Why bomb Hiroshima?The United States' justification for bombing Hiroshima is that Japan would not have surrendered otherwise, so the atomic bomb's purpose was to force the nation into submission. There were four potential target cities for the atomic bomb including Hiroshima, and the military were left to decide which city to strike. The military chose Hiroshima as the target because of its military importance and the impact of the bomb would be highly significant. Another possible reason why the U.S. bombed Hiroshima is because the Truman Government felt it would be hard to justify to the American public why they had 'prolonged the war' when the atomic bomb was available. The American people had an already established anti-Japanese sentiment, after the surprise attack on Pearl Harbour, which occured 4 years beforehand.
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Figure 31 - Bomb explosion in Nagasaki
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Why bomb Nagasaki? |
The United States was surprisingly not planning to bomb Nagasaki. The original plan was to bomb Kyoto but it was soon decided that Kyoto held too much cultural significance.
The target on August 9th was next designated to the town of Kokura. However, when they were heading to Kokura, there were too many clouds over the visual targeting. So, the Bockscar (the B-29 bomber that dropped the bomb) moved on to their backup target; Nagasaki. Some historians believe it was necessary to drop the second atomic bomb to force Japan to surrender. But others like historian Barton Berstein have argued otherwise; "Whatever one thinks about the necessity of the first A-bomb, the second was certainly unnecessary.” |
Both bombs were dropped for the same purpose, which was for the United States to make Japan surrender. Another similarity is that both bombs were atomic bombs and caused a lot of damage.
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Similarities |
DifferencesThe bombing of Hiroshima and the bombing of Nagasaki are different in many aspects. The type of bomb, the damage caused, the number of casualties and the impact were all different. The bomb detonated on Hiroshima was called “Little Boy”. It was approximately 64 kilograms of highly enriched uranium-235. The total bomb weighed 4 400 kilograms. The bomb used on Nagasaki was even bigger. “Fat Man” was 4650 kilograms and used a core of plutonium-239 that, when reacted, would create 21 kilograms of TNT dynamite. Both of these bombs created titanic explosions that caused serious damage. Hiroshima was the first location to be bombed. “Little Boy” was dropped from a B-29 plane onto the city. Everything up to 1.5 kilometres from X (the point where the bomb was dropped) was completely destroyed, except for about 50 heavily reinforced concrete buildings. “Fat Man” bomb was dropped onto Nagasaki on the 9th of August 1945. This bomb destroyed everything within 750 m but all homes were destroyed within 2.5 kilometres.
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Figure 32 - A view of Hiroshima
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In some respects, the damage to Hiroshima's physical appearance in the aftermath of the bombing was much more severe than Nagasaki. The fire damage in Hiroshima was much more thorough; the center of the city was hit and everything but the reinforced concrete buildings had virtually disappeared. A desert of clear-swept, charred remains, with only a few strong building frames, was all that was left.
At Nagasaki, there were no buildings just underneath the center of explosion. The damage to the Torpedo Works and Mitsubishi Arms Works was substantial, but there was something left to see. The main contours of some of the buildings were still normal. Although the force of damage was graver at Hiroshima, the radius of impact was far larger at Nagasaki.
At Nagasaki, there were no buildings just underneath the center of explosion. The damage to the Torpedo Works and Mitsubishi Arms Works was substantial, but there was something left to see. The main contours of some of the buildings were still normal. Although the force of damage was graver at Hiroshima, the radius of impact was far larger at Nagasaki.