When was the war between America and Japan. War between the United States and Japan. Further offensive of the Japanese troops

Americans hate to remember March 17, 1942. On this day, 120,000 US citizens, ethnic Japanese or half-breeds, were sent to concentration camps.

Not only ethnic Japanese were subject to forced expulsion, but even those of American citizens who had among their ancestors only a great-grandmother or great-grandfather of Japanese nationality. That is, who had only 1/16 of the "enemy" blood.

It is less known that people who had the misfortune of being of the same nationality with Hitler and Mussolini fell under the influence of the Roosevelt Decree: 11 thousand Germans and 5 thousand Italians were placed in camps. Another 150 thousand Germans and Italians received the status of "suspicious persons", and during the war they were under the supervision of special services and had to report all movements in the United States.

Approximately 10 thousand Japanese were able to prove their usefulness to the belligerent America - they were mainly engineers and skilled workers. They were not placed in the camp, but also received the status of a "suspect person".

Families were given two days to get ready. During this time, they had to settle all material matters and sell their property, including cars. It was impossible to do this in such a short time, and the unfortunate people simply abandoned their houses and cars.

Their American neighbors took this as a signal to plunder the property of the "enemy." Buildings and shops burst into flames, and several Japanese were killed - until the army and police intervened. Not saved by the inscriptions on the walls "I am an American", under which the rioters wrote: "A good Japanese is a dead Japanese."
On December 7, 1941, Japan attacked the Pearl Harbor naval base in Hawaii. The next day the United States declared war on the aggressor. During the first five days of the war, about 2,100 ethnic Japanese were arrested or interned as suspects of espionage, and about 2,200 more Japanese were arrested and interned on February 16.

The first Japanese immigrants arrived in Hawaii and the US East Coast 60 years before Pearl Harbor in 1891. These first immigrants - "Issei" - were attracted here by the same thing as all other emigrants: freedom, both personal and economic; hope for a better life than at home. By 1910, there were 100,000 such Issei in the United States. They were not stopped even by those slingshots that the American bureaucracy put them, for example, in obtaining American citizenship, nor the anti-Japanese hysterical campaign, which - without a shadow of political correctness existing today - was waged against them by American racists (American Legion, League - with the exception of the Japanese and other organizations ).

Government authorities clearly listened to these voices, and therefore all legal opportunities for the continuation of Japanese immigration were closed back in 1924 under President Coolidge. Nevertheless, many "Issei" were delighted with America, which did not close the paths and loopholes for them at least for their economic growth. Moreover, in America there were also "Nisei": the Japanese are American citizens. Indeed, according to the American Constitution, the children of even the most disenfranchised immigrants are equal American citizens if they were born in the United States.

Moreover, by the time the war began, the Nisei constituted a significant majority among the American Japanese, and the general loyalty of the Japanese community was confirmed by the authoritative report of the Kuris Munson Commission, created by the US Foreign Ministry: there is no internal Japanese threat and no uprising in California or Hawaii is expected. have to!

The media, however, played a different kind of music. Newspapers and radio circulated views of the Japanese as a fifth column, the need to evict them from the Pacific coast as far and as soon as possible. This chorus was soon joined by high-ranking politicians such as California Governor Olson, Los Angeles Mayor Brauron, and especially US Attorney General Francis Biddle.

On January 5, 1942, all American servicemen of Japanese origin were dismissed from the army or transferred to ancillary work, and on February 19, 1942, that is, two months and nine days after the start of the war, President Roosevelt signed Executive Order No. 9066 on the internment and deportation of 110,000 American Japanese from the first category of operational area, that is, from the entire west coast The Pacific as well as along the border with Mexico in the state of Arizona. The next day, Secretary of War Henry L. Simpson put Lieutenant General John de Witt in charge of executing the order. To help him, the National Committee for the Study of Migration for National Security ("Tolan Committee") was created.

At first, the Japanese were offered to be deported ... by themselves! That is, move to their relatives living in the central or eastern states. Until it turned out that practically no one had such relatives, most remained at home. Thus, at the end of March 1942, more than 100 thousand Japanese still lived within the first operational zone, which was forbidden for them, then the state came to the rescue, on hastily which created two networks of Japanese internment camps. The first network consists of 12 collection and distribution camps, guarded and with barbed wire. They were relatively close: most of the camps were located right there - in the interior of the states of California, Oregon, Washington and Arizona.

What happened to the Japanese on the American continent was pure water racism, there was no military necessity for it. It's funny that the Japanese who lived in Hawaii, one might say, in the front-line zone, have never been resettled anywhere: their economic role in the life of the Hawaiian Islands was so important that no speculations could beat it! The Japanese were given one week to organize their affairs, but the sale of a house or property was not a prerequisite: the institution of private property remained unshakable. The Japanese were taken to the camps by buses and trains under guard.

I must say that the living conditions there were very deplorable. But already in June-October 1942, most of the Japanese were moved to a network of 10 stationary camps, located much further from the coast - in the second or third row of the western American states: in Utah, Idaho, Arizona, Wyoming, Colorado, and two camps - even in Arkansas, in the southern part of the central belt of the United States. Living conditions were already at the level of American standards, but the climate for the new settlers was difficult: instead of flat Californian weather, there was a harsh continental climate with significant annual temperature drops.

In the camps, all adults were required to work 40 hours a week. Most of the Japanese were employed in agricultural work and crafts. Each camp had a cinema, a hospital, a school, a kindergarten, a House of Culture - in general, a typical set of social and cultural life for a small town.

As the prisoners later recalled, the administration treated them normally in most cases. There were also incidents - several Japanese were killed while trying to escape (American historians call numbers from 7 to 12 people for the entire existence of the camps). Violators of the order could be put in a guardhouse for several days.

The rehabilitation of the Japanese began almost simultaneously with the deportation - in October 1942. The Japanese, who were recognized after the check (and each was given a special questionnaire!) Loyal to the United States, were given back personal freedom and the right of free settlement: everywhere in the United States, except for the zone from which they were deported. Those deemed disloyal were taken to a special camp at Tulle Lake, California, which lasted until March 20, 1946.

Most Japanese people accepted their deportation with humility, believing that it was The best way expressions of loyalty. But some refused to recognize the deportation as legal and, challenging Roosevelt's order, went to court. So, Fred Korematsu flatly refused to voluntarily leave his home in San Levandro, and when he was arrested, he filed a lawsuit about the state's ineligibility to resettle or arrest people on the basis of race. The Supreme Court ruled that Korematsu and the rest of the Japanese were being persecuted not because they were Japanese, but because the state of war with Japan and martial law necessitated their temporary separation from the west coast. Jesuits, envy! Mitsue Endo turned out to be luckier. Her claim was formulated more subtly: the government does not have the right to move loyal citizens without giving reasons for such a move. And she won the process in 1944, and all the other "Nisei" (US citizens) won with her. They were also allowed to return to their places of pre-war residence.

In 1948, Japanese internees were paid partial compensation for the loss of property (20 to 40% of the value of the property).
Soon, rehabilitation was extended to the Issees, who, starting in 1952, were allowed to apply for citizenship. In 1980, Congress set up a special commission to examine the circumstances of Order 9066 and the circumstances of the deportation itself. The commission's conclusion was clear: Roosevelt's order was illegal. The commission recommended that each ex-Japanese deportant be paid $ 20,000 in compensation for illegal and forced displacement. In October 1990, each of them received an individual letter from President Bush Sr. with words of apology and condemnation of the past lawlessness. And soon the checks for compensation came.

A little about the origins of the conflict between Japan and the United States

Roosevelt began to eliminate a powerful competitor in the Pacific region from the moment when the Japanese created the puppet state of Manchukuo in northern China in 1932 and squeezed out American companies from there. After that, the American president called for the international isolation of the aggressors who encroached on China's sovereignty (or rather, on the interests of US business).

In 1939, the United States unilaterally denounced a 28-year trade agreement with Japan and thwarted attempts to conclude a new one. This was followed by a ban on the export of American aviation gasoline and scrap metal to Japan, which, in the context of the war with China, is in dire need of fuel for its aviation and metal raw materials for the defense industry.

Then the American military was allowed to fight on the side of the Chinese, and soon an embargo was announced on all Japanese assets in the formally neutral United States. Left without oil and raw materials, Japan had to either come to an agreement with the Americans on their terms, or start a war against them.

Since Roosevelt refused to negotiate with the Japanese prime minister, the Japanese tried to act through their ambassador, Kurusu Saburo. In response, US Secretary of State Cordell Hull handed them an ultimatum-like counter-proposal. For example, the Americans demanded the withdrawal of Japanese troops from all occupied territories, including China.

In response, the Japanese went to war. After on December 7, 1941, the Air Force of the Land of the Rising Sun sank four battleships, two destroyers and one minelayer in the harbor of Pearl Harbor, destroyed about 200 American aircraft, Japan overnight gained supremacy in the air and in the Pacific Ocean as a whole. ...

Roosevelt was well aware that the economic potential of the United States and its allies did not leave Japan a chance to win a major war. However, the shock and anger from Japan's unexpectedly successful attack on the United States was too great in the country.

Under these conditions, the government was required to take a populist step that would demonstrate to the citizens the irreconcilable determination of the authorities to fight the enemy - external and internal.

Roosevelt did not reinvent the wheel and in his decree relied on an old document of 1798, adopted during the war with France - the law on hostile foreigners. It allowed (and still allows) the US authorities to place any person in jail or concentration camp on suspicion of being associated with a hostile state.

The country's supreme court in 1944 upheld the constitutionality of internment, stating that, if required by a "social need," civil rights any national group.

The operation to evict the Japanese was entrusted to General John DeWitt, the commander of the Western Military District, who told the US Congress: “It doesn't matter if they are American citizens- they are still Japanese. We must always be concerned about the Japanese until they are wiped off the face of the earth. "

He has repeatedly emphasized that there is no way to determine the loyalty of a Japanese American to the Stars and Stripes, and therefore, during a war, such people pose a danger to the United States and should be immediately isolated. In particular, after Pearl Harbor, he suspected immigrants of communicating with Japanese ships via radio.

DeWitt's views were typical of the openly racist US military leadership. The relocation and maintenance of the deportees was in charge of the Military Displacement Administration, led by Milton Eisenhower, the younger brother of the Allied Force Commander in Europe and future US President Dwight D. Eisenhower. This department built ten concentration camps in the states of California, Arizona, Colorado, Wyoming, Idaho, Utah, Arkansas, to which the displaced Japanese were transported.

The camps were located in remote areas - usually on the territory of the Indian reservations. Moreover, this was an unpleasant surprise for the inhabitants of the reservations, and subsequently the Indians did not receive any monetary compensation for the use of their lands.

Created camps were fenced around the perimeter of barbed wire... The Japanese were ordered to live in hastily hammered together wooden barracks, where it was especially hard in winter. It was categorically not allowed to go outside the camp, the guards shot at those who tried to break this rule. All adults were required to work 40 hours a week, usually in agricultural work.

The largest concentration camp was considered to be Manzaner in California, where more than 10 thousand people were herded, and the most terrible - Tulle Lake, in the same state where the most "dangerous" were placed - hunters, pilots, fishermen and radio operators.

Japan's almost lightning-fast conquest of vast territories in Asia and the Pacific Ocean made its army and navy an almost indestructible force in the eyes of American ordinary people and strongly inflamed anti-Japanese hysteria, which was also actively fueled by newspapermen. For example, the Los Angeles Times called all Japanese vipers and wrote that an American of Japanese descent would necessarily grow up Japanese, but not an American.

There were calls to remove the Japanese as potential traitors from the east coast of the United States, inland. At the same time, the columnist Henry McLemore wrote that he hates all Japanese.

The resettlement of "enemies" was greeted with enthusiasm by the US population. Especially rejoicing were the residents of California, where an atmosphere similar to the racial laws of the Third Reich reigned for a long time. In 1905, mixed marriages between whites and Japanese were banned in the state. In 1906, San Francisco voted to segregate schools by race. The sentiment was also fueled by the Asians' Exclusion Act, passed in 1924, thanks to which immigrants had almost no chance of obtaining US citizenship.

The infamous decree was canceled only many years later - in 1976 by the then US President Gerald Ford. Under the next head of state, Jim Carter, the Commission for the Resettlement and Internment of Civilians in Wartime was created. In 1983, she concluded that the deprivation of freedom of Japanese Americans was not caused by military necessity.

In 1988, President Ronald Reagan, on behalf of the United States, apologized in writing to survivors of internment. They were paid 20 thousand dollars each. Subsequently, already under Bush Sr., each of the victims received another seven thousand dollars.

Compared to how they treated people of the same nationality with the enemy at that time, the US authorities treated the Japanese humanely. For example, in neighboring Canada, the Japanese, Germans, Italians, Koreans and Hungarians faced a different fate.

In the Canadian town of Hastings Park, by decree of February 24, 1942, a temporary detention center was created - essentially the same concentration camp to which 12 thousand people of Japanese origin were forcibly displaced by November 1942. They were allocated 20 cents a day for food (2-2.5 times less than Japanese campers in the United States). Another 945 Japanese were sent to forced labor camps, 3991 people were sent to sugar beet plantations, 1661 Japanese were sent to a colony-settlement (mainly in the taiga, where they were engaged in logging), 699 people were interned in POW camps in Ontario. , 42 people - repatriated to Japan, 111 - imprisoned in a prison in Vancouver. In total, about 350 Japanese people died while trying to escape, from disease and ill-treatment (2.5% of the total number of Japanese people affected by their rights - the percentage of deaths was similar to the same indicators in Stalin's camps in non-war time).

Prime Minister Brian Mulroney also apologized to the Japanese, Germans, and others deported during the war on September 22, 1988. All of them were entitled to compensation for the suffering of 21 thousand Canadian dollars per person.

American-Japanese War 1941-1945 was very difficult and had serious consequences. What are the reasons for this bloody war? How did it go and what consequences did it have? Who Won the US-Japan War? This will be discussed in the article.

American-Japanese controversies and the causes of the war... The contradictions between America and Japan have a long history dating back to the 19th century, when the Americans imposed unequal trade agreements on the Japanese. But after the First World War, the situation worsened even more, since between these states there was a struggle for spheres of influence in the Asia-Pacific region. So, since 1931, Japan has continued the conquest of China and created on its territory the state of Manchukuo, which was actually completely controlled by the Japanese. Soon, all American corporations were ousted from the Chinese market, which clearly weakened the position of the United States. In 1940, the trade agreement between the United States and Japan was terminated. In June 1941, Japanese troops capture French Indochina. Soon, in response to the aggression on July 26, the United States imposed an embargo on oil imports to Japan, and later Britain joined the embargo. As a result, Japan was faced with a choice: either to continue the redistribution of territories in this region and enter into a military conflict with the United States, or to retreat and recognize the United States as a leading role in this region. The reasons for the US-Japan War are now clear. Japan, of course, chose the first option.

USA... The American government considered the option of a war with Japan, in connection with this, active training of the army and navy was carried out. Thus, a number of military-economic reforms were carried out: a law on military service was adopted, the military budget was increased. On the eve of the war with Japan, the number of personnel in the American army was equal to one million eight hundred thousand people, of which three hundred and fifty fighters were in the navy. The number of ships in the US Navy was 227 ships of different class and 113 submarines.

Japan... Japan, waging military operations in China in 1941, was already preparing for the outbreak of war with America. Japan's military budget at this time amounted to more than 12 billion yen. The size of the Japanese army before the war was 1 million 350 thousand in the land army and 350 thousand in the navy. The size of the navy increased to 202 ships and 50 submarines. In aviation, there were one thousand aircraft of various classes.

Japan's Attack on Pearl Harbor, US Entry into World War II: A History. The attack on Pearl Harbor is a surprise, without a declaration of war, attack by the Imperial Japanese Army aircraft and navy on American warships and an air base in Hawaii on December 7, 1941.

The decision to go to war with the United States was made at a meeting of Japanese ministers with the emperor on December 1, 1941. For the active advancement of the Japanese army in the Asia-Pacific region, it was necessary to destroy its Pacific fleet, which was stationed in full force on the island of Oahu. For this purpose, a preemptive strike was chosen on the base of the US navy. The essence of the attack was to take advantage of the effect of surprise, with the help of aircraft that took off from aircraft carriers, to make a powerful raid on the base. Ultimately, on December 7, 1941, there were two air raids with a total of 440 Japanese aircraft.

The losses of the United States were catastrophic, in fact, 90% of the Pacific fleet of America turned out to be destroyed or incapacitated. In total, the Americans lost 18 ships: 8 battleships, 4 destroyers, 3 cruisers, losses in aviation were equal to 188 aircraft. Losses in personnel also amounted to catastrophic numbers, about 2,400 people were killed and 1,200 were injured. Japan's losses were an order of magnitude less, 29 aircraft were shot down and about 60 people died.

As a result, on December 8, 1941, the United States, led by President Franklin Roosevelt, declared war on Japan and officially entered WWII.

Stage One: Japan's Victory Immediately after the attack on the Pearl Harbor base, on the wave of success and taking advantage of the confusion and confusion of the United States, the islands of Guam and Wake, which belonged to America, were captured. By March 1942, the Japanese were already off the coast of Australia, but could not capture it. In general, Japan achieved outstanding results in the four months of the war. Peninsula Malaysia was captured, the territories of the Dutch West Indies, Hong Kong, the Philippines, and southern Burma were annexed. Japan's victories at the first stage can be explained not only by military factors; successes are also largely associated with a well-thought-out propaganda policy. Thus, the population of the occupied territories was told that Japan had come to free them from bloody imperialism. As a result, in December 1941 - March 1942, Japan seized territories of more than 4 million square kilometers with a population of 200 million people. At the same time, she lost only 15 thousand people, 400 aircraft and 4 ships. US casualties alone totaled 130,000 soldiers.

Stage two: a turning point in the war After the naval battle in May 1942 in the Coral Sea, although it ended in a tactical victory for Japan, which was obtained at a heavy price and was not as obvious as before, there was a fundamental turning point in the war. The battle at Midway Atoll on June 4, 1942 is considered to be its date. On this day, the American fleet won its first major victory. Japan lost 4 aircraft carriers, against 1 American. After this defeat, Japan no longer undertook offensive operations, but focused on defending previously conquered territories.

After winning the battle within six months, the Americans regained control of the island of Guadalcanal. Later, the Aleutian and Solomon Islands, New Guinea, and the Gilbert Islands came under the control of the United States and its allies.

The final stage of the war: the defeat of Japan In 1944, the outcome of the American-Japanese war was already a foregone conclusion. The Japanese systematically lost their territory. The main task of the Japanese government was to protect China and Burma. But from late February to September 1944, Japan lost control of the Marshall, Mariana, Caroline Islands and New Guinea.

The culmination of the US-Japan War was the victory in the Philippine Operation, which began on October 17, 1944. The losses of Japan during the offensive by the United States and its allies were catastrophic, three battleships, four aircraft carriers, ten cruisers, and eleven destroyers were sunk. Losses of personnel were equal to 300 thousand people. The losses of the United States and allies amounted to only 16 thousand and six ships of various classes.

In early 1945, the theater of operations moved to the territory of Japan itself. On February 19, there was a successful landing on the island of Iwo Jima, which, in the course of fierce resistance, was soon captured. On June 21, 1945, the island of Okinawa was captured.

All battles, especially in Japan, were very fierce, since most of the Japanese military personnel belonged to the samurai class and fought to the end, preferring death to captivity. The most striking example is the use of kamikaze detachments by the Japanese command.

In July 1945, the Japanese government was asked to surrender, but Japan refused to accept the surrender, soon after which American aircraft launched nuclear strikes on the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. And on September 2, 1945, the act of surrender of Japan was signed on board the Missouri ship. On this, the war between the United States and Japan was over, like the WWII itself, although the WWII officially ended for Japan in 1951 with the signing of the San Francisco Treaty.

The atomic bombing of the cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki To quickly end the war with Japan, the American government decided to use atomic weapons... There were several possible targets for bombing, the idea of ​​bombing exclusively military targets was rejected immediately due to the possibility of a miss in a small area. The choice fell on the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, since these territories had a good location, and the features of their landscape provided for an increase in the range of destruction.

The first city on which a nuclear bomb with a yield of eighteen kilotons was dropped was the city of Hiroshima. The bomb was dropped in morning time August 6, 1945 from a B-29 bomber. Losses among the population amounted to about 100-160 thousand people. Three days later, on August 9, the city of Nagasaki was bombed, now the power of the explosion was twenty kilotons, according to various estimates, about 60-80 thousand people became victims. The effect of the use of atomic weapons forced the Japanese government to agree to surrender.

Outcome and consequences After the admission of defeat on September 2, 1945, the occupation of Japan by American troops began. The occupation lasted until 1952, when the San Francisco Peace Treaty was signed and entered into force. After the defeat of Japan, it was forbidden to have a military and an air fleet. All of Japan's politics and economy was subordinate to the United States. In Japan, a new constitution was approved, a new parliament was formed, the samurai class was liquidated, but the imperial power officially remained, as there was a risk of popular unrest. American troops were stationed on its territory and military bases were built, which are still there today.

Losses of the sides of the War Japan and the United States have brought enormous losses to the peoples of these countries. The United States lost just over 106 thousand people. Of the 27 thousand American prisoners of war, 11 thousand were killed in captivity. The losses of the Japanese side amounted to about 1 million soldiers and, according to various estimates, 600 thousand civilians.

Interesting Facts There are many known cases when individual members of the Japanese army continued to conduct military operations against the Americans after the end of hostilities. So, in February 1946, on the island of Lubang, 8 American soldiers of the US troops were killed during a shootout. In March 1947, about 30 Japanese soldiers attacked American troops on the island of Peleliu, but after it was explained to them that the war was long over, the soldiers surrendered.

But the most famous case of this kind is guerrilla war in the Philippine Islands, Japanese intelligence junior lieutenant Hiro Onoda. For almost thirty years, he carried out about a hundred attacks on the American military, as a result of which he killed thirty and injured a hundred people. And only in 1974 he surrendered to the Philippine army - in full uniform and well armed.

On December 7, 1941, the world learned about the new Japanese aggression. On this day, the armed forces of militaristic Japan treacherously, without declaring war, attacked the main bases of the United States and Great Britain in the Pacific Ocean and Southeast Asia ( The war began at 13:20 on December 7, Washington time, at 3:20 on December 8, Tokyo time.).

The war in the Pacific Ocean - an integral part of the Second World War - was the result of the exacerbation of imperialist contradictions caused by the intensification of the desire of the Japanese ruling circles to seize colonies and establish economic and political control over China and other countries in this region. Japan's aggression was part of the general plan for the conquest by states of the fascist-militarist bloc of world domination.

The war began with a powerful strike by the Japanese carrier formation on the ships of the US Pacific Fleet in Pearl Harbor, as a result of which the Americans suffered heavy losses. On the same day, Japanese aviation formations, based on the island of Taiwan, carried out massive raids on the airfields of the Philippines ( Taiheiyo senso shi (History of the Pacific War), vol. 4, pp. 140-141.).

On the night of December 8, the Japanese landed troops in the north of Malaya - in Kota Bharu. At dawn on the same day, Japanese aircraft suddenly bombarded British airfields in Malaya and Singapore, while Japanese troops landed in southern Thailand ( Taiheiyo senso shi (History of the Pacific War), vol. 4, pp. 141-143.).

The initial period of the war in the Pacific included the operations of the groups created before the hostilities, as well as the system of political, economic, diplomatic and military measures of the belligerent states aimed at mobilizing forces for the further conduct of the war.

Japan and England, which had been belligerent states before that, undertook an expansion of military production, additional mobilization of material and human resources, a redistribution of forces between theaters of military operations and corresponding foreign policy actions.

In the United States of America, which had not previously participated in the war, during this period, the transition of the economy to a war footing and the deployment of armed forces was accelerated.

Although the Japanese attack caught the US military by surprise, the fact that the war began was not unexpected either for the government or for most of the American people ( R. Sherwood. Roosevelt and Hopkins, vol. I, p. 668.). And yet everyone in America was shocked by what happened at Pearl Harbor.

On the morning of December 8, President F. Roosevelt, speaking in front of both houses of Congress, announced the treacherous attack by Japan. Congress passed a resolution declaring war on it ( Congressional Record, vо1. 87, p1. 9, p. 9504-9506, 9520-9537.).

On December 11, Japan's allies along the axis - Germany and Italy - declared war on the United States. In this regard, Roosevelt, having addressed with a message to Congress, announced the readiness of the United States to join those peoples of the world "who are determined to remain free" and to achieve victory "over the forces of savagery and barbarism" ( Ibid., P. 9652.).

The defeat of the US Navy by the Japanese for the first time hours of the war was a heavy blow to the Americans. Roosevelt called the day of the attack on Pearl Harbor a "symbol of shame" for America ( Ibid., P. 9504.). As the enormous scale of the losses was revealed, the conviction grew stronger in the country that it was necessary to repay the national shame.

For the first time the days of the war, despite the decisive tone of official statements, in the political circles of Washington, according to eyewitnesses, nervousness and confusion were noticeable ( R. Sherwood. Roosevelt and Hopkins, vol. I, p. 675.). At the same time, telegrams and letters were sent from all over the country to the White House, expressing the desire of the American people to give a worthy rebuff to the aggressors. A public opinion poll showed that 96 percent of the population supported the congressional decision to enter the war ( Public Opinion, 1935-1946. Princeton (New Jercey), 1951, p. 978.).

The National Committee of the US Communist Party issued a statement emphasizing that the act of aggression against the United States was committed not by Japan alone, but by a military alliance of aggressive states. The Communist newspaper Daily Worker wrote in one of its editorials: "The Japanese strike reveals the plans of the Berlin-Tokyo-Rome alliance, aimed at conquering the whole world ..." ( Fighting Worlds: Selections from 25 Years of "The Daily Worker". New York, 1949, p. 40-41.) The American communists, proceeding from the fact that the Axis states threaten the interests of freedom-loving peoples, called for the unification of efforts of the entire nation for a decisive struggle against the aggressors.

In connection with the events at Pearl Harbor, the working class of the United States declared its readiness to do everything possible to defeat the aggressors. Workers passed resolutions calling for labor mobilization, voluntarily switched to an extended work week, and labored selflessly despite rising prices, freezing wages and increasing exploitation in all branches of production.

The heads of the largest farming organizations in the country also made a statement of support for the government.

The rise of the national patriotic movement in the United States was caused, first of all, by the treacherous attack of the Japanese. However, there was no unity in this movement. Between the broad masses of the people, on the one hand, and the representatives of monopoly capital, on the other, there was a deep difference in the understanding of the goals of the outbreak of the war. The largest monopolies wanted to use it to carry out their expansionist plans. War was seen by many in the establishment as a means of establishing American dominance in the post-war world. The monopolists sought to shift the inevitable military burdens onto the shoulders of the working people alone. They insisted on a wage freeze, although prices of basic commodities rose by 35 percent by the end of 1941 over the same period in 1940 ( R. Mikesell. United States Economic Policy and International Relations. New York, 1952, p. 85.).

The news of the historic victory of Soviet troops near Moscow was a great moral support for the Americans in the difficult first months of the war in the Pacific. The message from President F. Roosevelt, received by the Soviet government on December 16, reported "the general genuine enthusiasm in the United States for the success of your armies in defending your great nation" ( ). The American newspapers The New York Times and The New York Herald Tribune wrote about great importance victories of the Soviet Army ( G. Sevostyanov. A Diplomatic History of the Pacific War, pp. 60-61.).

The Soviet people followed with sincere sympathy the struggle of the United States against the Japanese aggressors. JV Stalin, in a letter to F. Roosevelt on December 17, wished "success in the fight against aggression in the Pacific" ( Correspondence of the Chairman of the Council of Ministers of the USSR, vol. 2, p. 16.).

Great Britain, Canada, Holland, Australia, New Zealand, the Union of South Africa, Kuomintang China and a number of Latin American states have also declared war on Japan. The majority of the world's population was involved in the world war. By the end of 1941, the coalition of states that fought against the countries of the aggressive bloc possessed most of the industrial and raw material potential of the world. The general political situation and the balance of power in the international arena have changed in favor of freedom-loving peoples.

The American government has energetically embarked on economic and military measures aimed at repelling Japanese aggression. It revised initial plans the release of weapons and military equipment in 1942. Military spending was immediately increased: in December 1941 they amounted to $ 1.8 billion (28 percent more than the previous month), and from January to April 1942 increased from 2 , 1 billion to 3.5 billion dollars ( Statistical Abstract of the United States 1942, p. 194.). In the first half of 1942, the US armed forces received 11 percent more aircraft, almost 192 tanks and 469 percent more guns (excluding anti-aircraft guns) than in the whole of 1941 ( R Leighton, R Coakley. Global Logistics and Strategy 1940-1943, p. 728.).

The war in the Pacific prompted the United States to intensify military cooperation with other states that oppose Japan. In mid-December 1941, at the suggestion of President Roosevelt, conferences of military representatives of the United States, Britain, China and Holland were held, testifying to the desire of the United States to attract the armed forces of its allies to actively counter the Japanese offensive, to organize their interaction under American leadership.

Of great importance for the further strengthening of the Anglo-American alliance was the confirmation of the ABC-1 plan at the Arcadia conference at the end of December 1941. This plan, developed by the military headquarters of England and the United States back in March 1941, provided for keeping only such positions that would ensure the vital interests of the United States and Britain during the period of their concentration of forces to defeat Germany.

"An agreement was signed between the governments of the USSR and Great Britain on joint actions in the war against Germany. Moscow, July 12, 1941"

"Meeting of US President F. Roosevelt and British Prime Minister W. Churchill aboard the British battleship Prince of Wales. August 1941"

"Signing of documents of the conference of representatives of the USSR, Great Britain and the USA. Moscow, 1941"

"Meeting of the Inter-Union Conference. London, September 1941"

"Signing of a military agreement between Germany, Italy and Japan. Berlin, January 1942"

"The death of an American tanker attacked by a German submarine. March 1942"

"The English cruiser" York "in action. 1941"

"The sinking of an English ship in the Atlantic by the Nazis. 1941"

"British Generals A. Wavell (right) and K. Auchinleck. 1941"

"British tanks in North Africa. November 1941"

"The English convoy has arrived on the island of Malta"

"Italian prisoners of war captured by the British, North Africa, 1941"

"At the headquarters of E. Rommel. North Africa. November 1941"

"British tanks in the battle of El Sallum. 1942"

"The bombing of the island of Malta by fascist aircraft. January 1942"

"The offensive of Italian tanks in Libya. 1942"

"Emperor Hirohito receives a parade of troops. Tokyo, December 1941"

"Minister of War, then Prime Minister of Japan Hideki Tojo. 1941"

"Japanese bombers prepared to attack British troops. December 1941"

"Concentration of Japanese naval forces off the coast of Malaya. December 1941"

"Military leaders of militaristic Japan, Isoroku Yamamoto. 1941"

"Military leaders of militaristic Japan Osami Nagano. 1941"

"American ships after the Japanese air raid on Pearl Harbor. December 1941"

"Japanese tanks on the streets of captured Manila. 1941"

"American bomber attacks Japanese warship"

"Victims of the Japanese bombing of Singapore. 1942"

"Fight in the area of ​​oil fields in Burma"

"Japanese troops in Burma"

"English patrol in the jungle of Malaysia. 1942"

"Statesmen and military leaders of Great Britain. From left to right: (sitting) V. Beaverbrook, C. Attlee, W. Churchill, A. Eden, A. Alexander; (standing) C. Portal, D. Pound, A. Sinclair, Marjesson, J. Dill, G. Ismay, Hollis "

"President F. Roosevelt signs a declaration on the entry of the United States into the war. December 1941"

"General J. Marshall (the worm on the right) with his headquarters"

"Great Britain launched a mass production of Spitfire fighters. 1941"

"A meeting at a shipyard in Brooklyn before workers are sent to Pearl Harbor to repair US Pacific Fleet warships damaged by a Japanese attack."

The allies considered the defense of Hawaii, Dutch Harbor (Alaska), Singapore, Dutch India, the Philippines, Rangoon and the routes to China ( M. Matloff, E. Snell. Strategic planning in the coalition war 1941 - 1942, p. 142.).

In the first weeks after the tragedy in Pearl Harbor, the US military leadership took measures to contain the Japanese onslaught in the South and Southwest Pacific and ensure the protection of Alaska, Hawaii and the Panama Canal zone from a possible Japanese invasion. Two infantry divisions and a number of anti-aircraft artillery units were hastily deployed to various areas of the US Pacific coast and to the Panama Canal zone. The American command decided to urgently send 36 heavy bombers and ammunition to Hawaii ( M. Matloff, E. Snell. Strategic planning in the coalition war 1941 - 1942, p. 102.).

In January 1942, a joint committee of the chiefs of staff of the United States and Great Britain was created, whose task was to coordinate the military efforts of the two states and establish military cooperation with other allied powers. From the United States, the committee included R. Stark, E. King, J. Marshall, and G. Arnold; from Great Britain - D. Dill, D. Pound, A. Brook and C. Portal.

In early March 1942, F. Roosevelt proposed to W. Churchill to allocate areas of responsibility for the United States and Great Britain to wage war with the Axis countries. As a result of the agreement, the Pacific Ocean basin, China, Australia, New Zealand and Japan became the zone of the Americans; The Indian Ocean, the Near and Middle East - the British, and Europe and the Atlantic constituted a zone of joint responsibility ( M. Matloff, E. Snell. Strategic planning in the coalition war 1941 - 1942, pp. 193-195.)).

On March 30, the President of the United States appointed General MacArthur as commander-in-chief of the American armed forces: in the Southwest Pacific (Australia, New Zealand and the Philippines), Admiral Nimitz ( M. Matloff, E. Snell. Strategic planning in the coalition war 1941 - 1942, pp. 199-200.). Thus, the leadership of military operations in the Pacific basin passed into the hands of the Americans.

In connection with the outbreak of war, the governments of the United States and Britain sought to induce Chiang Kai-shek to intensify hostilities in order to pin down as many Japanese forces in China as possible and thereby weaken their offensive capabilities. However, the degree of activity of the Kuomintang troops largely depended on the material assistance of the United States. Therefore, the government of Chiang Kai-shek was very interested in Burma, through which military supplies of the allies to China were carried out. For its defense, Chiang Kai-shek at the end of December 1941 suggested using the 5th and 6th Chinese armies ( J. Butler, J. Guyer. Great strategy. June 1941-August 1942, p. 310.). These forces were few in number and poorly armed; moreover, serious disagreements arose between the Kuomintang and British commanders. Therefore, the Chinese troops in Burma did not have any significant influence on the course of hostilities. Subsequently, China completely passed into the sphere of responsibility of the United States.

So, with the beginning of Japan's aggression against the United States, England and Dutch India, the world war spread to vast areas of the Pacific and Indian Oceans, Southeast Asia, India, the South Seas region and Australia.

The United States of America and Great Britain became involved in the war with Japan before their war preparations were completed. but characteristic feature The armed clash of these countries with Japan was the inequality of the military-industrial potentials of the parties: the United States and Great Britain were many times superior to it in economic power, which was of decisive importance in the protracted war.

The major successes achieved by the Japanese armed forces in the first operations were mainly due to the surprise attack by the Japanese and the unpreparedness of the United States and Great Britain to repel the attacks of the aggressor.

The powerful onslaught of the Japanese prompted the American government to take urgent military measures and accelerate the restructuring of the entire economic and political life of the country in order to wage a large and long war.

4. USA in the war with Japan and its agony in 1945

Potsdam Conference (1945). This is the name of the last meeting of the leaders of the Big Three (Great Britain, USSR, USA). It was attended by Stalin, Churchill, Truman. The main issue that stood at the meeting was the joint management of defeated Germany, the ways of its division.

Just during the conference, American President Truman received a detailed report on the successful tests of the atomic bomb. He immediately cheered up.

The tone in which the Anglo-American allies negotiated became harsher and more aggressive. No compromise in the spirit of Yalta was foreseen. The Truman-Churchill tandem was concerned about how to make Stalin understand that the partners had a trump card in their hands, capable of spoiling the Soviet party. A week after the start of the conference, Truman made up his mind. After the end of the regular session, he stopped Stalin on the steps of the Zicilienhof Palace and casually threw a few words about the US's weapons of unheard-of destructive power. Stalin listened in silence, nodded and walked on without reacting to the notification. “I don’t understand,” decided Truman and Churchill, they will have to scare more thoroughly, more rudely, more visible. In those minutes, the fate of the two Japanese cities was decided.

A container with plutonium is delivered to Titian Island. However, it is likely that the determination of this fate happened earlier. The US Navy ship Iidianapolis was in the roadstead of San Francisco. In one of his cabins there were two taciturn passengers in civilian clothes, from their luggage there was a voluminous metal suitcase. It contained the "plutonium heart" of Manhattan item # 2, a heavy lead ball that was to become the warhead of a bomb named "Kid". Several hours after the successful explosion at Alamogordo, the cruiser Indianapolis was ordered to navigate to Tinian Island at the northern tip of the Mariana Archipelago. For half a year already, the US strategic aviation base was located on Tiiyan, from where systematic bombing strikes were carried out on the Japanese islands. In the summer of 1945, by decision of the American Air Command, the 509th Aviation Regiment was based on the island.

I got to the place "Iidianapolis" without incident. American dominance of the Pacific was almost complete, and on July 27, both passengers disembarked. Seeing off the mysterious guests, the cruiser commander, who almost guessed the purpose of the cargo, allegedly grumbled after them: "I never thought that we would sink to bacteriological warfare." Charles Maccabee was wrong, but not too wrong. A day later, the container with plutonium took a structurally assigned place in the womb of the "Malysh". The bomb was ready for combat use.

Meanwhile, on the way home, the Iidianapolis was attacked by the Japanese submarine 1-58 of Lieutenant Hashimo-to. The submariner did not miss. Having received two torpedoes, the cruiser went to the bottom. Subsequently, Hashimoto more than once cursed fate for not sending him a meeting with the enemy three days earlier.

Reasons for Truman's haste. The message about the readiness of the 509th regiment and a special bombardment was met with satisfaction by Truman. He was in a hurry again. This time the reason for the haste was the fact that the USSR intended, fulfilling its allied duty, to enter the war against Japan. This decision was made back in Tehran, where Roosevelt and Churchill begged Stalin to agree to this step in order to accelerate the common victory. In Potsdam, the final date for the Soviet strike on the Kwantung Army was set, which was August 10, 1945. But the situation changed, in the summer last year During the war, the Americans no longer needed the Russians.

State of Japan. The Japanese Empire was on the verge of death. Her death was a matter of weeks or even days. But entry into the Pacific conflict inevitably gave The Soviet Union the right to ensure their interests in the region. Naturally, Truman did not want to share the fruits of the victory already won, and was in a hurry to finish off the Japanese before the target date came up. The fact that it was about finishing off is beyond doubt today. Short description of the last months of the Second World War completely devalues ​​the justifying mythology invented by American historians. The statement that atomic bomb saved hundreds of thousands of lives of American soldiers who could have died while landing on the Japanese islands, is refuted by an elementary assessment of the situation.

Before the war, Japan had a merchant fleet, which included transport ships with a total displacement of about 6 million tons. This was extremely small, given that the island metropolis was completely dependent on overseas supplies of industrial raw materials and food. The Japanese had long communications, but there was nothing to protect them. Japan did not build warships adapted for exporting convoys. It was believed that export aircraft carriers and anti-submarine ships will not be needed. All forces were thrown into the construction of the "general battle fleet".

The Americans are destroying the Japanese transport fleet. The Americans took advantage of this. During 1943-1944. their submarines sank 9/10 of the Japanese transport fleet. The Mikado industry was left without raw materials of all kinds, including oil. The Japanese aviation was left without gasoline. I had to refuel planes for a one-way flight. This is how the "kamikaze" appeared. Let us take into account that their effectiveness is not higher than that of a conventional aircraft, even lower, since suicide pilots were only taught to take off, and then theoretically. The use of combat suicides did not justify itself, there was simply no other way out. By the way, not only planes were sent to one end, but entire squadrons.

The Americans seize the Japanese islands in the Pacific Ocean. In such conditions, the Americans, having built aircraft carriers, quickly melted the main body of the main forces of the Japanese fleet. Then another round began. Taking advantage of the fact that the Japanese fleet was either sunk or is in ports without fuel, the Americans conducted a series of amphibious operations on the islands of the Pacific Ocean. The landing targets were chosen wisely. So that from there strategic bombers fly to Japan with a full load and can return back. From the fall of 1944, the Americans had bases on Saipan and Tinian. Then we got closer, capturing Iwo Jima and Okinawa. The Japanese understood why the Yankees needed these islands, and defended them with the desperation of the doomed, but bravery and fanaticism did not help. The Americans were slowly grinding the isolated enemy garrisons. Having completed this process, they began to build excellent airfields. They built better than they fought, and soon all the Japanese islands were within the range of American strategic bombers.

Raids on Japanese cities. Massive raids of "super-fortresses" began on Japanese cities. Everything was like in Germany, only worse, the air defense of the islands did not at all have the means to fight the raids. Another distinctive feature that mattered was the type of construction in Japanese cities, where the main construction material- plywood. It has several properties that distinguish wood fiber from stone, in particular, it burns well and is not as strong when exposed to a shock wave. The pilots of the "fortresses" did not need to carry super-heavy "fugasks" with them; small-caliber incendiary bombs were enough. Fortunately, a novelty has arrived, napalm, which gives temperatures that allow you to burn not only plywood, but also soil, stones, and everything else.

Napalm bombing of Tokyo. By the summer of 1945, almost all major Japanese cities had survived the raids. What came out of this - it becomes clear on the example of Tokyo, which experienced a massive blow on March 9, 1945. On that day, 300 "fortresses" filled the city with napalm to overflowing. The huge area of ​​the city excluded the possibility of misses. The carpet of "lighters" was spread out for sure, despite the hours of the night. Sumida flowing through the city was silvery in the moonlight, and visibility was excellent. The Americans walked low, only two kilometers above the ground, and the pilots could distinguish every house. If the Japanese had gasoline for fighters or shells for anti-aircraft guns, such impudence would have to pay. But neither the one nor the other the defenders of the Tokyo sky did not have.

The houses in the city were dense, the napalm burned hot. That is why the fiery channels left by the bomb streams quickly merged into a single sea of ​​fire. Air turbulence spurred the elements, creating a huge fiery tornado. Those who were lucky said that the water in Sumida boiled, and the steel bridge thrown over it melted, dropping drops of metal into the water. The Americans, embarrassedly, estimate the loss of that night at 100 thousand people. Japanese sources, without showing exact numbers, believe that the value of 300 thousand burned out will be closer to the truth. Another one and a half million were left homeless and headless. American losses did not exceed 4% of the vehicles participating in the raid, and their main reason was the inability of the pilots of the terminal vehicles to cope with the air currents that arose over the dying city.

Agony. The raid on Tokyo was the first in a series of others that finally destroyed Japan. People fled the cities, leaving jobs with whom they still remained. Although work became rare, by April 1945, some 650 industrial sites had been destroyed. Only 7 aircraft building enterprises operated, hidden in advance in deep adits and tunnels. Rather, they were inactive, lacking components. Useless aircraft hulls devoid of filling were piled up in factory warehouses with no hope of breathing life into their engines. There was absolutely no gasoline, or rather it was, but several thousand liters were saved for the "kamikaze", which was to attack the American invasion fleet, if it appeared off the Japanese coast. This strategic reserve could be enough for a hundred or two sorties, no more. Japanese scientists were definitely not up to nuclear research. Scientific luminaries switched to the extraction of combustible materials from pine roots, which supposedly contained alcohol suitable for combustion in engine cylinders. He, of course, was not there, but the Japanese were looking to distract themselves from bad thoughts about tomorrow.

Then it was the turn of the US Navy. Aircraft carriers snooped along the very coast of Japan. The pilots of their air groups complained to their superiors about the lack of targets. Everything that was afloat had already been sunk. Training ships that remembered Tsushima, the skeletons of giant aircraft carriers that were unfinished due to the lack of iron, coasters, railway ferries - all this rested at the bottom. The connection between the islands of the Japanese archipelago was destroyed. Squadrons of American torpedo bombers chased fishing boats, and bombers were bombing villages of 10 houses. It was agony. The imperial government announced a total mobilization, calling under the banner of all men and some women. The army turned out to be large, but useless; firearms, and even more scarce ammunition for most of the soldiers was not found. They were given bamboo lances without iron tips, with which they were to throw themselves at the American Marines.

The question arises, perhaps the Americans did not know about bamboo peaks? It is unlikely that they flew low, and saw a lot of the cockpits of their aircraft. And the strategic services of the United States had data on the reserves of Japanese gasoline back in 1940. So, it is better not to recall the danger of huge casualties during the landing for the historians of the country that managed to knock the Nazis off the coast of Normandy. And it turns out some kind of racism. Like, a Japanese with a lance is stronger than an American at the helm of an attack aircraft. Can you imagine that the past fires and waters of Omaha and Iwo Jima, American guys were afraid of Japanese girls with bang-boo-boo! with sticks. They weren't afraid. Paying tribute to the US Army and Navy, it must be remembered that the responsible commanders of the Pacific theater were against the atomic bombing. Among those who objected were serious people: the chief of staff of the commander-in-chief, Admiral Georges Leguy, Chester Nimitz, the hero of Midway Halsey and dozens of other decent or simply clever military leaders. They all believed that Japan would surrender before the fall from the effects of the naval blockade and conventional airstrikes. Scientists joined them. Dozens of creators of the "Manhattan brainchild" signed an appeal to the US President asking him to abandon the nuclear demonstration. These unfortunates did not understand that Truman needed to report on the expenditure of government funds so that "the mosquito would not undermine his nose"; yes, in addition, to exclude Stalin's participation in the Far Eastern "settlement".

Before the war, Japan had a merchant fleet that included transport ships with a total displacement of about 6 million tons. This was extremely small, given that the island metropolis was completely dependent on overseas supplies of industrial raw materials and food. The Japanese had long communications, but there was nothing to protect them. Japan did not build warships adapted for exporting convoys. It was believed that export aircraft carriers and anti-submarine ships would not be needed. All forces were thrown into the construction of the "general battle fleet".

The Americans are destroying the Japanese transport fleet. The Americans took advantage of this. During 1943-1944. their submarines sank 9/10 of the Japanese transport fleet. The Mikado industry was left without raw materials of all kinds, including oil. The Japanese aviation was left without gasoline. I had to refuel planes for a one-way flight. This is how the "kamikaze" appeared. Let us take into account that their effectiveness is not higher than that of a conventional aircraft, even lower, since suicide pilots were only taught to take off, and then theoretically. The use of combat suicides did not justify itself, there was simply no other way out. By the way, not only planes were sent to one end, but entire squadrons.

The Americans seize the Japanese islands in the Pacific Ocean. In such conditions, the Americans, having built aircraft carriers, quickly melted the main body of the main forces of the Japanese fleet. Then another round began. Taking advantage of the fact that the Japanese fleet was either sunk or is in ports without fuel, the Americans conducted a series of amphibious operations on the islands of the Pacific Ocean. The landing targets were chosen wisely. So that from there strategic bombers fly to Japan with a full load and can return back. From the fall of 1944, the Americans had bases on Saipan and Tinian. Then we got closer, capturing Iwo Jima and Okinawa. The Japanese understood why the Yankees needed these islands, and defended them with the desperation of the doomed, but bravery and fanaticism did not help. The Americans were slowly grinding the enemy's isolated garrisons. Having completed this process, they began to build excellent airfields. They built better than they fought, and soon all the Japanese islands were within the range of American strategic bombers.

Raids on Japanese cities. Massive raids of "super-fortresses" began on Japanese cities. Everything was like in Germany, only worse, the air defense of the islands did not at all have the means to fight the raids. Another distinctive feature that mattered was the type of construction in Japanese cities, where the main building material was plywood. It has several properties that distinguish wood fiber from stone, in particular, it burns well and is not as strong when exposed to a shock wave. The pilots of the "fortresses" did not need to carry super-heavy "fugasks" with them; small-caliber incendiary bombs were enough. Fortunately, a novelty has arrived, napalm, which gives temperatures that allow you to burn not only plywood, but also soil, stones, and everything else.

Napalm bombing of Tokyo. By the summer of 1945, almost all major Japanese cities had survived the raids. What came out of this - it becomes clear on the example of Tokyo, which experienced a massive blow on March 9, 1945. On that day, 300 "fortresses" filled the city with napalm to overflowing. The huge area of ​​the city excluded the possibility of misses. The carpet of "lighters" was spread out for sure, despite the hours of the night. Sumida flowing through the city was silvery in the moonlight, and visibility was excellent. The Americans walked low, only two kilometers above the ground, and the pilots could distinguish every house. If the Japanese had gasoline for fighters or shells for anti-aircraft guns, such impudence would have to pay. But neither the one nor the other defenders of the Tokyo sky did not have.

The houses in the city were dense, the napalm burned hot. That is why the fiery channels left by the bomb streams quickly merged into a single sea of ​​fire. Air turbulence spurred the elements, creating a huge fiery tornado. Those who were lucky said that the water in Sumida boiled, and the steel bridge thrown over it melted, dropping drops of metal into the water. The Americans, embarrassedly, estimate the loss of that night at 100 thousand people. Japanese sources, without showing exact numbers, believe that the value of 300 thousand burned out will be closer to the truth. Another one and a half million were left without a roof over their heads. American losses did not exceed 4% of the vehicles participating in the raid. Moreover, their main reason was the inability of the pilots of the terminal cars to cope with the air currents that arose over the dying city.

Agony. The raid on Tokyo was the first in a series of others to finally destroy Japan. People fled the cities, leaving jobs with whom they still remained. Although work became rare, by April 1945, some 650 industrial sites had been destroyed. Only 7 aircraft building enterprises operated, hidden in advance in deep adits and tunnels. Rather, they were inactive, lacking components. Useless aircraft hulls devoid of filling were piled up in factory warehouses with no hope of breathing life into their engines. There was absolutely no gasoline, or rather it was, but several thousand liters were saved for the "kamikaze", which was to attack the American invasion fleet, if it appeared off the Japanese coast. This strategic reserve could be enough for a hundred or two sorties, no more. Japanese scientists were definitely not up to nuclear research. Scientific luminaries switched to the extraction of combustible materials from pine roots, which supposedly contained alcohol suitable for combustion in engine cylinders. He was not there, of course, but the Japanese were looking to distract themselves from bad thoughts about tomorrow.

Then it was the turn of the US Navy. Aircraft carriers snooped along the very coast of Japan. The pilots of their air groups complained to their superiors about the lack of targets. Everything that was afloat had already been sunk. Training ships that remembered Tsushima, the skeletons of giant aircraft carriers that were unfinished due to the lack of iron, coasters, railway ferries - all this rested at the bottom. The connection between the islands of the Japanese archipelago was destroyed. Squadrons of American torpedo bombers chased fishing boats, and bombers bombed villages of 10 houses. It was agony. The imperial government announced a total mobilization, calling under the banner of all men and some women. The army turned out to be large, but useless; firearms, and even more scarce ammunition for most of the fighters were not found. They were given bamboo lances without iron tips, with which they were to throw themselves at the American Marines.

The question arises, perhaps the Americans did not know about bamboo peaks? It is unlikely that they flew low, and saw a lot of the cockpits of their aircraft. And the strategic services of the United States had data on the reserves of Japanese gasoline back in 1940. So, it is better not to recall the danger of huge casualties during the landing for the historians of the country that managed to knock the Nazis off the coast of Normandy. And it turns out some kind of racism. Like, a Japanese with a lance is stronger than an American at the helm of an attack aircraft. Can you imagine that the past lights and waters of Omaha and Iwo Jima, American guys were afraid of Japanese girls with bamboo sticks. They weren't afraid. Paying tribute to the US Army and Navy, it must be remembered that the responsible commanders of the Pacific theater were against the atomic bombing. Among those who objected were serious people: the chief of staff of the commander-in-chief, Admiral Georges Leguy, Chester Nimitz, the hero of Midway - Halsey and dozens of other decent or simply clever military leaders. They all believed that Japan would surrender before the fall from the effects of the naval blockade and conventional airstrikes. Scientists joined them. Dozens of creators of the "Manhattan brainchild" signed an appeal to the US President asking him to abandon the nuclear demonstration. These unfortunates did not understand that Truman needed to report on the expenditure of government funds so that "the mosquito would not undermine his nose"; yes, in addition, to exclude Stalin's participation in the Far Eastern "settlement".