Hiroshima and Nagasaki
U.S.S. Indianapolis
• Delivered
components of the
Atomic Bomb to the
island of Tinian
• Sank by Japanese
sub.
• 1,196 men on board
• 900 men left
• 4 days in the water
• 316 survived
The Manhattan Project
• J. Robert
Oppenheimer –
creator
• 1st successful test
done in New Mexico
July 16, 1945
• Blast visible 180
miles away
• Pros:
A-Bomb Debate
– Demonstration could be
a dud
• Japanese might shoot
down test plane
• Might put POW’s in
testing area
- Only way to make Japan
surrender
- Need to justify the cost of
building the bomb and
man hours spent
working.
– It would end the war and
save countless U.S.
military lives
– Give U.S. more power in
rebuilding Europe
• Mounting tensions
w/Russia
• Cons:
– Stage a
demonstration
– Would kill
thousands of
Japanese
civilians
– Would be immoral
to drop the bomb
w/o prior warning
Little Boy
• Enola Gay dropped “Little
Boy” on Hiroshima on
August 6, 1945
• 4.5 tons
• 1 min.: 66,000 killed / 69,000
killed
• 43 seconds – the city did not
exist
• Bombs only used 1/10th of
1% of their respective
explosive cababilities.
• Japan still did not surrender
• Leukemia in children born
post WWII.
Fat Man
• 3 days after “Little
Boy” was dropped,
“Fat Man” was
dropped on
Nagasaki
– 39,000 killed
instantly
– By the end of the
year, 200,000 had
died of injuries
and/or radiation
Effects of the Bombs
Keloids
Effects of the Bombs
The Yalta Conference
• Discussion between
Churchill, FDR &
Stalin of postwar
Europe / Germany
• Germany divided
into 4 zones each
controlled by an
Allied country
• Stalin promised free
elections & Russian
participation in the
U.N.
The Nuremburg War Trials
• International tribunal of
23 nations tried Nazi
war criminals
– Hitler’s most trusted
officials
• 22 Nazis tried first
– 12 were put to death
or imprisoned
• Crimes against peace
• War crimes
• Crimes against
humanity
• 1st time in history a
nation’s leaders were
held legally responsible
for their actions
Occupation of Japan
• Occupied by Gen. MacArthur
• 1,100 Japanese officials
(including Tojo) were put on
trial
– 7 put to death
• Occupied for 6 years
• MacArthur’s Reforms:
– Free market economy
– New Constitution
• Women’s suffrage
• Basic freedoms
• Japanese
Constitution still
called the “MacArthur
Const.”