The order to attack Japanese cities with an atomic bomb was issued on July 25, 1945 by acting U.S. Army Secretary of the Army to General Carl Spatz, the commander of the US Strategic Air Force, by delivering the first special bomb on the 3rd August 1945 as soon as the weather allowed. “
Further attacks on the targets mentioned above were authorized to proceed as soon as additional atomic bombs were delivered. The order explicitly confirmed that Prime Minister George Marshall and War Secretary Henry Stimson had approved it. Of course, US President Harry Truman provided the ultimate approval to drop a bomb.
Before the above order of attacks was given, the US Air Force began practicing the use of atomic bombs from mid-July to early August in Japan, dropping 49 mock bombs with the same 6.5 tonnes of traditional explosives as those used in Nagasaki, 18 prefectures. Training was to learn the trajectory needed for the real thing.
The first uranium bomb (Little Boy) was shipped early and arrived at Tinian on July 26th. Shortly afterwards, a plutonium explosive device (Fatman) arrived in Tinian. The third Fatman type bomb will arrive in Tinian in late August. If there are two bombs in the Tinian, both will be used.
The Potsdam Declaration, which calls for Japan to surrender or destroy the face, was issued on July 26, 1945, one day after the order to deploy the atomic bomb. The declaration promised the Japanese that they could design a new government as long as they were peaceful and democratic. There was debate that suggested that the imperial system could continue. Some knew this was important for the success of the profession, but the declaration remained silent on this point.
The diplomatic debate between Switzerland and Moscow was launched with Moscow, a neutral, non-belliger force, and made it clear whether the continuation of the imperial system could become part of its new postwar government. In Japan’s demand for clarification on this issue, the communication did not specifically mention Emperor Hirohito, who resigned from resigning to assume accountability, according to historical records of the Imperial family. Soviet leader Joseph Stalin chose to delay these debates because he wanted the Soviet Union to take part in the war so that he could seize the territory.
However, the United States knew from the intercepted messages between Tokyo and Moscow that the Japanese had been seeking ways to end the war since June 1945. And after the Potsdam declaration was issued, the intercepted message confirmed that Japan called for clarification of the continuation of the imperial system in the new democratic system. The United States chose to interpret its request for clarity as a denial of the Potsdam Declaration.
At the Potsdam Conference, the Soviets had promised to attack Japan by August 15th. However, confirming that the July 16 bomb test in New Mexico was completely successful, the allies no longer needed the Soviet help to end the war without invasion. The US and the UK chose to inform him about the bomb, but through his spy network he already knew everything about the Manhattan Project.
Soviet attacks advanced after the Hiroshima bombing at 8:15am on August 6th. It started just after midnight on August 9th, Moscow time. Fatman was dropped into the unfortunate city of Nagasaki at 11:02am on August 9th (Japan time). The bombing took place later than planned as it was the main target of the day, but after the delay, Americans chose a secondary target as cloud cover and smoke overwhelmed the city.
Did you need to drop a bomb on a civilian population centre to demonstrate the power of the weapon?
A few months before the attack, the special committee discussed how the new weapons were deployed. Early proposals to hold demonstrations on an island offshore near Tokyo Bay were rejected as they believed that only the actual strike shock would force Japan to surrender. The committee eventually settled on a “double target” plan that would attack military facilities near the manufacturing hub with workers.
However, shortly afterwards, another committee set aside the “double target” plan and proposed targeting cities in Hiroshima, pediatrics, niigata and Kyoto. War Secretary Harry Stimson rejected Kyoto, so Nagasaki took his place. These cities were chosen because they had not yet been bombed, mainly unlike other major Japanese cities, as they are still useful in assessing the damage and effectiveness of the attack.
The problem is why the first atomic bomb was dropped just a week or so after the Potsdam Declaration. Evidence strongly suggests that the attacks took place before the Soviet Union entered into war with Japan. As “Iron Curtains” had already descended into Eastern Europe, the US and Britain wanted to check out Stalin’s influence in postwar Asia.
Did you need to drop it in the morning hours when civilians are most concentrated in the city centre?
(The change in US bombing strategy in January 1945 brought the distinction between military, industrial and civilian targets aside with the change from high-altitude targeting to low-altitude attacks on civilian centres with burnt Cen bombs. The objective was to destroy most of the city at once.
(It started with a Tokyo fire bomb on March 9-10, 1945, which claimed the lives of more than 100,000 civilians, but the use of napalm and white phosphorus agitator bombs continued by hundreds of bombers the following month, causing the deaths of tens of millions of civilians and leaving millions of civilians. The issue of civilian casualties during this period was not a priority. Daytime raids allowed the bombers to see clearly the target and document the damage caused.
Given the nature of the order issued on July 25th and the fact that two bombs were expected to arrive in Tinian by August 3rd, it is clear that Japan will drop both bombs to drop both bombs before they can make a realistic response.
The debate over the need to use such destructive weapons continues to this day.
American history books have long said that bombing is necessary to avoid Japanese invasions, which could cost up to a million American casualties. Okinawa’s fierce defense is cited as an example of what will happen in the Kyushu invasion. The problem with that reasoning is that Japan’s invasion during the Olympics is expected to begin in November, about three months after the atomic bomb. The United States knew for certain that Japan was about to end the war, and believed that accepting the recommendations of American experts to demonstrate support for a constitutional monarchy would likely ensure surrender.
An obvious alternative to using nuclear weapons was to await a planned Soviet attack on Japan, expected around mid-August. However, Washington and its allies wanted to avoid Soviet involvement, so the US saw the atomic bomb as a better option.
There is some historical evidence suggesting that the bomb is intended to put pressure on Stalin to stop further progress in Europe and elsewhere. However, the plan failed miserably. Both bombs were withdrawn, and the Soviet Union entered the war and called for full involvement in the postwar programme of the Asian people as a reward for the short six-day battle before Japan announced its surrender.
Every August 6th and 9th, Hiroshima and Nagasaki are updated to announce the number of deaths caused by the atomic bomb. Radioactive Fallout continued to cause cancer for decades after the attack. As of August 6, 2025, Hiroshima has recorded 349,246 names. Nagasaki will also add more names to last year’s total of 198,785.
(Source: The Japan Times)