Pearl Harbour and Attomic Bombs

• Importance: short term cause of Canada and USA joining the war, also caused many internment camps 

  • Japanese airplanes left 6 aircraft carriers and struck Pearl Harbour a few minutes before 8AM local time
  • Over 2 hours, they killed over 3500 Americans and sank or badly damaged 18 ships
  • Both USA and Canada formally declared war on Japan following the attack of Pearl Harbour
• Pearl Harbour - December 7th, 1941
• Atomic Bombs

  Importance: It helped Japan surrender to the Allies
• PROS OF THE ATOMIC BOMB

  • Strategic and conventional bombing
  • Japan refused to unconditionally surrender
  • Alternative (bombs and blockades) would have devastating effects on the Japanese population and prolonged the war and their suffering (starvation)
  • Japanese military were preparing a desperate defence of their homeland that would inevitably produce high casualties on both sides
• CONS OF THE ATOMIC BOMB

  • Unethical and immoral (new weapon with harsh effects, i.e radiation poisoning)
  • High civilian death toll (150,000)
  • By 1945, Japan was crippled as a result of the Allied blockade and bombings and near collapse (surrender was certain already)
  • Americans wanted to show the USSR they had atomic bombs (ushered in the Cold War)
• AFTER EFFECTS

  • Killed as many as 140,000 people in Hiroshima and 80,000 in Nagasaki by the end of 1945
  • Half of those deaths occurred the day of the bombing
  • 15-20% died of injuries or the combined effects of flash burns, trauma, and radiation burns
  • Bonus effects of illness, malnutrition, and radiation sickness
  • Since then, more have died from leukemia or cancer attributed to exposure of radiation released by the bombs
  • Caused Atomic bomb shadows
  • Thermal radiation, opaque object, contacts, creates shadow
• Hiroshima - August 6, 1945

  Importance: chosen because of its military and industrial significance and concentrated population to maximize damage

  • Atomic bomb nicknamed “little boy” was dropped on Hiroshima at 8:15am
• Nagasaki - August 11, 1945

  Importance: chosen because of its military and industrial significance and concentrated population to maximize damage

  • Atomic bomb called “fat man” dropped on Nagasaki at 11:02am
• • August 15,1945 Emperor Hirohito spoke to tell them Japan surrendered