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Chapter 7 The Big Picture: A Short History of World War II
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advance of the Fourth Guards Tank Army. This force reaches Prague to find the
Germans have gone.
The Russians finally bring Army Group Center to bay on May 10. Over the next
two days, the Soviets pound German positions with every available weapon; those
Germans not killed begin to surrender. On May 12 it is official: Army Group
Center surrenders, and the last major German fighting force is no more. The war in
Europe is over.
With the end of hostilities in Europe, the Allies turn their focus to defeating Japan.
By May 1945, the Americans have already captured Iwo Jima and made strides
toward capturing Okinawa. Although Japanese resistance in the Philippines
continues, the battle there is no longer in doubt.
By late July, President Harry S Truman issues a surrender demand through the
Japanese Embassy in Moscow. The Japanese respond with conditions that the
Allies interpret as a refusal. Truman has already decided that if the Japanese fail to
surrender, he will use America’s most powerful and most secret weapon
the
atomic bomb.
On August 6, the Enola Gay (a B-29 bomber
named after the pilot’s mother) drops the first
atomic bomb on Hiroshima. The resulting explo-
sion has the force of over 18,000 metric tons of
TNT, destroying 60 percent of the city and killing
80,000 inhabitants. When Japan again fails to
surrender, Truman orders a second bomb to
be dropped.
Three days after the first atomic bomb is dropped,
another B-29 (Bock’s Car) drops the second bomb
on Nagasaki. The result is the same: devastation
and death on the ground. Still Japan’s military
leaders refuse to surrender. They insist that the
Emperor’s sovereignty must be maintained; the
Allies refuse. Finally, Emperor Hirohito himself
orders that the war end. He records a message for
broadcast that asks the people of Japan to “. . .
bear the unbearable . . .” When it is broadcast on
August 15, it is the first time the vast majority of
Japanese citizens hear their emperor’s voice.
World War II is over.
World War II ends—and the Cold War begins