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On the morning of August 6, 1945, the American B-29 Enola Gay bomber dropped the Little Boy atomic bomb, equivalent to 13 to 18 kilotons of TNT, on the Japanese city of Hiroshima. Three days later, on August 9, 1945, the Fat Man atomic bomb was dropped on the city of Nagasaki. Total the deaths ranged from 90 to 166 thousand people in Hiroshima and from 60 to 80 thousand people in Nagasaki.
In fact, from a military point of view, there was no need for these bombings. The entry of the USSR into the war, and an agreement on this was reached several months earlier, would have led to the complete surrender of Japan. The purpose of this inhumane act was to test the atomic bomb in real conditions by the Americans and demonstrate military power for the USSR.
As early as 1965, historian Gar Alperovitz stated that the atomic attacks on Japan had little military significance. English researcher Ward Wilson, in his recently published book “Five Myths about Nuclear Weapons,” also comes to the conclusion that it was not American bombs that influenced the Japanese’s determination to fight.
The use of atomic bombs did not really frighten the Japanese. They didn't even fully understand what it was. Yes, it became clear what was applied powerful weapon. But no one knew about radiation then. In addition, the Americans dropped bombs not on the armed forces, but on peaceful cities. Military factories and naval bases were damaged, but mostly civilians died, and the combat effectiveness of the Japanese army was not greatly affected.
Quite recently, the authoritative American magazine "Foreign Policy" published a piece of Ward Wilson's book "5 Myths about Nuclear Weapons", where he, quite boldly for American historiography, questions the well-known American myth that Japan capitulated in 1945 because it 2 nuclear bombs were dropped, which finally broke the confidence of the Japanese government that the war could be continued further.
The author essentially turns to the well-known Soviet interpretation of these events and reasonably points out that it was not nuclear weapons, but the USSR’s entry into the war, as well as the growing consequences of the defeat of the Kwantung group, that destroyed the hopes of the Japanese to continue the war relying on the vast territories captured in China and Manchuria .
The title of the publication of an excerpt from Ward Wilson's book in Foreign Policy magazine says it all:
"The victory over Japan was not won by the bomb, but by Stalin"
(original, translation).
1. A Japanese woman with her son against the background of the destroyed Hiroshima. December 1945
2. Resident of Hiroshima I. Terawama, who survived the atomic bombing. June 1945
3. American bomber B-29 "Enola Gay" (Boeing B-29 Superfortness "Enola Gay") lands after returning from the atomic bombing of Hiroshima.
4. A building destroyed by the atomic bomb on the Hiroshima waterfront. 1945
5. View of the Geibi area in Hiroshima after the atomic bombing. 1945
6. A building in Hiroshima damaged by the atomic bomb. 1945
7. One of the few surviving buildings in Hiroshima after the atomic explosion on August 6, 1945 is the Exhibition Center of the Hiroshima Chamber of Commerce and Industry. 1945
8. Allied war correspondent on the street of the destroyed city of Hiroshima at the Exhibition Center of the Chamber of Commerce and Industry about a month after the atomic bombing. September 1945
9. View of the bridge over the Ota River in the destroyed city of Hiroshima. 1945
10. View of the ruins of Hiroshima the day after the atomic bombing. 08/07/1945
11. Japanese military doctors provide assistance to victims of the atomic bombing of Hiroshima. 08/06/1945
12. View of the cloud of the atomic explosion in Hiroshima from a distance of about 20 km from the naval arsenal in Kure. 08/06/1945
13. B-29 bombers (Boeing B-29 Superfortness) “Enola Gay” (foreground right) and “Great Artist” (Great Artist) of the 509th mixed air group at the airfield in Tinian (Mariana Islands) for several days before the atomic bombing of Hiroshima. August 2-6, 1945
14. Victims of the atomic bombing of Hiroshima in a hospital in a former bank building. September 1945
15. A Japanese man injured in the atomic bombing of Hiroshima lies on the floor of a hospital in a former bank building. September 1945
16. Radiation and thermal burns on the legs of a victim of the atomic bombing of Hiroshima. 1945
17. Radiation and thermal burns on the hands of a victim of the atomic bombing of Hiroshima. 1945
18. Radiation and thermal burns on the body of a victim of the atomic bombing of Hiroshima. 1945
19. American engineer Commander Francis Birch (1903-1992) marks the atomic bomb “Little Boy” with the inscription “L11”. To his right is Norman Foster Ramsey, Jr., 1915-2011.
Both officers were part of the development team atomic weapons(Manhattan Project). August 194520. The Little Boy atomic bomb lies on a trailer shortly before the atomic bombing of Hiroshima. Main characteristics: length - 3 m, diameter - 0.71 m, weight - 4.4 tons. The power of the explosion is 13-18 kilotons of TNT. August 1945
21. American bomber B-29 “Enola Gay” (Boeing B-29 Superfortness “Enola Gay”) at the airfield in Tinian on the Mariana Islands on the day of return from the atomic bombing of Hiroshima. 08/06/1945
22. American bomber B-29 "Enola Gay" (Boeing B-29 Superfortness "Enola Gay") stands at the airfield in Tinian in the Mariana Islands, from which the plane took off from atomic bomb to bomb the Japanese city of Hiroshima. 1945
23. Panorama of the destroyed Japanese city of Hiroshima after the atomic bombing. The photo shows the destruction of the city of Hiroshima about 500 meters from the center of the explosion. 1945
24. Panorama of the destruction of the Motomachi district of Hiroshima, destroyed by the explosion of an atomic bomb. Taken from the roof of the Hiroshima Prefectural Commerce Association building at a distance of 260 meters (285 yards) from the epicenter of the explosion. To the left of the center of the panorama is the Hiroshima Chamber of Industry building, now known as the "Nuclear Dome". The epicenter of the explosion was 160 meters further and slightly to the left of the building, closer to the Motoyasu Bridge at an altitude of 600 meters. The Aioi Bridge with tram tracks (on the right in the photo) was the aiming point for the bombardier of the Enola Gay plane, which dropped an atomic bomb on the city. October 1945
25. One of the few surviving buildings in Hiroshima after the atomic explosion on August 6, 1945 is the Exhibition Center of the Hiroshima Chamber of Commerce and Industry. As a result of the atomic bombing, it was severely damaged, but survived, despite the fact that it was only 160 meters from the epicenter. The building partially collapsed from the shock wave and burned out from the fire; all people who were in the building at the time of the explosion died. After the war, the "Genbaku Dome" ("Atomic Explosion Dome", "Atomic Dome") was strengthened to prevent further destruction and became the most famous exhibit related to the atomic explosion. August 1945
26. Street of the Japanese city of Hiroshima after the American atomic bombing. August 1945
27. The explosion of the atomic bomb “Little”, dropped by an American bomber on Hiroshima. 08/06/1945
28. Paul Tibbetts (1915-2007) waves from the cockpit of a B-29 bomber before flying to the atomic bombing of Hiroshima. Paul Tibbetts named his aircraft the Enola Gay on August 5, 1945, in honor of his mother, Enola Gay Tibbetts. 08/06/1945
29. Japanese soldier walking through a desert area in Hiroshima. September 1945
30. Data from the US Air Force - map of Hiroshima before the bombing, on which you can see a circle at intervals of 304 m from the epicenter, which instantly disappeared from the face of the earth.
31. Photo taken from one of two American bombers of the 509th Integrated Group shortly after 8:15 a.m. on August 5, 1945, showing smoke rising from the explosion over the city of Hiroshima. By the time of shooting there had already been a flash of light and heat from fireball with a diameter of 370 m, and the blast wave quickly dissipated, having already caused the main damage to buildings and people within a radius of 3.2 km.
32. View of the epicenter of Hiroshima in the fall of 1945 - complete destruction after the dropping of the first atomic bomb. The photograph shows the hypocenter ( center point explosion source) - approximately above the Y-shaped intersection in the center left.
33. Destroyed Hiroshima in March 1946.
35. Destroyed street in Hiroshima. Look how the sidewalk has been raised and there's a drainpipe sticking out of the bridge. Scientists say this was due to the vacuum created by the pressure from the atomic explosion.
36. This patient (photo taken by the Japanese military on October 3, 1945) was approximately 1,981.20 m from the epicenter when the radiation rays overtook him from the left. The cap protected part of the head from burns.
37. Twisted iron beams are all that remains of the theater building, which was located about 800 meters from the epicenter.
38. The Hiroshima Fire Department lost its only vehicle when the western station was destroyed by an atomic bomb. The station was located 1,200 meters from the epicenter.
39. Ruins of central Hiroshima in the fall of 1945.
40. “Shadow” of a valve handle on the painted wall of a gas tank after the tragic events in Hiroshima. The radiation heat instantly burned the paint where the radiation rays passed unhindered. 1,920 m from the epicenter.
41. View from above of the destroyed industrial area of Hiroshima in the fall of 1945.
42. View of Hiroshima and the mountains in the background in the fall of 1945. The image was taken from the ruins of the Red Cross hospital, less than 1.60 km from the hypocenter.
43. Members of the US Army explore the area around the Hiroshima epicenter in the fall of 1945.
44. Victims of the atomic bombing. 1945
45. A victim of the atomic bombing of Nagasaki feeds her child. 08/10/1945
46. The bodies of tram passengers in Nagasaki who died during the atomic bombing. 09/01/1945
47. Ruins of Nagasaki after the atomic bombing. September 1945
48. Ruins of Nagasaki after the atomic bombing. September 1945.
49. Japanese civilians walk along the street of destroyed Nagasaki. August 1945
50. Japanese doctor Nagai examines the ruins of Nagasaki. 09/11/1945
51. View of the cloud of the atomic explosion in Nagasaki from a distance of 15 km from Koyaji-Jima. 08/09/1945
52. Japanese woman and her son who survived the atomic bombing of Nagasaki. The photograph was taken the day after the bombing, southwest of the center of the explosion at a distance of 1 mile from it. A woman and son are holding rice in their hands. 08/10/1945
53. Japanese military and civilians walk along the street of Nagasaki, destroyed by the atomic bomb. August 1945
54. A trailer with an atomic bomb “Fat man” stands in front of the warehouse gate. The main characteristics of the atomic bomb “Fat Man”: length - 3.3 m, largest diameter - 1.5 m, weight - 4.633 tons. Explosion power - 21 kilotons of TNT. Plutonium-239 was used. August 1945
55. Inscriptions on the stabilizer of the atomic bomb “Fat Man”, made by American military personnel shortly before its use in the Japanese city of Nagasaki. August 1945
56. The Fat Man atomic bomb, dropped from an American B-29 bomber, exploded at an altitude of 300 meters above the Nagasaki Valley. The “atomic mushroom” of the explosion - a column of smoke, hot particles, dust and debris - rose to a height of 20 kilometers. The photograph shows the wing of the aircraft from which the photograph was taken. 08/09/1945
57. Drawing on the nose of the Boeing B-29 Superfortress “Bockscar” bomber, painted after the atomic bombing of Nagasaki. It shows the "route" from Salt Lake City to Nagasaki. In the state of Utah, of which Salt Lake City is the capital, there was a training base The 509th Mixed Group, which included the 393rd Squadron, to which the aircraft was transferred before the flight to Pacific Ocean. Serial number cars - 44-27297. 1945
65. Ruins of a Catholic church in the Japanese city of Nagasaki, destroyed by the explosion of an American atomic bomb. Catholic Cathedral Urakami was built in 1925 and until August 9, 1945 it was the largest Catholic Cathedral South-East Asia. August 1945
66. The Fat Man atomic bomb, dropped from an American B-29 bomber, exploded at an altitude of 300 meters above the Nagasaki Valley. The “atomic mushroom” of the explosion - a column of smoke, hot particles, dust and debris - rose to a height of 20 kilometers. 08/09/1945
67. Nagasaki one and a half months after the atomic bombing on August 9, 1945. In the foreground is a destroyed temple. 09/24/1945
The atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki are the most horrific atrocities in human history.
“The atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki (August 6 and 9, 1945, respectively) are the only two examples in human history combat use nuclear weapons. Implemented Armed forces The United States in the final stages of World War II with the goal of hastening the surrender of Japan in the Pacific theater of World War II."
There are tragedies, horrifying and global scale, which will not be forgotten even after 100 years... August 1945 for small towns in Japan became the most terrible period of their existence.
Today the population of Hiroshima is a little more than a million people, Nagasaki has about half a million inhabitants, cherry blossoms bloom here in the spring, in the several decades after the events of 1945, Buddhist temples appeared in the cities, and attractions “grew up.”
People live here almost peacefully, but eyewitness accounts, photographs, memories of survivors and those still alive, facts, evidence will never erase this tragedy from the memory of the people and the land.
The photo shows the city of Nagasaki before and after the bomb explosion.
Many who learn that in cities that turned into a handful of ashes more than half a century ago people now live peacefully - a question arises: “Why is Chernobyl still an exclusion zone, in which it is dangerous to live, and Hiroshima and Nagasaki have become ordinary Japanese territories with cherry blossoms, ponds, residential buildings, parks, etc.?”
“The bomb that fell on Hiroshima, called Baby, was about three meters long, weighed about 4.5 tons and contained approximately 63 kg of uranium. As planned, the bomb exploded at an altitude of just over 600 meters above Hiroshima, the reaction began, and the result was an explosion with a yield of 16 kilotons.
Since Hiroshima is located on a plain, the Little One caused enormous damage: 70 thousand people were killed, the same number were injured, and almost 70% of the buildings in the city were destroyed. About 1,900 more people died from cancer over time.
The bomb dropped on Nagasaki, called "Fat Man", contained more than six kilograms of plutonium and exploded 500 meters above the city, creating an explosion with a yield of 21 kilotons. Since the bomb exploded in the valley, most of the city was not affected by the explosion. However, from 45 thousand to 70 thousand people died on the spot, and another 75 thousand were injured.
As a result of the accident at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant, an explosion occurred and about ten tons of nuclear fuel spilled out. Accurate data on the number of people killed by the radioactive release is difficult to find.
So, in a 30-kilometer Chernobyl zone alienation, contamination with radioactive isotopes such as cesium-137, strontium-90 and iodine-13 has appeared, which makes it unsafe for people to live here. This is not the case in Hiroshima or Nagasaki. This difference is due to two factors: in the reactor of the Chernobyl nuclear power plant there was much more nuclear fuel, which was used much more efficiently in reactions, and in addition, the explosion occurred on the ground, not in the air” (Faktrum.ru).
In addition, the “Baby” bomb contained only 700 grams of fission products from 64 kg of uranium, and at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant, during the operation of the reactor, several tons of fission products and transuranium elements were formed even before the explosion, and at the time of the accident all of this burst out. Of course, in the case of Japanese cities, the level of pollution and radioactive damage was terrifying, but in the case of Chernobyl, it was a catastrophe on a universal scale.
The main damaging factors in Hiroshima and Nagasaki were the shock wave, light, heat damage, and exposure to hard radiation at the time of the explosion. In the case of Chernobyl, first of all, the soil was poisoned by radiation products.
Before the bombing, Hiroshima had a population of 245 thousand people, and Nagasaki - 200 thousand people.
According to Wikipedia, “The total number of deaths by the end of 1945 (victims of explosion and radiation) ranged from 90 to 166 thousand people in Hiroshima and from 60 to 80 thousand people in Nagasaki.” After 5 years, the number of victims of the explosion in Hiroshima exceeded 200 thousand, people died from cancer and radiation exposure.
According to 2009 data, after the explosion and because of its consequences, more than 413 thousand people died or went missing.
“According to official Japanese data, as of March 31, 2013, there were 201,779 “hibakusha” alive (as of March 31, 2014, there were 192,719 hibakusha alive) - people who suffered from the effects of the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
This number includes children born to women exposed to radiation from the explosions (mostly living in Japan at the time of the count). Of these, 1%, according to the Japanese government, had serious cancer caused by radiation exposure after the bombings. The number of deaths as of August 31, 2013 is about 450 thousand: 286,818 in Hiroshima and 162,083 in Nagasaki.”
Hibakusha people(born from mothers, fathers who, as children, were exposed to radioactive radiation and were near the epicenters of the explosion immediately after it or some time after, who experienced explosions firsthand in infancy, etc.) are avoided from being hired, they are reluctant to work with them into marriage, although the government provides financial support, this does not relieve this social category of the stigma of outcasts and damned.
The bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki were nothing more than a demonstration of US power to speed up the surrender of Japan(and in the USA the attack is presented as a forced means of defense American soldiers from death, because, in the opinion of the attacking side, it was necessary to stop the war, otherwise even more people would have died, in particular Americans) and an experiment in the use of nuclear weapons.
At that time, too little was known about nuclear weapons, about radiation, people with signs of radiation damage were treated for dysentery, and not direct pathology, because doctors did not know what they were really dealing with.
As reliable sources state, “the Japanese fought for peace and initiated surrender themselves when they returned from the Potsdam Conference on August 3, 1945, three days before the American bombing of Hiroshima,” in addition, residents of Japanese cities were not warned about the nuclear attack (as mention some information channels). The target of the defeat was precisely defenseless Japanese cities with civilians, and not hidden military bases on their territory.
The USA has its own version: in order to avoid the death of millions (in particular, Americans, American soldiers) in the event of the continuation of the war and the invasion of troops into enemy territories, the growing conflict had to be stopped by “shutting up” the stupid, not humble and itself an aggressor Japan with such a blow that the latter would understand that it was better for her to agree, to surrender, than to continue throwing spears.
They say, someone had to show determination and, even at the cost of the lives of civilians, turn the tide of the war back, bypassing and preventing the death of millions and the continuation of battles that would have led to no one knows.
In fact, according to reliable information, there were no military bases, the existence and danger of which the Americans declared, in Japanese cities; the target of destruction was precisely civilians, cities (and, judging by the epicenters of the explosions, the bombs were dropped just somewhere, this means that perhaps the main criterion was intimidation, and not killing as many people as possible), besides, as reliable sources report, Japan is ready was ready to capitulate even before the bombings, and the aggressor, before the first bomb explosions, had already planned a series of subsequent bombings of Japanese cities, despite Japan’s peaceful attitude...
America is not used to losing, and the explosions in Hiroshima and Nagasaki were truly a demonstration of force, and on unarmed and defenseless people. According to some information - among other purposes - the bombing was part of an experiment in the use of nuclear weapons in action, and the rest, all justifications for terrible events on the part of the aggressor, are only arguments in favor of the expediency of the impunity of using nuclear weapons on people for the purpose of mass destruction.
The scale of the tragedy was hidden for a long time, “The American occupation forces introduced strict censorship on photographic materials directly or indirectly affecting the scale of the disaster. Everything that “could in one way or another disturb the peace of our citizens” was seized and sent to the Pentagon archives.”
The real details and photos and video materials that began to “leak” to the masses later, several decades after the bombings, shocked people.
War is always scary, but nuclear war- this is monstrous...
Once, on the next anniversary of the tragedy, I read about what happened to people at the epicenter of the explosion, a peaceful woman went to a government institution (a bank or something similar), and at that moment a bomb exploded, and the woman was walking up the steps..
And all that was left of her, since she was at the epicenter of the explosion, was just a spot... she evaporated. This is reliably known thanks to evidence and people, like all living beings who were in close proximity to the epicenter of the explosion, became just vapor. Stones and steel melted; miraculously, someone managed to survive within a radius of more than 300 meters from the epicenter of the explosion, receiving massive and terrible burns and radiation.
The photo shows the steps on which the man “evaporated”
And this amazed me forever: a person with thoughts, feelings, “Cosmos in the flesh” in an instant can become just a speck on the asphalt, a puddle on the steps.. truly “life is a vapor that appears for a short time...”. If we hear about war, we most often imagine machine guns, tanks, grenades, but here is a different way of exterminating people, not at all predicted, unknown, terrible.
People didn't even have time to understand what was happening. Children were carried away by the blast wave and buried alive under the rubble of collapsed houses. People located a kilometer from the epicenter of the explosion either evaporated or turned into charred remains with boiled entrails.
The shadows of those walking along the street left imprints on the walls, dark patterns of clothing “eaten” into the skin like burns, birds burned in flight, trees became coals or black stumps. Those who survived either died over the next days, weeks, years, or gave birth to children with abnormalities.
From testimonies of miraculously surviving eyewitnesses and fragments of articles with data about the victims:
“A blinding flash and a terrible roar of explosion - after which the entire city was covered with huge clouds of smoke. Among the smoke, dust and debris, wooden houses burst into flames one after another, and until the end of the day the city was engulfed in smoke and flames. And when the flames finally subsided, the whole city was nothing but ruins.
It was a terrible sight that history has never seen before. Charred and scorched corpses were piled up everywhere, many of them frozen in the position in which the explosion had caught them.. The tram, of which only one skeleton remained, was filled with corpses holding on to their belts. Many of those who survived groaned from the burns that covered their entire bodies. Everywhere one could encounter a spectacle reminiscent of scenes from the life of hell.
The photo shows the Hibakusha people
This one bomb destroyed 60 percent of the city of Hiroshima in an instant. Of the 306,545 residents of Hiroshima, 176,987 people were affected by the explosion. 92,133 people were killed or missing, 9,428 people were seriously injured and 27,997 people were slightly injured. This information was published in February 1946 by the headquarters of the American occupation army in Japan. In an effort to reduce their responsibility, the Americans underestimated the number of victims as much as possible."
“Three colors for me characterize the day the atomic bomb was dropped on Hiroshima: black, red and brown. Black because the explosion cut off the sunlight and plunged the world into darkness. Red was the color of blood flowing from wounded and broken people. It was also the color of the fires that burned everything in the city. Brown was the color of burnt skin falling off the body, exposed to the light radiation from the explosion.”
A wristwatch, a wall clock, later found at the epicenter of the explosion and not far from it, stopped at 8.15, it was at that moment that the morning bustle of the ordinary Japanese city of Hiroshima was interrupted and deafened by the blast wave of an exploding atomic bomb.
« On August 6, at about 8 o'clock in the morning, two B-29 bombers appeared over Hiroshima. The alarm signal was given, but, seeing that there were few planes, everyone thought that this was not a major raid, but reconnaissance. About an hour earlier, Japanese early warning radars had detected several American aircraft approaching southern Japan.
A warning was issued and the radiogram was received in many cities, including Hiroshima. The planes were approaching the coast at a very high altitude. At approximately 8:00 a.m., the radar operator in Hiroshima determined that the number of incoming aircraft was very small—probably no more than three—and the air raid alert was canceled.
A warning was sounded over regular radio for men to go to shelters if the B-29s did appear, but no raid was expected after the reconnaissance. People continued to work without entering the shelter and looked at enemy planes.
When the bombers reached the city center, one of them dropped a small parachute, after which the planes flew away. Immediately after this, at 8:15 a.m., there was a deafening explosion, which seemed to tear heaven and earth apart in an instant.
The bomb exploded with a blinding flash in the sky, a huge rushing gust of air and a deafening roar that spread many miles from the city; the first destruction was accompanied by the sounds of collapsing houses, growing fires, a gigantic cloud of dust and smoke cast a shadow over the city.” .
An atomic bomb filled with uranium exploded at an altitude of 580 meters above the city of Hiroshima, the temperature within a radius of several hundred meters was more than 10,000 degrees Celsius above the earth's surface (the melting point of some metals is 3-5 thousand degrees Celsius).
“Fire waves and radiation spread instantly in every direction, creating a blast wave of super-compressed air, bringing death and destruction. In a matter of seconds, the 400-year-old city was literally reduced to ashes. People, animals, plants and any other organic bodies were vaporized. Sidewalks and asphalt melted, buildings collapsed, and dilapidated structures were demolished by the blast wave.”
People who evaporated without a trace from the face of the earth, trams filled with charred corpses still holding on to the handrails, buildings and structures leveled to the ground, black stumps of trees that instantly became the ashes of the city - all this really resembled real scenes of hell, the apocalypse , the scariest horror films...
And although those who are trying to downplay the scale and horror of the tragedy say that Hiroshima and Nagasaki are a drop in the ocean, they say that more than 66 million people die every year, how many genocides happen unnoticed and with a large number of victims, that the bombings were a necessary measure to end the war - people, this must not be forgotten.
Several tens of thousands of people became steam in an instant... and judging by the innovations and achievements recent years, the future lies in new types of weapons, including nuclear ones, does anyone have a guarantee that we will all avoid the fate of becoming just an invisible puddle in a certain scenario? And for others it will be just reports, boring facts, information that the media is filled with, because a huge number of people actually die.
The bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki are one of the most inhumane tragedies of the 20th century.
“Hiroshima has become a symbol of the fight against weapons of mass destruction: as a constant reminder of the terrible tragedy, a piece of land with ruins left after the explosion was left untouched in the city center.”
Pictured is the city of Hiroshima today
Never before August 6, 1945 had such terrible tragedies happened on planet Earth. People caught in the epicenter of the explosion instantly crumbled into ashes. After their terrible death, white silhouettes remained on the ground.
Many of those who survived the immediate aftermath of the bombing died within days, weeks or months. Radiation sickness, which was “brought about” by the atomic explosion, brought the number of victims to 140 (according to other sources - up to 160) thousand.
Destroyed Hiroshima in March 1946
“What I observed decades after the bombing was terrible. I saw people whose faces were disfigured, I saw how my relatives suffered and died. They were not military. I can’t find words to describe all the horrors that happened here after August 6,” said Amioke Geto, a resident of Hiroshima, in an interview with Channel 5.
The destroyed Hiroshima fire station, located 1200 m from the epicenter of the explosion
Amioka was 4 years old in August 1945. Of her entire family, in the end, only she survived - everyone else died from radiation sickness.
Scars from burns caused by a bomb explosion
“My grandfather died here 70 years ago, and I think: what did he feel then, was he scared? He was only 21 years old, and it pains me to think that he died so young,” ordinary Japanese Tomio Sota told reporters.
Burns on the victim's body
Never before have doctors dealt with such a devastating disease that cannot be stopped. But why did ordinary people suffer?
"Let them expect a rain of destruction"
The decision to drop an atomic bomb on Japan was made by Churchill and Roosevelt back in September 1944. Initially, there were four possible targets: Kyoto, Kokura, Hiroshima and Nagasaki. But Kyoto was spared as the ancient imperial capital, filled to the brim with cultural and architectural monuments.
The Fat Man bomb dropped on Nagasaki before loading
But Nagasaki, which escaped destruction, ended up receiving its own bomb instead of Kokura - due to cloud cover, the pilots were unable to drop the “Fat Man” (the so-called second bomb) on the target, and dropped it where they had to.
Hiroshima after the bombing
“Let there be no misunderstanding: we will completely destroy Japan's ability to wage war. It was with the aim of preventing the destruction of Japan that the ultimatum of July 26 was issued at Postdam. If they do not accept our terms now, let them expect a rain of destruction from the air, the likes of which have never been seen on this planet,” said US President Harry Truman after the strike on Hiroshima.
Bomb "Baby"
The main objective of the atomic bombing of Japan was to demonstrate to the whole world (and primarily to the Soviet Union) the military power of America. The States wanted to declare that now that they have atomic weapons, the whole world has finally fallen under the “heel” of Big Brother.
Truman and Stalin at the Postdam Conference
It is interesting that on July 24, at the very Postdam Conference, which resulted in, among other things, a declaration demanding the surrender of Japan, Truman told Stalin about the new weapon. But the Secretary General pretended that he was not too interested in this information. Meanwhile, Stalin knew very well the details of the creation of the atomic bomb - from agent Theodore Hall.
Bombing as a favor
"Little Boy" exploded in the sky over Hiroshima at 8:15 am. After 20 minutes, Japan discovered that contact with the city was completely lost. A strange, confusing message about something never seen before powerful explosion came at about the same time from a railway station 16 kilometers from Hiroshima.
Burns left on the body of a Hiroshima resident from a kimono design after the explosion
Despite Japan's enormous civilian casualties, just three days later the United States unleashed an inferno in Nagasaki. At the same time, American politicians are still trying to convince the whole world that the destruction of several hundred thousand innocent people was a blessing - after all, this is how America supposedly prevented its own invasion of Japan, as a result of which, according to American politicians, there could have been much more victims.
Bombing victims
Of course, none of the representatives of Big Brother will ever admit that the destruction of 300 thousand people was just “saber rattling” in front of Soviet Union and the whole world. In US history, the dropping of atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki is recorded as the most important step in ending the war. But American politicians could have at least apologized to Japan over the past 70 years!
Victims of the Hiroshima bombing
However, Japanese politicians never received an official apology. Instead, Americans, including former President Barack Obama, regularly fly to Japan to once again deliver a fiery speech on the anniversary of the tragedy - as if America had nothing to do with what happened.
The Dream of the Washington Trial
“Needless to say, all this is a good reminder of the consequences that war can have on peoples and countries. But it also underscores the importance of the agreement we made with Iran, which will reduce the number of nuclear weapons in the world,” said former US Secretary of State John Kerry on August 6, 2016.
Such a statement seems rather cynical. Meanwhile, many are confident that the danger comes primarily from America itself.
“We have learned very little from the Japanese tragedy. We had the Nuremberg and Tokyo trials. What we are missing is the Washington Process. This is still true today, because Americans have a rather dangerous philosophy: “The winner takes it all.” The United States has never denied itself anything, and this is terribly dangerous,” said Eugen Eichhorn, chairman of the German-Japanese Peace Forum.
And the Japanese themselves have not forgotten anything:
“I don’t think the Japanese have been able to forgive or reconcile with the Americans, who don’t even think about the price our people paid,” Masao Fukumoto told Channel 5.
However, despite the hypocrisy of their overseas colleagues, the Japanese hope for peace. In the center of Hiroshima there is now a memorial park with an eternal flame, which should go out when all the countries of the world get rid of nuclear weapons.
“Japan intends to renew its efforts to achieve a world without nuclear weapons. We are ready to cooperate with both nuclear powers and those who do not have a nuclear arsenal. We are ready to propose to the UN new project nuclear disarmament resolutions. And I hope we will find support,” Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said last year.
However, America is not yet going to get rid of nuclear weapons. On the contrary, the United States continues to expand its network of military bases around the world.
The web that entangled the world
All the words of American politicians about peace, disarmament and the endless pursuit of harmony in foreign policy seem quite funny and strange compared to one fun fact: No country on the planet has so many military bases located on the territory of other states. On this moment There are about 800 American bases outside the States that exist and operate successfully! No other state can boast of something similar.
Second World War ended 72 years ago, and the whole world has long been trying to forget this horror forever (and, first of all, Russia’s participation and contribution to the liberation of the world from fascism). But not the USA. After the war, America put down very powerful and tenacious roots in German soil, which have now grown to indecent sizes. Today there are 172 military bases in Germany.
Japan, defeated and crushed by the nuclear bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, also had no choice. For many years, the Japanese authorities put themselves at the complete disposal of America - and the States gladly took advantage of this. By 2015, tiny Japan, which could not comfortably accommodate all its citizens and was trying to increase its territory through artificial islands, meekly provided space for 113 US military bases.
After the puppet Korean War, South Korea, like Japan, found itself in the complete power of Big Brother. There are now more than 80 American bases on South Korean soil.
US military “cities” are located in 130 countries. At the same time, there are only 197 states in the world! And no country can even come close to America in terms of the amount of funds allocated by the government for military needs.
A budget that no one else has
The US military budget these days is double one more time exceeds similar budgets of other NATO countries combined. In 2016, America spent $611 billion on its military. In 2017, according to the government funding law signed by Donald Trump on May 5, $598.5 billion was allocated for the needs of the Pentagon during the remaining period (the total budget this year will, accordingly, exceed last year).
Maintaining one military man outside the country, depending on the rank and type of service, costs US taxpayers from 10 to 40 thousand dollars a year. At the same time, the number of American military personnel in foreign “representative offices” is in the millions. And these people live as honest citizens of America, in conditions worthy of Americans: many US military bases resemble entire cities.
On August 6 and 9, 1945, US aircraft attacked nuclear strikes in two Japanese cities - Hiroshima and Nagasaki. According to official data, in the first minutes of the explosion, about 80 thousand people were killed and the same number were injured. It’s hard to imagine how many subsequently died from radiation sickness...
It would seem that after a nuclear bombing, the territory of cities and their environs should be abandoned and uninhabitable. I immediately remember the accident at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant or the disaster at the Fukushima nuclear power plant, when the area within a radius of hundreds of kilometers turned out to be contaminated and deadly. However, at the moment, about 1.6 million people live in Hiroshima and Nagasaki in total. How is this possible and why are they not afraid for their health?
In fact, between the explosion of the American atomic bomb and the accidents at nuclear power plants there are many differences. Firstly, the mass of the two bombs dropped on Japanese cities is much less than the mass of the fuel used at the nuclear power plant. For example, “Baby”—that was the name of the deadly weapon on board the bomber—contained about 64 kg of uranium, of which 700 grams participated in the chain reaction. For comparison, the fourth power unit of the Chernobyl nuclear power plant contained 180 tons of radioactive fuel.
Secondly, about 800 grams of uranium managed to participate in the fission reaction during the explosion of the bomb, while the rest of the mass was thrown aside by a colossal explosion. This cannot be compared with the tons of radioactive substances spilled in the vicinity of Chernobyl and Fukushima.
Thirdly, the explosion was carried out at an altitude of 600 meters above the surface, so some of the radioactive substances rose along with the air currents and was dispersed.
Of course, this does not cancel complete absence radiation in the vicinity of cities. In the first years, the amount of radioactive substances was several times higher than the norm, but few people thought about the radiation danger then, so people populated the vacant lands en masse. It was only later that doctors began to notice that the number of cancer diseases in Hiroshima and Nagasaki exceeded the national average. The combination of the above factors has significantly affected the possibility of people living in places of recent nuclear explosions, and background radiation has been steadily decreasing year after year.
Another factor in the settlement of the affected areas was the lack of free land for living in Japan. I wonder if residents of another country that does not have a shortage of territories would agree to move to destroyed nuclear explosion cities where tens of thousands of compatriots died in an instant?
Next year, humanity will mark the 70th anniversary of the end of the Second World War, which showed many examples of unprecedented cruelty, when entire cities disappeared from the face of the earth within a few days or even hours and hundreds of thousands of people, including civilians, died. The most striking example of this is the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, the ethical justification of which is questioned by any sane person.
Japan during the final stages of World War II
As you know, Nazi Germany capitulated on the night of May 9, 1945. This meant the end of the war in Europe. And also the fact that the only enemy of the countries of the anti-fascist coalition remained Imperial Japan, which at that time was officially declared war by about 6 dozen countries. Already in June 1945, as a result of bloody battles, its troops were forced to leave Indonesia and Indochina. But when on July 26 the United States, together with Great Britain and China, presented an ultimatum to the Japanese command, it was rejected. At the same time, even during the time of the USSR, it took upon itself the obligation to launch a large-scale offensive against Japan in August, for which, after the end of the war, South Sakhalin and the Kuril Islands were to be transferred to it.
Prerequisites for the use of atomic weapons
Long before these events, in the fall of 1944, at a meeting of the leaders of the United States and Great Britain, the issue of the possibility of using new super-destructive bombs against Japan was considered. After which the famous Manhattan Project, launched a year earlier and aimed at creating nuclear weapons, began to function with renewed vigor, and work on the creation of its first samples was completed by the end of hostilities in Europe.
Hiroshima and Nagasaki: reasons for the bombing
Thus, by the summer of 1945, the United States became the only owner of atomic weapons in the world and decided to use this advantage to put pressure on its longtime enemy and at the same time ally in 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 imperial army became kamikazes and kaiten, directing their planes and torpedoes at ships and other military targets of the American army. This meant that when carrying out a ground operation on the territory of Japan itself, the Allied troops would expect huge losses. Exactly last reason Today, it 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 I. Stalin informed him about the Japanese attempts to establish a peaceful dialogue. It is obvious that representatives of this country were going to make similar proposals to both the Americans and the British, since the massive bombing of large cities brought their military industry to the brink of collapse and made capitulation inevitable.
Selecting targets
After receiving agreement in principle to use atomic weapons against Japan, a special committee was formed. Its second meeting took place on May 10-11 and was devoted to the selection of cities that were to be bombed. The main criteria that guided the commission were:
- mandatory presence of civilian objects around a military target;
- its importance for the Japanese not only from an economic and strategic point of view, but also from a psychological one;
- a high degree of significance of the object, the destruction of which would cause resonance throughout the world;
- the target had to be undamaged by bombing for the military to appreciate the true power of the new weapon.
Which cities were considered as targets?
The “contenders” included:
- Kyoto, which is the largest industrial and cultural center and the ancient capital of Japan;
- Hiroshima as an important military port and city where army depots were concentrated;
- Yokahama, which is the center of the military industry;
- Kokura is home to the largest military arsenal.
According to the surviving memories of participants in those events, although the most convenient target was Kyoto, the United States Secretary of War G. Stimson insisted on excluding this city from the list, since he was personally familiar with its sights and was aware of their value for world culture.
Interestingly, the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki was not initially covered. More precisely, the city of Kokura was considered as the second target. This is evidenced by the fact that before August 9, an air raid was carried out on Nagasaki, which caused concern among residents and forced the evacuation of most schoolchildren to the surrounding villages. A little later, as a result of long discussions, backup targets were selected in case of unforeseen situations. They became:
- for the first bombing, if Hiroshima fails to hit, Niigata;
- for the second (instead of Kokura) - Nagasaki.
Preparation
The atomic bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki required careful preparation. During the second half of May and June, the 509th Combined Aviation Group was redeployed to a base on Tinian Island and exceptional security measures were taken. A month later, on July 26, the atomic bomb “Baby” was delivered to the island, and on the 28th, some of the components for assembling “Fat Man” were delivered to the island. On the same day, who at that time served as Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, signed an order ordering nuclear bombing to be carried out at any time after August 3, when weather conditions were suitable.
First atomic strike on Japan
The date of the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki cannot be stated unambiguously, since nuclear strikes on these cities were carried out within 3 days of each other.
The first blow was struck in Hiroshima. And this happened on June 6, 1945. The “honor” of dropping the “Baby” bomb went to the crew of a B-29 aircraft, nicknamed “Enola Gay,” commanded by Colonel Tibbetts. Moreover, before the flight, the pilots, confident that they were doing a good deed and their “feat” would be followed by a speedy end to the war, visited the church and received an ampoule of s in case they were captured.
Together with Enola Gay, three reconnaissance aircraft took off, designed to determine weather conditions, and 2 boards with photographic equipment and devices for studying the parameters of the explosion.
The bombing itself went completely without problems, since the Japanese military did not notice the objects rushing towards Hiroshima, and the weather was more than favorable. What happened next can be observed by watching the film “The Atomic Bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki” - a documentary film assembled from newsreels made in the Pacific region at the end of World War II.
In particular, it shows which, according to Captain Robert Lewis, who was a member of the Enola Gay crew, was visible even after their plane flew 400 miles from the bomb drop site.
Bombing of Nagasaki
The operation to drop the “Fat Man” bomb, carried out on August 9, proceeded completely differently. In general, the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, the photo of which evokes associations with well-known descriptions of the Apocalypse, was prepared extremely carefully, and the only thing that could make adjustments to its implementation was the weather. This is what happened when, in the early morning of August 9, a plane under the command of Major Charles Sweeney took off from the island of Tinian with the “Fat Man” atomic bomb on board. At 8:10 a.m. the plane arrived at the place where it was supposed to meet the second, the B-29, but did not find it. After 40 minutes of waiting, the decision was made to carry out the bombing without a partner aircraft, but it turned out that there was already 70% cloud cover over the city of Kokura. Moreover, even before departure it was known that the fuel pump was faulty, and at the moment when the board was over Kokura, it became obvious that the only way to drop the Fat Man was to do it while flying over Nagasaki. Then the B-29 headed towards this city and made a drop, focusing on the local stadium. Thus, by chance, Kokura was saved, and the whole world learned that the atomic bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki had occurred. Fortunately, if such words are at all appropriate in this case, the bomb fell far from the original target, quite far from residential areas, which somewhat reduced the number of victims.
Consequences of the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki
According to eyewitness accounts, within a few minutes everyone who was within a radius of 800 m from the epicenters of the explosions died. Then 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 humanity to the phenomenon of radiation sickness. The doctors noticed her first. They were surprised that the condition of the survivors first improved, and then they died from the disease, the symptoms of which 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 throughout their lives and even give birth to 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 advocated immediate surrender, subject to the preservation of his power in the country. And 5 days later, the Japanese media spread his statement about the cessation of hostilities to English language. Moreover, in the text, His Majesty mentioned that one of the reasons for his decision was the presence of “terrible weapons” in the enemy’s possession, the use of which could lead to the destruction of the nation.