The Attack on Hiroshima and Nagasaki

On December7, 1941 just before 8am, the Japanese raid on Pearl Harbor was one of the great defining moments in history.

A carefully plan by the Japanese removed the United States Navy's battle ship force. America, unprepared and considerably weakened, was abruptly brought into the Second World War. The United States had an important political and economic interest in East Asia, and was alarmed by Japan. The U.S. increased military and financial aid to China, embarked on a program of strengthening its military power in the Pacific, and cut off the shipment of oil and other raw materials to Japan.

At the beginning of World War Two, the bombing of civilians was regarded as a barbaric act. Some people were for it and some totally against using the bomb especially since Japan seemed close to surrender. On July16, 1945 the test of the atomic bomb was in the New Mexico desert and was a spectacular success. On July25, 1945 President Truman ordered the bomb dropped on " purely military" targets, so that innocent women and children were not harmed. The cities themselves were the targets.

On August 6, 1945, the city of Hiroshima was the target of the first atomic bomb used against civil population in history. Three days later, the United States dropped a second atomic bomb over the city of Nagasaki. In total, about one fourth of a million people were killed by the two bombs.

Today, Hiroshima, Nagasaki and the country of Japan are strongly engaged in banning nuclear weapons and their testing worldwide.