atomic bomb essay evidence Flashcards
impacts
The explosive power of the first atomic bombs was also estimated at only 1/10th of what it turned out to be
no one had a clear impression of the heat and radiation effects.
Little Boy - Levelling over 60 percent of the city, 70,000 residents died instantaneously in a searing flash of heat.
Fat Man - Over 20,000 people died instantly. In the successive weeks, thousands more Japanese died from the after effects of the radiation exposure of the blast.
perspectives of scientists
Manhatten project believed civilians should have been given warning - to consider “our moral position…in the eyes of the world”
“I am become Death, destroyer of worlds” - Oppenheimer
witness testimony
Sadako Moriyama, had gone to a bomb shelter when the sirens sounded. After the bomb had gone off, she saw what she thought were two large lizards crawling into the shelter she was in, only to realise that they were human beings whose bodies had been shredded of their skin because of the bomb blast.
infrastructural damage
Where the bomb blast hit at its peak, massive damage was done. An area about 2.3 miles by 1.9 miles was destroyed
when - construction of atomic bomb
late 1942
when - yalta conference
feb 1945
roosevelt unexpectedly dies 2 months later
when - potsdam conference
july 1945
when - fat man dropped
august 9
when - vp day
august 15
end war
US government estimated Japan + USA would each lose 250,000 soldiers during invasion
”..it was done to save 125,000 youngsters on the American side and 125,000 on the Japanese side from getting killed and that is what it did. It probably also saved a half million youngsters on both sides from being maimed for life.” - truman
“A demonstration in an uninhabited area was not regarded as likely to make Japan surrender.”
pearl harbour
sinking of 19 ships
2403 US personnel, 68 civilians
‘day that shall live on in infamy’ - Roosevelt
“done while we were at peace with Japan and trying our best to negotiate a treaty with them
“All you have to do is to go out and stand on the keel of the Battleship in Pearl Harbour with the 3,000 youngsters underneath it who had no chance whatever of saving their lives..”
“It was plain murder!” - Harry Truman 1963
POWs
Bushido
experimented on with chemical & biological weapons by the Japanese
Some were even crucified on trees and beheaded by their captors
“The experiments had absolutely no medical merit,” he said. “They were being used to inflict as cruel a death as possible on the prisoners. - Toshio Tono, medical student and witness of Japan’s chemical experiments on POWs
40% of Allied POWs died in captivity under Japan, Germany 4%
130 mile marches
frighten Russian
23rd July 1945
“The purpose of the bombings was to intimidate other countries, above all the Soviet Union.” - Russian Historian Vadim Nekrasov 1984
By October 1944 the Japanese had been cut off from 80% of their oil supplies.
The US secret service had cracked the Japanese diplomatic codes and knew that they wanted to surrender before they dropped the bomb
“The use of this barbarous weapon was of no assistance to our war against Japan. The Japanese were already defeated.” - Admiral Leahy 1950
testing
costly to develop - $2000 million
“There was the danger of the test being a dud. Also, we had no bombs to waste” - justification on why bomb was dropped on populated city > barren area - Henry Stimson, American secretary of war
