In August 1945, explosions of two nuclear bombs over the cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki ended the war lasting 4 years in the Pacific Ocean, the main opponents of which were America and Japan. The confrontation between these two powers became an important component of World War II and had a significant impact on its outcome. At the same time, the current alignment of forces in the international arena is largely a consequence of those long-standing events.
What caused the Pacific fire
The reason for the war between the United States and Japan lies in the conflict between these states, aggravated by 1941, and in Tokyo’s attempt to resolve it by military means. The greatest contradictions between these powerful world powers arose in matters related to China and the territory of French Indochina - the former French colony.
Rejecting the doctrine of “open doors” proposed by the American government, Japan sought its complete control over these countries, as well as over the territory it had previously seized in Manchuria. Due to Tokyo’s perseverance in these matters, the negotiations between the two states in Washington did not bring any results.
But Japan’s claims were not limited to this. Tokyo, considering the USA, Great Britain and other colonial powers as its rivals, tried with all its might to force them out of the region of the South Seas and Southeast Asia, thus capturing the sources of food and raw materials located on their territories. It was about 78% of the world's rubber production in these areas, 90% of tin, and many other wealth.
Start of conflict
By the beginning of July 1941, the Japanese army, despite protests from the governments of America and Great Britain, seized the southern part of Indochina, and after a short time came close to the Philippines, Singapore, Dutch India and Malaya. In response to this, America imposed a ban on the import into Japan of all strategic materials and at the same time froze Japanese assets in its banks. Thus, the war that soon erupted between Japan and the United States was the result of a political conflict that America was trying to resolve with economic sanctions.
It should be noted that Tokyo's military ambitions extended up to the decision to seize part of the territory of the Soviet Union. This was announced in July 1941 at the imperial conference by the Minister of War of Japan Tojo. According to him, it was necessary to start a war with the aim of destroying the USSR and gaining control over its rich natural resources. True, at that time these plans were clearly unrealizable due to a lack of forces, the bulk of which was aimed at the war in China.
The Pearl Harbor Tragedy
The war between the United States and Japan began with a powerful blow to the American naval base Pearl Harbor, inflicted by aircraft from the ships of the United Japanese Navy, commanded by Admiral Yamamoto Isoroko. It happened on December 7, 1941.
Two air raids were carried out at the American base, with 353 aircraft participating in the flight, taking off from 6 aircraft carriers. The result of this attack, whose success was largely predetermined by its surprise, was so devastating that it incapacitated a significant part of the American fleet and became a truly national tragedy.
In a short time, enemy aircraft directly at the berths destroyed 4 powerful battleships of the US Navy, of which only 2 with great difficulty were restored after the war ended. Another 4 ships of this type received serious damage, and were permanently incapacitated.
In addition, 3 destroyers, 3 cruisers and one mine layer were sunk or seriously damaged. As a result of the enemy bombardment, the Americans also lost 270 aircraft, which were at that time on the coastal airfield and on the decks of aircraft carriers. To top it off, torpedo and fuel depots, piers, a shipyard and a power plant were destroyed.
The main tragedy was the significant loss of personnel. As a result of a Japanese air raid, 2,404 people were killed and 11,779 injured. After this dramatic event, the United States declared war on Japan and formally joined the anti-Hitler coalition.
Further Japanese offensive
The tragedy in Pearl Harbor disabled a significant part of the U.S. Navy, and since the British, Australian and Dutch fleets could not seriously compete with the Japanese naval forces, it gained a temporary advantage in the Pacific. Further military operations Tokyo led in alliance with Thailand, a military treaty with which was signed in December 1941.
The war between the USA and Japan gained momentum and at first brought a lot of trouble to the government of F. Roosevelt. So, on December 25, joint efforts of Japan and Thailand managed to suppress the resistance of the British troops in Hong Kong, and the Americans were forced to abandon their equipment and property, urgently evacuated from their bases located on nearby islands.
Until the beginning of May 1942, military success invariably accompanied the Japanese army and navy, which allowed the Emperor Hirohito to take control of vast territories, including the Philippines, Java, Bali, Part of the Solomon Islands and New Guinea, British Malaya and the Dutch East Indies. About 130 thousand British troops were in Japanese captivity at that time.
Fracture in the course of hostilities
The US war against Japan received a different development only after the naval battle between their fleets, which occurred on May 8, 1942 in the Coral Sea. By this time, the United States fully enjoyed the support of the Allied forces in the anti-Hitler coalition.
This battle went down in world history as the first in which the enemy ships did not come close to each other, did not fire a single shot and did not even see each other. All military operations were carried out exclusively by naval aircraft based on them. This was essentially a clash of two carrier groups.
Despite the fact that during the battle none of the warring parties managed to win a clear victory, the strategic superiority, nevertheless, was on the side of the Allies. Firstly, this naval battle stopped the successful, until then, advance of the Japanese army, with the victories of which the war between the USA and Japan began, and, secondly, it predetermined the defeat of the Japanese fleet in the next battle, which took place in the area of the atoll in June 1942 Midway.
In the Coral Sea, 2 main Japanese aircraft carriers, the Shokaku and the Zuikaku, were sunk. This turned out to be an irreparable loss for the imperial fleet, as a result of which the victory of the United States and its allies in the next naval battle turned the tide of the entire war in the Pacific Ocean.
Attempts to maintain previous gains
Having lost another 4 aircraft carriers, 248 combat aircraft and its best pilots at Midway Atoll, Japan henceforth lost the ability to operate effectively at sea outside the coastal aviation cover zones, which became a real disaster for her. After that, the troops of Emperor Hirohito could not achieve any serious successes, and all their efforts were aimed at retaining the previously conquered territories. Meanwhile, the war between Japan and the United States was still far from over.
During bloody and heavy battles that continued for the next 6 months, in February 1943, American forces managed to capture the island of Guadalcanal. This victory was the fulfillment of part of the strategic plan for the protection of sea convoys between America, Australia and New Zealand. Later, until the end of the year, the United States and allied states took control of the Solomon and Aleutian Islands, the western part of the island of New Britain, the southeast of New Guinea, as well as the Gilbert Islands, which were part of the British colony.
In 1944, the war between the United States and Japan became irreversible. Having exhausted its military potential and not having the strength to continue offensive operations, the army of Emperor Hirohito concentrated all his forces on the defense of the previously occupied territories of China and Burma, giving the enemy further initiative. This has caused a number of lesions. So, in February 1944, the Japanese had to retreat from the Marshalls, and six months later - from the Mariana Islands. In September, they left New Guinea, and in October they lost control of the Caroline Islands.
The collapse of the army of Emperor Hirohito
The war of the USA and Japan (1941-1945) reached its culmination in October 1944, when the victorious Philippine operation was undertaken with the joint efforts of the allies. In addition to the American army, the armed forces of Australia and Mexico took part in it. Their common goal was to free the Philippines from the Japanese.
As a result of the battle that took place on October 23-26 in Leyte Gulf, Japan lost the main part of its navy. Its losses amounted to: 4 aircraft carriers, 3 battleships, 11 destroyers, 10 cruisers and 2 submarines. The Philippines was completely in the hands of the Allies, but separate clashes on them continued until the end of World War II.
In the same year, having a significant superiority in manpower and equipment, American troops successfully carried out an operation to capture the island of Iwo Jima from February 20 to March 15, and Okinawa from April 1 to June 21. Both of them belonged to Japan, and were a convenient base for air strikes on its cities.
Particularly devastating was the raid on Tokyo by the US Air Force on March 9-10, 1945. As a result of the massive bombardment, 250 thousand buildings were turned into ruins, and about 100 thousand people were killed, most of whom were civilians. In the same period, the war of the United States and Japan was marked by the onset of allied forces in Burma, and its subsequent liberation from Japanese occupation.
The first ever atomic bombing
After the Soviet forces launched an offensive in Manchuria on August 9, 1945, it became clear that the Pacific campaign, and with it the Japan-US war (1945), was completed. However, in spite of this, the American government took an action that had no analogues in previous or subsequent years. By his order, a nuclear bombing of the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki was carried out.
The first atomic bomb was dropped on the morning of August 6, 1945 on Hiroshima. It was delivered by a U.S. Air Force B-29 bomber, called Enola Gay, in honor of the mother of the crew commander, Colonel Paul Tibets. The bomb itself was called Little Boy, which means “Baby”. Despite its affectionate name, the bomb had a capacity of 18 kilotons of TNT and claimed the lives of, according to various sources, from 95 to 160 thousand people.
Three days later, another atomic bombardment followed. This time, its goal was the city of Nagasaki. Americans, inclined to give names not only to ships or planes, but even to bombs, called her Fat Man - “Fat Man”. This killer, whose power was 21 kilotons of TNT, was delivered by a B-29 Bockscar bomber piloted by a crew under the command of Charles Sweeney. This time between 60 and 80 thousand civilians became victims.
Surrender of japan
The shock of the bombing, which ended the years of the US war with Japan, was so great that Prime Minister Kantaro Suzuki addressed the emperor Hirohito with a statement about the need for an early cessation of all hostilities. As a result, just 6 days after the second atomic strike, Japan announced its surrender, and on September 2 of the same year a corresponding act was signed. The signing of this historical document ended the US-Japan war (1941-1945). He became the final act of the entire Second World War.
According to reports, US losses in the war with Japan amounted to 296,929 people. Of these, 169,635 are soldiers and officers of land units, and 127,294 are naval officers and infantrymen. At the same time, 185,994 Americans were killed in the war against Nazi Germany.
Did America have the right to launch nuclear strikes?
Over the course of all the post-war decades, disputes over the expediency and legality of nuclear strikes carried out at the time when the Japan-US war (1945) was almost completed have not subsided. As most international experts note, in this case, the fundamental question is whether the bombing, which took tens of thousands of lives, was necessary to conclude an agreement on surrender of Japan under conditions acceptable to the government of President Harry Truman, or were there other ways to achieve the desired result?
Supporters of the bombing claim that thanks to this extremely brutal, but justified, in their opinion, measure, they managed to force Emperor Hirohito to surrender, while avoiding the mutual victims, inevitably associated with the impending invasion of American forces in Japan, and the landing of troops on Kyushu Island.
In addition, they cite statistics as an argument, from which it can be seen that each month of the war was accompanied by mass deaths of residents of countries occupied by Japan. In particular, it is estimated that for the entire period the Japanese troops were in China from 1937 to 1945, about 150 thousand people died every month among the population. A similar picture can be seen in other areas of the Japanese occupation.
Thus, it is easy to calculate that without a nuclear strike that forced the Japanese government to surrender immediately, each subsequent month of the war would have claimed at least 250 thousand lives, which far exceeded the number of victims of the bombing.
In connection with this, the now-living grandson of President Harry Truman - Daniel Truman - in 2015, on the day of the seventieth anniversary of the atomic bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, recalled that his grandfather had not repented of his order until the end of his days and declared that the decision was undoubtedly correct. According to him, it greatly accelerated the end of the military confrontation between Japan and the United States. The World War could also last a few more months, if not for the decisive measures of the American administration.
Opponents of this point of view
Opponents of the bombing, in turn, say that without them, the United States and Japan suffered significant losses in World War II, which to increase due to civilian casualties of the two nuclear-attacked cities is a war crime and could amount to state terrorism.
Many American scientists who personally participated in the development of these deadly weapons made statements about the immorality and inadmissibility of nuclear bombing. His earliest critics are prominent American nuclear physicists Albert Einstein and Leo Sylard. Back in 1939, they wrote a joint letter to US President Roosevelt, in which they gave a moral assessment of the use of nuclear weapons.
In May 1945, seven leading American nuclear research experts, led by James Frank, also sent a message to the head of state. In it, scientists pointed out that if America was the first to use the weapons they developed, it would deprive it of international support, become an impetus for an arms race and in the future would undermine the chances of establishing world control over this type of weapon.
The political side of the issue
Leaving aside the arguments regarding the military expediency of delivering an atomic strike on the cities of Japan, another probable reason why the American government decided to take this extreme step should be noted. It is a demonstration of power with the aim of influencing the leadership of the Soviet Union and personally on Stalin.
When, after the end of World War II, the process of redistributing spheres of influence between the leading powers that defeated fascist Germany shortly before, G. Truman considered it necessary to clearly demonstrate to the world who currently has the most powerful military potential.
The result of his actions was an arms race, the beginning of the Cold War and the notorious Iron Curtain, which divided the world into two parts. On the one hand, official Soviet propaganda intimidated people with a threat allegedly emanating from "world capital" and made films about the war with Japan and the USA, on the other hand, they did not get tired of talking about the "Russian bear" encroaching on universal and Christian values. Thus, the atomic explosions that boomed at the end of the war over Japanese cities echoed for many decades around the world.