On today's date 79 years ago, the United States used an atomic bomb on the Japanese city of Hiroshima for the first time. Over 70,000 people died on the spot, the area was razed to the ground.
On every 6th of August, Japan observes a minute of silence at 8:15 am. - the exact hour when the American bomber Enola Gay drops the bomb.
The devastation wrought by the weapon code-named "Little Boy" was unprecedented until then. The second bomb, the "Fatty", was dropped three days later over Nagasaki and killed tens of thousands more. It ended the most devastating chapter in world history.
The US remains the only country to have used an atomic bomb in wartime. In May 2016, Barack Obama became the first sitting US president to visit Hiroshima. He called for a "world without nuclear weapons."
"A flash of lightning and a wall of fire destroyed a city and showed that humanity possesses the means to destroy itself," he said during an address at the site of the first bombing.
Why did the U.S. do it?
American scientists working on the Manhattan Project successfully tested a working atomic bomb in July 1945 after the surrender of Nazi Germany in May.
Then-President Harry Truman commissioned a committee of advisers, chaired by Secretary of War Henry Stimson, to consider whether America should use an atomic bomb against Japan.
"At that time there was a broad consensus among the committee members in favor of the decision to strike. Stimson was adamant that the bomb should be used," archivist Sam Rushay explained to CNN.
Charles Meyer, a history professor at Harvard University, said that while Truman might have made a different decision, "it would have been difficult to justify to the American public the prolongation of the war when this weapon was available."
"The atomic bomb seemed to offer a 'magic solution' that would save a lot of pain. Japan was not prepared to surrender unconditionally, and there was concern that a preliminary demonstration of the weapon's capabilities would not work," Meyer explained.
Such a demonstration would have involved detonating a nuclear weapon in an uninhabited but observable area to force Japan to surrender, an approach that was favored by a group of scientists and some of the U.S. senior leadership. This course of events dropped out of the plans. Truman and his military advisers feared a "very costly invasion" of Japan.
"The recent experience of the fighting at Iwo Jima and Okinawa had been very costly in terms of American and Japanese casualties, despite the destruction of the Japanese air force and navy. It was a widespread belief among American military planners that the Japanese would fight to the last man. American leaders were certain that all of Japan would be mobilized to defend the home islands," Rushay said.
Some historians suggest that the prospect of certain Soviet involvement in the war helped drive the decision to end the conflict quickly by using the bomb. The Soviets eventually invaded Manchuria on August 9 and defeated Japanese forces.
Hiroshima was one of four potential targets and President Truman left it to the military to decide which city to strike. Hiroshima was chosen as the target because of its military importance. Nagasaki was bombed a few days later.
What was the result?
At least 70,000 people died in the initial blast and another 70,000 died from exposure to radiation. The total number of deaths in the first five years alone probably exceeded 200,000. Cancer is only part of the long-term consequences.
On August 9, 1945, the United States dropped another bomb on Nagasaki, Japan, killing up to 80,000 people. Japan agrees to unconditionally accept surrender terms on August 14.
The total destruction caused by the bombing leads many to criticize the decision.
In his 1963 memoir A Mandate for Change, former President Dwight D. Eisenhower criticized the use of the atomic bombs, saying they were not necessary for Japan's surrender.
In 1958, the Hiroshima City Council passed a resolution condemning Truman for refusing to express remorse over the use of the atomic bombs and continuing to advocate their use in an emergency. The resolution said that the residents "consider it their lofty duty to be a cornerstone of world peace and that no nation in the world should be allowed to repeat the mistake of using nuclear weapons."
The resolution called the former president's position "a gross desecration committed against the people of Hiroshima and its fallen victims."
Truman responded to the Hiroshima resolution with a letter to the President of the Council in which he stated, "the feelings of the people of your city are easily understood and I am in no way offended by the resolution."
However, Truman stresses the necessity of the decision, referring to how the US was "shot in the back" in Japan's attack on Pearl Harbor. The president says the decision to use the two nuclear bombs saved the lives of 250,000 Allied soldiers and 250,000 Japanese because it eliminated the need for an invasion.
"As the man who ordered the dropping of the bomb, I believe the sacrifice of Hiroshima and Nagasaki was urgent and necessary for the future well-being of both Japan and the Allies," Truman concludes.
How do Americans and Japanese feel about this issue?
A 2015 Pew Research Center poll found that only 14% of Japanese thought the bombing was "justified." A Gallup poll conducted immediately after the 1945 bombing found that 85% of Americans approved of Truman's decision. A 2018 Pew Research Agency poll showed that the proportion of Americans who thought the use of nuclear weapons against Japan was justified had dropped to 56%. | BGNES
