In 1945 the world would witness the release of two atomic bombs, the use of this type of weapon until then was unprecedented in the history of wars. The first bomb dubbed "little boy” was released on the Hiroshima City in Japan on August 6, 1945. Three days later the second bomb would be dropped on the Nagasaki city. The use of such a devastating weapon would lead to the end of Second World War.
Index
- Second World War
- Atomic bomb
- Consequences of bombing Hiroshima and Nagasaki
Second World War
The impacts caused by World War II (1939-1945) made it the most catastrophic conflict of all time. It is estimated that around fifty to seventy million people died during the clashes, directly or indirectly.
The war took on global proportions, in addition to the deaths on the battlefields, thousands of people died as a result of the spread of totalitarian ideologies, which preached hatred against ethnic minorities, one can cite as an example the episode of the Holocaust, in which Jews and other groups were killed by the Nazi regime with the justification of a cleansing ethnic.
The war also served for man to show the world his ability to create extremely lethal weapons, was the use of technology in the service of evil, the creation and use of atomic bombs is proof from that.
The countries involved in World War II started an arms race aimed at overcoming the enemy's power. A nation's superiority was measured by its ability to create more powerful and lethal weapons than its opponents. The greater the military arsenal of a nation, the greater would be its respect in the political scenario. In this conflict, on one side were the Axis countries formed by Germany, Italy and Japan and on the other the Allies whose main strength was the United States, England and France.
Atomic bomb
In this context, in 1939, the German physicist Albert Einstein convinces the president of the United States, Franklin Roosevelt, to build the atomic bomb before the Germans built it. In 1945 scientists would start testing the new weapon. Not even they would have the exactness of the destructive power of the new invention. Meanwhile the main representatives of the Axis countries, Italy and Germany would sign their surrender. The war was on its way to its final phase.
Japan was about to sign its surrender, but in a cruel display of power, the United States decided to drop atomic bombs on Japanese territory. It was a way found to test the new weaponry and intimidate the rest of the world. More than a military act, this action was a political act, a clear message to the enemies of the Americans regarding their military power. Military personnel involved in the war would declare years later that the dropping of bombs was unnecessary.
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Consequences of bombing Hiroshima and Nagasaki
The city of Hiroshima was one of the largest in Japan, with an estimated population of around 330,000. At the time of the bomb release, fifty thousand people died, others eighty thousand were injured. The "Little Boy" was loaded with sixty tons of uranium, the explosion created a huge mushroom of radioactive dust, that spread by the wind disintegrated the vegetation and part of the population, making it difficult to count the actual number of dead.
According to Emico Okuno, Professor at the Department of Nuclear Physics at the Physics Institute of the University of São Paulo, most immediate deaths — in the day or during the first week after the bomb explodes — are attributed to burns fatal.
The radiation emitted by the bombs contaminated the soil, water and animals. At cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki they would turn into a great desert. About one hundred and thirty thousand people died then due to the effects of the bomb. The effects of radioactivity would span generations, causing genetic mutations and a high rate of cancer in the population, especially bone cancer.
After the dropping of the atomic bombs, the UN-United Nations Organizations would be created, with the in order to control the manufacture and testing of these weapons and mediate possible conflicts between the nations.
Several countries were sensitive to the destruction of Japanese cities and pledged to help in their reconstruction.
The cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki were formed by a civilian population that had no relation to the military involved in the war, which increased the worldwide commotion surrounding the episode. Women, children and the elderly were hardest hit by the effects of the bombs.
Currently, both cities are completely rebuilt. Hiroshima and Nagasaki are modern and developed, like most Japanese cities, but the memory of August 6th and 9th lives on in the memory of their inhabitants.
Right after the episode, nuclear weapons continued to be tested, however seventy years after the launching the first atomic bomb, weapons of this magnitude were never used again in a conflict. The trail of destruction left in Hiroshima and Nagasaki served as an example for international communities to avoid getting involved in new nuclear conflicts.
Lorena Castro Alves
Graduated in History and Pedagogy
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