Shiomi Komiyama
4/24/00
RLA D

Albert Einstein once said, “We scientists recognize our inescapable responsibility to carry to our fellow citizens an understanding of atomic energy and its implication for society. In this lies our only security and our only hope-we believe that an informed citizenry will act for life and not for death”(astro.uchicago.edu, 1). In the year 1945, the US dropped the world’s first nuclear bombs on two cities in Japan, Hiroshima and Nagasaki, marking the end of World War II. On USA Today, this nuclear bombing got ranked as the first for the event which affected the world the most. This incident ignited the nuclear race throughout the world until today, and would continue into the future. Because of this, quite a lot of people around the world fear they can be harmed and their civilization will be destroyed in the form of nuclear wars. Although the bombing of Japan put an end to the disastrous Second World War, it caused horrible pain and suffering, and created fear for the future of wars.

World War II in the Pacific broke out in 1941 and ended in 1945. It was in December 1941, when Japan attacked on the US Navy at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, damaging 18 ships and destroying 200 aircraft. After this attack, the US declared war immediately, but within six months Japan had conquered colonies of the US, Britain and Dutch in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. However, Japan could not defend such a vast empire, and by 1943 the US had begun a series of victories. General Hideki Tojo resigned after the fall of Saipan in July 1944, which was the first pre-war Japanese Territory to be lost. In this world war, the forces separated into two powers; the Axis Power and the Allied Power. The Axis Power included Germany, Japan and Italy, and the Allied Power included the US, Britain, France, China, and others.

The first bombing of Japan occurred on 6th August 1945. The US President, Harry Truman, ordered the atomic bomb called “Little Boy” to be dropped on Hiroshima to force Japan to surrender. Little Boy exploded approximately at 8:15 a.m., Japan standard time. The second one, named “Fat Man”, dropped on Nagasaki three days later on 9th August. In Hiroshima, the surprise and the collapse of many buildings resulted to an unpredictable casualty rate. Little Boy had exploded at a height of 600 meters, and the surface temperature at ground zero rose to 6,000 degrees (Dreze, 1). As tremendous flash of light cut across the sky, people felt a sudden pressure, and then pieces of boards and tiles started to fall on them. After the bombing, the scene grew hazy with clouds of dust, and a huge mushroom-shaped cloud formed over the city. The Nagasaki Prefectural Report said, “Within a radius of one kilometer from ground zero, men and animals died almost instantaneously from the tremendous blast pressure and heat; houses and other structures were smashed, crushed and scattered; and fires broke out”(www.whistlestop.org, 10). In the attempt to a study of the effects of the atomic bomb, the US Strategic Bombing Survey decided to examine the results by exploding it on Japan. At the same time they hoped to break the fighting spirit of the Japanese people. At that time, the 33rd President, Harry S. Truman, who assumed the presidency for eight years from 1945 to 1953, led the US. On the other side, General Hideki Tojo, who became the Prime Minister of Japan in October 1941, led Japan into the decision to war.

The bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki changed the views of the people and the military on Japan’s invincibility. Also, the atomic bomb had effected the thinking of government leaders, and it convinced them of the necessity of peace and surrender (21). On August 15th 1945, one week after the bombing, Japan surrendered and the devastating war ended. According to a survey after the Hiroshima and Nagasaki bombing, 47% of the people around that region had become certain for Japanese victory to be impossible, and 34% felt they could not go on with the war (20). In addition, immediately after the bombing when Japan was struggling under the severe destruction, Russia declared war. The impossibility of the victory became clear by Japan, for it could not withstand another war. In 1948, General Hideki Tojo was tried by the Allies and hanged after being convicted of being responsible for war crimes.

The nuclear explosion changed not only the people’s thinking, but also the whole landscape and economy of Japan. Trolley cars, trucks and transportation buildings suffered extensive damage. Railroad stations and electric signal systems got also completely destroyed by the blast and fires (7) (see visual A and B for details of energy released by the atomic bomb). Estimates of casualties have ranged between 100,000 and 180,000 for Hiroshima, and between 50,000 and 100,000 for Nagasaki. Unfortunately, most doctors and nurses were among the casualties, giving rise to difficulties of having insufficient physicians. Though most medical supplies had been dispersed, many got destroyed in both cities. Various causes of death included flash burns (20~30%), other injuries (50~60%), and radiation sickness (15~20%). Flash burns came from the radiant heat which came in a direct line like light, so the area burned corresponded to its direct exposure. White or light colors reflected the rays, and people wearing black or dark-colored clothes got more burnt (13). Other injuries included burns from blazing buildings and fragments of flying glass from broken panels. Radiation effects appeared within two or three days, often showing physical weakness, nausea, or inflammation or skin, mouth and gums (see visual C for the injured).

Almost 60 years have passed after the strategic incident, but the effect of the atomic bomb can be still seen today. People still continue to die from radiation diseases because of a lack of white blood cells, present in the human body to fight viruses and germs. Furthermore, they suffer intensely from great loss of hair coming from the damage of the scalps. An interesting report says people with gray hair reported less loss of hair than those with dark hair (15). Radiation also has its effect through reproduction, affecting both mothers and their babies.

Because of these effects of the nuclear bomb on Japan, the United Nations legislated the International Law of the Bombing of Civilians, which declared “nuclear weapons would cause indiscriminate suffering and destruction to mankind and civilization, and as such, is contrary to the laws of humanity”(www.dannen.com, 5). However, many countries had carried out various nuclear bomb tests in many parts of the world. This caused a nuclear race in the Cold War between the US and the Soviet Union. The Soviets began their own nuclear weapons development program, and the US also worked on the development of the fusion bomb, referred to as a hydrogen bomb or thermonuclear bomb. Another nuclear problem occurring today is the nuclear arms race between India and Pakistan. People of neighboring countries had thought the era of nuclear tension became over after the Cold War. Today, a five-nation exclusive nuclear club with US, UK, Russia, France and China has the most nuclear weapons in the world; US has 12,000 warheads, Russia 22,000, France 500, UK nearly 400 and China 500-700.

Unfortunately, we appear to have a high possibility of a nuclear war breaking out between two nations. At Pokhran, India tested their nuclear bomb in the underground of the desert. Between 200 to 300 meters deep into the earth, the heat generated rose up to almost a million degrees centigrade, as hot as the temperatures of the sun (Roy, 1). Yasuhiko Takeda says, “Today’s bombs are far more powerful than the bomb that fell on Hiroshima. Imagine what would happen in the event of a nuclear war between India and Pakistan. In a nuclear war, there are no winners”(Dreze, 2). Some feel having nuclear weapons generate greater tension between nations facing each other (Banerjee, 1). In a nuclear war, however, our enemies will not be individual countries, but will be the earth herself. Our cities and forests will burn and our rivers will turn toxic. Winds will spread the flames, and the earth will be enveloped in a cloud of darkness. Nuclear races can easily turn out into a Third World War.

Nuclear bombs influenced all over the world, from World War II to nations’ economies and landscapes, and lastly to peoples’ views towards them. The world’s first nuclear bomb was introduced during WWII by the US, for Japan’s surrender. Definitely, it helped to end the Second World War by forcing Japan to submit, leaving incredible number of casualties behind. These weapons drew other nations’ interest and started nuclear races among some nations of the world. To prevent another World War and to bring peace to our civilization, we must realize the true nature of nuclear bombs and their dreadful and deadly consequences.