in this article we will know, why japan joined ww2, how japan took control of korea, when japan surrenendered, when japan invaded china, when japan attacked at pearl harbor how japan sees america, will japan join nato, why hiroshima was chosen, how hiroshima and nagasaki were bombed, why hiroshima and nagasaki was bombed, can hiroshima be visited
Hello, friends! 6th August, 1945. In the city of Hiroshima in Japan, the weather was hot. It was a beautiful day, the sky was blue, the sun was bright, and it was Monday morning. Around 8 in the morning, people had just reached their offices to work. The kids had reached school, and the first period of school was about to begin. In the meantime, some people saw an American Boeing B-29 passing through the sky. At 8.15 pm, something fell down from this aeroplane. People couldn't see it clearly from a distance whether it was a small thing that was falling down from this aeroplane. They wouldn't have even imagined that it was an atomic bomb. 43 seconds. It kept falling down for exactly 43 seconds. And then, in a blink of an eye, it was all over.
Thousands of people in the city saw a bright light in the last moment of their lives. Because of the explosion, the bomb instantly becomes a fireball. Imagine a small sun. The temperature on the ground reaches up to 4000 degrees Celsius. In a blink of an eye, 80,000 people are killed. The biggest question you will have after hearing this, is why? Why was this bomb dropped? What was the reason behind it? Let's understand in today's article, the story of the atomic bombs dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
Our story begins with the Second World War. The war began in 1939, when Hitler invaded Poland. One by one, many other countries were pushed into the war. World War II was fought between two major alliances. On one side were Nazi Germany, Italy and Japan, known as the Axis Powers. On the other side were Great Britain, the Soviet Union and the USA. they were called Allied Powers or Allies. Allies included countries like France and China. But in the beginning, America was trying their best not to become a part of this war. After the useless experience of the First World War, America had thought that no matter what happened in Europe and Asia, they didn't want to interfere.
They wanted to keep their hands away. But in 1941, when Japan attacked Pearl Harbour, the US was forced to be involved in this war. It is important to understand things from the context of Japan. Because whenever we talk about World War II, we often focus on Germany and Hitler. We don't talk much about Japan. In the early 1900s, imperialism was also seen in Japan. Just like Britain, France, and other European countries were taking over other countries. They were colonising them. Japan was doing the same. The British Empire was part of India. Similarly, by 1940, under Japan, Indonesia, Myanmar, Cambodia, Laos, Vietnam, several eastern areas of China, North Korea, South Korea, all these countries,
was the occupation of the Japanese Empire. The Japanese colonisers were talking about a Greater Asia. That they would make an Asia that would be united. But all this was just talk. In reality, like the other colonisers, they occupied the land to exploit resources. So that they could gain profits. The first major expansion was in 1931. There was an area in Northern China called Manchuria. They occupied that area. In the North, they planned to take over some areas of the Soviet Union from Mongolia. In the South, they planned to take over areas of Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia. In the South, the country of Vietnam and Cambodia, was actually part of the French Empire. They were called the French Indochina. If Japan wanted to take over them, they had to defeat the French Empire first.
This is what happened in 1940. They waged a war against France and took over these areas. By doing this, Japan became a participant of World War II. America saw that on the one hand, it was Hitler who was waging a war against each country in Europe. On the other hand, it was Japan in Asia who was doing the same thing. They didn't want to interfere in the war by using their military, but they had to do something. to stop them. To take some economic action. In America, copper, iron, and steel are very essential resources. They stopped exporting them to Japan. They stopped it. The hope was that Japan would stop the expansion, and remain calm. But that didn't happen. In response, America stopped selling oil to Japan.
At that time, oil was a very important resource for the Japanese people. And 80% of the oil that came to Japan, came from America. America said that they would return the oil on one condition, that they would first leave the occupied areas of China, and break their alliance with Germany and Italy. But this meant that the Japanese people who had dreams of creating a Greater Asia, would have to kill the Japanese Emperor. So they decided to go to war with America and find another way. They saw that in the areas of Malaysia and Indonesia, oil and other resources were good. Why not take control of these areas and extract their own oil? Then America wouldn't have to be dependent on it. But there was one problem.
Indonesia was under the control of the Dutch East Indies at the time. And Malaysia was under the control of the British Malaya at the time. The British and the Dutch were both allies of America. If they attacked these countries, it meant that America could attack them. Because America is being attacked by its friends. It's possible that America doesn't attack us. But after that, when we go to the Philippines, which was actually America's territory at the time, America had occupied and colonised the Philippines, then America would definitely attack us again, because we would be snatching away America's territory. And how can the dream of Greater Asia be fulfilled without the Philippines? We have only one option left. We will occupy and colonize all these areas.
But if America attacks us in this case, they will have to keep quiet. America is more powerful than us. If a long war continues, we will lose. But if we secretly attack America's military bases, and blow up all their fighter planes and ships, what will happen? How will they attack us? With this in mind, on 7th December 1941, Japan, a surprise attack on the USA's Pearl Harbour base. On December 7th, 1941, by overhead, jet raiders are on the loose. Without warning, they circle Pearl Harbour and the city of Honolulu. A surprise attack born of infamy. More than 350 Japanese Navy aircrafts attack and drop bombs. And within 2 hours, 19 US Navy ships, 188 military aircrafts, and more than 2,000 US military men die.
After a few hours, Japan suddenly took over the Philippines. But realistically, it was a very stupid thing that Japan did. The children thought that they would kill them first, so that they wouldn't be able to kill them, and then they would take over their territory. Because they said that they wouldn't interfere in the war, so they were safe. But obviously, if you take over the territory of a big country like the USA, if you attack their military base, and then expect them to remain silent, that wouldn't happen. Obviously, in response to this, America officially declared that they were also going to war. And America waged a war against Japan. This was the point when America was officially involved in World War II. After this, Britain and China also waged a war against Japan.
And as such, Nazi Germany and Italy also declared war against the USA after 3 days. By the end of 1941, World War II was in its full swing. All these big countries, declared war. After this, without going into the details of the actual war, Italy surrendered by the year 1943. On 30th April 1945, Hitler committed suicide by shooting himself. After that, Germany surrendered as well. So only Japan was left in the Axis powers who didn't surrender. Despite the continuous losses, the Japanese Emperor was not willing to surrender. It would be interesting to go into the details of Japanese Fascism at this point. The thing is that the Japanese public was being brainwashed. There was a Japanese Emperor in Japan. His name was Hirohito.
People were told that this Emperor was God's gift. Literally, people compared him to God. Whatever he said, they believed blindly. If they didn't, they were against their country. If our Japanese Emperor had said that he would go to these countries and take over them, colonize them, and do it for their good, then he was right. He was going to war for a good purpose. Whoever opposed the war in Japan, would be hunted down and killed. Apart from this, some Japanese cultures and traditions were badly modified to manipulate people. For example, their Bushido Samurai tradition. According to this Bushido tradition, the Samurais were always He should be aware of death. He should not see it as the end. And should not be so afraid of death.
But what did he modify this tradition and tell the people? He said that a Samurai is one who is willing to die for the Emperor. Who understands that it is a great honour for him to die for the Emperor. And surrendering to the enemies is an insult to him. If people were brainwashed in this way, they would be willing to die. And this is what happened, friends. The Japanese were brainwashed to carry out organised suicide attacks. A special military unit was formed in the Japanese Air Force, known as the Kamikaze. These were the pilots whose purpose was to sit in their fighter jets, and take the fighter jets to crash into the enemy warships. And to sacrifice themselves. In simple terms, it was suicide bombing.
Not only that, the children were trained to carry an explosive with them, and lay down in front of the tank, so that he could kill himself and destroy the tank. Can you imagine? People were brainwashed to this extent. Obviously, not everyone was brainwashed. There are some painful stories, that the Kamikaze pilots heard, how they cried and wrote letters to their families the night before their mission, and questioned themselves, if what they were about to do was right. It was good for their country and for themselves. America and the other allied countries hoped that because of the war, Japan's unemployment had increased. People didn't have food to eat. They were starving. Maybe the common people would stand up against their Emperor, and surrender under the pressure of the Emperor.
But it never happened because of these reasons. America saw that there was only one option left. A full-scale invasion of Japan. They sent their own military and went on-ground there to overthrow the Japanese Emperor. That's why America planned Operation Downfall. The last major battle between America and Japan was the Battle of Okinawa. Between 1st April 1945 and 22nd June 1945. If you look at the map, there's an island in the south of Japan called Okinawa. America sent its military to go on-ground and physically capture this island. And remove it from any obstacles. After this, they would engage in a full-scale invasion of Operation Downfall. But Okinawa's fight shocked America. The Japanese were not ready to give up. Everyone was ready to fight to the last breath.
Even the last remaining person was fighting to the end. Continuous attacks were seen. One after the other, suicide bombs. There was no question of surrender. This meant that it was very difficult for the American forces to defeat the Japanese forces. This is why the Battle of Okinawa is known as the bloodiest battle in the Pacific. Eventually, America won the battle, but it was very expensive. 12,000 American soldiers were killed. More than 50,000 were injured. On the other hand, 1,10,000 Japanese soldiers were killed. The people living on Okinawa Island were called Okinawans. In this one battle, more than 1,00,000 Okinawans were killed. This meant that 1 fourth of the population of the island, 25% of the people died on the island. Hearing this statistic, the military heads of America thought that this way, their Operation Downfall wouldn't work.
They thought that if they sent their entire army there, it would work and they would win. But at what cost? 12,000 people died on this small island. If they tried to capture the other islands of Japan, If we try to defeat them on the ground like this, how many more people will be killed? And how many of them will be killed? It would be unimaginable to think about it. And this fight would drag on for many years because the Japanese people have become so brainwashed that they are not willing to surrender. America and its allies thought of some other way to get Japan to surrender. On 12th April 1945, US President Franklin D. Roosevelt who had been the President of the US for a long time, during World War II.
They pass away. And Vice President Harry Truman becomes the new President of the US. The entire responsibility of finding a solution in Japan's war is now on their shoulders. They consider different options. If they negotiate with the Japanese Emperor Hirohito, that might work. But they don't think it will work. Because the Emperor will not surrender under any circumstances. At the same time, they learn about a top-secret US military project. The Manhattan Project. Where many scientists are secretly working to make the world's first atom bomb. On 16th July 1945, this atom bomb is tested in a bombing range in New Mexico. And the test is successful. Truman feels that he has found his solution. They discuss with their other top military officials and government heads how to drop the bomb.
They decide to give Japan a last warning before dropping it. 26th July 1945, Potsdam Declaration. The US President, China's President, and Great Britain's Prime Minister come together and demand unconditional surrender from Japan. They give a warning that if Japan doesn't surrender, it will result in prompt and utter destruction. and destruction. Without specifying what exactly they meant by destruction. The Japanese didn't even dream that a weapon like an atom bomb existed in the world. By this point in time, in July 1945, it is said that the anti-war sentiment among the common people in Japan had increased. People were worried about this constant war. They were starving. There was a shortage of jobs. The economic situation was bad. But they stood up against their own military and emperor.
They couldn't fight until the military supported them. The Japanese Emperor would have agreed to surrender when it was said that they could maintain their power, and some occupied territories would actually remain under them. But America wanted unconditional surrender. So on 29th July 1945, Japan rejected the Portsdam Declaration. After this, on 3rd August, US President Harry Truman authorised that the atom bomb would be dropped on Japan. On 6th August 1945, the Boeing B-29 aircraft passed over the city of Hiroshima. This aircraft had the Little Boy Atom Bomb. A very ironic name for the world's first atomic bomb used in warfare. A small child. At 8.15 pm, the bomb was dropped on Hiroshima. And America, in the history of the world, became the first and only country to use nuclear weapons.
The people who were present in Hiroshima that day, and survived the bomb blast, tell a very painful story. They say that they first saw such a bright light, that many people became temporarily blind. After that, a terrible sound was so loud, that many survivors had permanent hearing loss. Then the 4000 degree Celsius temperature on the ground, made people instantly vaporize, who were present there. This happened so quickly, that people's shadows, was left on the ground in a way. That black shadow was permanently frozen in the rocks. Which we can see to this day. The people who weren't killed instantly, couldn't understand what had happened. Before they could understand, shockwaves came blasting. Because of the temperature changes, the wind was so strong, that it almost turned into a hurricane.
The broken parts of the houses, the debris, the glass pieces, everything started to fly in the air. A few minutes later, when the wind calmed down, people looked at the sky. and they only saw black toxic dust. It was unbelievable that only 15 minutes ago, the sky was blue and golden. The sun had risen. And suddenly, everything was covered in black toxic fumes. 70% of the buildings in Hiroshima were completely destroyed. The city was no longer safe. Look at the satellite images. Before the bomb and after the bomb. What happened to the survivors' bodies? I won't go into too much detail. with very disgusting and disturbing details. I'll just say that people were dying. People were yearning for it. About half an hour after the blast, it started raining.
People thought it was good news, but actually, the toxic dust in the air, was mixed with moisture and turned into clouds. It wasn't an ordinary rain. Each drop of rain was black. Grease was dripping from the sky. And it was very poisonous. Usually, when there's a disaster in a city, the ambulances and doctors reach out to help. But here, 90% of the healthcare workers were killed in a bomb blast. So many hospitals were destroyed. Who would help them? The people who weren't killed instantly, many of them died a few days later, a few months later, due to radiation sickness. After the bomb blast, it is said that the Japanese military cutters refused to meet.
They didn't even hold a meeting. They said, what's the big deal? They just dropped another bomb. It was a big bomb. There was no question of surrendering. The Japanese Emperor still refused to surrender. In response to this, 3 days later, on 9th August 1945, America dropped another bomb. This time, on Nagasaki. At around 11 in the morning, another Boeing B-29 aircraft left. This time, it was an even more powerful bomb. It was named Fat Man. This bomb blast made the mushroom cloud in the sky even bigger. Immediately, 40,000 people were killed. And the city of 6.7 square kilometers was destroyed. Although the atom bomb dropped on Nagasaki was even more powerful, but this time, there were fewer casualties. There are many reasons for this.
First, when the news of Hiroshima spread to the rest of the cities, pamphlets had already been sent to people, saying that something similar could happen in their city, so they should be warned. So people were better prepared. People went to the outskirts, away from the center of the city. Apart from this, there were hills around the city. Due to the hills, the impact of the explosion was less. Hiroshima was flat, there were no hills or hills, so there was more impact. In total, 200,000 people were killed in these two bombings. 95% of the people were actually civilians. Ordinary people. Not military people. After this, the Japanese Supreme Council finally gets to discuss the surrender. Finally, some people are scared that if they don't surrender, America will keep bombing our cities one by one.
But many people in the Council are still completely against the surrender. When the Council votes on the surrender, the voting result is 3-3. 3 people are in favour of it, 3 people are against it. What should be done? To break this tiebreaker, the Japanese Emperor was asked what his opinion was. And finally, his Emperor agreed to surrender. These atom bombs were not the only reason for the surrender. The thing is, just a few hours before the bomb dropped on Nagasaki, the Soviet Union also attacked Japan. The area of Manchuria in North China, which I talked about earlier in the article, was occupied by Japan. The Soviet Union called for an attack on this area. And took control of this area. On the one hand, the US was dropping bombs on their cities.
On the other hand, the Soviet Union was attacking them. On top of that, their occupied territories, Japan and Southeast Asia, people were getting angry. These were the reasons why Emperor Hirohito finally decided to surrender. The time is 9.05 a.m. The Japanese have been on board for exactly 10 minutes. Some military people in Japan were very upset by this. They didn't want this to be a surrender. So they tried to hold a coup against the Emperor. But this coup was unsuccessful. And on 15th August 1945, after this surrender, the Second World War finally ended. About 7 years later, the Allies occupied Japan. By 1952, it remained occupied. And discussions were held about the conditions of surrender. A new constitution was introduced in Japan. Democracy was established.
And the status of the Emperor in Japan remained the same. But it was only made into a figurehead. Even today, there are Emperors in Japan, but just to say it. They don't have any power. The total cost of destruction in Hiroshima and Nagasaki was $970 million. But their rebuilding and restoration started almost immediately. Volunteers from different cities came to rebuild the cities. This is another story of how these cities were restored in such a way that today, you won't even know that a nuclear bomb was dropped on these cities. The people who were affected by the radiation, obviously, their lives changed forever. They are disabled. Their children have disabilities. The chances of getting cancer increase. But thankfully, one good news is that radiation levels are not as harmful in the long term.
At least not as harmful as they are in Chernobyl. After a while, a typhoon arrives in the city. And after that typhoon, the radiation levels drop significantly. Another reason behind this is that a nuclear bomb works in a different way than a nuclear power plant. But the biggest question here is, from the perspective of the USA, was it justified to drop an atomic bomb and kill 200,000 people? Was the US President's decision right or wrong? Today, it's not as easy to answer this question morally as you think. American President Harry Truman never apologized for these bombings. Nor did he show any regret. Well, I thought it was a blessing. I thought it could be used and made a blessing.
I never worried about it being a curse. I wanted a weapon that would win the war, and it did. That's what I was interested in." Because he and many other US diplomats and military people believed that the bombing that we did was necessary. We didn't have any other option. His argument is that America had only two options left to end the war. The first was Operation Downfall. And the second was to throw nuclear bombs. Most of the military officials' original plan was to downfall Operation Downfall. But then the Battle of Okinawa happened, and it became clear how many people were dying in this battle. The Japanese were not at all willing to surrender. They were ready to fight to the last man. After that battle, the Americans estimated that it would take at least 10 years, and 1 million US soldiers would be killed, if they continued on the ground,
trying to fight the Japanese army. From their perspective, they say that 200,000 people were killed by the atomic bomb. 200,000 people is not less. But 200,000 people is less than 1 million US soldiers. And as far as radiation is concerned, their argument is that they didn't know that it would have long-lasting effects on the nuclear bomb. That later on, people would have diseases because of it. That later on, people would have symptoms of radiation sickness. The scientists of the Manhattan Project knew how much radiation would be released. But they didn't know the actual impact of the human body on it. It had never been tested in so much detail before. So America's argument was simply that either 200,000 people die or 1 million die.
We chose 200,000 people. But many critics argue that America actually had other options. First of all, it is said that the purpose was to get the Japanese military to surrender. Why did they drop bombs in such places where 95% of the civilians were killed? The common people were killed. They could have dropped bombs on a Japanese island where there were only military facilities. And then they could see that this could happen to them and then they would surrender. But the counter-argument of the US military was that the Japanese leadership was brainwashed in such a way that they wouldn't surrender under any circumstances. They didn't surrender after Hiroshima. Why would they surrender by dropping a nuclear bomb on a small island? Experts also say that the US couldn't test out more nuclear bombs at different locations because they only had two bombs readily available.
And two were being prepared. So they had to choose a place where the military thought there would be a result. The second argument against dropping a bomb is that actually, a few hours before the bomb dropped on Nagasaki, the Soviet Union had invaded Japan. Japan would have surrendered anyway, when it saw that the USA was on one side, and the Soviet Union was on the other. So at least the bomb dropped on Nagasaki, the second atomic bomb dropped, was completely pointless. It wasn't necessary to drop it. America just had to wait for some time. Some experts argue that dropping an atomic bomb wasn't the real reason for Japan's surrender. The real reason was to invade the Soviet Union. The third and final argument that is raised here is a moral dilemma.
The question is, who gave the U.S. President the right to choose between killing 200,000 people here, or potentially killing 1 million U.S. soldiers there? It is easy to take this decision sitting in your office, that you choose this decision because fewer people will die here. But would he have taken the same decision if his own family existed in Hiroshima or Nagasaki? Do they still say that they will drop bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, even though their families are there, but only 200,000 people will die there and 1 million people are still alive? There is a US psychologist who says that to avoid this dilemma, there should be a volunteer who has nuclear codes on him. When the US President feels that he has to launch a nuclear bomb on someone, that volunteer will come in front of him and he will ask the US President
that one person would have to be murdered to remove the nuclear coats. Because politicians often argue that only one person is being killed here and so many will be killed there. That's why it's important to do this. So if a US President feels that it's important to drop a nuclear bomb so that the lives of more people are saved, then why don't they pick up the knife themselves and kill a person there? Because what is the sacrifice of that one person if the lives of 100,000 people can be saved? There are a lot of things to think about. This has been shown very well in a film. A 2015 Hollywood film, Eye in the Sky, shows this moral dilemma in a very good way.
What is your opinion on this, friends? After listening to the entire story, what do you think? Was it justified from the perspective of America to drop an atom bomb on Hiroshima and Nagasaki? Was it a right or wrong decision? Write in the comments below. This is a topic of debate even today. A survey was conducted in 1991, the same thing was asked to the Americans. 63% of the Americans believed that the bombings were justified. But when the same thing was asked to the Japanese people, only 29% of the Japanese people believed that it was justified to drop the bomb. But still, you can see that Japan is not at 0% and America is not at 100%. Because the question is not that easy.
The good thing is that the world has learned a lesson after this incident, that we shouldn't use nuclear bombs. will have a dangerous impact. No country would want anyone to have to endure all this. Thankfully, to this day, no other country has used nuclear bombs since then. Hopefully, this will continue in the future as well.
