Disputes over and against the detonation of nuclear superweapons have been going on for 76 years
Today marks the 76th anniversary of the first atomic bombing of the city of Hiroshima in Japan.
The explosion
On August 6, 1945, at 8:16 a.m., the United States became the first and only country to use nuclear weapons against its adversary. The atomic bomb blast over Hiroshima has a capacity of 15,000 tons of TNT equivalent or 15 kilotons. For comparison, the weight of the atomic bomb is only 64 kilograms.
See photos from the nuclear bombing of Hiroshima >> >> >>
Within a radius of one kilometer from the epicenter, about 70-80,000 people died instantly. The survivors were incinerated by the heat wave, which spread over an area of 11 square kilometers with a temperature of up to 4,000 degrees Celsius.
Thus, in just a few seconds, more than 30% of Hiroshima’s population was killed. Nearly 70% of the buildings in the city were demolished and 10% severely damaged.
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Hiroshima before and after the atomic bomb was dropped
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The blast destroyed all hospitals, killing more than 90 percent of Hiroshima’s medical staff. This contributes to the number of victims, which increases in the hours after the explosion.
In the next 5 years, another 120,000 die from radiation sickness. Radiation dramatically increases the number of people with cancer, leukemia. Babies born with disabilities are increasing.
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The survivors of the nuclear bombing suffered severe burns and radiation poisoning.
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Even today, the exact number of victims of the atomic bomb in Hiroshima is controversial, and depending on the method of assessment and sources, the number of victims varies from 100,000 to over 200,000 people.
The Manhattan Project
In 1939, the United States launched one of the most expensive and secret military projects in its history, codenamed Manhattan. Its product is the atomic bomb detonated over Hiroshima.
The best nuclear scientists in the Western world are joining forces to create a hitherto completely unknown nuclear weapon. Its power is due to the process of nuclear fission and exceeds a thousand times known until now conventional bombs.
Nuclear fission is also responsible for the “side effect”, which is more deadly than the bomb itself – radiation.
American scientists are competing against time because they are convinced that a similar project is being developed by Nazi Germany. The United States spares no expense and provides its scientists with entire industrial plants that produce plutonium and enrich uranium.
Researchers have discovered many new methods for extracting chemical elements, experimenting with nuclear reactors and developing various new technologies, while being able to put into practice the formulas of physicists that the creation of an atomic bomb is possible.
In the meantime, however, the war was reversing. The Battle of Kursk weakened Germany’s tank troops. In 1944, the United States and Great Britain opened a second front in France. Before that, Italy fell. On May 8, the Red Army entered Berlin victoriously and World War II ended in Europe.
On July 16, 1945, however, the Manhattan Project bore its “poisonous fruit.” The first atomic bomb was successfully detonated. The code name of the operation is “Trinity”, and the power of the explosion is equal to 20,000 tons of TNT equivalent. By comparison, the most powerful conventional Allied bomb at the end of World War II was 6.5 tons of TNT equivalent, or nearly 3,000 times weaker.
The cost of the Manhattan project, calculated relative to current inflation, is nearly $ 3.3 trillion. More than 70 years later, the development of nuclear weapons is still quite expensive and can only be done by 9 countries (USA, Russia, France, Great Britain, China, India, Pakistan, Israel and North Korea).
The war in Europe is over at the time of the first Trinity test, and attacking selected targets in Germany is impossible. So the United States decided to test its new weapon against Japan.
The collapse of Japan in the summer of 1945
In August 1945, World War II was coming to an end. Several months have passed since the fall of Berlin and the defeat of Germany. In East Asia, Tokyo is losing on all fronts. The United States made successful landings on numerous islands, and the Japanese army was defeated in the Philippines, Myanmar, and Indonesia.
In early August 1945, the Soviet Army was preparing for war against Japan in Manchuria and Korea. Meanwhile, US B-29 bombers are launching daily bombing raids on Japan.
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In July 1945, Tokyo was turned into a ghost town
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On March 10, 1945, Tokyo dawned almost on fire with incendiary bombs. More than 100,000 civilians were killed and more than 200,000 buildings were demolished.
In early August 1945, Japanese industry was depleted, fuel supplies were depleted, and air defense was ineffective. The emperor’s fleet, the former pride of the island nation, was completely destroyed.
As early as the beginning of 1945, the Japanese leadership showed signs that it was ready to surrender.
“I was told that the bomb shrapnel found that the enemy dropped on us was used to make shovels. This confirmed my view that we were no longer able to continue the war“, shared Emperor Hirohito in a conversation with Prince Naruhiko.
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Victims of incendiary bombs dropped over Tokyo
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“I want the concrete plans to end the war, unhindered by existing policies, to be examined quickly and efforts to be made to implement them.“, the emperor declared at the end of June 1945. Japanese diplomacy intends to attract neutral states and the USSR to its side in order to be able to conclude peace on more favorable terms.
However, Japan still does not want to accept the unconditional surrender.
The Allies also have no intention of accepting Japan’s peace proposals. During the Potsdam Conference in late July, the US president admitted to Stalin that the Americans had a secret superweapon.
“They wouldn’t give up”
The United States says the use of atomic bombs against Japan is a “necessary evil” that has saved the lives of many Allied soldiers who would die in a possible landing in the island nation.
Japanese soldiers, known for their devotion, would sacrifice even themselves in order not to allow a foreign force to take over their home.
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About 111,000 American soldiers died in the battles for the islands in the Pacific Ocean
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The battles for the many islands in the Pacific Ocean show that the Japanese are fighting with extreme fanaticism and are ready for suicide attacks. According to the United States, the dropping of atomic bombs over Hiroshima and Nagasaki saved the lives of hundreds of thousands.
However, Japanese historian Tsuyoshi Hasegawa and his American counterpart Gar Alperovitz put forward another theory. According to her, Japan was on the verge of accepting a total capitulation, and would do so after the Soviet Union entered the war against it.
According to the two historians, the purpose of the nuclear bombing was not to end the pre-determined war earlier, but to demonstrate strength and supremacy.
Many Japanese, as well as opponents of nuclear weapons, argue that the detonation of the atomic bomb was not only unnecessary, but was essentially a war crime and state terrorism.
The atomic bomb as a political weapon
The capitulation of Germany revealed to many that the alliance between the USSR and the Western powers was unlikely to last long. The delineation of zones of influence determines the new political and ideological map of Europe. The “hunt” for German scientists and secret projects shows that the Allies began to transform into rivals even before the official end of the war.
In this context, the main target of nuclear bombing is not Japan, and the use of superweapons is far from the sole purpose of inflicting physical damage.
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The Potsdam Conference draws new borders in Europe, and the atomic bomb ensures compliance
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On August 6, 1945, the world became aware of the fact that the United States had a completely new type of bomb. The explosion of just one unit is enough to wipe out an entire city.
The nuclear superiority of the United States is an integral part of the recipe for making the country a recognized global superpower today.
The atomic bomb and its plans for further use acted as a brake on Stalin’s possible intentions to increase his sphere of influence beyond the previously defined limits.
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Many describe the atomic bombing of Japan as genocide and a war crime
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According to historians, nuclear superweapons were one of the reasons why the USSR did not send aid to the Greek Communists in the civil war that was being fought in our southern neighbor between 1946 and 1949.
The Soviet Union abandoned its ambition to spread communism in Western Europe and adhered to the defined zones of influence.
Later, when Moscow acquired its atomic bomb, fears of a global nuclear conflict and mutual self-destruction kept politicians on both sides of the Iron Curtain from risking turning the Cold War into a “warm war.” However, even today the world is only “one button away” from its complete destruction, and pressing it can be the result of misjudgment or technical failure.
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