Winner of the Spring 2017 StMU History Media Awards for
Best Article in the Category of “World History”
“We knew the world would not be the same. A few people laughed, a few people cried, most people were silent. I remembered the line from the Hindu scripture the Bhagavad Gita. Vishnu is trying to persuade the prince that he should do his duty and to impress him takes on his multiarmed form and says, ‘Now, I am become Death, the destroyer of worlds.’ I suppose we all thought that one way or another.”1
- J. Robert Oppenheimer, The Decision to Drop the Bomb
Throughout the history of human warfare, conflict has pushed humans to innovate–to build ever larger and deadlier weapons, each more lethal than the last. However, it was not until World War II and the invention of the atomic bomb that humanity has been able to kill on such a massive and efficient scale. Case in point, in the final days of World War II, the United States carried out one of the most chilling instances of mass murder in the history of humanity: the bombing of the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. These attacks ultimately killed an estimated 294,000 people, the majority of whom were noncombatants.2 In comparison, the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor killed just 2,408 American citizens, although this is largely due to the focused Japanese attack on military targets, namely the Pacific fleet and U.S. airfields.3 To give a more modern frame of comparison, the terrorist attacks against the World Trade Center and Pentagon, considered to be by far the worst terrorist attacks against the United States, claimed the lives of 2,974 American citizens.4
In the spring of 1945, World War II was entering its final stages. The Allies had already achieved victory in Europe with Germany’s surrender on May 7th, but the conflict on the Pacific front was still going strong. In the years leading up to the two World Wars, Japan’s victories against two larger countries–China in the Sino-Japanese War (1894–1895) and Russia in the Russo-Japanese War (1904–1905)–combined with other factors, forged a strong sense of Japanese nationalism, militarism, and cultural superiority. This fervent nationalism, integrated with the Japanese warrior ethic known as bushido, made the prospect of a Japanese surrender unlikely, even as the Allies began to position for an invasion of the Japanese mainland.5
Concurrently, since as early as 1942, President Franklin Delano Roosevelt had been secretly sponsoring and funding The Manhattan Project, the code name used for the $2 billion U.S. effort to develop a nuclear weapon before the Germans. A team of top physicists led by Dr. Julius Robert Oppenheimer were assigned to this project, a task so secret that not even individuals as important as then Vice President Harry S. Truman was aware of it. Shortly after Roosevelt’s untimely death and Truman’s subsequent inauguration to the presidency in April 1945, he was informed that the Manhattan Project was approaching success–that a nuclear weapon would be feasible in just four short months.6
Faced with the prospect of a costly and deadly invasion of Japan, Truman and his advisors were faced with a difficult choice: utilize this new atomic weapon or try to defeat Japan through conventional means. In late July, the United States issued the Postdam Declaration, a statement which gave Japan the choice between unconditional surrender or total annihilation. When this declaration went ignored, President Truman authorized the use of the atomic bomb.7
On the morning of August 6, 1945, Colonel Paul Tibbets piloted the Enola Gay over the city of Hiroshima, where his crew dropped an atomic bomb code-named “Little Boy.” Upwards of 70,000 people died instantly in the blast. Additionally, 48,000 buildings were destroyed and another 22,000 were damaged, leaving only 6,000 buildings untouched. Three days later, on August 9th, a second bomb was dropped onto Nagasaki, killing another 36,000 people. In total, an estimated 295,000 were killed in the blasts or from complications from the resulting nuclear fallout.8
Emperor Hirohito ordered the surrender of Japan on August 10, 1945. On August 15th, radios across Japan broadcasted Hirohito’s words as he read the declaration of surrender to the Japanese people, thus ending World War II. The bombs’ effectiveness in forcing the Japanese to surrender is still subject of popular debate among historians to this day, given that the Russian invasion of Japan-controlled Manchuria occurred at the same time of Nagasaki, both of which likely impacted Japan’s will to continue fighting.9 Even so, while the political and military effects of these blasts may be debated, none can contest their tragedy and devastation.
- Jason Pontin, “Oppenheimer’s Ghost,” MIT Technology Review, October 15, 2007. https://www.technologyreview.com/s/408835/oppenheimers-ghost/. ↵
- Dennis W. Cheek, “Hiroshima and Nagasaki,” in Encyclopedia of Science, Technology, and Ethics, edited by Carl Mitcham, Vol. 2, Detroit: Macmillan Reference USA, 2005. Gale Virtual Reference Library (accessed February 6, 2017), 923. ↵
- Sonia Benson, Daniel E. Brannen, Jr., and Rebecca Valentine, “Pearl Harbor Attack,” in UXL Encyclopedia of U.S. History, Vol. 6, Detroit: UXL, 2009. Gale Virtual Reference Library (accessed February 6, 2017), 1208. ↵
- Stefan M. Brooks, “September 11 Attacks,” in The Encyclopedia of Middle East Wars: The United States in the Persian Gulf, Afghanistan, and Iraq Conflicts, edited by Spencer C. Tucker, Vol. 3, Santa Barbara, CA: ABC-CLIO, 2010. Gale Virtual Reference Library (accessed February 6, 2017), 1096. ↵
- “The United States Drops the Atomic Bomb on Hiroshima and Nagasaki,” in Global Events: Milestone Events Throughout History, edited by Jennifer Stock, Vol. 2, Asia and Oceania, Farmington Hills, MI: Gale, 2014. Gale Virtual Reference Library (accessed February 5, 2017), 361. ↵
- “An Overview of the Atomic Bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki,” in The Atomic Bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, edited by Sylvia Engdahl, Perspectives on Modern World History, Detroit: Greenhaven Press, 2011. Gale Virtual Reference Library (accessed February 6, 2017), 13-14. ↵
- “An Overview of the Atomic Bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki,” in The Atomic Bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, edited by Sylvia Engdahl, Perspectives on Modern World History, Detroit: Greenhaven Press, 2011. Gale Virtual Reference Library (accessed February 6, 2017), 14-15. ↵
- Dennis W. Cheek, “Hiroshima and Nagasaki,” in Encyclopedia of Science, Technology, and Ethics, edited by Carl Mitcham, Vol. 2, Detroit: Macmillan Reference USA, 2005. Gale Virtual Reference Library (accessed February 6, 2017), 923. ↵
- “The United States Drops the Atomic Bomb on Hiroshima and Nagasaki,” in Global Events: Milestone Events Throughout History, edited by Jennifer Stock, Vol. 2, Asia and Oceania, Farmington Hills, MI: Gale, 2014. Gale Virtual Reference Library (accessed February 5, 2017), 361. ↵
152 comments
William Rittenhouse
Having to choose between dropping the bomb versus sending in thousands of troops many of whom would of probably died is a hard choice in wartime. Some claim it was effective in their surrender and some claim it would of been better if we had invaded Japan. The fact is we don’t know what would’ve happened. We know what happened. Japan during World War 2 were known for their cruel tactics and savage way of treating our POW’s. They didn’t use ethics and morals during wartime. They fought to death, or if not had to commit suicide. The US did have rules and morals set in place. It’s hard to make ethical decisions in wartime especially when your enemy doesn’t follow those same ethical principles. I believe the important thing is that we learned from our mistake and that we will never make the same mistake twice.
Cooper Dubrule
I love the way the article opens with a statement saying “kill people on a more massive and efficient scale” because it emphasizes the way that people are seen when it comes to warfare which is as no more than a number. I wasn’t alive to experience the change brought up by the atomic bombings however I think that they have left a huge imprint on our society as a whole because ultimately no one wants warfare to come to the point where another atomic bomb is used again.
Adam Portillo
I would say that dropping an Atomic bomb is definitely controversial and a little too far and its difficult to hear about how the Japanese people were affected. I Could imagine that the decision to drop the atomic bombs was a well thought out one by President Truman. If we hadn’t dropped the atomic bombs eventually the United States would have to invade mainland Japan which would lead too so many more American casualties in the Pacific theatre and would be costly. Although I feel that maybe the choice to drop the atomic bombs wasn’t morally right it seems that in times of war sometimes people just resort to desperate measures.
Pedro Gonzalez Aboyte
One of the things that stood out to me the most and made me sick to my stomach with the catastrophic damage the bomb caused. When we compare it to the terrorist attack on the World Trade Center in NY, the biggest attack on US soil, it is pretty minuscule to the damage from the atomic bomb. It did eventually get Japan to surrender which would have been difficult because of their warrior ethic but was a bomb of this magnitude necessary for that? Regardless, this article was very well-written and provided information concisely.
Mia Stahl
In conflict, it seems to be highly difficult to implement ethics in a political environment, especially in the case of ‘revenge’ or surrender. This single act of terror, or at least that’s how I’d refer to it, seems to have set the name for the United States of America as a nation that will cause devastating destruction in order to come out on top or to make sure everyone knows not to mess with us, but at what cost? At the cost of hundreds of thousands of lives and the total annihilation of a nations hope and infrastructure.
Mason Meza
The atomic bomb was very extreme. There was no need to bomb out an entire island. There were thousands of innocent lives taken, it all could’ve been avoided if we just raided the island. This article did a very good job of explaining how much pride and honor the Japanese had for not surrendering. The atomic bomb was useful in a way for ending the war but other than that it was not needed.
Devin Ramos
To me the use of nuclear weapons on the Japanese was a little too far. We could have just invaded the island and using a naval blockade to stop items from getting into japan. But I will say the bombs were useful in getting the Japanese empire to surrender since it is uncommon to surrender in Japanese culture such as the kamikaze pilots who would literally crash their plane and kill themselves rather then surrender.
Clarissa Gonzalez
Being in JROTC for all four years of high school, I always had too much military history and facts in my head. They weren’t ever detailed, just basic facts, and putting a fact that I once memorized, into a larger perspective, was very interesting. Instead of just knowing the date and casualties, I actually got information on the weapon that conducted this mass destruction.
Daniela Duran
I truly believe that the atomic bomb, regardless of the fact it was able to bring an end to war, was a massive cause of death, destruction and disturbance. The article mentioned that many innocent people were killed as a result of this boom, and thousands of others injured through no fault of their own. These people probably had nothing to do with the war, but they paid the price for ending it…This is why we must always incentivize peace amongst us, even in the smallest things. It is terrifying to read about how much destruction this cause, in comparison to the incident such as the World Trade center terrorist attack. I consider that this example was very useful in terms of helping me magnify the scale of the damage caused. I was surprised to read about the way in which Japanese pride stopped them from surrendering in various occasions, as I did not know that they had that particular honor to defend, and this was certainly something new for me. I was really impressed by the way in which this article provided so much information in a very practical and concise way.
Madison Guerra
Growing up we have all learned about World war II and how it ended with this horrible bombing. They may have been enemies of the US, but it is still tragic to hear about what happened to all of the people involved in the Hiroshima and Nagasaki bombings. There were so many innocents killed due to the war and i hope one day we can just stop the fighting. Of course that is just an unreachable dream because mankind will never change ways. We have been fighting for as long as anyone can remember and sadly nothing will stop the destruction. It is just a matter of time before another Hiroshima and Nagasaki happens again.