Firebombing
The two nuclear bombs that the United States dropped in Nagasaki and Hiroshima were ultimately different than what had been going on for the past 3 years. Beginning in 1942, the United States initiated a set of devastating bombings that started the collapse of Japan. The United States’ tactics in the bombings almost show the evolution of war over this time.
In 1942, the United States military was introduced a new tool; the B-29. This was one of the biggest planes and most advanced bomber aircrafts at the time, but it took a little time to utilize them correctly. It wasn’t until Allies were able to capture islands near Japan that the B-29’s were at their full potential. Because the planes were now so much closer, full fuel tanks weren’t as much of a necessity and the weight from the fuel could be replaced with more bombs loads. From here, the largest cities in Japan were targeted in hopes of destroying factories, buildings, residential areas, etc. In fact, General Curtis Lemay researched the largest cities in Japan and placed them as strategic targets to perform night attacks on. His plan was to drop the massive loads of bombs on the largest cities from extremely low elevation in order to inflict even more damage. (7,000 feet as opposed to the 30,000 feet initially) Lemay’s “firebombing” continued to pick up popularity and became the preferred tactic of the military. Firebombing knocked out half of the factories in Kobe and was part of one of the biggest attacks in the war. In late February 1945, over 300 B-29s began a night-attack on the city of Tokyo. Overall, 1,700 tons of bombs were dropped, 16 square miles were burned, and 100,000 people lost their lives. Over the following month, Lemay and his fleet continued to firebomb many of the smaller cities in Japan and took out the large manufacturing sites. This type of attack was a form of destructive warfare in which the US not only wanted to manufacturing plants, but also residential areas and the largest cities (History Learning Site). However, the firebombing tactics and destruction were upstaged months later in Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
In 1942, the United States military was introduced a new tool; the B-29. This was one of the biggest planes and most advanced bomber aircrafts at the time, but it took a little time to utilize them correctly. It wasn’t until Allies were able to capture islands near Japan that the B-29’s were at their full potential. Because the planes were now so much closer, full fuel tanks weren’t as much of a necessity and the weight from the fuel could be replaced with more bombs loads. From here, the largest cities in Japan were targeted in hopes of destroying factories, buildings, residential areas, etc. In fact, General Curtis Lemay researched the largest cities in Japan and placed them as strategic targets to perform night attacks on. His plan was to drop the massive loads of bombs on the largest cities from extremely low elevation in order to inflict even more damage. (7,000 feet as opposed to the 30,000 feet initially) Lemay’s “firebombing” continued to pick up popularity and became the preferred tactic of the military. Firebombing knocked out half of the factories in Kobe and was part of one of the biggest attacks in the war. In late February 1945, over 300 B-29s began a night-attack on the city of Tokyo. Overall, 1,700 tons of bombs were dropped, 16 square miles were burned, and 100,000 people lost their lives. Over the following month, Lemay and his fleet continued to firebomb many of the smaller cities in Japan and took out the large manufacturing sites. This type of attack was a form of destructive warfare in which the US not only wanted to manufacturing plants, but also residential areas and the largest cities (History Learning Site). However, the firebombing tactics and destruction were upstaged months later in Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
As explained in the history of the bombings, the United States created a set of nuclear bombs that were dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki only 6 months after severe firebombing of Japan’s largest and most populated cities. However, the damage that these inflicted were much different. The first of the bombs was dropped on Hiroshima on August 6th, 1945. As mentioned before, it caused significant damage to the citizens by the initial blast, the destruction afterwards, and the radiation that continued to stick around. Nagasaki was attacked three days later on August 9, 1945. Like Hiroshima, Nagasaki was struck with significant damage; however the blast radius was not as big because the city lies in a small valley. What made these attacks so special were because it was the first time that nuclear explosions were used in a war as a weapon. In this sense, a new step was being taken to a new generation in warfare. Still today, nuclear weapons are one of the most feared, and significant, weapons for militaries to worry about and this event was what helped evolve the generational warfare. Similarly, these nuclear bombs showed another form of evolution from the firebombing that the United States had been doing for months before. The firebombing campaign that Lemay and the Americans used had explosions as the bombs hit the earth. This was the reasoning for the carpet bombing; it inflicted mass destruction on the landscape. However, the nuclear bombs used a new technology which allowed the bomb to be detonated before impact as opposed to exploding at impact. As discussed by Nuclear Weapon Effects by Steven Aftergood, the majority of the energy from the bomb goes into the land at impact creating a crater. The nuclear bomb, however, was able to be detonated prior to impact which meant little to no crater. It also means that no energy would be lost into the ground and instead will be included in the explosion and destruction (Aftergood). This new technology facilitated the United States plan to destroy the cities, their manufacturing plants, and the hopes of Japanese citizens.
In addition to the massive physical destruction to the landscape and cities, the constant firebombing and nuclear bombs added immense psychological damage to Japan and the citizens. As outlined in Lisa Brady’s book regarding the American Civil War, General William Sherman marched his troops across the South while defeating the enemies. In addition, Sherman and his troops engaged in massive pillaging of the land as they traveled. They would burn down crop fields, ransack houses, and take the necessities for them to continue on. As much as it hurt the South in a physical sense, it also hurt them emotionally. In a sense, it took the wind out of their sails and showed them that there was little hope left for a victory. (Brady) Similarly, the United States used two different types of attacks in a psychological assault on the Japanese. The initial firebombings were early and often throughout the war, and the nuclear bombs added to it. I would consider the role that the US played in World War II to be very similar to what General Sherman did in the Civil War. The massive physical destruction along with the psychological attacks that were made influenced Japan to surrender just days later.