publisher = Vintage Press | |||
| | date = 1946, 1985 | |||
| | id = ISBN 0-679-72103-7}} | |||
| :An account of the bombing by an American journalist who visited the city shortly after the Occupation began, and interviewed survivors. | |||
| *{{cite book | |||
| | last = Ogura | |||
| | first = Toyofumi | |||
| | title = Letters from the End of the World: A Firsthand Account of the Bombing of Hiroshima | |||
| | publisher = Kodansha International Ltd. | |||
| | date = 1948 | |||
| | id = ISBN 4-7700-2776-1}} | |||
| *{{cite book | |||
| | last = Sekimori | |||
| | first = Gaynor | |||
| | title = Hibakusha: Survivors of Hiroshima and Nagasaki | |||
| | publisher = Kosei Publishing Company | |||
| | date = 1986 | |||
| | id = ISBN 4-333-01204-X}} | |||
| *{{cite book | |||
| | last = Selden | |||
| | first = Kyoko, ''et al'' | |||
| | title = The Atomic Bomb: Voices from Hiroshima and Nagasaki (Japan in the Modern World) | |||
| | publisher = M. E. Sharpe | |||
| | date = 1986 | |||
| | id = ISBN 087332773X}} | |||
| *{{cite book | |||
| | last = Takashi | |||
| | first = Nagai | |||
| | authorlink = Nagai Takashi | |||
| | title = The Bells of Nagasaki | |||
| | publisher = Kodansha International Ltd. | |||
| | date = 1949 | |||
| | id = ISBN 4-7700-1845-2}} | |||
| *{{cite book | |||
| | author = Weller, George and Weller, Anthony | |||
| | title = First Into Nagasaki: The Censored Eyewitness Dispatches on Post-Atomic Japan and Its Prisoners of War | |||
| | publisher = Vintage Press | |||
| | date = 2006 | |||
| | id = ISBN 0-307-34201-8}} | |||
| *{{cite book | |||
| | author = Lifton, Robert and Mitchell, Greg | |||
| | title = Hiroshima in America: A Half Century of Denial | |||
| | publisher = Quill Publishing | |||
| | date = 1995 | |||
| | id = ISBN 0-380-72764-1}} | |||
| *{{cite book | |||
| | author =The Committee for the Compilation of Materials on Damage Caused by the Atomic Bombs in Hiroshima and Nagasaki | |||
| | title =Hiroshima and Nagasaki: The Physical, Medical, and Social Effects of the Atomic Bombings | |||
| | publisher =Basic Books | |||
| | date =1981 | |||
| | id = ISBN 046502985X}} | |||
| :Detailed accounts of the immediate and subsequent casualties over three decades. | |||
| *{{cite book | |||
| | last = Craig | |||
| | first =William | |||
| | authorlink = | |||
| | title =The Fall of Japan | |||
| | publisher =Galahad Books | |||
| | date =1967 | |||
| | id = ISBN 0883659859}} | |||
| :A history of the governmental decision making on both sides, the bombings, and the opening of the Occupation. | |||
| *{{cite book | |||
| | last = Frank | |||
| | first =Richard B. | |||
| | authorlink = Richard B. Frank | |||
| | title = Downfall: The End of the Imperial Japanese Empire | |||
| | publisher = Penguin Books | |||
| | date =2001 | |||
| | id = ISBN 0-14-100146-1}} | |||
| :A history of the final months of the war, with emphasis on the preparations and prospects for the invasion of Japan. The author contends that the Japanese military leaders were preparing to continue the fight, and that they hoped that a bloody defense of their main islands would lead to something less than unconditional surrender and a continuation of their existing government. | |||
| *{{cite book | |||
| | last = Hogan | |||
| | first =Michael J. | |||
| | authorlink = | |||
| | title =Hiroshima in History and Memory | |||
| | publisher =Cambridge University Press | |||
| | date =1996 | |||
| | id = ISBN 0521562066}} | |||
| *{{cite book | |||
| | author = Knebel, Fletcher and Bailey, Charles W. | |||
| | title =No High Ground | |||
| | publisher =Harper and Row | |||
| | date =1960 | |||
| | id = ISBN 0313242216}} A history of the bombings, and the decision-making to use them. | |||
| * ], ''Brighter Than a Thousand Suns: A Personal History of the Atomic Scientists'' (New York: Harcourt, Brace, 1956, 1958) | |||
| *{{cite book | |||
| | author = The Pacific War Research Society | |||
| | title = Japan's Longest Day | |||
| | publisher = Oxford University Press | |||
| | date =2006 | |||
| | id = ISBN 4770028873}} | |||
| :An account of the Japanese surrender and how it was almost thwarted by soldiers who attempted a coup against the Emperor. | |||
| *{{cite book | |||
| | last = Rhodes | |||
| | first = Richard | |||
| | authorlink =Richard Rhodes | |||
| | title =The Making of the Atomic Bomb | |||
| | publisher =Simon & Schuster | |||
| | date =1986 | |||
| | id = ISBN 0671441337}} | |||
| *{{cite book | |||
| | author =], ''et al'' | |||
| | title = War's End: An Eyewitness Account of America's Last Atomic Mission | |||
| | publisher = Quill Publishing | |||
| | date =1999 | |||
| | id = ISBN 0380788748}} | |||
| *{{cite book | |||
| | last = Rhodes | |||
| | first = Richard | |||
| | author = Thomas, Gordon and Witts, Max Morgan | |||
| | title = Enola Gay: The Bombing of Hiroshima | |||
| | publisher = Konecky & Konecky | |||
| | date = 1977 | |||
| | id = ISBN 1568525974}} | |||
| :A history of the preparations to drop the bombs, and of the missions. | |||
| *{{cite book | |||
| | last = Walker | |||
| | first =J. Samuel | |||
| | authorlink = | |||
| | title =Prompt and Utter Destruction: President Truman and the Use of Atomic Bombs Against Japan | |||
| | publisher =University of North Carolina Press | |||
| | date =1997 | |||
| | id = ISBN 0807823619}} | |||
| *{{cite book | |||
| | last = Walker | |||
| | first = Stephen | |||
| | authorlink = | |||
| | title = Shockwave: Countdown to Hiroshima | |||
| | publisher = Harper Perennial | |||
| | date =2005 | |||
| | id = ISBN 0060742852}} | |||
| :Narrative events in the lives of those involved in or touched by the bombings. | |||
| *{{cite book | |||
| | last = Weintraub | |||
| | first = Stanley | |||
| | authorlink =Stanley Weintraub | |||
| | title =The Last, Great Victory: The End of World War II | |||
| | publisher =Truman Talley Books | |||
| | date =1995 | |||
| | id = ISBN 0525936874}} | |||
| :Recounts the events day by day. | |||
| ====Online==== | |||
| * | |||
| * | |||
| * | |||
| *{{cite web | |||
| | title = The Effects of the Atomic Bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki | |||
| | date =1946 | |||
| | work = U.S. Strategic Bombing Survey | |||
| | publisher = | |||
| | url = http://www.trumanlibrary.org/whistlestop/study_collections/bomb/large/documents/index.php?documentdate=1946-06-19&documentid=65&studycollectionid=abomb&pagenumber=1 }} | |||
| *{{cite web | |||
| | last = Selden | |||
| | first = Mark | |||
| | title = Nagasaki 1945: While Independents Were Scorned, Embed Won Pulitzer | |||
| | date =2005 | |||
| | publisher = Yale Global Online | |||
| | url = http://yaleglobal.yale.edu/display.article?id=5964 }} | |||
| *{{cite web|url=http://www-sdc.med.nagasaki-u.ac.jp/n50/start-E.html |title= Scientific Data of the Nagasaki Atomic Bomb Disaster |accessdate=April 28, 2007 |publisher=Atomic Bomb Disease Institute, Nagasaki University. }} | |||
| ===Debates over the bombings=== | |||
| *{{cite book | |||
| | last = Wainstock | |||
| | first = Dennis D. | |||
| | authorlink = | |||
| | title = The Decision to Drop the Atomic Bomb | |||
| | publisher = Praeger Publishers | |||
| | date =1996 | |||
| | id = ISBN 0-275-95475-7}} | |||
| *{{cite book | |||
| | last = Grayling | |||
| | first = A. C. | |||
| | authorlink = A. C. Grayling | |||
| | year = 2006 | |||
| | title = Among the Dead Cities | |||
| | publisher = Walker Publishing Company Inc. | |||
| | id = ISBN 0-8027-1471-4 | |||
| }} | |||
| :Philosophical/moral discussion concerning the Allied strategy of area bombing in WWII, including the use of atomic weapons on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. | |||
| *{{cite book | |||
| | author = Allen, Thomas B. and Polmar, Norman | |||
| | year = 1995 | |||
| | title = Code-Name Downfall: The Secret Plan to Invade Japan And Why Truman Dropped the Bomb | |||
| | publisher =Simon & Schuster | |||
| | id = ISBN 0684804069 | |||
| }} | |||
| :Concludes the bombings were justified. | |||
| *{{cite book | |||
| | last = Alperovitz | |||
| | first = Gar | |||
| | authorlink = Gar Alperovitz | |||
| | year = 1995 | |||
| | title = The Decision To Use The Atomic Bomb And The Architecture Of An American Myth | |||
| | publisher = Knopf | |||
| | id = ISBN 0679443312 | |||
| }} | |||
| :Weighs whether the bombings were justified or necessary, concludes they were not. | |||
| *{{cite book | |||
| | last = Bernstein | |||
| | first = Barton J. (Editor) | |||
| | year = 1976 | |||
| | title = The Atomic Bomb: The Critical Issues | |||
| | publisher = Little, Brown | |||
| | id = ISBN 0316091928 | |||
| }} | |||
| :Weighs whether the bombings were justified or necessary. | |||
| *{{cite book | |||
| | author = Bird, Kai and Sherwin, Martin J. | |||
| | year = 2005 | |||
| | title = American Prometheus : The Triumph And Tragedy Of J. Robert Oppenheimer | |||
| | publisher = Knopf | |||
| | id = ISBN 0375412026 | |||
| }} | |||
| :"The thing had to be done," but "Circumstances are heavy with misgiving." | |||
| *{{cite book | |||
| | last = Feis | |||
| | first = Herbert | |||
| | year = 1961 | |||
| | title = Japan Subdued: The Atomic Bomb and the End of the War in the Pacific | |||
| | publisher = Princeton University Press | |||
| | id = | |||
| }} | |||
| *{{cite book | |||
| | last = Fussell | |||
| | first = Paul | |||
| | year = 1988 | |||
| | title = Thank God For The Atom Bomb, And Other Essays | |||
| | publisher = Summit Books | |||
| | id = ISBN 0-345-36135-0 | |||
| }} | |||
| *{{cite book | |||
| | last = Hasegawa | |||
| | first = Tsuyoshi | |||
| | year = 2005 | |||
| | title = Racing the Enemy: Stalin, Truman, and the Surrender of Japan | |||
| | publisher =Belknap Press | |||
| | id = ISBN 0674016939 | |||
| }} | |||
| :Argues the bombs were not the deciding factor in ending the war. The Russian entrance into the Pacific war was the primary cause for Japan's surrender. | |||
| *{{cite book | |||
| | last = Maddox | |||
| | first = Robert James | |||
| | year = 1995 | |||
| | title = Weapons for Victory: The Hiroshima Decision | |||
| | publisher =University of Missouri Press | |||
| | id = ISBN 0826215629 | |||
| }} | |||
| :Author is diplomatic historian who favors Truman's decision to drop the atomic bombs. | |||
| *{{cite book | |||
| | last = Newman | |||
| | first = Robert P. | |||
| | year = 1995 | |||
| | title = Truman and the Hiroshima Cult | |||
| | publisher =Michigan State University Press | |||
| | id = ISBN 0870134035 | |||
| }} | |||
| :An analysis critical of postwar opposition to the atom bombings. | |||
| *{{cite book | |||
| | last = Nobile | |||
| | first = Philip (Editor) | |||
| | year = 1995 | |||
| | title = Judgement at the Smithsonian | |||
| | publisher =Marlowe and Company | |||
| | id = ISBN 1569248419 | |||
| }} | |||
| :Covers the controversy over the content of the 1995 ] exhibition associated with the display of the ]; includes complete text of the planned (and canceled) exhibition. | |||
| *{{cite book | |||
| | last = Takaki | |||
| | first = Ronald | |||
| | year = 1995 | |||
| | title = Hiroshima: Why America Dropped the Atomic Bomb | |||
| | publisher =Little, Brown | |||
| | id = ISBN -316-83124-7 | |||
| }} | |||
| ====Online==== | |||
| *{{cite web | |||
| | last = Frank | |||
| | first =Richard B. | |||
| | authorlink =Richard B. Frank | |||
| | title =Why Truman Dropped the Bomb | |||
| | work = | |||
| | publisher =] | |||
| | date =2005 | |||
| | url =http://www.weeklystandard.com/Utilities/printer_preview.asp?idArticle=5894 }} | |||
| :Focuses on the evidence of recently released Japanese messages that the U.S. decrypted during the war. | |||
| *{{cite web | |||
| | last = Edwards | |||
| | first =Rob | |||
| | authorlink = | |||
| | title =Hiroshima bomb may have carried hidden agenda | |||
| | work = | |||
| | publisher =] | |||
| | date =2005 | |||
| | url =http://www.newscientist.com/channel/opinion/dn7706.html }} | |||
| :Opinion article on findings suggesting Japan was already looking for peace, that it surrendered due to the Soviet invasion, and that Truman's true aim was to demonstrate US power to the Soviets. | |||
| *{{cite web | |||
| | title =The Fire Still Burns: An interview with historian Gar Alperovitz | |||
| | work = | |||
| | publisher = Sojourners Magazine | |||
| | date =1995 | |||
| | url =http://www.sojo.net/index.cfm?action=magazine.article&issue=soj9507&article=950711 }} | |||
| *{{cite web | |||
| | last = Cooper | |||
| | first =John W. | |||
| | authorlink = | |||
| | title =Truman's Motivations: Using the Atomic Bomb in the Second World War | |||
| | work = | |||
| | publisher = | |||
| | date =2000 | |||
| | url =http://www.johnwcooper.com/papers/atomicbombtruman.htm }} | |||
| *{{cite web | |||
| | author = Dannen, Gene (Editor) | |||
| | title =Documents relating to the decision to use the atomic bomb | |||
| | work = | |||
| | publisher = | |||
| | date =2000 | |||
| | url =http://www.dannen.com/decision/index.html }} | |||
| *{{cite web | |||
| | author = | |||
| | title = Correspondence Regarding Decision to Drop the Bomb | |||
| | work = | |||
| | publisher = NuclearFiles.org | |||
| | date = | |||
| | url =http://www.nuclearfiles.org/menu/library/correspondence/index.htm#decision}} | |||
| *{{cite web | |||
| | author = | |||
| | title = The Decision To Use The Atomic Bomb; Gar Alperovitz And The H-Net Debate | |||
| | work = | |||
| | publisher = | |||
| | date = | |||
| | url =http://www.doug-long.com/debate.htm}} | |||
| *{{cite web | |||
| | last = Dietrich | |||
| | first =Bill | |||
| | authorlink = | |||
| | title =Pro and Con on Dropping the Bomb | |||
| | work = | |||
| | publisher =] | |||
| | date =1995 | |||
| | url =http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/trinity/supplement/procon.html }} | |||
| *{{cite web | |||
| | authorlink = | |||
| | title =Truman, The Bomb, And What Was Necessary | |||
| | work = | |||
| | publisher =] | |||
| | date =1995 | |||
| | url =http://archives.seattletimes.nwsource.com/cgi-bin/texis.cgi/web/vortex/display?slug=2135131&date=19950806&query=President+Truman%2C+in+a+speech+on+August+6%2C+1945 }} | |||
| *{{cite web | |||
| | title =Hiroshima and Nagasaki Remembered | |||
| | work = | |||
| | publisher = | |||
| | date =2005 | |||
| | url =http://www.hiroshima-remembered.com/ }} | |||
| </div> | |||
| ==Footnotes== | |||
| {{reflist|2}} | |||
| {{World War II}} | |||
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