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First atomic bombdropHiroshima, Japan8. Mai 1945
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form of distructionparties responsibleestimated deathsestimated injured
atomic bomb blastUSA66'00069'000
The US atomic bombs dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki on August 6 and August 9, 1945, were the only use of nuclear weapons in a war to date.The atomic bomb explosions immediately killed a total of about 100,000 people-almost exclusively civilians and forced laborers abducted by the Japanese army. A further 130,000 people died of consequential damage by the end of 1945. In the following years, many more were added.Six days after the second bombing, Emperor Hirohito announced the end of the "Greater East Asian War" in his speech of August 15. With the capitulation of Japan on September 2, World War II also ended in Asia, after it had already been over in Europe since May 8, 1945 with the capitulation of the German Wehrmacht.The order to use the new weapon was given by U.S. President Harry S. Truman, successor to Franklin D., who died on April 12, 1945. Roosevelt, who died on April 12, 1945, at Haus Erlenkamp in Potsdam, where the American delegation had taken up quarters during the Potsdam Conference. Truman, formerly Roosevelt's vice president, had no knowledge of the "Manhattan Project", the development of the atomic bomb, until he took office. The motive for using the bombs was to persuade Japan to surrender as quickly as possible and thus end the war. On the one hand, Truman feared that the Soviet Union would make demands on Japanese territory, and on the other that the planned American landing on the main Japanese islands would cause many casualties among the U.S. soldiers. At that time, large areas of Asia were still occupied by Japan. Truman's decision is still being discussed strongly and emotionally.
The commemoration of the victims plays a major role in Japan's national culture and national self-image. All over the world, Hiroshima and Nagasaki became symbols of the horrors of war and especially of a possible nuclear war during the Cold War.
Fire and blast demage ∎ only blast demage ∎ blast site ⃘
509th Operations Group - A photograph that was taken from "Enola Gay" flying over Matsuyama, ShikokuAtomic cloud over Hiroshima, taken from "Enola Gay" flying over Matsuyama, Shikoku (commentary by Chugoku Shimbun)
