Hiroshima and Nagasaki Nuclear Weapons

End of the War in Europe and Pacific A. After Battle of the Bulge, Allies rolled into Germany 1. British, US, and French troops on the west and Soviets on the east B. War in Europe ended when Germans surrendered after Hitler killed himself – 1. May 8, 1945 Victory in Europe C. War in Pacific ended with the dropping of the atomic bomb on Hiroshima and Nagasaki 1. September 2, 1945 The Allies were closing in on Berlin. Soviet shells burst over Berlin starting April 25th. Hitler married his longtime girlfriend Eva Braun on April 29th. They both committed suicide the next day. Eventually, military planners came up with a target list of Hiroshima, Kokura, Kyoto, and Nigata. Stimson persuaded the planners to substitute Nagasaki for the shrine city of Kyoto and then presented the list to President Harry S Truman in late July. Truman approved the directive without consulting anyone else and wrote in his diary that the bomb would be used between 25 July and 10 August. The new weapon offered the possibility of ending the war sooner, and he had no compelling reason not to employ it. Despite some historians' claims to the contrary, there was no reliable evidence of any imminent Japanese collapse or surrender. Although some leaders did perceive a display of the atomic bomb's power as a potential tool to intimidate the Soviet Union in the future, this was a secondary benefit of its employment and not a factor in operational decisions… On the basis of these orders, Spaatz selected Hiroshima and then Kokura to be the targets for the first and second atomic missions. (Cloud cover on the day of the second raid caused the shift to the secondary target of Nagasaki.) Some critics have questioned why there was not more deliberation about whether to use the terrible new weapon. The main concern for decision-makers was to win the war quickly while avoiding a bloody invasion or losing public support for unconditional surrender. Under the conditions in 1945, which had already produced fire raids that had killed far more Japanese civilians than did the attacks on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, no U.S. president or general could have failed to employ the atomic bomb.

Result of WW II: U. S. and Soviet Union become superpowers and G Result of WW II: U.S. and Soviet Union become superpowers and G.B and France second-class powers   Dates: April 12, 1945 -- FDR dies (Warm Springs, GA) April 30, 1945 – Hitler commits suicide May 02, 1945 -- Berlin falls to Allies May 07, 1945 -- German Government surrenders May 08, 1945-- V-E (Victory in Europe) Day *August 6, 1945 – The Bomb dropped on Hiroshima *August 9, 1945 – The Bomb dropped on Nagasaki Sept. 02, 1945 - V-J (Victory in Japan) Day *About 140,000 died in these blasts… more with time… total not really known