The spring of 1945 saw the end of the Second World War in the European theatre. Adolf Hitler's suicide on the 30th of April lead to the surrender of Nazi Germany on the 7th of May, and the final dissolution of the Third Reich came on the 23rd day of May. As glorious a victory as it was for the Allied Forces in the west, this did not mean the end of the war, as the fighting in the Pacific theatre against the Japanese Empire was as intense as ever.
The plan developed by the Allies to bring an end to the Second World War was a full-scale land invasion of Japan, known as “Operation Downfall”. Downfall itself consisted of two smaller operations, "Olympic", the invasion of the southernmost island of Kyushu, and "Coronet", the invasion of the Japanese …show more content…
Roosevelt was advised by Hungarian scientists Leo Szilard and Eugene Wigner to begin stockpiling uranium ore. This decision was made due to fears that Nazi Germany was developing nuclear weapons of their own, and so a race begin between the countries to develop the atomic bomb. The Manhattan Project was established in 1942 to develop the atomic bomb, and, despite initial refusal by the British to do so, eventually collaborated with the United Kingdom’s (UK) atomic weapon research project, codenamed “Tube Alloys”. At this point two of the most powerful countries of the Allied Forces were working together in secrecy. This project would lead to invention of the first atomic bomb 1945. The bomb, nicknamed “The Gadget” was successfully tested on the 16th of July 1945. Following the success of the test, two more atomic bombs were created, the “Little Boy” and the “Fat Man”. With the atomic bombs ready for use, the leaders of the US (Harry S. Truman), the UK (Clement Attlee), and China (Chiang Kai-shek) collaborated to demand the surrender of the Japanese Empire. On the 26th of July, the Potsdam Declaration was delivered, which provided Japan with an ultimatum, to surrender unconditionally or be met with “prompt and utter destruction”. The Declaration was officially ignored by Japan, leading to the US to deliver the destruction that was …show more content…
A “Target Committee” was established to choose five cites to act as targets. They selected five cities that were deemed appropriate: Kokura, Hiroshima, Yokohama, Niigata and Kyoto. The criteria required for a city to be a considered target were that it must be larger than three miles in diameter, that the city was unlikely to be attacked by August 1945, and that the blast would cause sufficient damage to the Japanese Empire. US Secretary of War Henry L. Stimson requested that Kyoto be removed from the list of proposed targets, due to it being of too much spiritual value to the Japanese people. As per his request, Kyoto was removed and replaced with the important naval city of Nagasaki. Hiroshima, an industrial centre and site of a major military base, was selected to be the first city to be attacked, with Kokura and Nagasaki selected as alternative
The plan developed by the Allies to bring an end to the Second World War was a full-scale land invasion of Japan, known as “Operation Downfall”. Downfall itself consisted of two smaller operations, "Olympic", the invasion of the southernmost island of Kyushu, and "Coronet", the invasion of the Japanese …show more content…
Roosevelt was advised by Hungarian scientists Leo Szilard and Eugene Wigner to begin stockpiling uranium ore. This decision was made due to fears that Nazi Germany was developing nuclear weapons of their own, and so a race begin between the countries to develop the atomic bomb. The Manhattan Project was established in 1942 to develop the atomic bomb, and, despite initial refusal by the British to do so, eventually collaborated with the United Kingdom’s (UK) atomic weapon research project, codenamed “Tube Alloys”. At this point two of the most powerful countries of the Allied Forces were working together in secrecy. This project would lead to invention of the first atomic bomb 1945. The bomb, nicknamed “The Gadget” was successfully tested on the 16th of July 1945. Following the success of the test, two more atomic bombs were created, the “Little Boy” and the “Fat Man”. With the atomic bombs ready for use, the leaders of the US (Harry S. Truman), the UK (Clement Attlee), and China (Chiang Kai-shek) collaborated to demand the surrender of the Japanese Empire. On the 26th of July, the Potsdam Declaration was delivered, which provided Japan with an ultimatum, to surrender unconditionally or be met with “prompt and utter destruction”. The Declaration was officially ignored by Japan, leading to the US to deliver the destruction that was …show more content…
A “Target Committee” was established to choose five cites to act as targets. They selected five cities that were deemed appropriate: Kokura, Hiroshima, Yokohama, Niigata and Kyoto. The criteria required for a city to be a considered target were that it must be larger than three miles in diameter, that the city was unlikely to be attacked by August 1945, and that the blast would cause sufficient damage to the Japanese Empire. US Secretary of War Henry L. Stimson requested that Kyoto be removed from the list of proposed targets, due to it being of too much spiritual value to the Japanese people. As per his request, Kyoto was removed and replaced with the important naval city of Nagasaki. Hiroshima, an industrial centre and site of a major military base, was selected to be the first city to be attacked, with Kokura and Nagasaki selected as alternative