August 15, today is 69 years since Japan surrendered. Were the atomic bombs necessary?
Today is exactly 69 years since Japan surrendered and World War II came to an end. That had everything to do with the two atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, as is the standard story. #Atoombommen
On 6 August 1945, a B29 bomber threw the first atomic bomb at Hiroshima. The result was horrific: 78,000 were killed and most of the city was wiped out. Three days later, the second bomb fell on Nagasaki. This is where 35,000 people died because this bomb partially missed its target.
Were the atomic bombs necessary to end World War II?
Yes, was the first answer from historians: these bombs were needed. Japan would not have capitulated otherwise, and hundreds of thousands of Americans would have died in battle.
No, President Harry S. Truman had mainly used the bombs to intimidate Soviet leader Joseph Stalin and keep them out of the war in Asia.
The first American move to the Cold War
Even without the bomb, the Japanese would have surrendered, provided that they could retain their emperor, whom they considered a deity. Truman knew this, but deliberately ignored these signals and dropped the bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
