The United States dropped the first atomic bomb on, a medium-sized Japanese city, Hiroshima on August 6, 1945. The second bomb was dropped on Nagasaki on August 9, 1945. President Truman’s decision of dropping the atomic bombs was absolutely necessary since it saved lives of millions of the Americans and the Japanese as well. This attack on Pearl Harbor was just an example of what could have happened …show more content…
successfully tested the first atomic bomb at Alamogordo, New Mexico on July 16, 1945. The Potsdam Proclamation asked Japan to surrender unconditionally to end the war. Unconditional surrender simply meant the demilitarization of Japan and the end of the emperor Hirohito. The U.S. warned Japan of “utter devastation” if it did not accept the unconditional surrender. The emperor was beyond the politics and the god for the Japanese. Prime Minister Suzuki declared the Potsdam Proclamation a "thing of no great value" and said "We will simply mokusatsu it." statement as rejection of the Potsdam Proclamation. Mokusatsu means "kill with silence" literally. [8-enola] The Japanese were not ready to surrender. The British Prime Minister Winston Churchill also supported Truman’s decision to use the bomb at Potsdam.
Truman gave the complete power to use the atomic bomb in the hands of the military. He informed the military to pick the Japanese city with less number of women and children. The primary target was Hiroshima which was the seventh largest city in Japan and an industrial and military shipping center. [9-enola] The Enola Gay dropped the atomic bomb on Hiroshima at precisely 8:16 a.m. on August 6, 1945. [10-enola] More than half of the city was destroyed in a flash, and about 80,000 people were killed in this attack.