the united states dropped the atomic bomb on hiroshima and nagasaki.
the united states dropped the atomic bomb on hiroshima and nagasaki.
who dropped the atomic bomb on hiroshima and nagasaki?
the united states
the atomic bomb was developed by scientists working under the manhattan project. the project was granted funding on december 6, 1941, with american leaders aiming for a new invention that would serve as a wartime weapon. the decision to drop an atomic bomb on japan had been made by 1943, and a shortlist of candidate target cities was in place in 1945. at the time, it was argued that an atomic bombing would bring about a more rapid end to the war. hiroshima, the first target, was selected to show the power of america's new weapon. the second bombing, of nagasaki, was intended to demonstrate that the usa had a large arsenal. at 11:02 a.m. local time on august 9, 1945, the atomic bomb, nicknamed fat man as its code name by robert serber in the united states (after sydney greenstreet's character in "the maltese falcon") was dropped on nagasaki, forever changing the city's landscape. a mushroom cloud rose to an altitude of 45,000 feet above the city.
nagasaki atomic bomb museum
in preparation for dropping an atomic bomb on hiroshima, the oppenheimer-led scientific panel of the interim committee decided against a demonstration bomb and against a special leaflet warning. those decisions were implemented because of the uncertainty of a successful detonation and also because of the wish to maximize shock in the leadership. no warning was given to hiroshima that a new and much more destructive bomb was going to be dropped. various sources gave conflicting information about when the last leaflets were dropped on hiroshima prior to the atomic bomb. robert jay lifton wrote that it was july 27, and theodore h. mcnelly wrote that it was july 30. the usaaf history noted that eleven cities were targeted with leaflets on july 27, but hiroshima was not one of them, and there were no leaflet sorties on july 30. leaflet sorties were undertaken on august 1 and august 4. hiroshima may have been leafleted in late july or early august, as survivor accounts talk about a delivery of leaflets a few days before the atomic bomb was dropped. three versions were printed of a leaflet listing 11 or 12 cities targeted for firebombing; a total of 33 cities listed. with the text of this leaflet reading in japanese "...we cannot promise that only these cities will be among those attacked..." hiroshima was not listed.
atomic bombings of hiroshima and nagasaki