Unleashing The Atom: The Bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki - War Against Humanity 139

[@WorldWarTwo]

We wanted to pin a comment on the enormous impact of the atomic bombing, but KZbin keeps hiding our comment. We will continue in our fight to make bring you the history that matters despite the censorship of our work. Never Forget.

[@Jarod-vg9wq]

Never forget! Love from Canada 🇨🇦 please make a video on Canada’s❤ roel in the war.

[@BouncingZeus]

@@Pavlos_Charalambous It happens every 4 years

[@evocorporation6537]

Thanks for the historical revionism Spartacus: 1) Despite the fact part of the government was willing to surrender and was trying to do so AFTER Hiroshima/Nagasaki/Soviet invasion, there was a coup attempt to prevent the surrender from happening. Spartacus makes no mention of this. 2) Why do all these ''the nuke was just to scare the Soviets'' or ''the Japs were already defeated'' historical revionists ALWAYS avoid talking about the coup? This is just as bad as how many WWII tragedies that left scars in nations that weren't even mentioned in the WWII show (for example: the Dutch alone never got a single mention on this channel about the February 41/Sep 43 strikes, mad tuesday or the May 1940 battles, and the famine which killed 20.000 civilians only a 1-minute mention ''on the side'')

[@Asd-tk2if]

@@evocorporation6537 On 26 July, 1945 (Berlin time), the Potsdam Conference issued a declaration on the terms for the surrender of Japan. When the Potsdam Declaration was received in Japan over shortwave, the Minister for Foreign Affairs Shigenori Tōgō brought a copy to the Emperor of Japan, Hirohito. After going over the declaration point by point, the emperor asked Tōgō if those terms "were the most reasonable to be expected in the circumstances". Tōgō said that they were. The emperor said, "I agree. In principle they are acceptable." In late July, however, the other ministers were not ready to accept the declaration. Direct from Wikipedia. They planned to accept the term even before any nukes fell and Soviets came. If i can counter your whole idea just by copy pasting Wiki article you might want to reconsider your position.

[@MarkKatz2772-jg3tc]

Have you considered also uploading the videos to other sites such as Odysee? Censorship is generally less of an issue over there, and unlike KZbin, they don't seem to actively protect animal abusers and sexual predators by taking down videos exposing them due to "harassment" and whatnot. KZbin does that a lot, sadly.

[@franskamstra2728]

i said it before and will say it again. this group of people who make this channel possible should earn some kind a world award. making history so detailed but still captivating is a once in a lifetime feat. i salute you

[@Deridus]

@@franskamstra2728 Pulitzer or Nobel-tier, that's for sure.

[@firefox3249]

Instead they get treated like shit by the likes of KZbin and their questionable (at best) sponsors. KZbin should arguably be paying out of pocket for content like this.

[@WorldWarTwo]

Thank you very much for the comment.

[@azimisyauqieabdulwahab9401]

How the US used the atomic bomb the 2 cities of Japan bombing

[@AdnanKhan-ty2sl]

​@@firefox3249Very true. KZbin instead de-monetizez videos that speak the truth. Very idiotic.

[@CaptainColdyron222]

Those little girls unknowingly catching radioactive fallout on their tongues is horrifying.

[@PobortzaPl]

Sparatcus: it was snowing Me: oh, no... Spartacus: girls were smearing snow on their faces and even putting it on thier tongues Me: ... looks like I paid enough attention during civil defense course

[@Maddie-ps1jy]

That was horrible 😞

[@AlexMax2742]

"...but this is not snow." sent chills down my spine.

[@kimwit1307]

In Hiroshima and Nagasaki many of the survivors of the initial blast would drink the black rain as they were parched and often suffering from burns.

[@Icicle_Racing]

@@AlexMax2742I get chills whenever I watch one of these.

[@Mr110074]

My god. We’re here folks. We are at the home stretch. I knew we were going to reach this point eventually but now that we are here I can’t believe it.

[@macleunin]

Just one more weekly episode to wrap things up. What a journey for those of us who were here from the start!

[@mgway4661]

@@macleuninbrother we have been here since 1914

[@macleunin]

@@mgway4661 that’s what I meant 🤝

[@joshfish2]

​@@macleuninonly to the unconditional surrender, the actual end of the war will be another 2 or 3 episodes

[@jonny-b4954]

Now imagine living through a war for as long as we've been watching.

[@robertneal4244]

Kokura was the second city on the list and was spared Fat Man's destruction as the weather plane reported cloudy conditions over the city. My then teenaged mother lived in Kokura and worked for a ball bearing plant. I exist...because of clouds.

[@cstaub5147]

Life is indeed ephemeral.

[@The_Fat_Controller.]

"Kokura's Luck" is coined from this event. It is defined as having escaped a great tragedy or misfortune without even knowing you were in peril in the first place. And it wasn't just clouds. Lingering smoke from a nearby bombing raid worsened visibility over Kokura. Also, an ingenious factory worker at one of the Kokura plants sensed that the area was about to be hit by some type of aerial attack, and introduced chemicals into his boilers or furnaces to produce thicker smoke to make using bomb sights difficult for the attacking Americans.

[@ericcarlson3746]

in Saturday's episode Indy said it was Niigata

[@allangibson8494]

Nagasaki was bombed as the Tertiary (not secondary) target because after multiple passes over the primary target Kokura the bomber “Bockscar”couldn’t see the target. “Bockscar”ran out of fuel at the end of the runway at Okinawa due to delays on route and a failed fuel pump. Nagasaki was bombed because it was on the shortest path from Kokura to Okinawa and the bomb was not “impact safe” (it would detonate if dropped even if not armed).

[@toastman1992]

Ted Fujita, one of the world's foremost meteorologists, was in Kokura at the time, as well. He is responsible for most of the research and knowledge we have on tornadoes and similar severe weather phenomena

[@andrewstubson]

I got to talk to a vet who worked on B-29's on Tinian. When a mission was ordered each plane was checked out mechanically, then loaded with bombs and fueled. After that a sargeant with a pistol would guard the plane until the crew came to start the mission. One day he saw a captain guarding one plane with a tommy gun and he thought that was really strange. Turns out, it was the Enola Gay about to bomb Hiroshima.

[@therideneverends1697]

Which when you think about it, still seems like horrifyingly light security considering

[@littlekong7685]

@@therideneverends1697 security draws attention, attention draws sabotage and attacks.

[@therideneverends1697]

@@littlekong7685 very good point

[@arutka2000]

Did he get the name of any of those Sargents? My grandfather was a marine sargent on Tinian.

[@wizzyno1566]

​​@@littlekong7685in which case why guard it differently and draw attention? You cant have it both ways.

[@uncleeric3317]

Thank you for not sugar coating the impact of this event.

[@rangerwickett]

If you're ever in Hiroshima, visit the museum. It's . . . heavy. It was weird the day we went, because there was a tour group of middle school kids, so the vibe of all these energetic kids was rather at odds with the content.

[@TrickiVicBB71]

I agree. People love to make memes and laugh about it. But what the horrific effects show that we should never decide to use such awful weapons again.

[@JimmyMon666]

Yeah you get a lot more from this than some Wikipedia article. I never realized it was this bad in Hiroshima. The article just doesn't really convey that.

[@francispaniagua4228]

How could someone sugar coat this?

[@dusk6159]

He called war against humanity an event that saved and reiceves more gratitude from asians and japanese than any other saved ethnicity under threat and under the war reaper.. That's a lot of sour coating

[@enoynaert]

My father was all-in on science. Except for nuclear energy. I did not understand why. He didn't talk much about what he did in WWII. He was an army medic. After he died my mother told me that he was in the first team of medics who went into Nagasaki. That explained a lot of things. I remember family talking about building bomb shelters. I remember my father saying he would never build a fallout shelter; he would go out in the yard and get killed by the initial blast.

[@blackhatfreak]

Well your father was a fool. Nuclear energy is still safe.

[@richards6431]

Well Nuclear Energy is not the same as nuclear weapons.

[@enoynaert]

@@richards6431 In my father's mind it was.

[@rodrigotolosa590]

​@@richards6431 dude was probably also against planes because the bombs had been dropped from them

[@richards6431]

@@enoynaert I could see the misunderstanding that could arise. Our leaders need to do a better job of explaining the differences.

[@tavenstrickert9658]

I met an old Japanese man in The town I used to live in Corona California. He was sitting at the bus stop every single day by the library when I would pass by on the bus. So one day I decided to get off the bus and sit next to him. I got into a conversation with him and started learning about his life story. Turned out he was actually at Hiroshima and he had a bunch of bleaching on his skin from the radiation Burns. He was in a bunker at the time, not in the center of Hiroshima but on the outskirts being briefed on a Kamikaze flight that he was to embark on in the coming weeks with what was left of the Japanese Air Force. When the bomb dropped he was curious to see what had happened so he opened the door to the bunker after a period of time and that's when he suffered the radiation Burns as the mushroom cloud could still be seen in the sky. He was interesting, especially because he was explaining why Japan did what they did from his own personal family perspective. His dad was in commerce before the war and when The American government started the embargo and froze Japanese assets. His family lost most of their wealth. One of his older brothers died in China. Another one died in Burma and another one died in the Philippines. He was the youngest and the last to be enlisted. He never actually saw combat. He only ever trained briefly for his Kamikaze fight which never happened as the war ended soon after. But he felt very justified in the causes for the war, even if he acknowledged the terrible cost it had and the crimes that were committed. I never got his first name but he went by Mr. Tanaka. I thought he was a very interesting and kind man and I appreciated that he shared his story with me.

[@jjeherrera]

Paradoxically, he was one of those whose life was spared thanks to the bomb.

[@tavenstrickert9658]

@@canman5060 Is it really? That's so funny. That was his name. At least as best as I can remember it. It was a decade ago.

[@tavenstrickert9658]

@@jjeherrera In a way he was. He recognized that in our conversation. He had a morbid kind of gratitude and guilt over it.

[@jonny-b4954]

Surprisingly, the Japanese had like 10k airplanes parked away and hidden ready for invasion. All to be kamikaze, of course. Just little actual combat aircraft, let alone formations and trained pilots.

[@Flyinghigh888]

The nuclear raids of Hiroshima and Nagasaki was Truman's attempt to warn Joseph Stalin of America is aware of the Soviet army 's further advancing into central Europe.

[@Bleentron]

Arguably the most important single episode of the entire series.

[@tomschmidt381]

I'm a US baby boomer and my parents had a copy of John Hersey's book Hiroshima, referenced in the video I was deeply moved by the book growing up. In the late 1960's while in the USMC I was in Japan and visited Hiroshima Peace Park. There is a diorama showing the effects of the bomb.

[@adarkstarz]

me too, me too, but in the USMC I just made it to Guam (but a Japanese WW2 soldier was hiding near my base at the time )

[@christianellegaard7120]

Spartacus Olsen is a phenomenal narrator. I hope he gets to cover a more cheerful subject soon. He deserves it.

[@Citiesinmotionplayer]

He has the absolute perfect voice for this

[@alphamikeomega5728]

Unfortunately, it will be war crimes in Korea now...

[@WorldWarTwo]

Thanks for watching, never forget.

[@Aliasalpha]

Sparty narrating the history of desserts, he could even end it with "Never fruitcake"

[@michaelorford8304]

Spartacus on the history of money: Never forge it. Spartacus on the lucky numbers in keno: Never 'four,' git! Spartacus on the optimal position in a phalanx: Never fore! Get it? And, of course, Spartacus on the value of passwords: Never forget!

[@stevid8193]

Not for the first time in this series has Sparty's War Against Humanity made me stop what I'm doing and made me stand and listen. So powerful and sad...

[@christianellegaard7120]

Spartacus Olsen is a phenomenal narrator. I hope he gets to cover a more cheerful subject soon. He deserves it.

[@WorldWarTwo]

Thank you for watching, never forget.

[@renater.540]

I remember the comment section on the holocaust episode which mentionend that Mr Olson was crying after reporting it. In watching today I think this episode must have had the same effect. How can you research the events, watch those photos and footage, describe all these horrible effects and NOT be shattered? At some moments I could bare continue to listen, let alone watch... And his summary from 40: onwards sent chills down my spine. Most important work. Kudos for your strength and dedication.

[@rickhobson3211]

It will be interesting when we get to the point in the Korean War where MacArthur and Truman are butting heads on the use of atomic weapons in that conflict. Another powerful episode, Sparty and much needed in this day and age. Sharing this far and wide.

[@WorldWarTwo]

Thanks for sharing this episode, never forget. - Jake

[@deshaun9473]

​​@@WorldWarTwoHi!! I watched this episode, and I was a bit puzzled, as I was expecting you guys/ladies to take an explicit position either for or against the atomic bombings of Japan. Why did Sparty not say either "the bombings were necessary to win the war" or "the atomic bombings were unjustifiable and constituted genocide." I ask this because this has been debated by historians for decades. I would have thought you would seek to lay this to rest once and for all!! Edit: I know this is a history channel and that you generally just report the facts, but certainly you must have an opinion on this question. Just wanted to ask.

[@Duke_of_Lorraine]

"Albert, when I came to you with those calculations, we thought we might start a chain reaction that would destroy the entire world" "I remember it well. What of it ?" "I believe we did"

[@901Sherman]

Then the guy got called a crybaby by Truman..

[@c1ph3rpunk]

@@901Shermanhad Truman not have replaced FDR, and ran on his own without that, would he have won?

[@Duke_of_Lorraine]

@@c1ph3rpunk Truman or FDR, the cat was in the bag. The Soviets had spies who sent blueprints to Moscow, in a few years they'd have had a bomb... At least Truman had the foresight to use great restraint on the matter, such as denying MacArthur its use in Korea/Manchuria.

[@tomy.1846]

@@Duke_of_Lorraine Good point!

[@officernealy]

@@Duke_of_Lorraine What's often overlooked about Truman's response to the bomb, especially compared to his comments following the disastrous meeting with Oppenheimer, is that he was emotionally affected by it. Upon it's use on Hiroshima & Nagasaki, he was thrilled about its success and would publicly hail it as one of the greatest scientific achievements known to man; however, after the war ended and he was shown then-classified intel on the devastation the weapons caused he changed his tune. He then started referring to atomic weaponry as "the most terrible bomb in the history of the world" and began establishing fail-safes for their use.

[@mattmrgn532]

Thank you Spatacus, Indy, and the whole team for covering this war without glossing over the most disturbing parts, regardless of the offending side. You have cast a light on the true horrors that lie down the destrucitve path that is humanity's tendency towards tribalism, whether that be along ethnic, religious, or political lines. The irony of watching this episode while I have the Olympics (tribalism at its best and healthiest IMO) is not lost on me either.

[@WorldWarTwo]

Thank you for watching.

[@thelawenforcer001]

I visited the Hiroshima museum. Many people were openly weeping at the exhibits. Eternal thanks to the TimeGhost team for your incredible work over these past few years. Episodes like this one should be mandatory viewing for all human beings. Incredibly informative and deeply touching.

[@brucetucker4847]

Probably the same people who deny the massive Japanese war crimes in China and elsewhere that were so horrific even the Nazis were appalled.

[@onnieduvall2565]

Initially, I was wary when I saw the length of this episode. It went by fast. Spartacus is such a good presenter that he can pick anything interesting and riveting. One of the things I love about this channel. An excellent job for such a serious subject. Like you say: Never forget. ‘Nuff said. Excelsior.

[@WorldWarTwo]

Thank you for the lovely comment.

[@skrag2112]

This reminds me of the world's shortest horror story: "He knew the war almost over, because only one bomber was approaching the city."

[@Gildar76]

I've mentioned this before in other comments, but want to do it again here. The War against humanity series may be the most important content on KZbin. You've done a fantastic job with all the research for this series. A lot of it is tough to watch and listen to, but oh so important. With all the atrocities during this war, you would hope and think that humanity learned something. We may have, but people forget, and sometimes I feel that civilization is very fragile. Thanks again for a great series, which I assume is almost finished.

[@The_Fat_Controller.]

What grates on my nerves is Japan basically saying "Look at the horrible things done to our people during the war!" while ignoring and refusing to talk about the horrors THEIR military inflicted on others. They have no right to whine about Hiroshima and Nagasaki and fire bombings when they don't want to even acknowledge the mistreatment of civilian prisoners/POWs; Comfort Women; the Rape of Nanking; Unit 731; the tens of millions of Chinese, Filipino, Indonesian, Korean, Malaysian, and Southeast Asians they brutalized and murdered in their conquests. Christopher Hitchens described it best "For some reason we were never quite able to fathom, the United States suddenly started dropping atomic bombs on us."

[@Southpaw535]

While this is 100% true and I completely agree that Japan's refusal to acknowledge and deal with their atrocities is, well, disgusting honestly. If we're talking about the original point about humanity not learning from this, I would say part of that problem is also that atrocities committed by the Allies have been hugely glossed over and ignored. Apart from the Soviets, you basically never in mainstream history hear about anything bad done by the Allies. And if you do mention it, are immediately met by whatsboutism showing how the Nazis and Japan were so much worse. Which again, don't disagree. But if we're talking about humanity as a whole learning from history, then it is really important for people to learn about how every human is corruptible and capable of evil acts when put in dehumanising and terrible situations. Otherwise it's far too easy, as is what's happened really with WW2 discourse, to turn it into a simplistic case of Good v Evil with no room for nuance and reflection on how we got to such tragedies to avoid them in the future.

[@jerryw6699]

@@Southpaw535 I don't know if what you say is so true, It seems to me, that now days, all one hears is how terrible our generals were and all of the terrible things the Allies did to the poor Germans and Japs. I've been around a while, and the aggressors almost always turn out to be the victims and the liberators become the criminals. So many people don't understand hindsight. And one must consider the pressures placed upon the allied leaders to end the wars as quickly as possible. Mistakes were made and crimes were committed no doubt, but what would we have done if put in those old heroes shoes? Probably shit our own pants at the very least.

[@adrianjorgensen3750]

I used to live in Hiroshima and it’s almost surreal how you can be walking down the street and find a memorial to a building destroyed or someone who died suddenly appear. Never forget.

[@stevestoll3124]

My grandfather was some of the first Naval personnel to enter the City. He refused to tell any of his daughters or Granddaughters of the experiences. I received all the black and white picture he took after his death in 2006.

[@abroad-in-vr]

Will you upload them? No point those fading away

[@therideneverends1697]

have you copyed and/or preserved them?

[@stevestoll3124]

@@therideneverends1697 I have the copied and preserved.

[@ShadyRonin]

Do you plan to share them? I’m guessing they are horrific :(

[@stevestoll3124]

@@ShadyRonin mostly they are the rubble and destruction. Some of the shadows of the people burned into the granite.

[@dagrin0707]

I was fortunate enough to visit Nagasaki in 1999 while in the Navy. We were the first US warship to port there in many years. The museum near ground zero is a humbling experience to say the least. Whether the bombs ended the war sooner and with less loss of allied life or not, the level of destruction is unfathomable until you see it personally. It will always be once removed from anyone who hasn't seen it, even the aftermath. It is a rough realization that while the governments and militaries were among some of the worst humans to walk the Earth, innocent lives will always be the price paid. Never Forget is as close as we can come to honoring their memory and spread the knowledge that differences we tend to see as unsurmountable, are so easily tipped toward this end.

[@bingobongo1615]

Yeah no matter if it ended the war or not - the thought that any human would think he knows well enough to decide to kill ten thousand of people with a single bomb for some greater goal is just horrifying… We all make mistakes, we all miscalculate and yet someone felt confident enough or didn’t care at all about human lives anymore to decide to drop these… It’s also why in the U.S. people cannot entertain the possibility that the Soviets entering the war could have played a bigger role in Japan’s surrender (we will btw never know since Hirohito never said what in the end moved him in the cabinet discussion) - if that would be the case the U.S. committed one of the most horrific war crimes ever for no reason… (apparently it ending the war makes the war crime acceptable…)

[@jamie49868]

@@bingobongo1615 How many Japanese lives would have been lost if the bombs were not available and invasion was the only option? How long would the fighting in Manchuria and other places the Japanese Army was engaged in have continued? How many Ally lives along with other innocents would have perished, in not let's forget, a war Japan brought to the world and didn't want to end? People who talk about how horrible the bombs were never take into account how much more horrible it would have gone without them.

[@rbgerald2469]

​@@jamie49868..The Firebombings were doing way more death tolls than the Atomic bombs, and it would have gone on had the war continued with no Nukes available.

[@jamie49868]

@@rbgerald2469 Darn tooting. The only reason Hiroshima, Nagasaki, and a couple others were spared the firebombings was because the bomb was in the works. They also fail to take into account the shortages of food, medical, sanitation, you name it, that would have taken an enormous number of Japanese lives over the months it would have taken to prepare for invasion. And the firebombing would not have stopped. Just the Japanese lives those bombs saved is probably over 10,000,000, maybe even 20M.

[@effewe2]

Did you visit Nanking? Manilla? Ask those folks how they feel about those two cities in Japan. Where is the Nanking Memorial?

[@henrybostick5167]

Well beyond profoundly touched by this series. It is sad that this war against Humanity still rages on. Why hate manifests itself is beyond me, when will we as living beings ever learn, or even care to??? Brilliant work , tragically brilliant.....

[@sergeantdarthraptorthewise702]

The fact that one of the bombers was called "Necessary evil" is horrifyingly ironic

[@edwardblair4096]

I presume that that bomber also participated in "normal" bombing raids over Japan, and that there were many other planes that were given similar names. Giving names to inanimate objects is a very normal human activity, and giving ironic or sarcastic ones is a way to relieve stress. I wonder if there is a record of the various names assigned to planes, ships, tanks, etc. by the various armies in this war.

[@eldorados_lost_searcher]

​@@edwardblair4096 If it was part of the 509th, those planes were set apart from the rest of the bomber crews, I think. They were supposed to focus on dropping the A-bomb, rather than doing regular runs

[@not2hot99]

According to wikipedia the bomber wasnt actually named during the bombing, also it carried scientific instruments and was used for observation

[@allangibson8494]

@@eldorados_lost_searcherThe 509th dropped “pumpkins” over Japan during the routine fire bombing raids. These were orange painted test articles for the “Fat Man” bomb that were filled with ten tons of high explosive and impact fused. Dozens of the “pumpkins” were dropped over Japan.

[@localroger]

@@eldorados_lost_searcher The planes of the 509th were specially modified for the A-bomb mission, but they were taken from normal usage (planes, particularly new designs like the B-29, being rather expensive) and slated to go back to normal usage after the atomic program was through with them. Tibbets named the Enola Gay only the day before it delivered Little Boy. The plane's original commander was reported by some to be miffed by this since he apparently thought the naming thing was tacky.

[@jackjones3919]

Perhaps the most powerful episode of the series. I think everybody has heard in broad terms of the destruction the bomb caused. But this episode has given a new appreciation of it!

[@petesime]

Hear, hear Sparty. A sobering episode as always. And a chilling glimpse of what may yet come.

[@donlars1]

Thank you! This was one of the toughest episodes, and there have been many tough once. Thank you for continuing to share our histiry and not letting us forget!

[@MrShobar]

The effects of fallout were widespread. Following the test, the Eastman Kodak Co. (Rochester, NY) received reports of defects in their photographic emulsions. This was caused by fallout settling into the packaging materials and exposing the emulsion.

[@nicholaslutz4]

and they notified the US government because one of their engineers worked at the Manhattan project. The US government would tell them when a test was going to occur and Kodak would pause production or report where defects were detected in the country to help the government track fallout. This was all done in secrecy.

[@nevilleneville6518]

I remember learning about that as a case study when I was training as a Root Cause Investigator. They spent a lot of time coming to the wrong conclusions.

[@bujler]

I went to Hiroshima once and was amazed that there was a castle there. I wondered how it survived the "bucket of instant sunshine" that the Americans dropped in '45. Turned out it didn't, and the one that I visited was rebuilt in 1953.

[@CarrotConsumer]

Japanese castles often get destroyed in earthquakes and fires and are rebuilt. There are few truly old buildings in Japan.

[@ponani7711]

The castle was rebuilt

[@IanCharlesPearce]

The castle was to be dismantled and used to create defenses for the invasion. By jr high school students. The rebuilt castle is made of concrete and steel.

[@deanfawcett2085]

@@CarrotConsumer I think every castle or temple we visited was on at least the second rebuild.

[@louvin44]

Spartacus, this was a brilliant presentation. Congratulations and many thanks. My father after completing an enlistment in the U.S. Navy was discharged after VE day. He immediately enlisted in the U.S.Marine Corps. He anticipated the final push in the Pacific theater and the eventual invasion of Japan. When I was a young boy in the early 1960's through television and movies I had become aware of WWII. I asked my Dad many questions about the war. He never had much to say but he did state that given the way the Marines approached war, he doubted that he would have survived the invasion of Japan. He thought that the bomb saved his and many others lives. Ironically, after the war he found himself stationed in China where the Marines fought some little known but intense battles against the PLA. We are quite clever and inventive when it comes to slaughtering one another. This is the "original sin" we all have to overcome.

[@P_RO_]

Of other destruction, Tetsuyo "Ted" Fujita, the great tornado researcher, was in the outskirts of Hiroshima when it was bombed and fled to Nagasaki for safety afterward, where once again he was distant enough to survive. Dr Fujita's research has saved countless lives by advancing our understanding of tornadoes, allowing better warnings to be issued.

[@Samm815]

I think you're confusing two separate men. Fujita was in Kokura (the original target of Fat Man) when the two bombs went off. His life was saved by the weather and he would spend the rest of his life studying it.

[@BarryH1701]

As this war comes to an end, everyone involved in making this series should be recognized worldwide for their extreme and in many cases such as this one, very graphic detail, describing the horrors of such a war and in particular, the use of nuclear weapons. This series should be an award winning series and should be shown in schools everywhere.

[@baconsinatra8837]

I have to give immense credit to the Time Ghost team the past few months. So often the time between Berlin and Okinawa is skipped over, but all of the series have shown the fascinating, horrifying details that lead to today. Japan's leaders failure to appreciate the urgency situation combined with the ever growing callusness of the US towards civilian casualties give the events a horrible inevitably.

[@bingobongo1615]

It’s interesting really how the U.S. swung around so hard from strategic bombing aiming at factories to just pure and utter terror bombing in 1945. For the bombing of Japan the racist Curtis LeMay taking over (he also ran later in a pro segregationist platform as a politician…) makes the change but even in Germany the U.S. flew a lot of devastating raids solely aimed at killing civilians as late as late April 1945 when the British already toned down their bombings.

[@hvr1874]

History revisionist always like to skip over a few details: Japanese diplomats sold their integrality down the river long ago: how can you trust negotiations with the same diplomats who time after time used peace negotiations as stall tactics to carry out suprise attacks. At the time of the bombings the Japanese Empire who still had the loyalty and support of the Japanese people were killing more innocent civilians and prisoners a week than the civilian losses at Nagasaki. AFTER TWO atomic bombings a large part of the leadership STILL did not want surrender and almost executed a successful coup.

[@johntipper29]

Sobering and frightening, the tragic culmination of WW2 is here. Another excellent episode and well presented too. Thank you.

[@MacGuyver85]

Gripping delivery of terrible events! Thank you, and indeed that end message is chillingly apt at this very point in human history. I'm afraid we're bound to repeat, and surpass, the errors of the past...

[@mikeyratcliff3400]

Yer best script and delivery ever Sparty! Fantastic! And why I am proud to be a member of the time ghost army! Never Forget...

[@alphamikeomega5728]

I had every confidence that Time Ghost would do justice to this necessary topic. Well done on this series. For more discussion of the decisions to use the bombs and to surrender, I also recommend Shaun's video on this.

[@CrimsonTemplar2]

A harrowing recounting of those first few seconds & the aftermath. Thank you for going into such detail. Never forget.

[@infamousjovian]

This video is your best work so far. And given the incredible quality of your content to date, that’s really saying something.

[@Norsilca]

I really appreciate this series focusing on the human cost of the war. Covering the military action is interesting, but sometimes people get a little too excited about that and forget that it's an enormous tragedy that it happened at all.

[@felixmeschenmoser7979]

It's impressive to see how Spartacus is still personally shaken by the events he shows us. You might think after telling these horrors for years now you might become numb. Doing the research about all the indivdual fates must be a tough burden too. I can't even watch this without beeing in tears.

[@williamcabrol1222]

Oh man, that was heavy. No matter how many times I hear it, I am always empathetic, sad and depressed by it.

[@Deridus]

@@williamcabrol1222 I guess i'm just too jaded these days. Maybe i'm just too much of a believer that there is no such thing as innocent nor innocence in a total war. You pay your taxes, you pay your soldiers. You support someone who pays taxes, then... You can see where this leads. The only way to stop that thread is to stop war, something I would eagerly pursue if only I believed our species was capable of it.

[@Clippidyclappidy]

⁠​⁠​⁠@@DeridusNo innocence? That’s psychotic. So the school children weren’t innocent? See? I’m already slipping on that slope you’ve created. Simply paying your taxes makes you guilty? It was IMPERIAL Japan. They didn’t get to decide who to support. Still don’t really considering Japan is a one party state. You also say humans are incapable of stopping war while expounding your own warmongering mentality. No doubt built up over years, possibly decades of internalizing military propaganda. Like come on man. 🤦‍♂️

[@ltdannichols]

I feel like Sparty has been writing this episode in his head for years. It is truly well done.

[@pnutz_2]

I was actually expecting this episode to arrive at the same time

[@Haezard]

This is an amazing video. I haven't seen or heard how devastating this horrific act was on humanity.

[@tharrigan5661]

Thank you for this outstanding episode. You make an excellent point regarding the ‘saving face’ for the IJA. Incredible summary of a terrible period in world history. Never Forget.

[@jeffersonwright6249]

Even on August 14 the Japanese government was deadlocked on accepting the Potsdam Declaration because Anami, Uemezu and the Navy Minister wanted to hold out not just for the emperor but also for 3 conditions that were absolutely anathema to the western allies - self disarmament, self return and Japanese only trial of war criminals

[@daswuerti3669]

Another one of your high quality videos about a topic where humanity has lost.. Now that this series is coming to a close i will miss it... A good job done by sparty and the crew.

[@dictatorofcanada4238]

My Canadian grandfather helped with the Manhattan Project as an electrical engineer, he didn’t know what he was working on. He never gave anymore detail than that, presumably out of guilt.

[@bloodrave9578]

Words cannot describe this, I'm just left stunned, shocked and appalled.

[@Deridus]

I am genuinely curious as to why?

[@LibertyPrime1982]

Same, only it's the Bataan Death March

[@bloodrave9578]

@@Deridus The amount of destruction and loss of life in just two bombs. It's the after effects as well

[@Deridus]

@@bloodrave9578 I guess that makes sense. Maybe I'm just desensitized to it at this point. Hiroshima and Nagasaki don't strike me as any different than Berlin, Dresden, Nurnburg, Tokyo, or Kagoshima, really. No one ever talks about the casualties who perished AFTER those raids, only the ones who died in them. To me, nukes are hardly more a step up from conventional bombs as machine guns are to bolt-actions.

[@alexandersturnn4530]

"Dropped from Enola, a city erased Threat of the future displayed, A power unheard of a power unseen, Flash out of nowhere, the sky is burning!" -Sabaton, Nuclear Attack The only two times so far in History that an Atomic Weapon was deployed in a war. And we should count ourselves lucky for that.

[@karoltakisobie6638]

It's easy for us to judge everyone involved in that event from perspective of many decades and with so much information in hand.

[@alexamerling79]

"Warned but did not heed." To quote Sabaton.

[@rabihrac]

I am moved and troubled... Your documentary is very informative and eye-opening. I salute the excellence of your work. Never forget? No, always remember and remind others, especially the younger generation, of what Humans are capable of, and why sane humans must always act to spare the Planet annihilation. Cheers, Sparty, and team!

[@TerminalConstipation]

"How in the world could such a cruel thing happen?" Indeed...

[@effewe2]

Humans are predators!

[@sheevpalpatine2901]

A few months ago I met a World War II US Army Air Corps veteran who witnessed the mushroom cloud over Hiroshima while flying

[@stephen_hynes]

Your narration and presentation overall brought the bombing to life in a terrible way. Many tears as I think about my own family in such a place and time. Exactly what we need to see right now. Thank you

[@pastlife960]

When I started watching this series in Summer 2020 I was in a dark place personally. This series has been a constant in my life since then, and it has been an extraordinary experience learning so much more than I ever knew about the war and the horrors mankind can stoop to. It was during Sparty’s coverage of the massacres at the start of Barbarossa that I remember thinking about how this would all end, with the eldritch apocalypse overtaking Hiroshima and Nagasaki, and how it would be covered. I wondered if I would be in a better place, or if the world would be. That last one is up to each person to decide I think, but I am definitely in a better place now, largely because I now have a career that I feel is helping to make the world a little bit better. The war will soon be over, but we must never forget its lessons, and we must fight to ensure that these atrocities never happen again…

[@christopherseivard8925]

I delayed watching this, I had some idea what was coming. It is powerful. I am glad that I listened. Thanks. The horror stories must not be overlooked.

[@thepsychicspoon5984]

Oppenheimer: "Albert. When I came to you with those calculations. We thought it might start a chain reaction that would destroy the entire world". Einstein: "I remember it well. What of it?" Oppenheimer: "I believe we did".

[@ceberskie119]

My grandfather lied about his age and joined the army in late 1944 he trained to take part in operation Olympic instead he was a part of the first generation of American troops to occupy tokyo he has some pretty amazing photos of Mt Fuji from his time there. He never spoke much of his time in Japan but once he did mention he visited Hiroshima as part of a military escort. He never said much beyond that but he struggled with melanoma (skin cancer) in his later life and had splotchy skin as early as his 40s when I as a young boy asked him about he only ever told me that he got sunburned so bad and so often in the army that it gave him freckles. He was in the army for less than 2 years. As I've learned more about this was I always wondered if there was a connection.

[@hildenburg5]

Holy Cow! What just happened here in Hiroshima?? I'm going back home to Nagasaki

[@BubblewrapHighway]

There's a story of a Japanese man who actually did that. He survived both nukes.

[@johnlucas6683]

​@@BubblewrapHighwayTsutomu Yamaguchi, died 2010 January. That man is hella tough, both unlucky and lucky.

[@BubblewrapHighway]

​@@johnlucas6683 Ah, just got to that part of the video.

[@WorldWarTwo]

@@BubblewrapHighway Yep, it's mentioned later on in the video at around 27:00 minutes, thank you for watching.

[@BubblewrapHighway]

@@WorldWarTwo Thank you for writing, filming, editing, and uploading!

[@ch1llspace]

As the war is coming to a close, we should start thinking about archiving this channel somewhere. We cannot afford to lose these documentaries.

[@Jarod-vg9wq]

Mercy it’s here 😨 I’ve been anticipating/dressing this episode for years.

[@Hibothy]

Thank you so much to the whole time ghost team. Thank you for this series, telling the story of the war against humanity was as if not more important than telling the story of the course of the military conflict. The war against humanity has been a deeply difficult watch these many years but every minute was worth it for it’s importance to all of humanity. May we never forget.

[@wgolyoko]

"All victims of Hiroshima and Nagasaki" is a powerful way to phrase it. Great job on this episode guys.

[@derrickthewhite1]

But will we? No one has been willing to fight a nuclear war yet. And we have not fought a general total war since. The Nuclear threat is terrible, but perhaps finally it has convinced the great powers of the world that total war is not worth it.

[@dcnewstead]

I think it's an excellent decision to "unveil" this news with a video highlighting the effects on humanity, rather than as the weekly war update.

[@Bigdeathy]

I have been to Hiroshima this January. It's now a city of 2 million people. To visit the city center, where it exploded, was an incredible experience. Somehow they rebuilt the city turned it back into a home. Still, I am a strong advisory of "si vic pacem, para bellum" (if you desire peace, prepare for war). I strongly believe that, if both the US and the USSR didn't have the fission and later fusion bombs, that a third world war would have happened sometime in the late 50s/early 60s. Using violence and military force is comparatively easy: you don't need to listen to your adversary. You don't need to think too hard. You don't need to be objectively right. As long as you have the bigger stick than your adversary, you can impose your will. However, if your adversary can hit you just as hard as you can hit your adversary, then the option of violence becomes a much more troublesome one and you are actually forced to negotiate with words, instead of force. Therefore, I am convinced that the existence of those bombs are one of the major reasons why there has not been a more destructive war since the Second World War 79 years ago. Consequently, I imagine a world without nuclear weapons to be much more violent than what it is today, and even advocate for periodic public testing of nuclear weapons to remind all those in power (and those, who once will be in power) that the offensive usage of those weapons shall never be an option.

[@SuperCrazf]

An interesting take, although I disagree with a lot of it. The biggest question I have is where would we make nuclear tests, since one of the reasons the detonations have stopped it’s due to public outcry to it, as well as the environmental damage

[@barleyeducated8714]

When the leaders of such countries are within range of the enemy's fire, I believe they do have a tendency to not start something.

[@TukozAki]

@@barleyeducated8714 To the point!

[@red_nikolai]

The problem is that they DON'T force you to negotiate with words. They just make the consequences of using force much, much higher. You can still be willing, and even eager, to accept those consequences. There are people who had nearly enough authority to launch nukes who were willing to do it, and almost did. The counter-pressure from people who were not willing to accept those consequences was there at those times, but it is NOT a guarantee that it will be there next time, or the time after that, or the time after that. What you said is correct inasmuch as that it makes the bar for major powers being willing to war with each other higher than it would otherwise be. But it may ultimately be a decision between a world which is periodically hellishly violent, and a world which no longer exists at all.

[@pastadeadman4594]

One of the most emotionally impactful episodes on this channel

[@geraldgriggs3492]

My grandfather was on Okinawa in the US Army preparing for the invasion of Japan. He never questioned the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Those events most likely saved his life.

[@cstaub5147]

Maybe. After the Soviets invaded Manchuria and the northern islands, Japan might have surrendered if we had promised not to invade the mainland and to preserve the emperor on the throne. One of the great "what-ifs" of history.

[@Paerigos]

@@cstaub5147 And justice for the genocided Chinese and Koreans would be where? Would there have been a demand for Japan to hand over every single Japanese war criminal to public prosecution - much like Nurmberg trials were? Every single member of their war government, every single soldier?

[@cstaub5147]

@@Paerigos Respectfully, I'm not quite sure what you are getting at. Unconditional surrender (with the exception of preservation of the emperor's prerogatives) meant unconditional surrender. The Japanese would still have had to give up all their colonial conquests, including China and Korea. As for war crimes, even in Germany, we did not prosecute every German guilty of war crimes. Some, like Otto von Braun, came to work for the U.S.!

[@jliller]

@@cstaub5147 Unconditional surrender with any conditions is not unconditional.

[@cstaub5147]

@@jliller Semantics. Even the USA ended up not endorsing unconditional surrender, as they let the emperor stay on his throne, which due to Ultra, everyone on the American side knew was the main sticking point.

[@hreader]

Many thanks for this grim reminder. Never forget.

[@p.strobus7569]

The Imperial Cabinet was equally divided between civilian and military members but the military leaders held control. They had to be forced into surrender by the civilians and as the Kyujo incident shows, the peace party’s victory was tenuous.

[@Solhai]

Thank you for such a well thought-out recounting of this important day. This video series does well to account for all information as well as presenting the view without hindsight.

[@felipeastur6227]

Lets not do this again…

[@philipphammer3474]

I have visited Hiroshima in 2019 with my University and we went on a tour and for the museum. Nobody spoke for 2h afterwards due to the horrific things displayed there and everyone was painfully aware that those two bombs that were dropped are but a fraction of the power that we possess today. Although the tale behind is sad as well, it gave comfort when we learned how to fold paper cranes. You are doing a great and important job of not letting us forget what has happened. Hopefully, it helps to not repeat the mistakes of the past. Never forget

[@igorGriffiths]

Thank you for the detailed and balanced description of the timeline leading up to and after the bombing. I do not recall such a vivid description of the cascade of calamities which followed on from the initial explosion, from the winds to the black rain and the all pervading radiation which killed many more after the initial blast had passed.

[@michaellynes3540]

Science is not good or bad, but it could be used for both. We must be extremely careful with handling science.

[@ronbutler3431]

I believe this overstates the willingness of the Japanese government to surrender. The military members of the cabinet remained committed to 'One Hundred Million Die Together.' And the foreign minister's instruction to the ambassador in Moscow were nowhere close to 'We're good with unconditional surrender if the emperor is maintained.' Instead, the Japanese wanted additional conditions: Retention of conquests on the Asian mainland. No disarmament. Any war crimes trials to be run by the Japanese themselves. It wasn't only Hirohito's mind that needed changing for the war to end.

[@SuperCrazf]

Considering what happened in said Trials, they pretty much got most of what they wanted. A depressing fact imo

[@airborngrmp1]

Unfortunately, it's complicated. The governing council that the Japanese entered the End Game with was the six man Supreme War Direction Council (essentially five military men, and a career diplomat), along with the Emperor and the Keeper of the Privy Seal. These six men were split on Peace (surrender) and War (force a pyrrhic victory on their enemy) in a 3-3 deadlock. Also, the Emperor really can't use his voice (nor the Privy Seal, as his voice must concur with the Emperor's) in discussion, because his wishes would disrupt the consensus process (in potentially unpredictable ways - as I said, it's complicated) being undertaken by the SWDC. Additionally, there were potentially legion of low and mid-rank Army and Navy officers that had shown their willingness and desire repeatedly throughout the Japanese escalation of the Asian War to interfere, assassinate and strategically disobey their superiors (always in the name of the Emperor, of course) if their chosen policy was thought 'dishonorable'. Each of the six council members had to contend with that reality (four of the members were the Commanders in Chief and the Chiefs of Staff of the Army and Navy, respectively), which they well understood as all were long veterans of Japan's now nearly 15-year-long war in Asia. What it eventually took was the Japanese 'Peace Faction's' ploy of using the USSR as a neutral intermediary with the United States (unaware that the USSR had pledged to join the Asian War, and further unaware that their diplomatic codes were compromised and were being read by the Western Allies) being exposed as a dead-end by the sudden repudiation of the non-aggression treaty between IJ and the USSR and an invasion into Manchuria (which signaled the beginning of the end of Japanese occupation in China). This shortly after the complete destruction of a city by reportedly a single bomber - and an implicit threat form the United States of more to come - which, of course did come shortly after the news of the spectacular advance of the Red Army in Manchuria (it was clear to all that the Kwangtung Army, Japan's last and most prestigious field army, was utterly helpless against the advancing Soviets). This was the final tipping-point: The Japanese council met again, and the Emperor spoke his wish for them to come to a consensus at this time.

[@bubbasbigblast8563]

Yeah, Tojo literally went to his grave saying, "I still think we could have cut some sort of deal." And how could the military think otherwise? Were they really going to openly say, "the Japanese military would commit every war crime possible if we were in the same position as the Allies, but the American forces in Europe haven't acted anywhere near as badly, so we're probably just morally bankrupt"?

[@Sebastian_Brandstetter]

Hey, Sebastian here, while you do raise some valid point, it’s not really how it went down. For example, the 100 million people die rhetoric was maintained publicly by the entire cabinet, and internally be the war-hawks, but only more or less. Starting June 45 even they began to have doubts. By the beginning of August Japan was ready to surrender bar the emperor, again more or less. Also, we never claimed that the message to Moscow was that the Japanese said ‘save the emperor and we’re good’, we said that the emperor’s future was the first and crucial concern for the Japanese and that they made a sincere effort in contacting the Soviets. Indy covers these developments in detail in the weekly episodes, specifically the internal war cabinet dynamics, check it out!

[@bingobongo1615]

Interesting to see how people react here to the fact that contradict their understanding of the situation as they learned in school… You make a couple of mistakes here and adult disprovable though - the cabinet member include both army and bureaucrats- the bureaucrats were all in favor of peace for many months now as Hirohito fired the Tojo government explicitly to get a new cabinet paving the way for peace. And the other misunderstand you have is that Japan wanted to keep their weapons and possessions in Asia… by August 45 the army and naval leaders wanted to have a deal where they could keep their weapons and get some sort of concessions for oversea colonies but they were not a majority in the cabinet and also accepted Hirohito‘s guidance then to unconditionally surrender… Also the biggest issue with you logic and what’s taught in American schools - if the Japanese really wanted to commit the suicide of the 100 million why would an atomic bomb change that… makes no sense

[@callumgordon1668]

I’ve read and watched a bunch of WWII history and the dropping of these bombs over the years and I think this account is one of the most balanced on the subject I’ve engaged with. A difficult subject well presented.

[@creatoruser736]

The Japanese peace faction wasn't about to surrender unconditionally. They were trying to negotiate a surrender. That didn't just mean keeping the Emperor, they wanted to keep territory, not demilitarize, not be occupied, and not have war crimes trials performed. Different members had conflicting ideas over what they wanted. They wanted to surrender, but still didn't want to unconditionally.

[@S_P_A_C_E_DD]

Absolutely amazing video. I am moved. Thank you so much.

[@CrazyYurie]

This was a very heavy episode. It started grim and did not stop. I had a feeling Timeghost covering this would be like that... but it was very well done. I'm proud to be a patron of this channel. :D

[@WorldWarTwo]

Thank you for being a member and thanks for the comment!

[@elbeto191291]

All those episodes watching WAH with the final frame on the intro and finally, this week, it makes sense more than ever. Edit: I'm halfway into the episode and I believe I have never heard such graphical definition of that morning for the people of the city. It's truly astonishing to know people survived this

[@freetolook3727]

Ironically, the two atomic bombs were responsible for less destruction and deaths as the fire bombing raids. The frightening fact was that the same amount of devastation was the result of only one bomb.

[@mikespangler98]

One plane, one bomb, one city. The math is pretty austere.

[@rosswebster7877]

Incredible job Spartacus and Time Ghost Crew. Your descriptions of the casualties both around Los Alamos and in Hiroshima and Nagasaki were absolutely horrific like something most of could only conceive of in a science fiction movie. Also major accolades for what has to be one of the most important and certainly the most prescient episode in this series. As much as we have wanted some reprieve this episode is a grim reminder that this aspect of the War Against Humanity (potentially ALL HUMANITY) simply lies dormant.

[@padawanmage71]

The decision should be discussed, and always should be discussed.

[@LuGer212]

I've read the chronology of the day in Hiroshima lots, but having it delivered vocally with such gravity ... that's something else completely. thx guys for telling another great story of our past, as sad as it is that it has to be told. never forget.

[@Deathshead419]

I understand that this is a fraught subject, and I believe you did handle it fairly well. But there are a couple things I take issue with. For one thing, there is a false dichotomy between the "war hawk and peace dove" factions. From the very beginning Japan sought to defeat the United States tactically and force a negotiated treaty. There was no way they could have landed on he west coast, no realistic chance of a Man in the High Castle scenario. And even after the war turned decisively against Japan, as your own weekly episodes show, the Japanese leadership threw countless men into the fray to wear the Allies down. It was always a debate between those willing to give up more for peace and those who wanted to grind down the Americans to force a negotiated armistice which would let them keep much of their military and leadership intact. To the very end the cabinet was split. And secondly, I think skipping over the "Kyuju Incident", the attempted coup d'etat by elements of the Japanese military, is leaving out the important part of this picture that the high command was not in as tight control of the military as is shown. That indeed there was a fear that even if the government surrendered it would simply be overthrown by lower ranking officers, which was pretty much borne out when they tried just that after the Atomic bombings and Soviet invasion.

[@freibuis]

This was the hardest episode to watch. May we learn from our lesson and never repeat it

[@angusmacdonald7187]

The parents of my late brother-in-law, James "JJ" Kenji Jenkins, bookmarks the horrors of this war. His father (David) was from the Midwest and loathed it; he was able to get himself a position in the US Navy in late 1940 and was shipped off for basic training in March of 1941. Through one thing and another he was delayed actually being assigned to a vessel, but was finally put on a supply ship out of San Diego and shipped out on November 30th, 1941. His ship was suddenly redirected to Pearl Harbor. He arrived two days after the attack; his first official task in the Navy was spending two weeks pulling bodies and debris out of the harbor. He took to drinking heavily. JJ's mother (Kumiko) was a native of Nagasaki. During the war she worked as a secretary & courier for a Japanese firm (she never said specifically which one). One day in late July 1945 her boss told her she needed to make certain that a contract got signed. So, this being the war and she being a woman, she got on her bicycle and pedaled off towards Hiroshima. By the time she arrived, there was a barricade in place and she was told to turn around. By the time she got back to Nagasaki she was med with another barricade, but since she was a resident she was immediately put to work cleaning up the town. For the next 2-3 months she aided in the recovery of bodies and removal of rubble. She took to drinking heavily. David was part of the occupation force after the war. He met Kumiko in a bar and they were soon dating. They got permission to marry and she returned with him to Alameda, CA, about eight months later. JJ remembers them constantly yelling at each other, both smoking like chimneys, and half their time utterly drunk. It was not what you would call a successful marriage, but Kumiko refused to divorce her husband. David would sometimes go down to the Alameda Naval Base in his old (by now ill-fitting and much in need or repair) WWII uniform and try to cage drinks from folks in return for war stories. The MPs got used to pouring him into a taxi and sending him home. His father died of liver issues when JJ was still a teen. His mother died of lung cancer when JJ was in his 40s. So here was the cost of war on two generations. JJ never went to war, but had to fight against the tendency towards alcohol all his life. He never knew what a happy home was really like until much later in life. He was teased for not looking quite American enough by other kids. And home was a place of drinking, smoking, and yelling. Here were two people who were living with deep pain and trauma who only compounded each other's bad tendencies and spread it on to their child. The cost of war is felt down the generations.

[@dougrattmann3554]

This was the hardest one for me to watch. Humans are capable of such horrific acts. These poor people.

[@andrewlm5677]

‘Japan was “close to surrendering”. You might as well say they were close to surrendering through all of 1945. Their government remained stalemated even after the first bomb - I say you are wrong that they would have surrendered in anything like a timely manner if the bomb hadn’t been dropped

[@bobell69]

How such a horrible war could end in the most terrifying and destructive way is unimaginable. Thank you for the past years covering WW 2 with the weekly activities that occurred throughout the world. This has been so thought provoking and disturbing. Lest we forget.

[@rwarren58]

Oppenheimer has nothing to be guilty about. The atom was going to be split. It was only a matter of who splits the atom first.

[@Duke_of_Lorraine]

That's how FDR was convinced by Einstein and other scientists to start developping it. If it's an inevitability given the scientific knowledge, better be the first to have it, lest others have a monopoly on it for some time.

[@eamonreidy9534]

He still felt empathy

[@airborngrmp1]

The part of the biopic that I liked so much was the animating spirit of the scientists of the Manhattan Project early-on: They were absolutely driven by the desire to get the bomb built before the *Nazis* much more so than their (at the time) ally, the USSR. If the project had always been aimed at either just building the Bomb, or initially aimed at the eventual enemy of the Soviet Union; I have a very strong belief that the scientific minds involved would not have been as driven and animated as they were in real life when confronted by the specter of a 'nazified' Europe. While it's easy to paint those academics as naïve dreamers in retrospect, you'd be hard pressed to find another collection of professors and engineers similarly convinced they're saving the world one Bomb design at a time.

[@gwmcd]

You're emotionally an infant.

[@SuperCrazf]

Thats a moronic argument. In the same level of “I will do it first because the other guy will do it anyway.” Until humanity stops that mentality we will continue falling for this mistake over and over

[@jahjah7495]

A very good and factual account. This should be watched by everybody in the world. Never Forget the horrors that we are able to inflict and it seems that the weak and innocent always suffer the most.

[@joseaca1010]

The Atomic era mightve begun last month, but today it stepped out of the shadows into a blinding, searing flash of light and a thunderous, deafening roar, it cannot be ignored

[@Blankzzz1000]

Its amazing how atomic power can achieve such a duality. It can either provide energy for cities for years and years or unleash energy on a city for just a minute.

[@wallacethomas9844]

Not ONE condition, Sparty! FOUR conditions! FOUR!

[@KillerKane0]

Four ridiculously unrealistic conditions too.

[@SammyNeedsAnAlibi]

Your absolutely best one yet, Sparty. Thank you for dispelling all the rumors and fake books about Japan did surrender but Truman ignored it to rest. Those have been flying around since I was in High School, and that was 50 years ago, so thanks for dispelling the myth and sticking to the facts. And yes, I'm surprised nobody has used one since.