THE BOMBING OF HIROSHIMA

Almudena CorralesSocial

Studies

1. THE ATOMIC BOMB

• An atomic bomb contains radiation that can destroy or damage cells in living beings.

• It deffers from a conventional bombr because it also pollutes water, soil and air.

• Not only does the atomic bomb cause immediate destruction but it also has long-term effects: it can cause different type of CANCER and has a NEGATIVE IMPACT ON FERTILITY.

2. HIROSHIMA DURING THE SECOND WORLD WAR

• July 1945, Amercian scientists successfully tested an atomic bomb in New Mexico Desert.

• It was Truman who made the decision to use the new weapons against Japan.

• Hiroshima was a supply and minor logistics base for the Japanese military. This city was the centre for communication, storage, and an assembly area for troops. It was one of the Japanese cities that were deliberately freed from bombings, so that it could be used to measure the harm caused by atomic bomb.

PRESIDENT TRUMAN the president of the United Sates of America. He served as military during the First World War and faced the Second World War as president. He decided to use nuclear weapons against Japan. He also developed the Marshall Plan to rebuild Europe after the war, and elaborated the Truman doctrine to contain communism.

3. THE ENOLA GAY APPROACHES

• Hiroshima was the main target of the first Atomic Bombic, followed by Kokura and Nagasaki as alternative targets. The B-29 Enola Gay, which belonged to the Bombing Squad 393d and was piloted and comanded by Coronel Paul Tibbets, took off from North Field Air Base in Tinian and embarked on a six hour journey towards Japan.

• At around 7:00 am, the early alerts system of Japanese radars detected that some North America air craft were approaching and sent out an alert to different cities, including Hiroshima. However, many people ignored this advise.

• The bomb Little Boy was dropped at 8:15 am over Hiroshima. It is estimated that the temperature rose to more than one million degrees centigrade.

B-29 United States military airplane developed to carry and drop bombs. Created for the Second World War, it was the most advanced bomber of its time.

4. THE AFTERMATH

• Tokyo inmediately formed the Committee of Countermeasures of the Atomic bomb, composed of army and navy personnel and ministers of the interior.

• However a part of the members doubted than an atomic bomb had even been used.

• They thought that US technology was not advanced enough to develop one.

• Only when personnel went to Hiroshima to investigate the destruction that had occured did the accept that no conventional bomb could have caused such damage.

Radio Tokyo describes the destruction in Hiroshima:

“Practically all living things, humans and animals were burned until they died”.

August 8, 1945

• On August 9, 1945, Nagashaki was the target of the world’s second atomic bomb attck. An A-bomb nicknamed “Fat man” killed more than 70.000 people.

• Japan formally signed its unconditional surrender on september 2, 1945.