Chronology on the decision to drop the bomb on Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

This report describes the effects of the atomic bombs which were dropped on the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki on August 6 and 9, 1945, respectively. It summarizes all the authentic information that is available on damage to structures, injuries to personnel, morale effect, etc., which can be released at this time without prejudicing the security of the United States. This report has been compiled by the Manhattan Engineer District of the United States Army under the direction of Major General Leslie R. Groves.

Discusses the bombing of Hiroshima, Japan. Those who remember the day of the bombing; Assertion that the bomb profoundly changed the world; Question of whether the bomb was instrumental in making Japan surrender to the United States; Speculation contained in the book "Racing the Enemy," by Tsuyoshi Hasegawa; Lack of regret among those who developed the atomic bomb.

One of Japan's most senior politicians has said the US atomic bombing of Nagasaki in 1945 was impermissible from a humanitarian point of view.

Leaflets dropped on cities in Japan warning civilians about the atomic bomb, dropped c. August 6, 1945

America had the bomb. Now what? When Harry Truman learned of the success of the Manhattan Project, he knew he was faced with a decision of unprecedented gravity.

Japanese policy, 1939–41; Pearl Harbor and the Japanese expansion, to July 1942

Atomic bomb, also called atom bomb, weapon with great explosive power that results from the sudden release of energy upon the splitting, or fission, of the nuclei of such heavy elements as plutonium or uranium. Look for the link to 'The Decision to Use the Atomic Bomb', about half way down.

In just one “unspeakable second,” in early August, 1945, the world was changed forever. Since 1942, a secret U.S. weapons program, called the Manhattan Project, had been at work on two revolutionary bombs of such intense heat and explosive force that they would reduce the two target cities—Hiroshima and Nagasaki—to vast scorched wastelands. But it was their radioactivity, which remained deadly long after the debris settled and the smoke cleared, that changed our world forever.

This collection focuses on The Decision to Drop the Atomic Bomb. It includes documents totaling almost 600 pages, covering the years 1945-1964. Supporting materials include an online version of "Truman and the Bomb: A Documentary History," edited by Robert H. Ferrell.

On August 6, 1945, the first atomic bomb attack occured over Hiroshima, Japan. Three days later, Nagasaki, Japan was bombed. On August 15, 1945, World War II ended with the surrender of the Japanese.

With the material that follows, the National Security Archive publishes the most comprehensive on-line collection to date of declassified U.S. government documents on the atomic bomb and the end of the war in the Pacific. Besides material from the files of the Manhattan Project, this collection includes formerly "Top Secret Ultra" summaries and translations of Japanese diplomatic cable traffic intercepted under the "Magic" program.

Highlights the decision of U.S. President Harry S. Truman to drop atomic bombs in Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Japan in August 1945. Criticism on the decision of the former president; Creation of the S-1 Committee for the development of the atomic bomb headed by physicist Arthur Compton in Manhattan Engineer; Number of Japanese who were killed and injured by the bombing; Information on two political objectives behind the decision of Truman.

The article focuses on the question of the morality of the United States' decision to bomb the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki during World War II. The various estimates of the death toll are considered. The regret on the part of bomb builder and designer Robert Oppenheimer is discussed. The attitude of U.S. President Harry Truman in relation to the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki is also discussed.

These two cities are etched in the collective consciousness of the world as scenes of utter destruction and inhumanity. The decision of President Harry S Truman to authorize the use of atomic bombs on the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki also remains one of the most contentious issues associated with the conduct of Allied forces in World War II.

Fifty years ago, during a three-day period in August 1945, the United States dropped two atomic bombs on Japan, killing more than 115,000 people and possibly as many as 250,000, and injuring at least another 100,000. In the aftermath of the war, the bombings raised both ethical and historical questions about why and how they were used.

The 50th anniversary of the use of atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki has produced a wholly predictable debate over the necessity and morality of that decision.

Originally published in History in Dispute. Ed. Robert J. Allison. Vol. 3: American Social and Political Movements, 1900-1945: Pursuit of Progress Summary: No question has troubled American historians so much as the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Did the bombings hasten the end of the war and spare the lives of millions of Japanese and American combatants and civilians? Or did the United States cynically use these new weapons against an already defeated Japan in order to impress the Soviet Union with American power?