Next year, humanity will mark the 70th anniversary of the end of World War II, which has shown many examples of unprecedented cruelty, when within a few days or even hours entire cities disappeared from the face of the earth and hundreds of thousands of people died, including civilians. The most striking example of the above is the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, the ethical justification of which is called into question by any sane person.
Japan during the final stage of World War II
As you know, fascist Germany surrendered on the night of May 9, 1945. This meant the end of the war in Europe. And also the fact that imperial Japan remained the only opponent of the countries of the anti-fascist coalition, which at that time officially declared war on about 6 dozen countries. Already in June 1945, as a result of bloody battles, her troops were forced to leave Indonesia and Indochina. But when the United States, along with Great Britain and China, presented an ultimatum to the Japanese command on July 26, it was rejected. At the same time, even during the Yalta Conference, the USSR committed itself in August to launch a large-scale attack on Japan, for which, after the war, South Sakhalin and the Kuril Islands should have been transferred to it.
Prerequisites for the use of atomic weapons
Long before these events, in the autumn of 1944, at a meeting of US and British leaders, the question of the possibility of using new super-destructive bombs against Japan was considered. After that, the famous Manhattan project, launched the year before and aimed at creating nuclear weapons, began to function with renewed vigor, and work on the creation of its first models was completed by the time the hostilities in Europe ended.
Hiroshima and Nagasaki: the reasons for the bombing
Thus, by the summer of 1945, the United States became the sole owner of atomic weapons in the world and decided to use this advantage to put pressure on its long-standing enemy and at the same time ally of the anti-Hitler coalition - the USSR.
At the same time, despite all the defeats, the morale of Japan was not broken. As evidenced by the fact that every day hundreds of military personnel of its imperial army became kamikaze and kaiten, directing their planes and torpedoes to ships and other military targets of the American army. This meant that when conducting a land operation on the territory of Japan itself, the Allied forces expect huge losses. It is the last reason today that is most often cited by US officials as an argument justifying the need for such a measure as the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. At the same time, it is forgotten that, according to Churchill, three weeks before the Potsdam Conference, I. Stalin informed him of the Japanese attempts to establish a peaceful dialogue. Obviously, representatives of this country were going to make such proposals to both the Americans and the British, since the massive bombing of large cities put their military industry on the brink of collapse and made surrender inevitable.
Goal Selection
After obtaining fundamental consent to the use of atomic weapons against Japan, a special committee was formed. Its second meeting was held on May 10-11 and was dedicated to the selection of cities that were to be bombed. The main criteria that guided the commission were:
- obligatory presence of civilian objects around the military target;
- its importance for the Japanese, not only from an economic and strategic point of view, but also from a psychological point of view;
- a high degree of significance of the object, the destruction of which would cause resonance throughout the world;
- the target should not have been damaged by bombing so that the military could appreciate the true power of the new weapons.
Which cities were considered as the goal
Among the “applicants” were:
- Kyoto, the largest industrial and cultural center and ancient capital of Japan;
- Hiroshima as an important military port and city where army depots were concentrated;
- Yokagama, the center of the war industry;
- Kokura - the location of the largest military arsenal.
According to the surviving recollections of the participants in those events, although Kyoto was the most convenient target, the United States Secretary of War, G. Stimson, insisted that this city be removed from the list, as he was personally acquainted with its sights and represented their value for world culture.
Interestingly, the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki was not initially breaded. More precisely, the city of Kokura was considered as the second goal. This is also evidenced by the fact that before August 9, an air raid on Nagasaki was carried out, which caused concern among residents and forced most of the students to evacuate to the surrounding villages. A little later, as a result of long discussions, spare targets were chosen in case of unforeseen situations. They became:
- for the first bombing, if Hiroshima fails to hit, Niigata;
- for the second (instead of Kokura) - Nagasaki.
Training
The atomic bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki required careful preparation. During the second half of May and June, the 509th US Air Force Combined Aviation Group was relocated to the base on Tinian Island, and exceptional security measures were taken. A month later, on July 26, the “Baby” atomic bomb was delivered to the island, and on the 28th, some of the components for the “Fat Man” assembly. On the same day, George Marshall, who at that time served as chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, put his signature on the order prescribing a nuclear bombing at any time after August 3, when the weather conditions are suitable.
Japan's first atomic strike
The date of the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki cannot be specified unambiguously, since nuclear attacks on these cities were carried out with a difference of 3 days.
The first blow was dealt to Hiroshima. And it happened on June 6, 1945. The “honor” to drop the bomb “Kid” went to the crew of the B-29 aircraft, nicknamed “Enola Gay”, commanded by Colonel Tibbets. Moreover, before the departure, pilots who were confident that they were doing a good deed and their “feat” would be followed by an early end to the war, visited the church and received an ampoule with potassium cyanide in case of being captured.
Together with Enola Gay, three reconnaissance aircraft, designed to clarify weather conditions, and 2 sides with photo equipment and devices for exploring the parameters of the explosion took off.
The bombing itself was completely hassle-free, as the Japanese military did not notice the objects rushing towards Hiroshima, and the weather was more than favorable. What happened next can be seen by watching the tape “The Atomic Bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki” - a documentary film made from newsreels shot in the Pacific at the end of World War II.
In particular, it shows a nuclear mushroom, which, according to Captain Robert Lewis, a member of the Enola Gay crew, was visible even after their plane flew 400 miles from the place where the bomb was dropped.
Nagasaki bombing
The operation for dropping the “Fat Man” bomb carried out on August 9 took a completely different course. In general, the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, whose photo evokes associations with the well-known descriptions of the Apocalypse, was prepared extremely carefully, and the only thing that could make adjustments to its conduct was the weather. This happened when, in the early morning hours of August 9, an airplane took off from Tinian Island under the command of Major Charles Sweeney and with the “Fat Man” atomic bomb on board. At 8 hours 10 minutes, the board arrived at the place where it was supposed to meet the second - B-29, but did not find it. After 40 minutes of waiting, it was decided to bomb without a partner aircraft, however, it turned out that over the city of Kokura there was already 70% cloud cover. Moreover, even before the departure, it was known that the fuel pump was malfunctioning, and at the time when the board was over Kokura, it became obvious that the only way to drop the Fat Man was to do this while flying over Nagasaki. Then B-29 went to this city and fired an atomic bomb, focusing on the local stadium. Thus, by chance, Kokura was saved, and the whole world learned that there was an atomic bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Fortunately, if such words are generally appropriate in this case, the bomb fell far from its original purpose, rather far from residential areas, which somewhat reduced the number of victims.
Consequences of the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki
According to eyewitnesses, within a few minutes, all who were within a radius of 800 m from the epicenters of the explosions died. Then the fires started, and in Hiroshima they soon turned into a tornado due to the wind, whose speed was about 50-60 km / h.
The nuclear bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki introduced mankind to the phenomenon of radiation sickness. The first to be noticed by doctors. They were surprised that the condition of the survivors first improved, and then they died from a disease whose symptoms resembled diarrhea. In the first days and months after the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, few could have imagined that those who survived it would suffer from various diseases all their lives and even produce unhealthy children.
Subsequent events
On August 9, immediately after the news of the bombing of Nagasaki and the declaration of war by the USSR, Emperor Hirohito called for immediate surrender, provided that he retained his power in the country. And after 5 days, the Japanese media disseminated his statement on the cessation of hostilities in English. Moreover, in the text, His Majesty mentioned that one of the reasons for his decision was the presence of “terrible weapons” on the enemy, the use of which could lead to the destruction of the nation.