1945: The Atomic Bomb Drop on Hiroshima

DATE: July 17th-August 6th, 1945

DESCRIPTION: The atomic bomb drop on Hiroshima was the result of the Japanese not listening to the ultimatum from the US. He though that risking further destruction through war would be worse than destroying a city. They were hoping that the “Fat Man” bomb could send a clear message to the Japanese that the USA was a big powerhouse to deal with. 100 000 people along with the entire city was destroyed instantly and caused many more deaths afterwards from radiation.

BLAME: The tensions and responsibility for this event were clearly due to the USA and are clearly all the fault of the US here. They were the ones that created the bomb and Harry Truman was at the center of this decision to drop it. He was conflicted over dropping it or not but in the end he pushed the button; therefore, the blame for this event falls on the USA.

TENSION INCREASE: The tensions increased a lot during this event. Truman may have done a good thing to help end the war sooner with this bomb, and potentially reduced the amount of KIAs in the war, but underlying all of this the US wanted to send a clear message not just to Japan but to Russia as well: telling them simply not to mess with them. It also opened the Russians’ and the rest of the world’s eyes to the immense power of the US making them more cautious of them and inspiring them to research and create their own. This would eventually lead to an arms race between the US and the Soviet Union that would play a massive role in the Cold War. +2

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