During the years of 1939-1945 a second global war occurred which lasted five years and changed the lives of many. World War II was the time of innovation for many countries; many of these innovations would turn out deadly and have a brutal overall impact. This event was the first time in world history that an atomic bomb would be used in a lethal way against a country. The bombing that took place in Hiroshima and Nagasaki was defining moment in the history of the second war. The bombing had numerous negative social effects on both cities. The mass destruction of these two cities had a detrimental effect on the economic part of the cities. Finally, the near destruction of Hiroshima and Nagasaki had a historical …show more content…
On August 6 1945, is when America dropped the first bomb ever, an atomic bomb code-named “Little Boy” on Hiroshima, this bomb was dropped from an elevation of 30,200 feet (Hastings 477). The immediate impact of this bomb killed, around 20,000 military personnel and 110,000 civilians (Hastings 477), more civilians were later killed due to the after effects of the bomb. Survivors of the Hiroshima bomb described the scene as “ People with clothing patterns imprinted upon their faces; doomed survivors, hideously burned without a hope of effective medical relief” (Hastings 477). Some of the after effects of the Hiroshima bomb included burns from rays, and flames, and wounds from blast and falling structures, in the later weeks the survivors of the bomb had even more severe reactions of the bomb these included symptoms of radioactive rays e.g., loss of hair, anemia, loss of white cells, diarrhea, and approximately about 10% of cases in these groups were fatal (AtomicBombMuseum). Three days later, America dropped a second bomb on Nagasaki, which was code-named “Fat Man”. An estimated 39,000 civilians had died from the bomb and 25,000 were injured from the bomb totaling causalities about 64,000 altogether (atomicarchive). It was known that most deaths from Nagasaki were due to burns. …show more content…
The biggest hit that Nagasaki’s economy received was the Mitsubishi Plant was destroyed, as that was a major production company for them, which was one of the main targets of the Nagasaki bombing run. The economic part of both cities was vastly destroyed as they both relied on their manufacturing production for their source of income, which was destroyed and lead the citizens to a state of immediate help.
Even after sixty-nine years since the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki the event had a significant short term and long-term impact in history. The biggest and most significant short-term impact that these bombings had were the surrender of Japan, and on August 15, 1945 Emperor Hirohito the Japanese leader broadcasted a statement over the radio which said: We have ordered our Government to communicate to the Governments of the United States, Great Britain, China, and the Soviet Union that our empire accepts the provisions of their joint declaration. Despite the best that has been done by everyone- the gallant fighting of the military and naval forces… the war situation has developed not necessarily to Japan’s advantage, while the general trends of the world have all turned against her interest. (World War