Editing Nuclear warfare (section)

===1940s===
====Atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki====
{{Main|Atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki}}[[Image:Nagasakibomb.jpg|thumb|Mushroom cloud from the atomic explosion over Nagasaki rising {{convert|18000|m|ft|abbr=on}} into the air on the morning of August 9, 1945]]

During the final stages of [[World War II]] in 1945, the United States conducted atomic raids on the Japanese cities of [[Hiroshima]] and [[Nagasaki]], the first on August 6, 1945, and the second on August 9, 1945. These two events were the only times nuclear weapons have been used in [[combat]].<ref>{{Cite book| last = Hakim| first = Joy| title = A History of Us: War, Peace and all that Jazz| publisher=Oxford University Press| year = 1995| location = New York| isbn = 0-19-509514-6 }}</ref>

For six months before the atomic bombings, the U.S. [[Twentieth Air Force|20th Air Force]] under [[General (United States)|General]] [[Curtis LeMay]] executed low-level [[Firebombing|incendiary raids]] [[Air raids on Japan|against Japanese cities]]. The most destructive air raid to occur during the process was not the nuclear attacks, but the [[Bombing of Tokyo|''Operation Meetinghouse'' raid on Tokyo]]. On the night of March 9–10, 1945, ''Operation Meetinghouse'' commenced and 334 [[Boeing B-29 Superfortress]] [[bomber]]s took off to raid, with 279 of them dropping 1,665 tons of [[incendiary bombs|incendiaries]] and [[explosive]]s on [[Tokyo]]. The bombing was meant to burn wooden buildings and indeed the bombing caused fire that created a 50&nbsp;m/s wind, which is comparable to tornadoes. Each bomber carried 6 tons of bombs. A total of 381,300 bombs, which amount to 1,783 tons of bombs, were used in the bombing. Within a few hours of the raid, it had killed an estimated 100,000 people and destroyed {{convert|41|km2|sqmi|abbr=on}} of the city and 267,000 buildings in a single night — the deadliest bombing raid in [[military aviation]] history other than the atomic raids on Hiroshima and Nagasaki.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.commondreams.org/headlines05/0310-08.htm|title=1945 Tokyo Firebombing Left Legacy of Terror, Pain|work=Common Dreams|access-date=2014-12-08|archive-date=2015-01-03|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150103023353/http://www.commondreams.org/headlines05/0310-08.htm|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{cite magazine |url=https://www.wired.com/2011/03/0309incendiary-bombs-kill-100000-tokyo/ |title=March 9, 1945: Burning the Heart Out of the Enemy |author=<!--Staff writer(s); no by-line.--> |date=9 March 2011 |magazine=Wired |publisher=Condé Nast Digital |access-date=June 8, 2014}}</ref><ref>Wolk (2010), p. 125</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/firebombing-of-tokyo|title=Firebombing of Tokyo|work=HISTORY.com}}</ref> By early August 1945, an estimated 450,000 people had died as the U.S. had intensely firebombed a total of 67 Japanese cities.

In late June 1945, as the U.S. wrapped up the two-and-a-half-month [[Battle of Okinawa]] (which cost the lives of 260,000 people, including 150,000 civilians),<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www-cgsc.army.mil/carl/resources/csi/Huber/Huber.asp |title=Japan's Battle of Okinawa, March–June 1945|publisher=[[Command and General Staff College]] |access-date=2016-12-13 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090214183638/http://www-cgsc.army.mil/carl/resources/csi/Huber/Huber.asp |archive-date=February 14, 2009 }}</ref><ref>{{cite book |title=Ways of Forgetting, Ways of Remembering: Japan in the Modern World |pages=273 |date=February 4, 2014 |publisher=New Press}}</ref> it was faced with the prospect of invading the [[Japanese archipelago|Japanese home islands]] in an operation codenamed [[Operation Downfall]]. Based on the U.S. casualties from the preceding [[Leapfrogging (strategy)|island-hopping campaigns]], American commanders estimated that between 50,000 and 500,000 U.S. troops would die and at least 600,000–1,000,000 others would be injured while invading the Japanese home islands. The U.S. manufacture of 500,000 [[Purple Heart]]s from the anticipated high level of casualties during the U.S. invasion of Japan gave a demonstration of how deadly and costly it would be. [[President of the United States|President]] [[Harry S. Truman]] realized he could not afford such a horrendous casualty rate, especially since over 400,000 American combatants had already died fighting in both the [[European theatre of World War II|European]] and the [[Pacific War|Pacific theaters]] of the war.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://cgsc.cdmhost.com/cdm4/document.php?CISOROOT=/p4013coll8&CISOPTR=130&REC=2 |title=United States Dept. of the Army, Army Battle Casualties and Non-Battle Deaths in World War II |publisher=Cgsc.cdmhost.com |access-date=2011-06-15 |archive-date=2010-05-12 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100512130416/http://cgsc.cdmhost.com/cdm4/document.php?CISOROOT=%2Fp4013coll8&CISOPTR=130&REC=2 |url-status=dead }}</ref>

On July 26, 1945, the United States, the [[United Kingdom]], and the [[Republic of China (1912–1949)|Republic of China]] issued a [[Potsdam Declaration]] that called for the [[unconditional surrender]] of Japan. It stated that if Japan did not surrender, it would face "prompt and utter destruction".<ref name=atomicarchive>{{cite web | title = Potsdam Declaration: Proclamation Defining Terms for Japanese Surrender Issued, at Potsdam, July 26, 1945 | url = http://www.atomicarchive.com/Docs/Hiroshima/Potsdam.shtml | publisher = National Science Digital Library }}</ref><ref>{{cite web | publisher = United States Department of State, Office of the Historian | url = https://history.state.gov/milestones/1937-1945/PotsdamConf | title = Milestones: 1937–1945 / The Potsdam Conference, 1945 | url-status = dead | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20131029194738/http://history.state.gov/milestones/1937-1945/PotsdamConf | archive-date = 2013-10-29 }}</ref> The Japanese government [[mokusatsu|ignored]] this ultimatum, sending a message that they were not going to surrender. In response to the rejection, President Truman authorized the dropping of the atomic bombs. At the time of its use, there were only two atomic bombs available, and despite the fact that more were in production back in [[Contiguous United States|mainland U.S.]], the third bomb wouldn't be available for combat until September.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Newman|first1=Robert P.|title=Truman and the Hiroshima Cult|date=1995|page=86|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Haf2g1mbsH8C|isbn=978-0-87013-940-6|publisher=MSU Press}}</ref><ref name="Generals">{{cite web |title=The Atomic Bomb and the End of World War II, A Collection of Primary Sources| publisher=[[George Washington University]]| date=August 13, 1945| work=National Security Archive Electronic Briefing Book No. 162 | url=http://www.gwu.edu/~nsarchiv/NSAEBB/NSAEBB162/72.pdf |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20221009/http://www.gwu.edu/~nsarchiv/NSAEBB/NSAEBB162/72.pdf |archive-date=2022-10-09 |url-status=live}}</ref>

[[File:Sumiteru Taniguchi back.jpg|thumb|A photograph of [[Sumiteru Taniguchi]]'s back injuries taken in January 1946 by a U.S. Marine photographer]]
[[File:Hypocenter_of_Atomic_bombings_in_Nagasaki.jpg|265x265px|right|thumb|[[Hypocenter]] of Atomic bomb in Nagasaki]]
On August 6, 1945, the uranium-type nuclear weapon codenamed "[[Little Boy]]" was detonated over the Japanese city of [[Hiroshima]] with an energy of about {{convert|15|ktonTNT|GJ|abbr=off}}, destroying nearly 50,000 buildings (including the [[headquarters]] of the [[Second General Army (Japan)|2nd General Army]] and [[5th Division (Imperial Japanese Army)|Fifth Division]]) and killing approximately 70,000 people, including 20,000 Japanese combatants and 20,000 Korean slave laborers.<ref name=eyewitness>Adams, S. & Crawford, A.. 2000. ''World War II.'' First edition. Printed in association with the Imperial War Museum. Eyewitness Books series. New York, Doring Kindersley Limited</ref><ref>{{cite book |title=The Real History of World War II: A New Look at the Past |url=https://archive.org/details/realhistoryofwor00axel |url-access=registration |author=Alan Axelrod |publisher=Sterling |page=[https://archive.org/details/realhistoryofwor00axel/page/350 350] |date=May 6, 2008|isbn=9781402740909 }}</ref> Three days later, on August 9, a plutonium-type nuclear weapon codenamed "[[Fat Man]]" was used against the Japanese city of Nagasaki, with the explosion equivalent to about {{convert|20|ktonTNT|GJ|abbr=off}}, destroying 60% of the city and killing approximately 35,000 people, including 23,200–28,200 Japanese munitions workers, 2,000 Korean slave laborers, and 150 Japanese combatants.<ref>{{cite book |title=Nuke-Rebuke: Writers & Artists Against Nuclear Energy & Weapons (The Contemporary anthology series) |pages=22–29 |date=May 1, 1984 |publisher=The Spirit That Moves Us Press}}</ref> The industrial damage in Nagasaki was high, partly owing to the inadvertent targeting of the industrial zone, leaving 68–80 percent of the non-dock industrial production destroyed.<ref>{{cite book |title=Welcome To Planet Earth – 2050 – Population Zero |author= Robert Hull |date=October 11, 2011 |page=215 |publisher=[[AuthorHouse]] |isbn=978-1-4634-2604-0}}</ref> The U.S., despite not having a third device ready to be dropped, gave Japan one last warning that there would be another bombing if they did not surrender, and the target would be [[Tokyo]].

Six days after the detonation over Nagasaki, Japan announced [[Surrender of Japan|its surrender]] to the [[Allies of World War II|Allied Powers]] on August 15, 1945, signing the [[Japanese Instrument of Surrender|Instrument of Surrender]] on September 2, 1945, officially ending the [[Pacific War]] and, therefore, World War II, as [[Nazi Germany|Germany]] had already signed its [[German Instrument of Surrender|Instrument of Surrender]] on May 8, 1945, ending the [[European Theatre of World War II|war in Europe]]. The two atomic bombings led, in part, to [[Post-Occupation Japan|post-war Japan's]] adopting of the [[Three Non-Nuclear Principles]], which forbade the nation from developing nuclear armaments.<ref>{{cite web| last = Koizumi | first = Junichiro | author-link = Junichiro Koizumi | title = Address by Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi at the Hiroshima Memorial Service for the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Ceremony | publisher=Prime Minister of Japan and His Cabinet | date = August 6, 2005 | url = http://www.kantei.go.jp/foreign/koizumispeech/2005/08/06aisatu_e.html | access-date = Nov 28, 2007 }}</ref>

====Immediately after the Japan bombings====
After the successful [[Trinity (nuclear test)|Trinity nuclear test]] July 16, 1945, which was the very first nuclear detonation, the [[Manhattan project]] lead manager [[J. Robert Oppenheimer]] recalled:
{{blockquote|We knew the world would not be the same. A few people laughed, a few people cried, and most people were silent. I remembered the line from the [[Hinduism|Hindu]] scripture the ''[[Bhagavad Gita]]''. [[Vishnu]] is trying to persuade the prince that he should do his duty and to impress him takes on his multiarmed form and says, "Now, I am become Death, the destroyer of worlds." I suppose we all thought that one way or another.|[[J. Robert Oppenheimer]]|''The Decision To Drop The Bomb''<ref>{{cite journal|title=Oppenheimer's Ghost |date=November–December 2007|first=Jason |last=Pontin |journal=[[Technology Review]]}}</ref>|source=}}

[[Image:Oppenheimer (cropped).jpg|thumb|right|[[J. Robert Oppenheimer]]]]

[[Atomic Age|Immediately after]] the atomic bombings of Japan, the status of atomic weapons in international and military relations was unclear. Presumably, the United States hoped atomic weapons could offset the Soviet Union's larger conventional ground forces in [[Eastern Europe]], and possibly be used to pressure Soviet leader [[Joseph Stalin]] into making concessions. Under Stalin, the Soviet Union pursued its own atomic capabilities through a combination of scientific research and [[espionage]] directed against the American program. The Soviets believed that the Americans, with their limited nuclear arsenal, were unlikely to engage in any new world wars, while the Americans were not confident they could prevent a Soviet takeover of Europe, despite their atomic advantage.

Within the United States, the authority to produce and develop nuclear weapons was removed from military control and put instead under the civilian control of the [[United States Atomic Energy Commission]]. This decision reflected an understanding that nuclear weapons had unique risks and benefits that were separate from other military technology known at the time.

[[Image:Convair B-36 Peacemaker.jpg|thumb|right|[[Convair B-36]] bomber]]

For several years after [[World War II]], the United States developed and maintained a strategic force based on the [[Convair B-36]] [[bomber]] that would be able to attack any potential enemy from bomber bases in the United States. It deployed atomic bombs around the world for potential use in conflicts. Over a period of a few years, many in the American defense community became increasingly convinced of the invincibility of the United States to a nuclear attack. Indeed, it became generally believed that the threat of nuclear war would deter any strike against the United States.

Many proposals were suggested to put all American nuclear weapons under international control (by the newly formed [[United Nations]], for example) as an effort to deter both their usage and a [[nuclear arms race]]. However, no terms could be arrived at that would be agreed upon by both the United States and the Soviet Union.<ref>{{Cite web |last=United |first=Nations |title=International Day for the Total Elimination of Nuclear Weapons |url=https://www.un.org/en/observances/nuclear-weapons-elimination-day |access-date=2024-02-13 |website=United Nations |language=en}}</ref>{{citation needed|date=June 2020}}

[[Image:US and USSR nuclear stockpiles.svg|thumb|right|American and Soviet/Russian nuclear stockpiles]]

On August 29, 1949, the [[Soviet Union]] tested its [[RDS-1|first nuclear weapon]] at [[Semipalatinsk Test Site|Semipalatinsk]] in [[Kazakhstan]] (see also [[Soviet atomic bomb project]]). Scientists in the United States from the Manhattan Project had warned that, in time, the Soviet Union would certainly develop nuclear capabilities of its own. Nevertheless, the effect upon military thinking and planning in the United States was dramatic, primarily because American military strategists had not anticipated the Soviets would "catch up" so soon. However, at this time, they had not discovered that the Soviets had conducted significant [[nuclear espionage]] of the project from spies at [[Los Alamos National Laboratory]], the most significant of which was done by the theoretical physicist [[Klaus Fuchs]].{{citation needed|date=April 2015}} The first Soviet bomb was more or less a deliberate copy of the [[Fat Man]] [[plutonium]] device. In the same year the first US-Soviet nuclear war plan was penned in the US with [[Operation Dropshot]].

With the monopoly over nuclear technology broken, worldwide nuclear proliferation accelerated. The [[United Kingdom]] tested its [[Operation Hurricane|first independent atomic bomb]] in 1952, followed by [[France]] developing its [[Gerboise Bleue (nuclear test)|first atomic bomb]] in 1960 and then [[China]] developing its [[Project 596|first atomic bomb]] in 1964. While much smaller than the arsenals of the United States and the Soviet Union, [[Western Europe]]'s nuclear reserves were nevertheless a significant factor in strategic planning during the [[Cold War]]. A top-secret [[White paper]], compiled by the [[Royal Air Force]] and produced for the British Government in 1959, estimated that [[V bomber|British V bombers]] carrying nuclear weapons were capable of destroying key cities and military targets in the Soviet Union, with an estimated 16&nbsp;million deaths in the Soviet Union (half of whom were estimated to be killed on impact and the rest fatally injured) ''before'' bomber aircraft from the [[Strategic Air Command|U.S. Strategic Air Command]] reached their targets.