Hiroshima

            
             On the morning of August 6, 1945, a B-29 bomb entitled Enola Gay soared over the industrialized city of Hiroshima, Japan and released the first atomic bomb; killing approximately eighty thousand citizens. Sixty percent of Hiroshima was destroyed. A second atomic bomb entitled Fat Man was released the three days later over Nagasaki, Japan with the energy equivalent of close to 22 kilotons of TNT; killing thirty six thousand inhabitants. The strategy of costly Manhattan Project was to create a bomb that would end the war in the pacific. Numerous arguments have emerged over the principles of such an attack. The bomb caused immense amounts of casualties while the unusual consequence of radiation resulted in many more deaths among the survivors. In the end President Truman, who approved the use of the atomic bomb, made a shrewd judgment under the conditions of the war. Regardless of the ghastly effects of such a weapon, it provided the best option for a prompt and simple victory against Japan. Although Japan posed diminutive threat to the American military, the Japanese refusal to relinquish, the immense allied casualties involved in invading Japan and the inefficiency of a military blockade made the bomb an essential last resort. .
             The Japanese defiance to the American pursuit of Okinawa and Iwo Jima and willingness to die in the face of overwhelming odds had been intense. Their refusal to surrender caused the Americans to use excessive force in order to triumph over the Japanese. Although Japan was seeking to negotiate a peace settlement, President Truman and British Prime Minister, Clement Attlee released the Declaration of Potsdam, warning the Japanese to relinquish or suffer. The Japanese released an avowal declining the declaration. Truman arranged a commission of officials and eminent atomic scientist to recommend whether or not to detonate the bomb over Japan. The commission suggested exploding the bomb without warning if the Japanese had not surrendered by August 3rd.