NOTE: Free essay sample provided on this page should be used for references or sample purposes only. The sample essay is available to anyone, so any direct quoting without mentioning the source will be considered plagiarism by schools, colleges and universities that use plagiarism detection software. To get a completely brand-new, plagiarism-free essay, please use our essay writing service.
One click instant price quote
... ce if the test failed to bring surrender, the chance would be gone to give chance of surprise. So the Interim committee wanted to hit Japan without warning. Further, it should be dropped on a combined military and residential target to produce the maximum psychological shock (Yass 60). July 1945 Truman tells Stalin (Neutral Germany) about the Atomic bomb (Yass 67). July 26, 1945 Truman gives ultimatum to Japan/Japan refuses Truman gives Japan an opportunity to end the war.
Truman stated that: "We call upon the government of Japan to proclaim now the unconditional surrender of all the Japanese armed forces The alternative for Japan is complete and utter destruction." Japanese Prime Minister Suzuki rejects the ultimatum. At this point there was nothing left to do but use the bomb. Truman orders Commanding General of the United States Army, General Spaatz to drop the bomb as soon as possible after August 3 rd 9 (Yass 68 - 69). At 2: 45 A.
M. local time, the Enola Gay, a B- 29 bomber loaded with an atomic bomb. Six and a half hours later, the Bomb was dropped and it exploded a minute later at an estimated altitude of 580 +- 20 meters over central Hiroshima Size: length- 3 meters, diameter- 0. 7 meters. Energy released: equivalent to 12. 5 Kilotons of T.
N. T. Maximum temperature at burst point: several million degrees centigrade. A fireball of 15 - meters radius formed in 0. 1 milliseconds, with a temperature of 300, 000 degrees centigrade. The atomic cloud reached an altitude of 17, 000 meters in one second. Radioactive debris deposited by "black rain" fell heavily for over an hour in a wide area.
At the time of the bombing Hiroshima was a prosperous city of nearly 320, 000. The bomb exploded almost directly over the center of the city. Two square miles of the city were completely leveled by the bomb, and intense heat generated by the explosion started fires as far as two miles from ground zero (Marx 13). (SEE FIGURE 2) Announcement of casualties in Hiroshima In February, 1946, Supreme Allied Headquarters announced the casualties in Hiroshima as a result of the atomic bomb were: dead 78, 150, still missing 13, 983, seriously wounded 9, 428, slightly injured 27, 997. Half the victims had died from the blast of the explosion, thirty percent from radiation burns and the rest from other radiation effects (Yass 85 - 86). Three million American leaflets (translated by Japanese prisoners) were dropped over Japan. The letters stated the U.
S possession of the atomic bomb and it's destructive effects, which Hiroshima had already experienced. The leaflets concluded asking the people to petition the emperor to end the war. Japan then hesitates in their decision to end the war (Yass 89). Nagasaki: 2 nd bombing (SEE FIGURE 3) On August 8 th "Fat Man" was loaded into the B. 29 called Brock's Car. Fat Man was dropped on Nagasaki (Marx 22). Though Fat Man was nearly twice as powerful as little boy, its damage was less extensive, due partly to the geography of the Nagasaki area and partly to the fact that the bomb was dropped about 2 miles off target.
Casualties in Nagasaki were 45, 000 dead and 25, 000 injured (Marx 24). (SEE FIGURE 4) The Japanese war council had just received word of the bombing of Nagasaki and to make matters worse on August 8 th, 1945 Russia had declared war on Japan. Premiere Suzuki had finally come to terms with putting an end to the war, with the condition that the emperor should be allowed to remain. The Americans accepted his offer but the Japanese rebels had continued the war. The rebellion came to nothing and the Emperor accepted Truman's conditions and broadcast his decision to the Japanese people (Yass 95 - 96).
The impact / public reaction reaction / effect that the atomic bomb has had on society The Immediate impact the use of the bomb had on people throughout the world People in favor of the bomb: In Britain one woman told an interviewer: "I think it's marvelous. It's just what we want isn't it?" (Yass 87). People opposing the bomb: Another interviewer heard a man tell his family that after the B. B. C bulletin, "I watched all your faces the whole time and I could see nothing but dismay.
One would think that the Japs had invented it" (Yass 87). The journalist Kingsley Martin commented in the New Statesman: "The B. B. C. announcers have all adopted a tone of solemn jubilation in reading the news of the atomic bomb success I very much doubt whether this chimes with the mood of the public. Obviously, we are all relieved that the Germans didn't drop it on London, but apart from that, everyone I've met was plunged into gloom by the news of the invention.
While we are told officially of 'excellent results, " I find everywhere an increasing moral revulsion" (Yass 88). A long poem by an American poet caught the prevalent mood so well that it went into a dozen editions in a few months. One passage read: When the bomb fell on America it fell on people. It didn't dissolve them as it dissolved people in Hiroshima.
But it did dissolve something vitally important. To the greatest of them and the least. What it dissolved were their links with the past and with the future It made the earth that seemed so solid, Main Street that seemed so well paved, A kind of vast jelly, quivering and dividing underfoot What have we done, my country, what have we done? (Yass 89). As it seemed fairly obvious that the citizens of the world did not approve of the atomic bomb the governments of the world believed they should possess this "great invention." Before the Korean War was over the British in 1952 exploded their own atomic bomb (Yass 109). On August 12, 1953 the Russians announced the explosion of their first hydrogen bomb (Yass 110). Once again the public were not in favor of the testing of bombs, since Stronium 90, a radioactive fission product, could be carried into the upper air from a nuclear blast and fall on the earth thousands of miles away.
Due to this and many other side effects The Labour Party of Parliament in London formed a campaign for Nuclear disarmament to London from the atomic research establishment at Aldermaston, Berkshire (Yass 111). The modern day reaction towards the Atomic Bomb The threat of atomic warfare is much more dangerous than in the past. As the arms race continued. "Escalation" had become a fashionable word; as each country has been rushing to build bigger and better weapons than the other side (Yass 112). Although Nazi Germany no longer seems to be a threat to the world, there is now a modern day Hitler who has been the instigator of war during the 1990 's. This man is Saddam Hussein. The Iraqi arsenal of mass destruction is claimed to include the following agents: Botulinum Toxin: Iraq has acknowledged to make 3, 117 gallons of enough toxin to wipe out the earth's population several times over.
Anthrax: Iraq has acknowledged making 2, 226 gallons of anthrax, enough to kill billions. Warheads: Investigators suspect that 25 germ war -toxin filled warheads could be used with missiles, which have a range of 400 miles. Bombs: Iraq admits to have 157 bombs filled with germs and toxins (A statement taken from an interview of Mass Observation, Peace and the public best describes society's outlook on atomic warfare. An interviewer was quoted saying: "Sooner or later one country's going to use it against another. Maybe in 20 years, maybe in 100 years. Maybe not for 200 or 1, 000 years.
But sooner or later it " ll be too much of a temptation You can just blow a corner off the world. Eventually it " ll be just like one of those fantastic tales Just a few people left in caves. It " ll reduce the whole of so-called civilization to living in caves (Marx 225). Bibliography:
Free research essays on topics related to: fat man, degrees centigrade, bomb was dropped, end the war, atomic bomb
Research essay sample on Bomb Was Dropped End The War
