History - War at a Glance

Unleashing the Atom By late July, President Harry Truman issues a surrender demand through the Japanese Embassy in Moscow. The Japanese respond with conditions that the Allies interpret as a refusal. Truman has already decided that if the Japanese fail to surrender he will use America’s most powerful and most secret weapon - the atomic bomb. On August 6, the Enola Gay (a B-29 bomber named after the pilot’s mother) drops the first atomic bomb on Hiroshima. The resulting explosion has the force of over 18,000 metric tons of TNT, destroying 60 percent of the city and killing 80,000 inhabitants. When Japan fails to surrender, Truman orders a second bomb to be dropped. Three days after the first atomic bomb is dropped, another B-29 (Bock’s Car) drops the second bomb on Nagasaki. The result is the same: devastation and death on the ground. Still the Japanese refuse to surrender. They insist that the Emperor’s sovereignty must be maintained; the Allies refuse. Finally, Emperor Hirohito himself orders that the war end. He records a message for broadcast that asks the people of Japan to “... bear the unbearable ...” When it is broadcast on August 15, it is the first time the vast majority of Japanese citizens hear their emperor’s voice. World War II is over.