Third Atomic Bomb Attack - Japan 1945

[Music] the atomic bombings of japan are considered by many to have ended world war ii this is partially correct their use was a major factor in causing japan to surrender but it is not widely known that a third atomic bombing was planned for the 19th of august 1945 if the japanese refused to surrender and there was resistance at the highest levels of the japanese government to doing so of those in the know in 1945 few thought that two atomic bombs would bring about the japanese surrender major general leslie groves commanding the manhattan project didn't think so just three days after the successful trinity test of the first atomic bomb in the new mexico desert he wrote to robert oppenheimer and told him that it would be necessary to drop little boy and fat man on japan possibly followed by two more fat man bombs colonel paul tibbets who would drop the first atomic bomb on hiroshima wrote that it would take up to five bombs to cause the japanese to surrender tibbetts had a squadron of 15 silver plate b-29s ready to do so if it became necessary the problem for the allies was japan's profound unwillingness to surrender the first two bombs did not completely do the trick to understand what was going on we need to explore what was happening at the highest levels of the japanese government following the defeat of germany in early may 1945 the allied powers held a conference at potsdam between the 16th of july and the 2nd of august among the subjects discussed was the defeat of japan an agreement called the potsdam declaration was drafted by the united states britain and china and called upon japan to surrender unconditionally the sticking point for the japanese was the future status of emperor hirohito the japanese head of state and the monarchy as an institution the americans wanted to abolish the monarchy and try hirohito as a war criminal the british favored retaining the monarchy perhaps with hirohito still on the throne to help obtain the consent of the japanese people to an allied occupation however the finnish declaration fudged the issue of the emperor leaving his fate vague on the 26th of july this declaration was given to the japanese government via the swiss with the ominous warning regarding the terms of surrender quote we will not deviate from them there are no alternatives we shall brook no delay unquote prompt and utter destruction was promised if the terms were not accepted the japanese government rejected the potsdam declaration at the same time trying to open negotiations through the soviet union for better terms japan not being at war with the soviet union at this time however some japanese officials suspected that stalin had a secret agenda perhaps even including military action against the japanese in manchuria an urged surrender to avoid the chance that soviet forces might land in northern japan these warnings were ignored in tokyo japanese intransigence left the us with few choices planning was underway for a huge amphibious invasion of japan in december 1945. codenamed operation downfall the japanese were expecting such a move and kyushu island was heavily garrisoned by 990 000 troops backed up by the volunteer fighting corps civilian men and women armed with old guns molotov cocktails spears swords and so on japan planned to use 28 million civilians to help the imperial army resist the allied attacks in the south in addition the japanese amassed 10 000 aircraft and over 2 400 suicide boats plus 1200 suicide divers allied casualties for downfall would dwarf anything seen in other large-scale amphibious operations of the war on top of all this in june 1945 the japanese government had launched a campaign to mobilize all civilians across japan to resist the invasion with the charming name the glorious death of 100 million [Music] we should be under no illusions as to the determination of the japanese to resist allied encroachment onto the home islands the americans had only to look at the resistance of japanese troops and civilians on saipan and okinawa as examples to see what would happen in december 1945 operation downfall would ensure that the war would drag on well into 1946 perhaps even 1947 a situation no one wanted not least the poor allied troops who had been fighting in asia for three and a half years hundreds of thousands of emaciated allied prisoners of war remained in japanese hands the japanese government had issued orders to kill every one of them should the allies land in japan proper the alternative was to use the new atomic bomb to try and scare the japanese government into capitulation on the 6th of august 1945 the b-29 enola gay dropped little boy on hiroshima a city containing twenty thousand japanese troops military headquarters and dispersed war industries around a hundred thousand people were killed tokyo was confused as to its significance however later on the sixth president truman announced the first use of an atomic bomb in combat our meeting at berlin was the first meeting of the great ally since the victory was won in europe naturally our thoughts now turn to the day of victory in japan the british chinese and united states governments have given the japanese people adequate warning of what is in store for them we have laid down the general terms on which they can surrender our warning went unheeded our terms were rejected since then the japanese have seen what our atomic bomb can do they can foresee what it will do in the future the world will note that the first atomic bomb was dropped on hiroshima a military base that was because we wished in the first attack to avoid insofar as possible the killing of civilians but that attack is only a warning of things to come if japan does not surrender bombs will have to be dropped on her war industries and unfortunately thousands of civilian lives will be lost i urge japanese civilians to leave industrial cities immediately and save themselves from destruction i realize the tragic significance of the atomic bomb its production and its use were not lightly undertaken by this government so what was the reaction the japanese cabinet to hiroshima they refused to believe the u.s announcement instead independent corroboration was sought from japanese atomic scientists after they had corroboration admiral soyumu toyoda chief of the naval staff argued that yes the americans had one atomic bomb but he didn't believe they possessed many more japan would not surrender the americans had anticipated toyota's reaction so in order to bluff the japanese into believing that the u.s possessed multiple bombs a second strike was ordered on the city of kokura but heavy cloud cover caused the secondary target to be bombed instead on the 9th of august 1945. that was the city of nagasaki killing a further 40 000 people at 10 58 the morning of august 9 japanese time the second atomic bomb was exploded over the industrial seaport city of nagasaki almost the entire population of 230 000 people was engaged in the manufacture of arms munitions and other war products two great mitsubishi factories were located in the heart of the city to the north one of the world's largest torpedo plants and further south the huge steel and arms works the bomb which was dropped on nagasaki was aimed at a point midway between the two plants in order to cause the greatest possible industrial damage unlike hiroshima the force of the explosion at nagasaki was largely confined to the industrial valley which was surrounded by a series of hills that shielded many other areas of the [Music] city a great towering mushroom effect could be seen going higher and higher and reaching into the stratosphere japan had already received a shock earlier that day when at four am word was received in tokyo that the soviet union had broken its neutrality pack with japan and invaded japanese occupied manchuria in northern china where the weakened japanese guangdong army struggled to stop the soviet onslaught soviet forces also captured southern sakhalin ireland and had orders to invade hokkaido the northernmost island of japan within 10 to 14 days unlike in the south japanese forces in hokkaido were relatively small and weak the specter of communist occupation of part or all of japan badly unsettled the japanese leaders none more so than emperor hirohito prime minister kantaro suzuki and foreign minister shigenori togo agreed that japan must surrender at once the imperial japanese army thought differently minister of war general anami prepared to enact martial law to prevent peace while the ministers argued about the soviet invasion news had arrived of the second atomic bombing the meeting of the japanese cabinet ended with a split three in favor of peace three in favor of more war the legal position of the emperor if japan accepted the potsdam declaration was a major sticking point not the irradiation of hundreds of thousands of japanese citizens president truman spoke again upping the rhetoric and ending with the chilling warnings concerning the atomic bomb quote we shall continue to use it until we have completely destroyed japan's power to make war only a japanese surrender will stop us unquote but was truman bluffing did the americans have any more bombs ready if japan still refused to surrender another meeting of the imperial cabinet that night failed to come to a consensus afterwards suzuki and togo met with hirohito and an imperial conference was convened that night although japan's dire military and economic positions were acknowledged no consensus could be reached again around 2 am on the 10th of august suzuki asked the emperor to decide whether japan fought on or surrendered the emperor made a rambling statement and ended with the following words quote i swallow my tears and give my sanction to the proposal to accept the allied proclamation on the basis outlined by the foreign minister unquote the divided cabinet accepted hirohito's wishes but still the issue of the emperor in post-war japan was a contentious point though the foreign ministry telegramed the allies that japan would accept the potsdam declaration it would not accept on conditions that would quote prejudice the prerogatives of the emperor unquote this was unacceptable to the allied powers who would not change the potsdam declaration's terms so what should the allies do the us had one more a-bomb assembly ready to be shipped to tinian [Music] and it would be ready for action on the 19th of august 1945. the japanese might continue to quibble over the issue of the emperor and truman could not yet order another strike in fact no action would appear to the japanese to indicate that admiral toyota's warning that the us did not possess many a-bombs was correct perhaps emboldening the japanese to further resistance so while truman awaited the third bomb the b-29 firebombing campaign continued against japan but this went awry when bad weather over japan prevented planned attacks on the 11th of august indeed ill-informed journalists thought the failure to attack was some kind of cease-fire truman then ordered a halt to all further conventional bombings in order not to make it appear that the americans had abandoned peace efforts the japanese cabinet remained divided prime minister suzuki was for rejecting the u.s offer and insisting on a guarantee to protect the japanese monarchy general anami was aggrieved by another of the potsdam declaration's points the allied occupation of japan he and the imperial army would not accept this but foreign minister togo told the prime minister that the allied terms were final and marquis kido the lord privy seal who advised the emperor said that hirohito wanted japan to surrender admiral yonai was concerned about civil unrest if japan continued the war he said domestic circumstances provided an excuse to end the war later that day emperor hirohito informed the rest of the imperial family of his decision to surrender but when his uncle general prince asaka the officer responsible for the infamous rape of nan king in china in 1937 asked him would the war continue if the allies refused to preserve the imperial system hirohito replied of course instead of dropping bombs the americans spent the 13th of august dropping leaflets over japan they laid out the surrender terms including japan's offer to surrender that night the cabinet met again but still couldn't reach a consensus the allies were becoming suspicious the japanese had been asked to send out by uncoded radio and acceptance of the terms of unconditional surrender but they didn't incredibly intercepted radio traffic indicated that the japanese were preparing some kind of final defense or even a mass attack at this point truman ordered the resumption of bombing raids on japan to show the japanese that the allies meant business five days still remained before the third atomic bomb could be dropped on the 14th of august 1945 in two raids 1014 american aircraft bomb japan including destroying japan's last oil refinery that produced 67 percent of the nation's oil further attacks would follow truman believed that japanese governmental indecision and intransigence would force him to order a third atomic attack which he did not want to do the question was which city would have been targeted on the 19th of august tokyo appeared the obvious target it contained the imperial palace and government ministries the effect of taking out the capital already badly damaged by conventional raids would have had a disastrous effect on japanese morale particularly among surviving government officials but there is an obvious point against tokyo as the target for the third bomb such an attack would have decapitated the government and killed the emperor leaving no one left to negotiate with generals would have fought on with new ferocity as the god emperor was worshipped by ordinary japanese and soldiers alike and he had been assassinated by the americans instead i would surmise that a less politically important target would have been attacked such as kukura the original target for the 9th of august bombing that hit nagasaki or even yokohama the great port city near tokyo another city mentioned as a target was niagara however other historians have named sapporo in the far north as a target which would have sent a strong signal to moscow not to invade japan or hakodate yokosuka home of the vast japanese naval basin arsenal osaka or nagoya all are intriguing theories but for me i would suggest kukura owing to prior careful planning on hitting this target the third atomic bomb was ready to be shipped to tinian available for use on the 19th colonel tibbetts commanding the 509th bomb group the drop the a bombs had sent back to wendover utah two of his b-29s luke the spook and jabet 3 to collect the bomb and its plutonium core and fly them to tinian once this material had been moved forward from the los alamos national laboratory in new mexico but it is clear that the u.s government hesitated to use the third a-bomb for no authorization was given at this time to actually fly it to tinian the earliest use date of the 19th of august remained on the table however with no formal decision taken as yet so what actually happened to make the japanese finally surrender the 14th of august was decision day for the japanese government hirohito met with senior army and navy officers many wanted to fight on but field marshal shinroku hatta commanding the second general army headquarters hiroshima did not hata's job was to prevent the u.s landings the great fight to the death he told the emperor that his army could not defeat the americans a cabinet meeting followed but general anami admiral toyoda and general umetsu all called for continued resistance but hirohito made his decision he decided to surrender the cabinet felon line and backed him immediately afterwards the decision was broadcast to the allies but it was not over yet the emperor recorded the imperial rescript on surrender at 11 pm an nhk recording crew going to the palace it was planned to broadcast the emperor's words to the japanese people the following day 15th of august 1945 but a coup was planned to prevent this recording from ever being broadcast for many japanese army officers wanted the war to continue the coup plot had actually begun on the 12th of august led by major hatanaka supported by several other senior officers including general anami's brother-in-law they tried to pressure anami into rejecting the potsdam declaration but anami refused to go against the emperor's wishes hatanaka and his co-conspirators decided to launch a coup d'etat and replace the government with one prepared to fight on at 9 30 pm on the 14th of august major hatanaka's coup was launched hatanaka had convinced the commanding officer of the second regiment of the first imperial guards division colonel hagar that the coup was widely supported by japanese generals and the emperor and hagar moved his regiment into the palace supplementing the battalion already on guard duty there hatanaka's original plan was to occupy the palace to incite other units to rebel against the surrender around 2pm on the 15th of august general anami committed ritual suicide for unclear reasons hatanaka and his men surrounded the palace they demanded lieutenant general takeshi mori commander of the first imperial guards division joined them he refused so hatanaka killed him he then used mori's official stamp to authorize the army to take over the palace and the imperial household ministry to quote protect the emperor unquote they also searched frantically for the surrender speech recording but failed to find it during all this emperor hirohito was in his plush underground bunker the gabunko beneath the palace grounds the emperor never confronted the rebels face to face interestingly hirohito and his family would continue to live in the bunker until 1961 when the imperial palace's main buildings destroyed by american air raids were rebuilt into the present palace complex other japanese army officers tried to kill prime minister suzuki who escaped minutes before they arrived in the meantime loyal troops were coming to crush the coup colonel hagar realizing they had been duped removed his second regimen from the palace an hour before hirohito's surrender was broadcast at 12 noon on the 15th of august hatanaka shot himself but what would have happened if the coup had succeeded the war would have continued and the third bomb would have been dropped on or after the 19th of august even after the 15th of august surrender japanese forces continued fighting the last u.s plane shot down over japan was brought down on the 18th of august and japanese forces continued fighting the soviets until early september 1945. in fact the third atomic bomb was kept on standby at las alamos until the 2nd of september 1945 as the allies feared some new coup might yet occur and the japanese resumed the fight especially as large-scale u.s occupation forces only began to arrive in japan from the 30th of august onwards and millions of japanese troops remained under arms in japan and across asia on the 2nd of september the formal surrender ceremony was held aboard the uss missouri in tokyo bay and general douglas macarthur became the de facto ruler of japan the emperor remaining as part of a much reformed political and monarchical [Music] system lived on until 1989 what this program has hopefully tried to convey was the complexity of the japanese surrender and the choices left open to president truman and the allies including the ultimate weapon the a-bomb the responsibility for prosecuting and then refusing to end the war lay on the shoulders of the japanese government and its callous disregard of civilian casualties certainly is quite obvious in any reading of these events if you were president truman what would you have done when faced with such an implacable foe thanks for watching please subscribe and share and also visit my audiobook channel war stories with mark felton you can also help to support both of my channels at paypal and patreon details in the description box below you

Channel: Mark Felton Productions

Views: 1,266,069

Rating: 4.9125819 out of 5

Keywords: Mark Felton Productions, Hiroshima, Nagasaki, Harry Truman, Potsdam, Atomic Bomb

Id: I34pxr23Nhw

Length: 24min 53sec (1493 seconds)

Published: Sun Aug 09 2020

Reddit Comments

[u/Fredfredbug4]

Contemporary discussion of the atomic bombings of Japan argue that they were unnecessary, inconsequential, and morally unjustifiable. While not taking an explicit stance, historian Mark Felton’s summary and analysis thoroughly makes a case against these three arguments. He concludes by asking the viewer what they would have done instead, carrying the implication that another choice would have prolonged the war and resulted in the loss of more lives and greater post-war instability.

[u/UnderstandingDue6557]

Mark Felton’s videos are some of the best I’ve encountered in terms of substance, a lot information and great footage.