The Bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki - Research Paper Example

Hiroshima underwent the massacre due to the weapon titled ‘Little Boy’ on the 6th of August whereas the ‘Fat Man’ was dropped on Nagasaki three days later. In order to let peace prevail after, Japan sent an instrument of surrender after almost a week of the bombings which marked the end of the Second World War. Prior to the surrender of the Nazi army in Germany, the Allies of World War II had already made plans to go ahead with Operation Downfall which was supposed to be the invasion of Japan.

In 1945 when Germany was defeated, the Allies turned their attention towards Japan. Under the guidance of Major General Leslie Groves, U.S Army Corps of Engineers, the first atomic bombs were finally designed. Even though preparations were going on since 1939, fearing the Nazi army to build worse nuclear weapons kept the Allies in check and made them not reveal their weaponry. Both the Little Boy and the Fat Man were implosion weapons designed as gun type fission weapons; Little Boy was made of a rare isotope of uranium-235 and the Fat Man formed its base in plutonium-239.

On receiving the Potsdam Declaration, the Japanese government decided to ignore it or kill it by silence and despite being given an ultimatum to surrender and told by the Allies that the consequences of non compliance with the same would result in the complete destruction of the Japanese Armed Forces as well as proper devastation of Japan on the whole, a clear rejection of the Declaration was provided by the then Prime Minister, Kantaro Suzuki. Hiroshima was of prime importance to the Japanese because its strategic location made the city a backbone for developing industry, trade and commerce.

The city also had attached towards itself a great amount of military significance. The Allies had decided that in case the bombing of Hiroshima did not go as planned, they would target the cities of Kokura and Nagasaki alternately. The point which was aimed from the craft, Enola Gay, (which was the craft used to drop the bomb on Hiroshima), was the Aioi Bridge however, it missed and landed on the Shima Surgical Clinic, blasting at least 12km2 of the city and spreading fire everywhere. 30% of the population of the city at the time was killed immediately, with the effects ranging on another million or so that were riddled with the gases and fumes and burns due to the fire of the blast.

Many people were affected by cancer and leukaemia due to the after effects of the blasts, which led to their death eventually as well. The Hiroshima Genbaku Dome is one of the few known surviving ruins post the attacks and in 1996; it was termed as a World Heritage Site by UNESCO which followed repeal from countries like US and China. Nagasaki was one of the largest ports that Japan had and thus it was vital to the country’s growth and development because of its connection with overseas routes which were especially of use during the time of the war in order to import and export materials, keep an eye on invading foreigners, as well as produce and distribute military equipment