Work on the creation of a nuclear bomb started in the United States in September 1943, based on research by scientists different countries, begun back in 1939.
In parallel with this, a search was made for pilots who were supposed to drop it. Several hundred were selected from the thousands reviewed. Following an extremely tough selection, Air Force Colonel Paul Tibbets was appointed commander of the future formation, since 1943 he served as a test pilot of Bi-29 aircraft. He was tasked with creating combat unit pilots to deliver the bomb to its destination.
Preliminary calculations showed that a bomber dropping a bomb would have only 43 seconds to leave the danger zone before an explosion occurs. Flight personnel training continued daily for many months in the strictest secrecy.
Target selection
On June 21, 1945, US Secretary of War Stimson held a meeting to discuss the choice of future targets:
- Hiroshima is a large industrial center with a population of about 400 thousand people;
- Kokura - an important strategic point, steel and chemical plants, population 173 thousand people;
- Nagasaki is the largest shipyard with a population of 300 thousand people.
Kyoto and Niigata were also on the list of potential targets, but serious controversy erupted over them. It was proposed to exclude Niigata due to the fact that the city was located much to the north of the others and was relatively small, and the destruction of Kyoto, which was a sacred city, could anger the Japanese and lead to increased resistance.
On the other side of Kyoto with its large area was of interest as an object for assessing the power of the bomb. The supporters of the choice of this city as a target, among other things, were interested in the accumulation of statistical data, since up to that moment atomic weapon has never been used in combat conditions, but only at test sites. The bombing was required not only to physically destroy the chosen target, but to demonstrate the strength and power of the new weapon, as well as to provide the maximum possible psychological effect on the population and government of Japan.
On July 26, the United States, Britain and China adopted the Potsdam Declaration, which demanded unconditional surrender from the Empire. Otherwise, the allies threatened a quick and complete destruction of the country. However, this document did not mention a word about the use of weapons. mass destruction... The Japanese government rejected the demands of the declaration, and the Americans continued preparations for the operation.
For the most effective bombing, suitable weather and good visibility were required. Based on the data of the meteorological service, the first week of August, approximately after the 3rd, was recognized as the most suitable in the foreseeable future.
The bombing of Hiroshima
On August 2, 1945, Colonel Tibbets' unit received a secret order for the first atomic bombing in the history of mankind, the date of which was set for August 6. Hiroshima was chosen as the main target of the attack, and Kokura and Nagasaki were substitutes (in case of deterioration of visibility conditions). All other American aircraft were prohibited from being within the 80-kilometer zone of these cities during the bombing.
On August 6, before the start of the operation, the pilots received dark glasses designed to protect their eyes from light radiation. The planes took off from Tinian Island, where the American military aviation base was located. The island is located 2.5 thousand km from Japan, so it took about 6 hours to fly.
Together with the Bi-29 bomber, dubbed "Enola Gay", on board which was a barrel-type "Little Boy" atomic bomb, six more planes took to the skies: three reconnaissance aircraft, one spare and two carried special measuring equipment.
Visibility over all three cities allowed for bombing, so it was decided not to deviate from the original plan. At 8:15 am there was an explosion - the bomber "Enola Gay" dropped a 5-ton bomb on Hiroshima, after which it made a 60-degree turn and began to move away with the maximum possible speed.
Explosion consequences
The bomb exploded 600m from the surface. Most of the houses in the city were equipped with charcoal stoves. Many townspeople were preparing breakfast at the time of the attack. Overturned by a blast wave of incredible force, the stoves caused massive fires in those parts of the city that were not destroyed immediately after the explosion.
The heat wave melted the tiles of houses and granite slabs. Within a radius of 4 km, all wooden telegraph poles were burned. People who were at the epicenter of the explosion instantly evaporated, enveloped in a red-hot plasma, the temperature of which was about 4000 degrees Celsius. Powerful light radiation left only shadows on the walls of houses from human bodies. 9 out of 10 who were in the 800-meter zone from the epicenter of the explosion died instantly. The shock wave swept by at a speed of 800 km / h, turning into rubble all buildings within a radius of 4 km, except for a few built taking into account the increased seismic hazard.
The plasma ball has evaporated moisture from the atmosphere. A cloud of steam reached colder layers and, mixed with dust and ash, immediately poured onto the ground in black rain.
Then the wind hit the city, blowing already towards the epicenter of the explosion. From the heating of the air caused by the flaring fires, the gusts of wind intensified so much that they uprooted large trees. Huge waves rose on the river, in which people drowned trying to escape in the water from the fiery tornado that engulfed the city, which destroyed 11 km2 of the area. According to various estimates, the death toll in Hiroshima was 200-240 thousand people, of which 70-80 thousand died immediately after the explosion.
All communication with the city was cut off. In Tokyo, they noticed that the local Hiroshima radio station disappeared from the air and the telegraph line stopped working. After a while, information about an explosion of incredible power began to arrive from regional railway stations.
A general staff officer immediately flew to the scene of the tragedy, who later wrote in his memoirs that he was most struck by the absence of streets - the city was evenly covered with rubble, it was not possible to determine where and what was just a few hours ago.
Officials in Tokyo could not believe that damage of this magnitude was caused by just one bomb. Representatives of the Japanese General Staff asked scientists for an explanation of what weapons could cause such destruction. One of the physicists, Dr. I. Nishina, suggested the use of a nuclear bomb, since rumors had been circulating among scientists for some time about attempts to create it by the Americans. The physicist finally confirmed his assumptions after a personal visit to the destroyed Hiroshima, accompanied by the military.
On August 8, the US Air Force command was finally able to assess the effect of its operation. Aerial photography showed that 60% of buildings located on a total area of 12 km2 turned into dust, the rest were heaps of debris.
Bombing of Nagasaki
An order was issued to draw up leaflets in Japanese with photographs of the destroyed Hiroshima and full description effect nuclear explosion, for their subsequent distribution over the territory of Japan. In case of refusal to surrender, the leaflets contained threats to continue atomic bombing of Japanese cities.
However, the American government was not going to wait for the reaction of the Japanese, since it was not originally planned to do with just one bomb. The next attack, scheduled for August 12, was postponed to the 9th due to the expected deterioration of the weather.
Kokura was designated as the target, Nagasaki as a fallback. Kokura was very lucky - cloudiness, together with a smokescreen from a burning steel plant, which was subjected to an air raid on the eve, made visual bombing impossible. The plane headed towards Nagasaki, and at 11 02 minutes dropped its deadly cargo onto the city.
Within a radius of 1.2 km from the epicenter of the explosion, all living things died almost instantly, turning into ash under the influence of thermal radiation. The shockwave turned residential buildings into rubble and destroyed a steel mill. The heat radiation was so powerful that the skin of people 5 km away from the explosion, not covered by clothing, was burned and wrinkled. 73 thousand people died instantly, 35 thousand died in terrible suffering a little later.
On the same day, the President of the United States addressed his compatriots by radio, thanking in his speech higher power because the Americans were the first to receive nuclear weapons. Truman asked God for instructions and guidance on how to use atomic bombs most effectively for the sake of higher goals.
At that time, there was no urgent need for the bombing of Nagasaki, but, apparently, research interest played a role, no matter how scary and cynical it may sound. The fact is that the bombs differed in design and active substance. The "Little Boy" that destroyed Hiroshima was a barrel-type uranium-filled, while Nagasaki destroyed the "Fat Man", an explosive type bomb based on plutonium-239.
There are archival documents proving the intention of the United States to drop another atomic bomb on Japan. In a telegram dated August 10, sent to the Chief of Staff, General Marshall, it was reported that, given the appropriate meteorological conditions, the next bombing could be carried out on August 17-18.
Japan surrender
On August 8, 1945, fulfilling the commitments undertaken in the framework of the Potsdam and Yalta conferences, the Soviet Union declared war on Japan, whose government still cherished the hope of reaching agreements that would avoid unconditional surrender. This event, coupled with the overwhelming effect of the use of nuclear weapons by the Americans, forced the least belligerent members of the cabinet to appeal to the emperor with recommendations to accept any conditions of the United States and allies.
Some of the most belligerent officers tried to stage a coup to prevent such a development of events, but the conspiracy failed.
On August 15, 1945, Emperor Hirohito publicly announced the surrender of Japan. Nevertheless, clashes between Japanese and Soviet troops in Manchuria continued for several more weeks.
On August 28, the US-British Allied Forces began their occupation of Japan, and on September 2, aboard the battleship Missouri, an act of surrender was signed, ending World War II.
Long-term consequences of atomic bombings
A few weeks after the explosions, which claimed hundreds of thousands of Japanese lives, people suddenly began to die en masse, it seemed at first not injured. At the time, the effects of radiation exposure were poorly understood. People continued to live in the contaminated territories, not realizing what danger ordinary water began to carry, as well as ash that covered the destroyed cities with a thin layer.
The fact that the cause of death of people who underwent the atomic bomb was some previously unknown disease, Japan learned thanks to the actress Midori Naka. The theater troupe, in which Naka played, arrived in Hiroshima a month before the events, where they rented a house for living, located 650 meters from the epicenter of the future explosion, after which 13 of 17 people died on the spot. Midori not only survived, but also practically did not suffer, except for minor scratches, although all of her clothes were simply burned. Fleeing from the fire, the actress rushed to the river and jumped into the water, from where the soldiers pulled her out and provided first aid.
After arriving in Tokyo a few days later, Midori went to the hospital, where she was examined by the best Japanese doctors. Despite all efforts, the woman died, but doctors had the opportunity to observe the development and course of the disease for almost 9 days. Before her death, it was believed that vomiting and bloody diarrhea, which were present in many victims, were symptoms of dysentery. Officially, Midori Naka is considered the first to die from radiation sickness, and it was her death that caused widespread discussion of the consequences of radiation contamination. From the moment of the explosion to the death of the actress, 18 days passed.
However, soon after the beginning of the occupation of Japanese territory by the allied forces, the mentions in the newspapers of the victims of the American bombing gradually began to fade away. For almost 7 years of occupation, the American censorship prohibited any publication on this topic.
For the victims of the bombings in Hiroshima and Nagasaki, a special term "hibakusha" appeared. Several hundred people found themselves in a situation where talking about their state of health became taboo. Any attempts to remind of the tragedy were suppressed - it was forbidden to make films, write books, poems, songs. It was impossible to express compassion, ask for help, collect donations for the victims.
For example, a hospital set up by a group of wache enthusiasts in Ujin to help the hibakusha was closed at the request of the occupying authorities, and all documentation, including medical records, was confiscated.
In November 1945, at the suggestion of the President of the United States, the ABCC Center was established to study the effects of radiation on survivors of the explosions. The clinic of the organization, which opened in Hiroshima, conducted only examinations, without providing medical assistance to the victims. Of particular interest to the staff of the center were the hopelessly ill and those who died as a result of radiation sickness. In fact, the purpose of the ABCC was to collect statistics.
Only after the end of the American occupation did they begin to speak out loud about the problems of the Hibakusha in Japan. In 1957, each victim was given a document stating how far he was from the epicenter at the time of the explosion. The victims of the bombing and their descendants to this day receive material and medical assistance from the state. However, within the rigid framework of Japanese society, there was no place for "hibakusha" - several hundred thousand people became a separate caste. The rest of the residents, whenever possible, avoided communication, and even more so creating a family with the victims, especially after those children began to be massively born with developmental disabilities. Most of the pregnancies among women living in cities at the time of the bombing ended in miscarriages or the death of babies immediately after birth. Only a third of the pregnant women in the blast zone gave birth to children who did not have serious disabilities.
The expediency of destroying Japanese cities
Japan continued the war after the surrender of its main ally Germany. In a report presented at the Yalta Conference in February 1945, the approximate date for the end of the war with Japan was assumed to be no earlier than 18 months after Germany surrendered. In the opinion of the United States and Great Britain, the entry of the USSR into the war against the Japanese could contribute to a reduction in the duration of hostilities, casualties and material costs. As a result of the agreements, I. Stalin promised to side with the allies within 3 months after the end of the war with the Germans, which was done on August 8, 1945.
Was the use of nuclear weapons really necessary? Disputes about this do not stop until now. The destruction of two Japanese cities, striking in its cruelty, was so senseless at that time action that it gave rise to a number of conspiracy theories.
One of them argues that the bombing was not an urgent need, but only a demonstration of strength to the Soviet Union. The USA and Great Britain united with the USSR only against their will, in the struggle against a common enemy. However, as soon as the danger passed, yesterday's allies immediately again became ideological opponents. The second World War redrew the map of the world, changing it beyond recognition. The winners established their own order, simultaneously probing future rivals, with whom they were sitting in the same trenches yesterday.
Another theory is that Hiroshima and Nagasaki became test sites. Although the United States tested the first atomic bomb on a deserted island, but the true power of the new weapon could be assessed only in real conditions. The still-unfinished war with Japan provided the Americans with an excellent opportunity, while providing an ironclad justification that politicians used to hide behind more than once. They "just saved the lives of ordinary American guys."
Most likely, the decision to use nuclear bombs was made as a result of a combination of all these factors.
- After the defeat of Nazi Germany, the situation developed in such a way that the allies were not able to force Japan to surrender only by their own forces.
- Introduction Soviet Union during the war, it subsequently obliged to listen to the opinion of the Russians.
- The military was naturally interested in testing new weapons in real conditions.
- Demonstrate to a potential adversary who is in charge here - why not?
The only justification for the United States is the fact that the consequences of the use of such weapons at the time of their use have not been studied. The effect exceeded all expectations and sobered even the most belligerent ones.
In March 1950, the Soviet Union announced the creation of its own atomic bomb. Nuclear parity was achieved in the 70s of the twentieth century.
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The atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki by the Americans, from which a total of 214 thousand people died, became the only cases of use of nuclear weapons in history.
Let's see what those places look like then and now.
In August 1945, American pilots dropped atomic bombs on the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. From atomic explosion and its consequences in Hiroshima, out of a population of 350 thousand, 140 thousand people died, in Nagasaki - 74 thousand. The vast majority of the victims of the atomic bombing were civilians.
International analysts believe it is unlikely that the United States will apologize to Japan for the atomic bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
2. A mushroom from the explosion of the atomic bombing of Nagasaki on August 9, 1945. (Photo by Nagasaki Atomic Bomb Museum):
3. Hiroshima in October 1945 and the same location on July 28, 2015. (Photo by Shigeo Hayash | Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum, Issei Kato | Reuters):
4. Hiroshima on August 20, 1945 and the same location on July 28, 2015. (Photo by Masami Oki | Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum, Issei Kato | Reuters):
5. Hiroshima in October-November 1945 and the same place on July 29, 2015. By the way, this place is located 860 meters from the center of the explosion of a nuclear bomb. (Photo by US Army | Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum, Issei Kato | Reuters):
6. Hiroshima in October 1945 and the same location on July 28, 2015. (Photo by Shigeo Hayash | Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum, Issei Kato | Reuters):
7. Hiroshima in 1945 and the same location on July 29, 2015. (Photo by US Army | Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum, Issei Kato | Reuters):
8.Nagasaki August 9, 1945 and July 31, 2015. (Photo Torahiko Ogawa | Nagasaki Atomic Bomb Museum, Issei Kato | Reuters):
9.Nagasaki in 1945 and the same location on July 31, 2015. (Photo by Shigeo Hayashi | Nagasaki Atomic Bomb Museum, Issei Kato | Retuers):
10. Nagasaki in 1945 and the same location on July 31, 2015. (Photo by Shigeo Hayashi | Nagasaki Atomic Bomb Museum, Issei Kato | Retuers):
11.Nagasaki Cathedral in 1945 and July 31, 2015. (Photo by Hisashi Ishida | Nagasaki Atomic Bomb Museum, Issei Kato | Reuters):
12. Commemoration of the 70th anniversary of the bombing of Hiroshima, August 6, 2015. (Photo by Toru Hanai | Reuters):
13. Memorial park peace in Hiroshima. This is a park located on the territory of the former Nakajima District, which was completely destroyed as a result of the atomic bombing of the Japanese city of Hiroshima in 1945. On the territory of 12.2 hectares there is the Peace Memorial Museum, many monuments, a ritual bell and a cenotaph. (Photo by Kazuhiro Nogi):
14. Commemoration of the 70th anniversary of the bombing of Hiroshima, August 6, 2015. (Photo by Kimimiasa Mayama):
16. Peace Memorial Park in Nagasaki, built in memory of the atomic bombing of the city on August 9, 1945. (Photo by Toru Hanai | Reuters):
“The United States used atomic weapons against Hiroshima and Nagasaki not to force Japan to surrender, but to prevent the geopolitical advantage of the Soviet Union after the end of the war in Asia.
Stunningly powerful material about the reasons for the surrender of Japan in World War II, about the atrocities of the Americans in Japan and how the US and Japanese authorities used the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki for their own purposes ...Another US crime, or Why did Japan surrender?
We are unlikely to be mistaken in assuming that most of us are still convinced that Japan capitulated because the Americans dropped two atomic bombs of enormous destructive power. On Hiroshima and Nagasaki... The act itself is barbaric, inhuman. After all, it died cleanly civil population! And the radiation accompanying a nuclear strike, many decades later, crippled and maims newly born children.
However, the military events in the Japanese-American War were no less inhuman and bloody before the atomic bombs were dropped. And, for many, such a statement will seem unexpected, those events were even more cruel! Remember what photos you saw of the bombed Hiroshima and Nagasaki, and try to imagine that before that, the Americans acted even more inhuman!
However, let's not anticipate and cite an excerpt from Ward Wilson's voluminous article „ The victory over Japan was won not by the bomb, but by Stalin”. Presented statistics of the most brutal bombing of Japanese cities BEFORE atomic strikes just amazing.
The scale
Historically, the use of the atomic bomb may seem like the most important single event in a war. However, from the point of view of modern Japan, the atomic bombing is not easy to distinguish from other events, just as it is not easy to isolate a single raindrop in the middle of a summer thunderstorm.
An American Marine looks at the aftermath of the bombing through a hole in the wall. Nahi, Okinawa, June 13, 1945. The city, where 433,000 people lived before the invasion, was reduced to ruins. (AP Photo / U.S. Marine Corps, Corp. Arthur F. Hager Jr.)
In the summer of 1945, the US Air Force launched one of the most intense urban destruction campaigns in world history. In Japan, 68 cities were bombed, and all of them were partially or completely destroyed. An estimated 1.7 million people were left homeless, 300,000 were killed and 750,000 were injured. 66 air raids were conducted with conventional weapons, and two used atomic bombs.
The damage caused by non-nuclear airstrikes was colossal. All summer, from night to night, Japanese cities exploded and burned. In the midst of all this nightmare of destruction and death, it could hardly come as a surprise that one or another blow didn't make much of an impression- even if it was inflicted with an amazing new weapon.
The B-29 bomber flying from the Mariana Islands, depending on the location of the target and the height of the strike, could carry a bomb load weighing from 7 to 9 tons. Usually 500 bombers carried out the raid. This means that in a typical air raid with the use of non-nuclear weapons, each city fell 4-5 kilotons... (A kiloton is a thousand tons, and it is a standard measure of the yield of a nuclear weapon. The yield of the Hiroshima bomb was 16.5 kilotons, and a bomb with a power of 20 kilotons.)
With conventional bombing, the destruction was uniform (and therefore more effective); and one, albeit a more powerful bomb, loses a significant part of its destructive power at the epicenter of the explosion, only raising dust and creating a heap of debris. Therefore, it can be argued that some air raids using conventional bombs, in their destructive power approached two atomic bombings .
The first bombardment using conventional weapons was carried out against Tokyo at night from 9 to 10 March 1945. It became the most destructive city bombing in the history of war. Then in Tokyo, about 41 square kilometers of urban area burned down. Approximately 120,000 Japanese died. These are the biggest losses from the bombing of cities.
Because of the way we are told this story, we often imagine that the bombing of Hiroshima was much worse. We think the death toll is out of bounds. But if you compile a table on the number of people killed in all 68 cities as a result of the bombing in the summer of 1945, it turns out that Hiroshima, in terms of the number of civilian deaths stands in second place.
And if you count the area of destroyed urban areas, it turns out that Hiroshima fourth... If you check the percentage of destruction in cities, then Hiroshima will be in 17th place... It is quite obvious that in terms of the scale of damage, it fits well into the parameters of air raids with the use of non-nuclear funds.
From our point of view, Hiroshima is something that stands apart, something extraordinary. But if you put yourself in the shoes of the Japanese leaders in the period leading up to the strike on Hiroshima, the picture will look very different. If you were one of the key members of the Japanese government in late July - early August 1945, you would have roughly the following feeling of air raids on cities. On the morning of July 17, you would have been informed that at night four cities: Oita, Hiratsuka, Numazu and Kuwana. Oita and Hiratsuka half destroyed. In Kuwane, destruction exceeds 75%, and Numazu suffered the most because 90% of the city burned to the ground.
Three days later, you are woken up and informed that you have been attacked. three more cities. Fukui is over 80 percent destroyed. A week goes by and three more cities are bombarded at night. Two days later, in one night, bombs are falling for another six Japanese cities, including Ichinomiya, where 75% of buildings and structures were destroyed. On August 12, you enter your office, and you are told that you have been hit four more cities.
Toyama at night, Japan, August 1, 1945 after 173 bombers dropped incendiary bombs on the city. As a result of this bombing, the city was destroyed by 95.6%. (USAF)
Among all these messages slips information that the city Toyama(in 1945 it was about the size of Chattanooga, Tennessee) 99,5%. That is, the Americans razed to the ground almost the whole city. On August 6, only one city was attacked - Hiroshima, but according to the reports received, the damage there is enormous, and a new type of bomb was used in the airstrike. How does this new airstrike stand out from other bombings that have lasted for weeks, destroying entire cities?
U.S. Air Force raids three weeks before Hiroshima for 26 cities... Of them eight(this is almost a third) were destroyed either completely or stronger than Hiroshima(if you count how much of the cities were destroyed). The fact that 68 cities were destroyed in Japan in the summer of 1945 poses a serious obstacle to those who want to show that the bombing of Hiroshima was the reason for Japan's surrender. The question arises: if they surrendered due to the destruction of one city, then why did they not surrender when they were destroyed 66 other cities?
If the Japanese leadership decided to surrender because of the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, this means that they were worried about the bombing of cities in general, that the attacks on these cities became a serious argument in favor of surrender for them. But the situation looks very different.
Two days after the bombing Tokyo retired foreign minister Sidehara Kidjuro(Shidehara Kijuro) expressed an opinion that was openly held by many high-ranking officials at the time. Sidehara stated, “People will gradually get used to being bombed every day. Over time, their unity and determination will only grow stronger. "
In a letter to a friend, he noted that it is important for citizens to endure suffering, because "even if hundreds of thousands of civilians die, get injured and suffer from hunger, even if millions of houses are destroyed and burned", diplomacy will need certain time... It is appropriate to recall here that Sidehara was a moderate politician.
Apparently at the very top state power the mood in the High Council was the same. The Supreme Council discussed how important it is for the Soviet Union to remain neutral - and at the same time, its members said nothing about the consequences of the bombing. From the surviving minutes and archives it is clear that at the meetings of the Supreme Council city bombings were mentioned only twice: once in passing in May 1945 and the second time on the evening of August 9, when there was an extensive discussion on this issue. Based on the available facts, it is difficult to say that the Japanese leaders attached any importance to the air raids on cities - at least compared to other pressing problems of wartime.
General Anami August 13 noticed that atomic bombings are terrible no more than conventional airstrikes that Japan has been exposed to for several months. If Hiroshima and Nagasaki were no more terrible than ordinary bombing, and if the Japanese leadership did not attach much importance to this, not considering it necessary to discuss this issue in detail, then how could atomic attacks on these cities force them to surrender?
Fires after incendiary bombardment of the city Tarumiza, Kyushu, Japan. (USAF)
Strategic significance
If the Japanese were not worried about the bombing of cities in general and the atomic bombing of Hiroshima in particular, what worried them in general? The answer to this question is simple. : Soviet Union.
The Japanese found themselves in a rather difficult strategic situation. The end of the war was approaching, and they were losing this war. The furnishings were bad. But the army was still strong and well supplied. It was almost four million people, and 1.2 million of this number were guarding the Japanese islands.
Even the most uncompromising Japanese leaders understood that it was impossible to continue the war. The question was not whether to continue it or not, but how to complete it on better conditions... The allies (the United States, Great Britain and others - remember that the Soviet Union was still neutral at that time) demanded "unconditional surrender." The Japanese leadership hoped that it would somehow be able to avoid military tribunals, preserve the existing form of state power and some of the territories seized by Tokyo: Korea, Vietnam, Burma, separate areas Malaysia and Indonesia, much of the eastern Of China and numerous islands in the pacific.
They had two plans for obtaining optimal conditions for surrender. In other words, they had two strategic options for action. The first option is diplomatic. In April 1941, Japan signed a neutrality pact with the Soviets, and this pact ended in 1946. A group of civilian mostly leaders led by the Minister of Foreign Affairs Togo Shigenori hoped that Stalin could be persuaded to act as a mediator between the United States and the allies on the one hand, and Japan on the other, in order to resolve the situation.
While this plan had little chance of success, it reflected sound strategic thinking. After all, the Soviet Union is interested in the conditions of the settlement were not very favorable for the United States - after all, an increase in American influence and power in Asia would invariably mean a weakening of Russian power and influence.
The second plan was military, and most of its supporters, led by the Minister of the Army Anami Koretica were military people. They pinned their hopes that when American troops launched an invasion, ground troops the imperial army would inflict huge losses on them. They believed that if they succeeded, they would be able to knock out more favorable conditions from the United States. Such a strategy also had little chance of success. The United States was determined to get the Japanese to surrender unconditionally. But since there was concern in US military circles that invasion losses would be prohibitive, there was some logic in the strategy of Japan's high command.
To understand what was the real reason that forced the Japanese to surrender - the bombing of Hiroshima or the declaration of war by the Soviet Union, it is necessary to compare how these two events affected the strategic situation.
After the atomic strike on Hiroshima as of August 8, both options were still in force. It was also possible to ask Stalin to act as an intermediary (there is an entry in Takagi's diary dated August 8, which shows that some Japanese leaders were still thinking about involving Stalin). It was still possible to try to carry out one final decisive battle and inflict great damage on the enemy. The destruction of Hiroshima had no effect on the readiness of troops for stubborn defense on the shores of their native islands.
View of the bombed-out areas of Tokyo, 1945. Next to the burnt down and destroyed neighborhoods - a strip of surviving residential buildings. (USAF)
Yes, there was one less city behind them, but they were still ready to fight. They had enough cartridges and shells, and if the army's combat power decreased, it was very insignificant. The bombing of Hiroshima did not prejudge either of Japan's two strategic options.
However, the effect of the declaration of war by the Soviet Union, its invasion of Manchuria and the island of Sakhalin was completely different. When the Soviet Union entered the war with Japan, Stalin could no longer act as a mediator - now he was an enemy. Therefore, the USSR, by its actions, destroyed the diplomatic option of ending the war.
The impact on the military situation was equally dramatic. Most of the best Japanese troops were in the southern islands of the country. The Japanese military correctly assumed that the first target of the American invasion would be the southernmost island of Kyushu. Once powerful Kwantung Army in Manchuria was extremely weakened, since its best parts were transferred to Japan to organize the defense of the islands.
When the Russians entered Manchuria, they simply crushed the once elite army, and many of their units only stopped when they ran out of fuel. The 16th Soviet Army, which numbered 100,000, landed troops in the southern part of the island Sakhalin... She was ordered to break the resistance of the Japanese troops there, and then within 10-14 days to prepare for the invasion of the island. Hokkaido, the northernmost of the Japanese islands. Hokkaido was defended by the 5th Territorial Army of Japan, which consisted of two divisions and two brigades. She concentrated on fortified positions in the eastern part of the island. And the Soviet offensive plan provided for a landing in the west of Hokkaido.
Destruction in residential areas of Tokyo caused by American bombing. Photo taken on September 10, 1945. Only the strongest buildings survived. (AP Photo)
You don't need to be a military genius to understand: yes, you can conduct a decisive battle against one great power that has landed in one direction; but it is impossible to repel an attack by two great powers attacking from two different directions. The Soviet offensive nullified the military strategy of the decisive battle, just as it had previously devalued diplomatic strategy. The Soviet offensive was decisive in terms of strategy, because it deprived Japan of both options. A the bombing of Hiroshima was not decisive(because she did not rule out any Japanese options).
The entry of the Soviet Union into the war also changed all calculations regarding the time remaining for maneuver. Japanese intelligence predicted that American troops would only begin the landing in a few months. Soviet troops could actually be on Japanese territory in a matter of days (within 10 days, to be more precise). The onset of the Soviets mixed up all plans concerning the timing of the decision to end the war.
But the Japanese leaders had come to this conclusion a few months earlier. At a meeting of the Supreme Council in June 1945, they stated that if the Soviets go to war, “it will determine the fate of the empire". Deputy Chief of Staff of the Japanese Army Kawabe at that meeting he said: "The maintenance of peace in our relations with the Soviet Union is an indispensable condition for the continuation of the war."
Japanese leaders were stubbornly unwilling to take an interest in the bombing that destroyed their cities. It was probably wrong when the air raids began in March 1945. But by the time the atomic bomb fell on Hiroshima, they were right to view the bombing of cities as an insignificant interlude with no serious strategic implications. When Truman uttered his famous phrase that if Japan does not surrender, its cities will undergo a "destructive downpour of steel," in the United States, few people understood that there was almost nothing to destroy there.
The charred corpses of civilians in Tokyo, March 10, 1945 after the American bombing of the city. 300 B-29 aircraft dropped 1700 tons incendiary bombs the largest city in Japan, which killed 100,000 people. This air raid was the most brutal in the entire Second World War.(Koyo Ishikawa)
By August 7, when Truman voiced his threat, there were only 10 cities left in Japan with populations of over 100,000 that had not yet been bombed. On August 9, a blow was struck Nagasaki, and there are nine such cities left. Four of them were located on the northern island of Hokkaido, which was difficult to bomb because of the long distance to Tinian Island, where American bomber aircraft were stationed.
Minister of War Henry Stimson(Henry Stimson) struck the ancient capital of Japan off the list of bomber targets because of its religious and symbolic importance. So, despite Truman's formidable rhetoric, after Nagasaki, Japan remained only four large cities that could be subjected to atomic strikes.
The thoroughness and scale of the bombing of the American Air Force can be judged by the following circumstance. They bombed so many Japanese cities that they ended up being forced to target towns with a population of 30,000 or less. V modern world such locality and it is difficult to call a city.
Of course, cities that had already been bombarded with incendiary bombs could have been re-attacked. But these cities were already destroyed by an average of 50%. In addition, the United States could drop atomic bombs on small towns. However, such untouched cities (with a population of 30,000 to 100,000 people) remained in Japan only six... But since 68 cities in Japan had already been seriously damaged by the bombing, and the country's leadership did not attach any importance to this, it was hardly surprising that the threat of further airstrikes could not make a big impression on them.
The only thing that retained at least some form on this hill after a nuclear explosion was the ruins of a Catholic cathedral, Nagasaki, Japan, 1945. (NARA)
Convenient story
Despite these three powerful objections, traditional interpretations of events still greatly influence the way people think, especially in the United States. There is a clear reluctance to face facts. But this can hardly be called a surprise. We should remember how convenient the traditional explanation for the bombing of Hiroshima is in emotional plan - for both Japan and the United States.
Ideas retain their power because they are true; but, unfortunately, they can also remain valid from the fact that they meet the needs from an emotional point of view. They fill an important psychological niche. For example, the traditional interpretation of the events in Hiroshima has helped Japanese leaders achieve a number of important political goals, both domestically and internationally.
Put yourself in the shoes of the emperor. You have just waged a devastating war on your country. The economy is in ruins. 80% of your cities are destroyed and burned. The army is defeated, having suffered a series of defeats. The fleet suffered heavy losses and does not leave its bases. The people are starting to starve. In short, the war has become a disaster, and most importantly, you lying to your people without telling him how bad the situation really is.
The people will be shocked to learn of the surrender. So what should you do? Admit that you have suffered complete failure? Make a statement that you have seriously miscalculated, made mistakes and caused enormous damage to your nation? Or explain the defeat by amazing scientific achievements that no one could have predicted? If the blame for the defeat was blamed on the atomic bomb, then all mistakes and military miscalculations could be swept under the carpet. The bomb is the perfect excuse for losing a war. There is no need to look for the guilty, there is no need to conduct investigations and trials. Japanese leaders will be able to say they did their best.
Thus, by and large the atomic bomb helped remove blame from Japanese leaders.
But explaining the Japanese defeat by atomic bombings, it was possible to achieve three more very specific political goals. At first, this helped to preserve the legitimacy of the emperor. Since the war was lost not because of mistakes, but because of an unexpected miracle weapon that appeared in the enemy's hands, it means that the emperor will continue to enjoy support in Japan.
Secondly, it aroused international sympathy. Japan waged the war aggressively, and showed particular cruelty towards the conquered peoples. Other countries probably should have condemned her actions. What if turn Japan into a victim country, which inhuman and dishonestly bombed with the use of a terrible and cruel instrument of war, it will be possible to somehow atone for and neutralize the most vile acts of the Japanese military. Drawing attention to the atomic bombings helped create more sympathy for Japan and quench the urge for the harshest punishment.
And finally, claims that the Bomb won the war flattered Japan's American victors. The American occupation of Japan officially ended only in 1952, and all this time The United States could change and remake Japanese society at its own discretion. In the early days of the occupation, many Japanese leaders feared that the Americans would want to abolish the institution of the emperor.
They also had another fear. Many of Japan's top leaders knew they could be prosecuted for war crimes (when Japan surrendered, Germany had already tried its Nazi leaders). Japanese historian Asada Sadao(Asada Sadao) wrote that in many post-war interviews, "Japanese officials ... were clearly trying to please their American interviewers." If Americans want to believe that their bomb won the war, why disappoint them?
Soviet soldiers on the banks of the Songhua River in Harbin. Soviet troops liberated the city from the Japanese on August 20, 1945. At the time of Japan's surrender, there were about 700,000 Soviet soldiers in Manchuria. (Yevgeny Khaldei / waralbum.ru)
Explaining the end of the war with the use of the atomic bomb, the Japanese largely served their own interests. But they served American interests too. With the bomb assuring victory in the war, the perception of America's military power is heightened. The US diplomatic influence in Asia and around the world is increasing, and American security is being strengthened.
The $ 2 billion spent on the bomb was not wasted. On the other hand, if it is admitted that the reason for Japan's surrender was the Soviet Union's entry into the war, then the Soviets could well claim that they did in four days what the United States could not do in four years. And then the perception of the military power and diplomatic influence of the Soviet Union will strengthen. And since at that time it was already in full swing cold war, recognizing the decisive contribution of the Soviets to victory was tantamount to providing assistance and support to the enemy.
In looking at the issues raised here, it is disturbing to realize that the testimonies of Hiroshima and Nagasaki underlie everything we think about nuclear weapons... This event is irrefutable proof of the importance of nuclear weapons. It is important for gaining a unique status, because the usual rules do not apply to nuclear powers... This is an important yardstick for nuclear danger: Truman's threat to expose Japan to a "destructive rain of steel" was the first open nuclear threat. This event is very important for creating a powerful aura around nuclear weapons, which makes it so significant in international relations.
But if the traditional history of Hiroshima is questioned, what should we do with all these conclusions? Hiroshima is the focal point, the epicenter, from which all other statements, statements and claims spread. However, the story that we tell ourselves is far from reality. What should we now think of nuclear weapons if his colossal first achievement - Japan's miraculous and sudden surrender - turned out to be a myth?
Their only adversary in World War II was Japan, which was also soon to surrender. It was at this moment that the United States decided to show its military power. On August 6 and 9, they dropped atomic bombs on the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, after which Japan finally surrendered. AiF.ru recalls the stories of people who managed to survive this nightmare.
According to various sources, from the explosion itself and in the first weeks after it, from 90 to 166 thousand people died in Hiroshima, and from 60 to 80 thousand in Nagasaki. However, there were those who managed to stay alive.
In Japan, such people are called hibakusha or hibakusha. This category includes not only the survivors themselves, but also the second generation - children born to women affected by the explosions.
In March 2012, there were 210 thousand people officially recognized by the government as hibakusha, and more than 400 thousand did not survive until that moment.
Most of the remaining Hibakusha live in Japan. They receive some state support, but in Japanese society there is a prejudice against them, bordering on discrimination. For example, they and their children may not be hired, so sometimes they deliberately hide their status.
Miraculous salvation
An extraordinary story happened to the Japanese Tsutomu Yamaguchi, who survived both bombings. In the summer of 1945 young engineer Tsutomu Yamaguchi, who worked for Mitsubishi, went on a business trip to Hiroshima. When the Americans dropped an atomic bomb on the city, it was only 3 kilometers from the epicenter of the explosion.
The blast wave of Tsutomu Yamaguchi knocked out the eardrums, the incredibly bright white light blinded him for a while. He received severe burns, but still survived. Yamaguchi reached the station, found his wounded colleagues and went home with them to Nagasaki, where he fell victim to the second bombing.
In a wicked twist of fate, Tsutomu Yamaguchi again found himself 3 kilometers from the epicenter. When he told his boss in the company office about what had happened to him in Hiroshima, the same white light suddenly flooded the room. Tsutomu Yamaguchi survived this explosion as well.
Two days later, he received another large dose of radiation, when he almost came close to the epicenter of the explosion, not knowing about the danger.
This was followed by years of rehabilitation, suffering and health problems. Tsutomu Yamaguchi's wife also suffered from the bombing - she fell under the black radioactive rain. Their children did not escape the consequences of radiation sickness, some of them died of cancer. Despite all this, Tsutomu Yamaguchi got a job again after the war, lived like everyone else and supported his family. Until old age, he tried not to attract special attention to himself.
In 2010, Tsutomu Yamaguchi passed away from cancer at the age of 93. He became the only person who was officially recognized by the Japanese government as a victim of the bombing in both Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
Life is like a struggle
When the bomb fell on Nagasaki, a 16-year-old Sumiteru Taniguchi delivered mail on a bicycle. According to his own words, he saw something that looked like a rainbow, then the blast wave threw him from his bicycle to the ground and destroyed the nearby houses.
After the explosion, the teenager survived, but was seriously injured. The ripped skin hung in shreds from his hands, and on his back there was none at all. At the same time, according to Sumiteru Taniguchi, he did not feel pain, but his strength left him.
With difficulty, he found other victims, but most of them died the next night after the explosion. Three days later, Sumiteru Taniguchi was rescued and sent to the hospital.
In 1946, an American photographer took the famous photograph of Sumiteru Taniguchi with horrific burns on his back. Body young man was disfigured for life
For several years after the war, Sumiteru Taniguchi could only lie on his stomach. He was discharged from the hospital in 1949, but his wounds were not properly treated until 1960. Sumiteru Taniguchi underwent 10 operations in total.
The recovery was compounded by the fact that then people first encountered radiation sickness and did not yet know how to treat it.
This tragedy had a huge impact on Sumiteru Taniguchi. He devoted his entire life to the fight against the proliferation of nuclear weapons, became a famous activist and chairman of the Council of Victims of the Nagasaki nuclear bombing.
Today, 84-year-old Sumiteru Taniguchi lectures around the world about the dire consequences of the use of nuclear weapons and why they must be abandoned.
Round orphan
For 16 year old Mikoso Iwasa August 6th was an ordinary hot summer day. He was in the courtyard of his house when the neighboring children suddenly saw a plane in the sky. Then an explosion followed. Despite the fact that the teenager was less than one and a half kilometers from the epicenter, the wall of the house protected him from the heat and the blast wave.
However, the relatives of Mikoso Iwasa were not so lucky. The boy's mother was at that time in the house, she was covered with debris, and she could not get out. He lost his father even before the explosion, but his sister was never found. So Mikoso Iwasa became an orphan.
And although Mikoso Iwasa miraculously escaped severe burns, he still received a huge dose of radiation. Due to radiation sickness, he lost his hair, his body was covered with a rash, his nose and gums began to bleed. He was diagnosed with cancer three times.
His life, like the lives of many other Hibakusha, turned into suffering. He was forced to live with this pain, with this invisible disease, for which there is no cure and which is slowly killing a person.
Among the Hibakusha, it is customary to remain silent about this, but Mikoso Iwasa did not remain silent. Instead, he took up the fight against the proliferation of nuclear weapons and helped other Hibakusha.
Today Mikiso Iwasa is one of the three chairmen of the Japan Confederation of Atomic and Hydrogen Bomb Victims' Organizations.
Was it necessary to bomb Japan at all?
The debate about the expediency and ethical side of the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki has not subsided to this day.
Initially, the American authorities insisted that they were necessary to force Japan to surrender as soon as possible and thereby prevent losses among its own soldiers, which would have been possible with a US invasion of the Japanese islands.
However, according to many historians, the surrender of Japan even before the bombing was a decided matter. It was only a matter of time.
The decision to drop bombs on Japanese cities turned out to be rather political - the United States wanted to scare the Japanese and demonstrate its military power to the whole world.
It is also important to mention that not all American officials and high-ranking military personnel supported this decision. Among those who considered the bombing unnecessary were General of the Army Dwight D. Eisenhower, who later became the president of the United States.
Hibakusha's attitude to explosions is unequivocal. They believe that the tragedy they experienced should never be repeated in the history of mankind. And that is why some of them have dedicated their lives to the fight for the non-proliferation of nuclear weapons.
Another US crime, or Why did Japan surrender?
We are unlikely to be mistaken in assuming that most of us are still convinced that Japan capitulated because the Americans dropped two atomic bombs of enormous destructive power. On Hiroshima and Nagasaki... The act itself is barbaric, inhuman. After all, it died cleanly civil population! And the radiation accompanying a nuclear strike, many decades later, crippled and maims newly born children.
However, the military events in the Japanese-American War were no less inhuman and bloody before the atomic bombs were dropped. And, for many, such a statement will seem unexpected, those events were even more cruel! Remember what photos you saw of the bombed Hiroshima and Nagasaki, and try to imagine that before that, the Americans acted even more inhuman!
However, let's not anticipate and cite an excerpt from Ward Wilson's voluminous article „ The victory over Japan was won not by the bomb, but by Stalin”. Presented statistics of the most brutal bombing of Japanese cities BEFORE atomic strikes just amazing.
The scale
Historically, the use of the atomic bomb may seem like the most important single event in a war. However, from the point of view of modern Japan, the atomic bombing is not easy to distinguish from other events, just as it is not easy to isolate a single raindrop in the middle of a summer thunderstorm.
An American Marine looks at the aftermath of the bombing through a hole in the wall. Nahi, Okinawa, June 13, 1945. The city, where 433,000 people lived before the invasion, was reduced to ruins. (AP Photo / U.S. Marine Corps, Corp. Arthur F. Hager Jr.)
In the summer of 1945, the US Air Force launched one of the most intense urban destruction campaigns in world history. In Japan, 68 cities were bombed, and all of them were partially or completely destroyed. An estimated 1.7 million people were left homeless, 300,000 were killed and 750,000 were injured. 66 air raids were conducted with conventional weapons, and two used atomic bombs.
The damage caused by non-nuclear airstrikes was colossal. All summer, from night to night, Japanese cities exploded and burned. In the midst of all this nightmare of destruction and death, it could hardly come as a surprise that one or another blow didn't make much of an impression- even if it was inflicted with an amazing new weapon.
The B-29 bomber flying from the Mariana Islands, depending on the location of the target and the height of the strike, could carry a bomb load weighing from 7 to 9 tons. Usually 500 bombers carried out the raid. This means that in a typical air raid with the use of non-nuclear weapons, each city fell 4-5 kilotons... (A kiloton is a thousand tons, and it is a standard measure of the yield of a nuclear weapon. The yield of the Hiroshima bomb was 16.5 kilotons, and a bomb with a power of 20 kilotons.)
With conventional bombing, the destruction was uniform (and therefore more effective); and one, albeit a more powerful bomb, loses a significant part of its destructive power at the epicenter of the explosion, only raising dust and creating a heap of debris. Therefore, it can be argued that some air raids using conventional bombs, in their destructive power approached two atomic bombings.
The first bombardment using conventional weapons was carried out against Tokyo at night from 9 to 10 March 1945. It became the most destructive city bombing in the history of war. Then in Tokyo, about 41 square kilometers of urban area burned down. Approximately 120,000 Japanese died. These are the biggest losses from the bombing of cities.
Because of the way we are told this story, we often imagine that the bombing of Hiroshima was much worse. We think the death toll is out of bounds. But if you compile a table on the number of people killed in all 68 cities as a result of the bombing in the summer of 1945, it turns out that Hiroshima, in terms of the number of civilian deaths stands in second place.
And if you count the area of destroyed urban areas, it turns out that Hiroshima fourth... If you check the percentage of destruction in cities, then Hiroshima will be in 17th place... It is quite obvious that in terms of the scale of damage, it fits well into the parameters of air raids with the use of non-nuclear funds.
From our point of view, Hiroshima is something that stands apart, something extraordinary. But if you put yourself in the shoes of the Japanese leaders in the period leading up to the strike on Hiroshima, the picture will look very different. If you were one of the key members of the Japanese government in late July - early August 1945, you would have roughly the following feeling of air raids on cities. On the morning of July 17, you would have been informed that at night four cities: Oita, Hiratsuka, Numazu and Kuwana. Oita and Hiratsuka half destroyed. In Kuwane, destruction exceeds 75%, and Numazu suffered the most because 90% of the city burned to the ground.
Three days later, you are woken up and informed that you have been attacked. three more cities. Fukui is over 80 percent destroyed. A week goes by and three more cities are bombarded at night. Two days later, in one night, bombs are falling for another six Japanese cities, including Ichinomiya, where 75% of buildings and structures were destroyed. On August 12, you enter your office, and you are told that you have been hit four more cities.
Toyama at night, Japan, August 1, 1945 after 173 bombers dropped incendiary bombs on the city. As a result of this bombing, the city was destroyed by 95.6%. (USAF)
Among all these messages slips information that the city Toyama(in 1945 it was about the size of Chattanooga, Tennessee) 99,5%. That is, the Americans razed to the ground almost the whole city. On August 6, only one city was attacked - Hiroshima, but according to the reports received, the damage there is enormous, and a new type of bomb was used in the airstrike. How does this new airstrike stand out from other bombings that have lasted for weeks, destroying entire cities?
U.S. Air Force raids three weeks before Hiroshima for 26 cities... Of them eight(this is almost a third) were destroyed either completely or stronger than Hiroshima(if you count how much of the cities were destroyed). The fact that 68 cities were destroyed in Japan in the summer of 1945 poses a serious obstacle to those who want to show that the bombing of Hiroshima was the reason for Japan's surrender. The question arises: if they surrendered due to the destruction of one city, then why did they not surrender when they were destroyed 66 other cities?
If the Japanese leadership decided to surrender because of the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, this means that they were worried about the bombing of cities in general, that the attacks on these cities became a serious argument in favor of surrender for them. But the situation looks very different.
Two days after the bombing Tokyo retired foreign minister Sidehara Kidjuro(Shidehara Kijuro) expressed an opinion that was openly held by many high-ranking officials at the time. Sidehara stated, “People will gradually get used to being bombed every day. Over time, their unity and determination will only grow stronger. "
In a letter to a friend, he noted that it is important for citizens to endure suffering because “even if hundreds of thousands of civilians are killed, injured and starved to death, even if millions of houses are destroyed and burned,” diplomacy will take some time. It is appropriate to recall here that Sidehara was a moderate politician.
Apparently, at the very top of state power in the Supreme Council, the mood was the same. The Supreme Council discussed how important it is for the Soviet Union to remain neutral - and at the same time, its members said nothing about the consequences of the bombing. From the surviving minutes and archives it is clear that at the meetings of the Supreme Council city bombings were mentioned only twice: once in passing in May 1945 and the second time on the evening of August 9, when there was an extensive discussion on this issue. Based on the available facts, it is difficult to say that the Japanese leaders attached any importance to the air raids on cities - at least compared to other pressing problems of wartime.
General Anami August 13 noticed that atomic bombings are terrible no more than conventional airstrikes that Japan has been exposed to for several months. If Hiroshima and Nagasaki were no more terrible than ordinary bombing, and if the Japanese leadership did not attach much importance to this, not considering it necessary to discuss this issue in detail, then how could atomic attacks on these cities force them to surrender?
Fires after incendiary bombardment of the city Tarumiza, Kyushu, Japan. (USAF)
Strategic significance
If the Japanese were not worried about the bombing of cities in general and the atomic bombing of Hiroshima in particular, what worried them in general? The answer to this question is simple. : Soviet Union.
The Japanese found themselves in a rather difficult strategic situation. The end of the war was approaching, and they were losing this war. The furnishings were bad. But the army was still strong and well supplied. It was almost four million people, and 1.2 million of this number were guarding the Japanese islands.
Even the most uncompromising Japanese leaders understood that it was impossible to continue the war. The question was not whether to continue it or not, but how to complete it on better terms. The allies (the United States, Great Britain and others - remember that the Soviet Union was still neutral at that time) demanded "unconditional surrender." The Japanese leadership hoped that it would somehow be able to avoid military tribunals, preserve the existing form of state power and some of the territories seized by Tokyo: Korea, Vietnam, Burma, separate areas Malaysia and Indonesia, much of the eastern Of China and numerous islands in the pacific.
They had two plans for obtaining optimal conditions for surrender. In other words, they had two strategic options for action. The first option is diplomatic. In April 1941, Japan signed a neutrality pact with the Soviets, and this pact ended in 1946. A group of civilian mostly leaders led by the Minister of Foreign Affairs Togo Shigenori hoped that Stalin could be persuaded to act as a mediator between the United States and the allies on the one hand, and Japan on the other, in order to resolve the situation.
While this plan had little chance of success, it reflected sound strategic thinking. After all, the Soviet Union is interested in the conditions of the settlement were not very favorable for the United States - after all, an increase in American influence and power in Asia would invariably mean a weakening of Russian power and influence.
The second plan was military, and most of its supporters, led by the Minister of the Army Anami Koretica were military people. They hoped that when American forces launched an invasion, the Imperial Army's ground forces would inflict huge losses on them. They believed that if they succeeded, they would be able to knock out more favorable conditions from the United States. Such a strategy also had little chance of success. The United States was determined to get the Japanese to surrender unconditionally. But since there was concern in US military circles that invasion losses would be prohibitive, there was some logic in the strategy of Japan's high command.
To understand what was the real reason that forced the Japanese to surrender - the bombing of Hiroshima or the declaration of war by the Soviet Union, it is necessary to compare how these two events affected the strategic situation.
After the atomic strike on Hiroshima as of August 8, both options were still in force. It was also possible to ask Stalin to act as an intermediary (there is an entry in Takagi's diary dated August 8, which shows that some Japanese leaders were still thinking about involving Stalin). It was still possible to try to carry out one final decisive battle and inflict great damage on the enemy. The destruction of Hiroshima had no effect on the readiness of troops for stubborn defense on the shores of their native islands.
View of the bombed-out areas of Tokyo, 1945. Next to the burnt down and destroyed neighborhoods - a strip of surviving residential buildings. (USAF)
Yes, there was one less city behind them, but they were still ready to fight. They had enough cartridges and shells, and if the army's combat power decreased, it was very insignificant. The bombing of Hiroshima did not prejudge either of Japan's two strategic options.
However, the effect of the declaration of war by the Soviet Union, its invasion of Manchuria and the island of Sakhalin was completely different. When the Soviet Union entered the war with Japan, Stalin could no longer act as a mediator - now he was an enemy. Therefore, the USSR, by its actions, destroyed the diplomatic option of ending the war.
The impact on the military situation was equally dramatic. Most of the best Japanese troops were in the southern islands of the country. The Japanese military correctly assumed that the first target of the American invasion would be the southernmost island of Kyushu. Once powerful Kwantung Army in Manchuria was extremely weakened, since its best parts were transferred to Japan to organize the defense of the islands.
When the Russians entered Manchuria, they simply crushed the once elite army, and many of their units only stopped when they ran out of fuel. The 16th Soviet Army, which numbered 100,000, landed troops in the southern part of the island Sakhalin... She was ordered to break the resistance of the Japanese troops there, and then within 10-14 days to prepare for the invasion of the island. Hokkaido, the northernmost of the Japanese islands. Hokkaido was defended by the 5th Territorial Army of Japan, which consisted of two divisions and two brigades. She concentrated on fortified positions in the eastern part of the island. And the Soviet offensive plan provided for a landing in the west of Hokkaido.
Destruction in residential areas of Tokyo caused by American bombing. Photo taken on September 10, 1945. Only the strongest buildings survived. (AP Photo)
You don't need to be a military genius to understand: yes, you can conduct a decisive battle against one great power that has landed in one direction; but it is impossible to repel an attack by two great powers attacking from two different directions. The Soviet offensive nullified the military strategy of the decisive battle, just as it had previously devalued diplomatic strategy. The Soviet offensive was decisive in terms of strategy, because it deprived Japan of both options. A the bombing of Hiroshima was not decisive(because she did not rule out any Japanese options).
The entry of the Soviet Union into the war also changed all calculations regarding the time remaining for maneuver. Japanese intelligence predicted that American troops would only begin the landing in a few months. Soviet troops could actually be on Japanese territory in a matter of days (within 10 days, to be more precise). The onset of the Soviets mixed up all plans concerning the timing of the decision to end the war.
But the Japanese leaders had come to this conclusion a few months earlier. At a meeting of the Supreme Council in June 1945, they stated that if the Soviets go to war, “it will determine the fate of the empire". Deputy Chief of Staff of the Japanese Army Kawabe at that meeting he said: "The maintenance of peace in our relations with the Soviet Union is an indispensable condition for the continuation of the war."
Japanese leaders were stubbornly unwilling to take an interest in the bombing that destroyed their cities. It was probably wrong when the air raids began in March 1945. But by the time the atomic bomb fell on Hiroshima, they were right to view the bombing of cities as an insignificant interlude with no serious strategic implications. When Truman uttered his famous phrase that if Japan does not surrender, its cities will undergo a "destructive downpour of steel," in the United States, few people understood that there was almost nothing to destroy there.
The charred corpses of civilians in Tokyo, March 10, 1945 after the American bombing of the city. 300 B-29 aircraft dropped 1700 tons incendiary bombs the largest city in Japan, which killed 100,000 people. This air raid was the most brutal in the entire Second World War.(Koyo Ishikawa)
By August 7, when Truman voiced his threat, there were only 10 cities left in Japan with populations of over 100,000 that had not yet been bombed. On August 9, a blow was struck Nagasaki, and there are nine such cities left. Four of them were located on the northern island of Hokkaido, which was difficult to bomb because of the long distance to Tinian Island, where American bomber aircraft were stationed.
Minister of War Henry Stimson(Henry Stimson) struck the ancient capital of Japan off the list of bomber targets because of its religious and symbolic importance. So, despite Truman's formidable rhetoric, after Nagasaki, Japan remained only four large cities that could be subjected to atomic strikes.
The thoroughness and scale of the bombing of the American Air Force can be judged by the following circumstance. They bombed so many Japanese cities that they ended up being forced to target towns with a population of 30,000 or less. In the modern world, it is difficult to name such a settlement and a city.
Of course, cities that had already been bombarded with incendiary bombs could have been re-attacked. But these cities were already destroyed by an average of 50%. In addition, the United States could drop atomic bombs on small towns. However, such untouched cities (with a population of 30,000 to 100,000 people) remained in Japan only six... But since 68 cities in Japan had already been seriously damaged by the bombing, and the country's leadership did not attach any importance to this, it was hardly surprising that the threat of further airstrikes could not make a big impression on them.
The only thing that retained at least some form on this hill after a nuclear explosion was the ruins of a Catholic cathedral, Nagasaki, Japan, 1945. (NARA)
Convenient story
Despite these three powerful objections, traditional interpretations of events still greatly influence the way people think, especially in the United States. There is a clear reluctance to face facts. But this can hardly be called a surprise. We should remember how convenient the traditional explanation for the bombing of Hiroshima is in emotional plan - for both Japan and the United States.
Ideas retain their power because they are true; but, unfortunately, they can also remain valid from the fact that they meet the needs from an emotional point of view. They fill an important psychological niche. For example, the traditional interpretation of the events in Hiroshima has helped Japanese leaders achieve a number of important political goals, both domestically and internationally.
Put yourself in the shoes of the emperor. You have just waged a devastating war on your country. The economy is in ruins. 80% of your cities are destroyed and burned. The army is defeated, having suffered a series of defeats. The fleet suffered heavy losses and does not leave its bases. The people are starting to starve. In short, the war has become a disaster, and most importantly, you lying to your people without telling him how bad the situation really is.
The people will be shocked to learn of the surrender. So what should you do? Admitting that you have failed completely? Make a statement that you have seriously miscalculated, made mistakes and caused enormous damage to your nation? Or explain the defeat by amazing scientific achievements that no one could have predicted? If the blame for the defeat was blamed on the atomic bomb, then all mistakes and military miscalculations could be swept under the carpet. The bomb is the perfect excuse for losing a war. There is no need to look for the guilty, there is no need to conduct investigations and trials. Japanese leaders will be able to say they did their best.
Thus, by and large the atomic bomb helped remove blame from Japanese leaders.
But explaining the Japanese defeat by atomic bombings, it was possible to achieve three more very specific political goals. At first, this helped to preserve the legitimacy of the emperor. Since the war was lost not because of mistakes, but because of an unexpected miracle weapon that appeared in the enemy's hands, it means that the emperor will continue to enjoy support in Japan.
Secondly, it aroused international sympathy. Japan waged the war aggressively, and showed particular cruelty towards the conquered peoples. Other countries probably should have condemned her actions. What if turn Japan into a victim country, which inhuman and dishonestly bombed with the use of a terrible and cruel instrument of war, it will be possible to somehow atone for and neutralize the most vile acts of the Japanese military. Drawing attention to the atomic bombings helped create more sympathy for Japan and quench the urge for the harshest punishment.
And finally, claims that the Bomb won the war flattered Japan's American victors. The American occupation of Japan officially ended only in 1952, and all this time The United States could change and remake Japanese society at its own discretion. In the early days of the occupation, many Japanese leaders feared that the Americans would want to abolish the institution of the emperor.
They also had another fear. Many of Japan's top leaders knew they could be prosecuted for war crimes (when Japan surrendered, Germany had already tried its Nazi leaders). Japanese historian Asada Sadao(Asada Sadao) wrote that in many post-war interviews, "Japanese officials ... were clearly trying to please their American interviewers." If Americans want to believe that their bomb won the war, why disappoint them?
Soviet soldiers on the banks of the Songhua River in Harbin. Soviet troops liberated the city from the Japanese on August 20, 1945. At the time of Japan's surrender, there were about 700,000 Soviet soldiers in Manchuria. (Yevgeny Khaldei / waralbum.ru)
Explaining the end of the war with the use of the atomic bomb, the Japanese largely served their own interests. But they served American interests too. With the bomb assuring victory in the war, the perception of America's military power is heightened. The US diplomatic influence in Asia and around the world is increasing, and American security is being strengthened.
The $ 2 billion spent on the bomb was not wasted. On the other hand, if it is admitted that the reason for Japan's surrender was the Soviet Union's entry into the war, then the Soviets could well claim that they did in four days what the United States could not do in four years. And then the perception of the military power and diplomatic influence of the Soviet Union will strengthen. And since the Cold War was already in full swing at the time, recognizing the Soviets' decisive contribution to victory was tantamount to helping and supporting the enemy.
In looking at the issues raised here, it is disturbing to realize that the evidence for Hiroshima and Nagasaki is at the heart of everything we think about nuclear weapons. This event is irrefutable proof of the importance of nuclear weapons. It is important for gaining a unique status, because the usual rules do not apply to nuclear powers. This is an important yardstick for nuclear danger: Truman's threat to expose Japan to a "destructive rain of steel" was the first open nuclear threat. This event is very important for creating a powerful aura around nuclear weapons, which makes it so significant in international relations.
But if the traditional history of Hiroshima is questioned, what should we do with all these conclusions? Hiroshima is the focal point, the epicenter, from which all other statements, statements and claims spread. However, the story that we tell ourselves is far from reality. What should we now think of nuclear weapons if his colossal first achievement - Japan's miraculous and sudden surrender - turned out to be a myth?
It was only thanks to our people that Japan was defeated.
