The Atomic Bomb On Hiroshima Beacuse Of No Surrender
In 1931 Japan invaded China as they wanted to conquer new land because of a policy they created called the expansionist policy as they needed more resources. This policy was to conquer Great East Asia to build an economic zone. Because of this the League of Nations forced Japan to leave. The USA also froze bank assets, introduced trade sanctions and put blockades with ships. This caused Japan to bomb Pearl Harbour in 1941 as they were feeling isolated and pressured to react. On top of this, the Japanese tortured prisoners of war by starvation, abused, forced them to work in mines and death marches. This led to the deaths of many US soldiers and in total 3,500 soldiers were killed. Because of this, the US entered the war. The United States demanded Japan to surrender and threatened them to face destructions if they refused to. Japan was still continuing to refuse to surrender and they were the main reason the war was still continuing, as Germany surrendered.
This led to the US dropping the first bomb in Hiroshima commonly known as the “Little Boy” on August 6th, 1945. The US viewed this as a faster alternative to end the war rather than invading Japan as it would cause more deaths for their side. The USA chose to bomb Hiroshima because its a city with buildings packed together so it would wipe out the entire city if the bomb was dropped. Hiroshima was also a military storage area as well as a military point for troops and the US felt it was an acceptable target to test the impacts of the atomic bomb. This bomb killed thousands of civilians but still, Japan refused to surrender. This shows how much Japan was willing to sacrifice to win the war. Thee days after the bomb on Hiroshima another bomb was dropped, the United States dropped an even bigger bomb on Nagasaki named the “Fat Man” weighing 9,700 pounds compared to the Hiroshima bomb which weighed 140 pounds. The city of Nagasaki was chosen to bomb as it was a ship building centre which was an industry, they felt they needed to destroy. This made Japan decide to surrender on 2nd September, 1945.
What is the significance of the atomic bombing?
The bomb that was dropped on Hiroshima demolished 13 square kilometres of the city. It resulted in the deaths of 80000 innocent civilians and caused 70000 injuries. In Nagasaki, 75000 civilians lives were lost and 74000 were injured, with 60 thousand of the buildings destroyed. A few days after the bomb people began to experience symptoms of radiation which included hair loss, loss of energy, pain and high fevers. 60 thousand of the people who survived the bombings died because of the exposure to radiation. These deaths occurred within 20 to 30 days after the blast. Many years after the bombing, Hiroshima and Nagasaki, both saw an increase in cancer patients after the blast. The people who were affected by the atomic bombing had a 46% chance of contracting leukaemia. Years after the bombings there were still people continuing to get leukaemia.
On the 2nd of September, 1945 the Japanese leaders claimed that the Hiroshima and Nagasaki bombing forced them to surrender to the allied countries, because of this World War 2 ended. The Japanese refusing to surrender led to thousands of deaths of soldiers, so the US felt like they got what they deserved. This caused massive celebrations in the United States and around the world as the second world war concluded after 6 years of suffering. The 2nd World War killed 75 million which included soldiers and many innocent people. The end of World War 2 ended the suffering of many soldiers and Prisoners of War.
How did the Atomic bombing impact society today?
Years after the atomic bombings, the people who survived the attack, became known as the “hibakusha” which means explosion affected people and experienced discrimination. People were suspicious of the ‘hibakusha’ as they believed they carried diseases because they were exposed to radiation. This caused finding employment for these people difficult and was considered to be unsuitable marriage partners as they were thought to be disease carriers. The survivors of the blast were being treated horribly by other civilians. Many people today believe that, because of the enormous destruction and suffering caused by the atomic bombings in Hiroshima and Nagasaki, people were aware of the terrible and significant effects of it. This caused nuclear power to never be used again, for more than 70 years. All of the battles that were fought after World War 2, never used nuclear weapons to fight other nations.
A decade after the bombing, memorial centres of the atomic bombing started to be built, especially in Hiroshima. In Hiroshima, there is a peace memorial named “Atomic Bomb Dome”. It is one of the remaining structures that was standing when the bomb exploded. It’s visited by many children every year to educate them on what happened in 7 decades ago. There is a statue of a young girl who survived the explosion but later died due to leukaemia, holding a large crane. It was built to commemorate the thousands of children who died due to the explosion. Because of this, there are thousands of cranes given to this memorial park from around the world. In Nagasaki, there is also a peace park named the “National Peace Memorial Hall” to remember what happened in 1945.
