By the time American aircraft attacked Japan’s cities with atomic bombs, the country had already endured a devastating campaign. Submarine warfare and blockade cut off food, fuel, and raw materials. B-29 incendiary raids burned urban areas, killing around 100,000 people in Tokyo on 9–10 March alone. These were civilian deaths on an enormous scale.
Why it happened — A government of two minds. Japan’s civilian leaders looked to Moscow to mediate a peace by spring 1945. They did not know that Stalin had promised at Yalta to attack Japan.…
The turn — Hiroshima, 08:15, 6 August. At 08:15 on 6 August, one aircraft dropped one bomb on Hiroshima. Roughly 70,000 people died immediately. By the end of the year, deaths from burns…
What it changed — Surrender — and a preserved throne. The postwar settlement transformed Japan’s institutions while retaining the throne. Under American-led occupation, Japan was demilitarized and given…
