Life in 1945
Prior to July 16, 1945
FDR dies: April 12, 1945
Prior to July 16, 1945
Hitler commits suicide: April 30, 1945
Prior to July 16, 1945
Victory in Europe Day: May 7, 1945
Lessons of Iwo Jima and Okinawa
Iwo Jima
First US attack on home islands of Japan
Over 20,000 Japanese soldiers died
Okinawa
More died at Okinawa than at Hiroshima and Nagasaki combined
J. Robert Oppenheimer
Trinity Test: July 16, 1945
Reactions from the people who were there…
“In the last milli-second of the earth’s existence--the last men will see what we saw.”
George Kistiakowsky
“Now we’re all sons of bitches.”
Kenneth Bainbridge, director of the test
If the radiance of a thousand suns were to burst into the sky, that would be like the splendor of the Mighty
One…I am become Death, destroyer of worlds.
Robert Oppenheimer
Truman? President?
To Bomb or Not to Bomb?
Choices
Harry Truman should…
A. Offer a conditional surrender to the Japanese
B. Use bombing first as a demonstration
C. Bomb unannounced
D. Bomb after a warning
E. Continue practice of non-atomic bombing and blockading
F. Wait for the Soviets to enter, then invade
The Decision
Hiroshima
On August 6, 1945, the US put into motion the dropping of the first atomic bomb when the plane the Enola Gay
dropped the bomb known as “the Little Boy” on the Japanese city of Hiroshima…approximately 140,000 are
killed
Nagasaki
Three days later, the second atomic bomb “the Fat Man” carried in the Bock’s Car dropped on the city of Nagasaki…approximately 70,000 are
killed
Short-term results of the bomb
The war is over.
210,000 Japanese are dead.
Long-term results
Radiation
US occupies Japan post-war
Increase in nuclear programs
The Cold War begins