The Bombing of Hiroshima & Nagasaki

8/12/2019 The Bombing of Hiroshima & Nagasaki

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The Bombing of Hiroshima & Nagasaki

Was it Justified?


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Hiroshima & NagasakiThe atomic bombings of Hiroshima andNagasaki were nuclear attacks during

World War II against the Empire ofJapan by the United States of Americaunder US President Harry S. Truman.On August 6, 1945 , the nuclear weapon"Little Boy " was dropped on the city ofHiroshima , followed on August 9, 1945 by the detonation of the " Fat Man "nuclear bomb over Nagasaki .They are the only instances of the useof nuclear weapons in warfare.On August 15, 1945 Japan announcedits surrender to the Allied Powers,signing the Instrument of Surrender onSeptember 2 which officially ended

World War II.Furthermore, the experience ofbombing led post-war Japan to adoptThree Non-Nuclear Principles , whichforbids Japan from nuclear armament.However, the role of the bombings inJapans surrender, as well as the effects

and justification of them, has beensubject to much debate.


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How it startedThe United States, with assistance fromthe United Kingdom and Canada,

designed and built the first atomicbombs under what was called theManhattan Project.The project was initially started at theinstigation of European refugeescientists (including Albert Einstein ) and

American scientists who feared that Nazi

Germany would also be conducting afull-scale bomb development program.The project itself eventually employedover 130,000 people at its peak at overthirty institutions spread over the UnitedStates, and cost a total of nearly US$2billion.

It one of the largest and most costlyresearch and development programs ofall time.

The Manhattan Project, led by General Leslie Groves (left) and the physicist Robert Oppenheimer, developed the first atomic weapons for use in WorldWar II.


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Weapons of Mass DestructionHiroshima

The gravity bomb known as " Little Boy ", a gun-type fission weapon with60 kg (130 pounds) of uranium-235 , took 57 seconds to fall from theaircraft to the predetermined detonation height about 600 meters (2,000ft) above the city.

It created a blast equivalent to about 13 kilotons of TNT. The radius of total destruction was about 1.6 km (1 mile) , with resulting

fires across 11.4 km (4.4 square miles). Infrastructure damage was estimated at 90 percent of Hiroshima's

buildings being either damaged or completely destroyed.

Nagasaki The " Fat Man " weapon, containing a core of ~ 6.4 kg (14.1 lb) of

plutonium-239 , was dropped over the city's industrial valley. 43 seconds later it exploded 469 meters (1,540 ft) above the ground

exactly halfway between the Mitsubishi Steel and Arms Works in thesouth and the Mitsubishi-Urakami Ordnance Works (Torpedo Works) in

the north. The resulting explosion had a blast yield equivalent to 21 kilotons of TNT. The explosion generated heat estimated at 7000 degrees

Fahrenheit(3871.13 degrees Celcius) and winds that were estimated at624 mph(1004.016 kmph)

The radius of total destruction was about 1.6 km (1 mile) , followed byfires across the northern portion of the city to 3.2 km (2 miles) south ofthe bomb.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/TNT_equivalenthttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/TNT_equivalent


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A Post- War Fat Man Model.

A Post- war Little Boy Casing Mockup.


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The AftermathPost-Attack Casualties

In Hiroshima with an estimated total population of 250,000 people,45,000 died on the first day . At least 93.5 % of those were killedinstantly. Another 19, 000 died in the subsequent 4 months as a result of severeburns and radiation poisoning .

By December of 1945 , thousands had died from their injuries and a smallnumber from radiation poisoning, bringing the total killed in Hiroshima in1945 to perhaps 140,000 .

According to some estimates, about 70,000 of Nagasaki's 240,000 residents were killed instantly and up to 60,000 were injured on the firstday.

Around 17,000 more would die in the next 4 months . Again, due tosevere burns and radiation poisoning .

These records are merely estimates of the true number victims thatperished. They do NOT include deaths of military personnel and foreignworkers.

The death toll of both bombings are estimated to be at least half a million people dead. However, these estimates are still disputed by manyInternational Organizations as many of the remains were not found.

Reasons for this are that they have been incinerated and turned into dust by the extreme heat generated by the blast.

Also, many of the victims consisted of innocent civilians . Mainly women and children.


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The mushroom cloud over Hiroshima after thedropping of Little Boy taken at 20,000 feet in the air.

The radiation dust cloud had spread approximately 10,000 feet around the hypocenter when this picture was

taken.

The Fat Man mushroom cloud resulting from thenuclear explosion over Nagasaki rises 18km(60,000feet) into the air from the hypocenter of the blast.


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Hiroshima in the aftermath of the bombing.


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Aerial photographof Nagasaki before

(Top) and after(Bottom), the

bombing.


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A Japanese report on the bombing characterizedNagasaki as "like a graveyard with not a tombstone

standing."


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The burns are in a pattern corresponding to the darkportions of the kimono she was wearing at the time of

the explosion.

A strap of her bag saves part of her skin from thekeloids or tumor-like growths of scar tissue.


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Keloids form on the legs of a solider exposed to theradiation 2,950 feet (900 meters) from the hypocenter.

Treating burns from the thermal radiation.


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This soldier is severely burned from the thermalradiation.


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Severe keloids, or scarring, caused by thermalradiation.


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Thermal Rays Leave Human Shadow On Stone Steps

Subcutaneous Hemorrhage

The Burned Corpse Of A Boy

A Boy Who Received Radiation Burns On His WholeBody


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Atomic Bomb Cataract Caused By Radiation


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Justification

At the end of it all, was it necessary and justified to use the atomic bombs?

WE THINK NOT.


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Why?


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Alternative Ways

More negotiations could be done. Trade sanctions could be lifted.

Conventional attacks against military units.

Annual firebombing raids against strategic MILITARY positions. Drafting of a peace treaty. Discuss again about the usage of atomic bomb and the

consequences of using it. Moral view of using the bomb.


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End

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The Bombing of Hiroshima & Nagasaki