The Bombing of Japan The Nuclear Era of Warfare Begins

World War II

1939 1940 1941 1942 1943 1944 1945

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D-Day

GermanySurrenders & Atomic Bomb endsPacific War

PolandInvasion

France Falls

Battle of Britain

InvasionSovietUnion

Battle ofStalingrad &Operation Torch

Battle ofMidway

PearlHarbor

U.S. closes in on Japan

March 1945 Marines take Iwo Jima– Island 660 miles from Tokyo

• April 1945 Marines take Okinawa– 350 Miles from Japan

– 110,000 Japanese soldiers die, 12,500 Americans

– Over 100,000 civilians die

Iwo Jima650 Miles

Okinawa350 Miles

Atomic Bombs

First bomb exploded in desert in July 1945

Top secret project known as the “Manhattan Project”

Decision: Invade Japan?

• US estimated they would lose 500,000 lives

• The new President, Harry Truman, demanded unconditional surrender

• Japan did not respond

Atomic Bomb

• Hiroshima August 6th, 1945– Population 365,000

– 73,000 die

• Nagasaki August 9th

– Population 200,000

– 38,000 die

Some survive—but arescarred for life!

Thousands die

Japan Surrenders

• Douglas MacArthur accepts surrender– September 1945

• WORLD WAR II officially ends!

The Decision to drop the Bomb

Was it necessary?

Historical Reading & Analysis