Transcript Victory over Japan

WWII: DEFEAT OF JAPAN
PRESENTATION FOR LECTURE
AND
STUDY
United States strategic bombing of Japan
The United States strategic bombing of Japan took place between
1942 and 1945. In the last seven months of the campaign, a change
to firebombing tactics resulted in great destruction of 67 Japanese
cities, as many as 500,000 Japanese deaths and some 5 million
more made homeless. Emperor Hirohito's viewing of the destroyed
areas of Tokyo in March 1945, is said to have been the beginning
of his personal involvement in the peace process
United States warnings to Japan
American military dropped leaflets, providing "advance notice" of
bombings. These pamphlets declared they had no wish to harm
civilians, only the military installations, and that the bombings could
be stopped by demanding new Japanese leaders to stop the war. They
also warned that Americans were developing vastly more powerful
explosive devices.
The Manhattan Project
Oppenheimer
The Manhattan Project was the
project, conducted during World
War II primarily by the United
States, to develop the first atomic
bomb. Formally designated as
the Manhattan Engineer
District (MED), it refers
specifically to the period of the
project from 1942–1946 under
the control of the U.S. Army
Corps of Engineers, under the
administration of General Leslie
R. Groves. The scientific
research was directed by
American physicist J. Robert
Oppenheimer.
The Potsdam Declaration
“The New Big Three”
The Potsdam Declaration or the Proclamation Defining Terms for Japanese
Surrender was a statement issued on July 26, 1945 for the Surrender of
Japan. The Potsdam Declaration was issued by United States President
Harry S. Truman, United Kingdom Prime Minister Winston Churchill, and
President of the Republic of China Chiang Kai-shek that outlined the terms of
surrender for the Empire of Japan as agreed upon at the Potsdam
Conference. This ultimatum stated that if Japan did not surrender, it would
face "prompt and utter destruction
Truman had been vice president for only 82 days when
President Roosevelt died, April 12, 1945. He had had very
little meaningful communication with Roosevelt after being
sworn in as vice president. He was completely uninformed
about major initiatives relating to the plan to end World War
II.
Shortly after taking the oath of office,
Truman said to reporters:
"Boys, if you ever pray, pray for
me now. I don't know if you fellas
ever had a load of hay fall on
you, but when they told me what
happened yesterday, I felt like
the moon, the stars, and all the
planets had fallen on me."
President Truman was quickly briefed on the plan
as to how to end the war with Japan. He had to
make a very difficult decision…
According to his advisors, Truman had five basic options.
1. Use the Atomic Bomb on a strategic military city.
2. Demonstrate the bomb.
3. Invade the island of Japan.
4. Continue conventional bombing.
5. Negotiate peace.
Truman was quickly briefed on
the Manhattan Project.
Truman would make the decision to advocate the use of
the Atomic bomb right before leaving for the Potsdam
Conference in July of 1945.
The Potsdam Agreement signed in August of 1945 was an agreement on
policy for the occupation and reconstruction of Germany and other nations
fighting in Europe after WWII. In a second document, called the Potsdam
Declaration, Japan was warned to surrender or face “prompt and utter
destruction.”
Why did President
Truman advocate
the use of the
Atomic bomb if
there were other
options???
Justification for the use of the atomic bomb against Japan:
• Hopefully it would be a quick end of the war.
• Keeps the Soviet Union out of mainland Japan.
• It was estimated that it would save over 1 million U.S. lives
and 5 million Japanese lives.
• It was estimated that it would save over twice that of DDay in costs of materials.
• It sends a message that we have it and we are not afraid
to use it.
• We are the preeminent military power on the planet at that
time.
Reasons that the use of the atomic bomb against Japan was not
justified:
•Many believed that just a demonstration of the bomb would be
enough.
• The consequences were unknown.
• Many of the greatest scientific minds said NOT to use it.
• It would unleash the “genie” from the bottle. Once it was used,
we can never go back. What next?
"We were planning an invasion of Japan with the use of 2,000,000 men
and the military has estimated that the invasion might result in very
heavy casualties. In April, I had appointed an interim committee
consisting of Secretary Stimson, Gorge L. Harrison, James H. Byrnes,
William L. Clayton, Dr. Vannevar Bush, Dr. Carl T. Compton, and Dr.
James B. Conant. Before I had left for Postdam, the committee
recommended that the bomb be used against Japan.
General Marshall said in Postdam that, if the bomb worked, we would
save a quarter of a million American lives and probably save millions of
Japanese.
I gave careful thought to what my advisors had counseled. I wanted to
weigh all the possibilities and implications. Here was the most powerful
weapon of destruction ever devised and perhaps it was more than that...
I then agreed to use the atomic bomb if Japan did not yield.
I had reached a decision after long and careful thought. It was not an
easy decision to make. I did not like the weapon, but I had no qualms if
in the long run if millions of lives would be saved.
The rest is history..."
Quotation from President Truman included In Mr. President by William Hillman
On August 6, 1945, an American B-29 bomber, the Enola Gay,
dropped an atomic bomb on the Japanese city of Hiroshima.
Crew aboard the Enola Gay.
Colonel Tibbets on the Enola Gay.
The mushroom cloud from the
explosion over Hiroshima.
The bomb nicknamed “Little Boy,”
killed 70,000 people and injured
60,000 people.
Hiroshima and Nagasaki: August 6 & 9, 1945
Hiroshima
Nagasaki
The atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki were nuclear attacks near the
end of World War II against the Empire of Japan by the United States at the executive
order of U.S. President Harry S. Truman on August 6 and 9, 1945, respectively. After
six months of intense fire-bombing of 67 other Japanese cities, the nuclear weapon
"Little Boy" was dropped on the city of Hiroshima on Monday, August 6, 1945, followed
on August 9 by the detonation of the "Fat Man" nuclear bomb over Nagasaki. These
are to date the only attacks with nuclear weapons in the history of warfare.
The bombs killed as many as 140,000 people in Hiroshima and 80,000 in Nagasaki by
the end of 1945,[roughly half on the days of the bombings.
The destruction
in Hiroshima.
Even scientists were unsure what the effects of using such a weapon would be.
Still, the Japanese refused to
surrender. Three days later, a
second bomb was dropped on the
city of Nagasaki. The destruction of
a second major city convinced
Japan’s leaders to give up. The
bomb nicknamed , “Fat Man” killed
66,000 and injured another 40,000.
The mushroom cloud from the explosion over Nagasaki.
The destruction in Nagasaki.
Nagasaki before and
after.
V-J Day: Victory over Japan: August 15, 1945
American soldiers in Paris celebrating
Times Square- NY
Victory over Japan Day (V-J Day, also known as Victory in the Pacific Day, or V-P Day) is
a name chosen for the day on which the Surrender of Japan occurred, effectively ending
World War II, and subsequent anniversaries of that event. The term has been applied to
both the day on which the initial announcement of Japan's surrender was made in the
afternoon of August 15, 1945 (August 14 North American date), as well as the date the
formal surrender ceremony was performed in Tokyo on September 2, 1945.