Mushroom Cloud Over Nagasaki, Japan
August of 1945 marks the first and only instances of the use of nuclear weapons against a rival nation in world history. The United States spent years developing two missiles, Fat Man and Little Boy in a secret operation known as the Manhattan Project and declared a devastating victory over Japan after dropping the two hydrogen bombs on the major Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Hiroshima was bombed on August 6th, Nagasaki on August 9th. The combined death toll of both bombings would climb upward of 200,000 people in the following months as victims died of blast injuries and the lingering effects of radiation (Yamazaki, 2007). The Atomic Bombings sparked instant reactions and a level of controversy around the world, but they were ultimately successful in indicating to the world the strength and power the United States possessed. The bombings launched an arms race between the United States and their tentative ally Russia and aided the US in intimidating Stalin from joining the war in the Pacific. Sources close to Stalin confirmed that in a meeting with Georgii Zhukov and Soviet Prime Minister Vyacheslav Molotov, Stalin stated "They [The United States] are killing the Japanese and intimidating us." (Clare, n.d.) The bombings would usher in an age which found the United States in a constant effort to monitor global nuclear activities and ensure that other nations could not gain similar capabilities and use them against the US. The coming cold war was marked with tensions and fears which found their roots in the destruction of Hiroshima and Nagasaki
Yamazaki, D. (2007, October 10). Children of the atomic bomb. Retrieved from http://www.aasc.ucla.edu/cab/200708230009.html
Clare, J. D. (n.d.). Publishing of john d. clare. Retrieved from http://www.johndclare.net/cold_war5.htm
Life Magazine's Bernard Hoffman wrote this to his editor after witnessing the aftermath of the destruction of Hiroshima. Hoffman's dismay at the terrible power of the atomic bomb was reflected worldwide. Attitudes and fears like Hoffman's would continue through the Cold War arms race and arguably, the fear of such destruction being unleashed worldwide helped keep the United States and the USSR from launching the first strike.
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