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These are the user uploaded subtitles that are being translated: 1 00:00:05,000 --> 00:00:06,520 For almost four years, 2 00:00:06,680 --> 00:00:09,680 American soldiers and Marines in the Pacific 3 00:00:09,840 --> 00:00:12,320 have struggled across beaches, through jungles 4 00:00:12,480 --> 00:00:16,840 and atop mountains to subdue a nation that refuses to surrender. 5 00:00:17,000 --> 00:00:19,400 The effort has been immense. 6 00:00:19,560 --> 00:00:21,160 More is required. 7 00:00:22,120 --> 00:00:24,560 In the spring of 1945, 8 00:00:24,720 --> 00:00:27,320 the United States will start the final push 9 00:00:27,480 --> 00:00:30,040 to defeat the Japanese empire. 10 00:00:31,360 --> 00:00:33,240 All wars changed the world, 11 00:00:33,400 --> 00:00:36,600 but none of them changed the world like the Second World War did. 12 00:00:36,760 --> 00:00:39,800 Japan's on the march, Germany's on the march. 13 00:00:41,000 --> 00:00:44,840 No one can imagine the nightmare they're about to unleash. 14 00:00:45,000 --> 00:00:47,560 The most destructive war in human history. 15 00:00:47,720 --> 00:00:50,200 Suddenly the world is turned upside down 16 00:00:50,360 --> 00:00:51,800 and all hell is let loose. 17 00:00:53,320 --> 00:00:56,840 The West is stunned by the speed of the advance. 18 00:00:58,080 --> 00:01:01,040 You get the allies led by the big three: 19 00:01:01,200 --> 00:01:03,560 Roosevelt, Churchill, Stalin. 20 00:01:03,720 --> 00:01:08,400 Men who are dealing with immensely complicated questions. 21 00:01:08,560 --> 00:01:12,080 It's the biggest military operation of human history. 22 00:01:12,240 --> 00:01:15,440 The allies have to come together, not just militarily, 23 00:01:15,600 --> 00:01:18,400 but industrial scale. It's a global perspective. 24 00:01:18,560 --> 00:01:20,560 They have to fight in every climate, 25 00:01:20,720 --> 00:01:24,080 from the Arctic to the jungles of the Pacific, 26 00:01:24,240 --> 00:01:26,840 to the deserts of Africa and the depths of the ocean. 27 00:01:29,960 --> 00:01:32,800 But there was no certainty of victory. 28 00:01:32,960 --> 00:01:35,360 It was going to be a horrific bloodbath. 29 00:01:35,520 --> 00:01:37,880 We see humans at their absolute worst, 30 00:01:38,040 --> 00:01:40,200 how they treat other human beings, 31 00:01:40,360 --> 00:01:42,200 and we see them at their absolute best, 32 00:01:42,360 --> 00:01:44,560 willing to give their lives that others might live. 33 00:01:44,720 --> 00:01:48,360 World War II was a struggle in which there could be one victor 34 00:01:49,480 --> 00:01:50,480 and vanquished. 35 00:02:11,080 --> 00:02:13,240 With the Rhine's west bank secured, 36 00:02:13,400 --> 00:02:16,880 Britain expects other crossings of Germany's river of destiny, 37 00:02:17,040 --> 00:02:19,640 after a law to build up our own strength, 38 00:02:19,800 --> 00:02:23,280 and after that, the end of the European war should not be far off. 39 00:02:25,680 --> 00:02:29,160 In America in the spring of 1945, 40 00:02:29,320 --> 00:02:32,640 there is hope that the war in Europe is nearing its end. 41 00:02:32,800 --> 00:02:34,440 Husbands and fathers, 42 00:02:34,600 --> 00:02:36,240 boyfriends and brothers 43 00:02:36,400 --> 00:02:38,280 might finally be coming home. 44 00:02:38,440 --> 00:02:41,600 It is front and centre on the American mind. 45 00:02:41,760 --> 00:02:46,480 How quickly can we get to Berlin 46 00:02:46,640 --> 00:02:48,840 and get the soldiers home? 47 00:02:49,920 --> 00:02:52,560 The public get this sort of an attitude that, you know, 48 00:02:52,720 --> 00:02:53,760 hey, the war's almost over. 49 00:02:53,920 --> 00:02:57,120 They'll be coming home, but it's almost like a marathon 50 00:02:57,280 --> 00:02:59,800 and you see the finish line in the distance, 51 00:02:59,960 --> 00:03:04,760 and so you know you can give one last kick and then somebody says, 52 00:03:04,920 --> 00:03:07,480 "Actually there's another three miles to go." 53 00:03:07,640 --> 00:03:10,280 Victory in Europe seems within reach. 54 00:03:12,200 --> 00:03:15,480 Victory over Tokyo remains on the far horizon. 55 00:03:18,600 --> 00:03:23,200 For months, hundreds of B-29s have been striking Japanese cities 56 00:03:23,360 --> 00:03:24,840 to marginal effect. 57 00:03:26,720 --> 00:03:28,560 The army air forces believed 58 00:03:28,720 --> 00:03:32,640 that a sufficient amount of pinpoint bombing from high altitude 59 00:03:32,800 --> 00:03:34,800 would take out Japanese industry 60 00:03:34,960 --> 00:03:37,360 and make it impossible for them to continue the war. 61 00:03:37,520 --> 00:03:38,680 It didn't work. 62 00:03:41,000 --> 00:03:43,360 Bombing from 30,000 feet, the winds were too strong, 63 00:03:43,520 --> 00:03:45,160 blew the bombs all over the place. 64 00:03:46,240 --> 00:03:49,200 Under the command of General Curtis LeMay, 65 00:03:49,360 --> 00:03:52,040 the Air Force alters its tactics. 66 00:04:01,720 --> 00:04:04,000 On March 9th, 1945, 67 00:04:04,160 --> 00:04:10,160 LeMay's B-29s will attack Tokyo from only 5,000 feet using a new weapon. 68 00:04:11,520 --> 00:04:12,880 Bombs filled with napalm. 69 00:04:14,280 --> 00:04:18,600 Napalm is this gel combined with gasoline that will stick to things 70 00:04:18,760 --> 00:04:21,880 and then it catches fire and it makes it very, very hard to put out. 71 00:04:22,040 --> 00:04:25,440 It's for starting fires that are designed to just go out of control. 72 00:04:26,280 --> 00:04:29,480 And the reason it's gonna be so destructive is that Tokyo is 73 00:04:29,640 --> 00:04:34,120 mostly made of wooden paper and this is just going to explode. 74 00:04:34,280 --> 00:04:36,560 It'll be incredibly inflammable. 75 00:04:36,720 --> 00:04:38,280 The argument was that 76 00:04:38,440 --> 00:04:41,720 if you destroy the housing units of the Japanese workers, 77 00:04:41,880 --> 00:04:44,200 they wouldn't be able to go to work and build the planes and tanks. 78 00:04:44,360 --> 00:04:45,960 They needed to continue the conflict. 79 00:04:49,240 --> 00:04:51,720 But the outcome was absolutely horrific. 80 00:05:02,560 --> 00:05:05,080 It is just complete devastation in Tokyo. 81 00:05:07,240 --> 00:05:08,800 100,000 people were killed. 82 00:05:11,480 --> 00:05:14,640 We think of Dresden as being the worst single moment 83 00:05:14,800 --> 00:05:16,560 in the European Theatre of Operations. 84 00:05:16,720 --> 00:05:18,160 The fire storm at Dresden, 85 00:05:18,320 --> 00:05:20,160 25,000 were lost there, 86 00:05:20,320 --> 00:05:21,320 but in Tokyo 87 00:05:21,480 --> 00:05:24,560 there's a 100,000 killed in a single operation. 88 00:05:24,720 --> 00:05:27,760 The whole city was a sea of fire. 89 00:05:29,480 --> 00:05:32,560 It was so hot that canals start to boil 90 00:05:32,720 --> 00:05:35,720 and the fires eat up so much of the oxygen that a lot of the people 91 00:05:35,880 --> 00:05:39,040 who die asphyxiate because there's no oxygen left. 92 00:05:39,200 --> 00:05:42,200 A huge proportion of the city is simply gone in one night. 93 00:05:43,880 --> 00:05:45,440 The destruction is immense. 94 00:05:46,560 --> 00:05:50,440 16 square miles of Tokyo are obliterated. 95 00:05:50,600 --> 00:05:54,960 After this one raid, a million Japanese no longer have a home. 96 00:05:56,280 --> 00:05:57,720 It's unprecedented. 97 00:05:58,800 --> 00:06:03,520 General LeMay later I recall that 98 00:06:03,680 --> 00:06:06,640 he would've been tried as a war criminal 99 00:06:06,800 --> 00:06:10,440 if United States lost in the war. 100 00:06:14,960 --> 00:06:17,000 To survey the damage, 101 00:06:17,160 --> 00:06:22,920 Emperor Hirohito emerges from his bunker beneath the Imperial Palace. 102 00:06:24,120 --> 00:06:29,680 Emperor Hirohito has been pretty isolated throughout the war, 103 00:06:29,840 --> 00:06:33,680 but he does have a sense that the war is not exactly 104 00:06:33,840 --> 00:06:37,120 going as his generals and admirals are telling him. 105 00:06:37,280 --> 00:06:39,960 So when the fire bombing in Tokyo happened, 106 00:06:40,120 --> 00:06:42,360 that only intensifies his desire 107 00:06:42,520 --> 00:06:44,800 to start looking for ways to end the war. 108 00:06:46,320 --> 00:06:49,040 For Emperor Hirohito, the big concern is not what might 109 00:06:49,200 --> 00:06:51,560 happen to the ordinary Japanese people, 110 00:06:51,720 --> 00:06:54,240 but if the Americans make it onto Japanese soil, 111 00:06:54,400 --> 00:06:55,840 what might happen to him? 112 00:06:56,000 --> 00:06:57,840 What might happen to the imperial line 113 00:06:58,000 --> 00:07:00,280 that goes back centuries in Japan? 114 00:07:00,440 --> 00:07:03,920 He says, "I can't possibly face my ancestors 115 00:07:04,080 --> 00:07:05,840 having sacrificed the throne." 116 00:07:06,840 --> 00:07:09,960 The emperor of Japan is considered to be divine 117 00:07:10,120 --> 00:07:13,120 with immense authority over his people. 118 00:07:13,280 --> 00:07:15,800 But Hirohito rarely exerts that authority 119 00:07:15,960 --> 00:07:18,160 in political or military matters. 120 00:07:18,320 --> 00:07:21,000 There's the committee for the supreme direction of the war, 121 00:07:21,160 --> 00:07:23,480 which is six people, two people from the army, 122 00:07:23,640 --> 00:07:27,040 two people from the navy, the prime minister and the foreign minister. 123 00:07:27,200 --> 00:07:30,720 Those six are the only six that had any real say within Japan. 124 00:07:31,680 --> 00:07:35,400 The civilian leaders understood they couldn't win the war, 125 00:07:35,560 --> 00:07:37,920 but the military are determined to fight on. 126 00:07:38,080 --> 00:07:40,560 Japanese military leaders have lived their whole life 127 00:07:40,720 --> 00:07:42,200 under a professional code. 128 00:07:42,360 --> 00:07:46,200 That surrender is so dishonourable you would rather die, 129 00:07:46,360 --> 00:07:50,520 no matter what the suffering, the warrior does not surrender. 130 00:07:51,400 --> 00:07:54,040 For all the firebombing, for all the destruction 131 00:07:54,200 --> 00:07:57,520 already rained on Japan, there's no sign of surrender. 132 00:07:57,680 --> 00:08:00,960 The American high command now believes that the Japanese 133 00:08:01,120 --> 00:08:04,320 would not surrender short of an invasion 134 00:08:04,480 --> 00:08:07,000 and occupation of the Japanese home islands. 135 00:08:09,680 --> 00:08:12,280 The United States is gathering its forces for the next phase 136 00:08:12,440 --> 00:08:14,760 of its assault on Imperial Japan. 137 00:08:19,160 --> 00:08:21,400 The capture of Okinawa, 138 00:08:21,560 --> 00:08:24,560 the largest island on the Ryukyu chain. 139 00:08:24,720 --> 00:08:28,440 Okinawa is just 400 miles south of Kyushu, 140 00:08:28,600 --> 00:08:30,960 which is the most southerly of the Japanese home islands, 141 00:08:31,120 --> 00:08:34,080 and therefore can be used to launch an invasion fleet. 142 00:08:34,240 --> 00:08:38,240 So Okinawa is absolutely vital to the Americans. 143 00:08:45,120 --> 00:08:46,760 Okinawa would be defended 144 00:08:46,920 --> 00:08:50,080 by about 100,000 Japanese frontline troops 145 00:08:50,240 --> 00:08:53,360 and also native Okinawan militia forces. 146 00:08:53,520 --> 00:08:57,720 They know that the Americans have overwhelming superiority 147 00:08:57,880 --> 00:09:00,240 in the air and at sea. 148 00:09:02,560 --> 00:09:05,400 The plan for the defence of Okinawa 149 00:09:05,560 --> 00:09:06,840 is don't go for a Banzai charge. 150 00:09:07,000 --> 00:09:10,280 Instead, they will prepare these defensive fortifications, 151 00:09:10,440 --> 00:09:15,040 let the Americans come to them and take them out that way. 152 00:09:16,760 --> 00:09:19,720 Using native Okinawans as forced labour, 153 00:09:19,880 --> 00:09:23,960 the Japanese build a network of bunkers and tunnels. 154 00:09:24,120 --> 00:09:27,280 And the idea was kill four, five Americans 155 00:09:27,440 --> 00:09:28,760 before you are killed yourself. 156 00:09:29,920 --> 00:09:33,480 The Japanese overall strategy is to make the Americans pay 157 00:09:33,640 --> 00:09:37,240 so much for Okinawa that an invasion of the Japanese home islands 158 00:09:37,400 --> 00:09:39,080 would be unthinkable. 159 00:09:43,880 --> 00:09:47,120 The garrison on Okinawa is only half the Japanese strategy 160 00:09:47,280 --> 00:09:48,680 for defending the island. 161 00:09:48,840 --> 00:09:51,440 The other element of the plan is to use kamikaze, 162 00:09:51,600 --> 00:09:55,160 but in far greater numbers than ever been used before. 163 00:09:55,320 --> 00:09:58,080 The Japanese recognise that when the Americans conduct 164 00:09:58,240 --> 00:10:01,200 these amphibious landing operations, the ships offshore are the lifeline 165 00:10:01,360 --> 00:10:04,760 that's keeping the battalions ashore in the fight. 166 00:10:06,160 --> 00:10:09,200 So they came up with this idea of these organised waves 167 00:10:09,360 --> 00:10:10,640 of kamikaze attacks. 168 00:10:12,120 --> 00:10:16,920 And if you launch 300 kamikaze at the American fleet 169 00:10:17,080 --> 00:10:20,040 and you take out seven aircraft carriers or something, 170 00:10:20,200 --> 00:10:22,760 that is a war-changing thing. 171 00:10:29,240 --> 00:10:32,480 The Battle of Okinawa starts with the largest invasion 172 00:10:32,640 --> 00:10:34,320 of the war in the Pacific. 173 00:10:34,480 --> 00:10:38,720 A massive effort combining naval, air and ground support. 174 00:10:39,640 --> 00:10:44,320 60,000 soldiers and marines are bound for Okinawa's western beaches. 175 00:10:44,480 --> 00:10:48,120 The invasion force will land on Hagushi Bay, 176 00:10:48,280 --> 00:10:51,240 then the Marines will sweep north, and the army south, 177 00:10:51,400 --> 00:10:53,640 to take control of the entire island. 178 00:10:57,960 --> 00:11:00,200 The biggest danger in an amphibious operation 179 00:11:00,360 --> 00:11:04,360 is the actual landing because you are incredibly vulnerable. 180 00:11:04,520 --> 00:11:06,200 You are out in the open. 181 00:11:06,360 --> 00:11:08,000 The combat troops going up first. 182 00:11:08,160 --> 00:11:12,640 Both Marine and Army have been told to expect up to 80% casualties. 183 00:11:14,360 --> 00:11:18,360 So if you've drawn the unlucky straw of being one of the first units, 184 00:11:18,520 --> 00:11:21,400 you're pretty convinced not many of you're gonna survive. 185 00:11:23,560 --> 00:11:25,320 They get to the beaches start walking up it, 186 00:11:25,480 --> 00:11:28,880 body's tense waiting for the bullets to come... 187 00:11:29,040 --> 00:11:30,440 ...and there is nothing. 188 00:11:34,120 --> 00:11:36,960 They're experiencing virtually no opposition. 189 00:11:37,120 --> 00:11:38,640 And so there was a thought that 190 00:11:38,800 --> 00:11:43,040 hey, maybe Okinawa's not gonna turn out to be a big bloodbath after all. 191 00:11:44,880 --> 00:11:47,560 The first few days go very well for the landing forces. 192 00:11:47,720 --> 00:11:50,600 They cut across all the way to the other side of the island 193 00:11:50,760 --> 00:11:52,880 against minimal opposition. 194 00:11:54,120 --> 00:11:56,840 It's looking too good to be true at this stage. 195 00:12:02,640 --> 00:12:06,600 Military leaders believed that Japan must fight to protect 196 00:12:06,760 --> 00:12:09,160 the honour of the country. 197 00:12:09,320 --> 00:12:13,920 And these kamikaze pilots are the chosen ones 198 00:12:14,080 --> 00:12:17,680 to go to this divine mission to protect their homeland. 199 00:12:18,680 --> 00:12:22,400 They really believe that that would turn the tide of the war. 200 00:12:23,560 --> 00:12:27,200 The pilots are young, many of them are teenagers, 201 00:12:27,360 --> 00:12:28,880 they're ill-trained. 202 00:12:29,040 --> 00:12:31,440 They don't even have enough fuel to come back from this flight 203 00:12:31,600 --> 00:12:34,400 if they wanted to. They know they're going to die. 204 00:12:36,440 --> 00:12:41,200 So when they get to the first American ship they see, 205 00:12:42,840 --> 00:12:44,000 they attack. 206 00:12:59,040 --> 00:13:02,040 For the first five days of the invasion of Okinawa, 207 00:13:02,200 --> 00:13:06,480 there's no opposition to the massive US fleet surrounding the island. 208 00:13:08,920 --> 00:13:14,280 But just after noon on April 6th, the Japanese arrive in force. 209 00:13:20,400 --> 00:13:22,880 Imagine we're on the bridge of one of these destroyers 210 00:13:23,040 --> 00:13:24,560 80 miles north of Okinawa. 211 00:13:25,760 --> 00:13:29,360 The kamikaze come from starboard, from port, from high, from low. 212 00:13:34,280 --> 00:13:37,480 So you feel like you're in a boxing ring with about five other boxers 213 00:13:37,640 --> 00:13:39,320 attacking you from every direction. 214 00:13:44,960 --> 00:13:50,520 Hundreds of kamikaze at a time thrown against the invading fleet. 215 00:13:50,680 --> 00:13:52,440 They thought with the sheer numbers, 216 00:13:52,600 --> 00:13:54,360 they could take out the capital ships; 217 00:13:54,520 --> 00:13:56,440 that's battleships and aircraft carriers 218 00:13:56,600 --> 00:13:59,040 and drive off the US fleet in its entirety. 219 00:14:01,360 --> 00:14:04,240 The kamikaze don't really have much success 220 00:14:04,400 --> 00:14:06,360 against aircraft carriers... 221 00:14:10,200 --> 00:14:15,120 ...but 300+ ships are targeted by the kamikazes. 222 00:14:15,280 --> 00:14:17,720 More than 36 of them sink. 223 00:14:20,160 --> 00:14:23,880 It is more devastating than any conventional bombing attack 224 00:14:24,040 --> 00:14:28,600 has been in the war so far, but it's not enough. 225 00:14:29,840 --> 00:14:34,000 What the kamikaze tells me is that the Japanese knew the war was lost, 226 00:14:34,160 --> 00:14:36,000 at least by conventional means. 227 00:14:37,800 --> 00:14:41,280 There's nothing more dangerous in warfare than a cornered enemy. 228 00:14:41,440 --> 00:14:43,720 The Japanese are gonna go down in flames 229 00:14:43,880 --> 00:14:46,560 but will never surrender, never. 230 00:14:47,560 --> 00:14:48,880 For the US Navy, 231 00:14:49,040 --> 00:14:51,040 the battle against the kamikaze at Okinawa 232 00:14:51,200 --> 00:14:54,200 is bloodier than any previous confrontation 233 00:14:54,360 --> 00:14:56,760 of the entire Pacific War. 234 00:14:58,760 --> 00:15:00,800 And American ground forces are now facing 235 00:15:00,960 --> 00:15:03,080 increasing resistance as well. 236 00:15:03,240 --> 00:15:07,760 The force that had landed on the beaches is pushing south toward 237 00:15:07,920 --> 00:15:09,800 a place called Kakazu Ridge 238 00:15:09,960 --> 00:15:12,840 where they encounter the first line of Japanese defences. 239 00:15:16,280 --> 00:15:19,760 It's the first time the Americans meet serious opposition 240 00:15:19,920 --> 00:15:21,360 and it stops them dead. 241 00:15:27,440 --> 00:15:29,800 The Japanese have created a defensive system that goes 242 00:15:29,960 --> 00:15:32,280 right across the whole width of the island, 243 00:15:32,440 --> 00:15:34,440 so they can't be out-flanked. 244 00:15:34,600 --> 00:15:38,760 American troops endure days of non-stop enemy fire. 245 00:15:41,440 --> 00:15:46,120 This is attritional, grizzly, meat grinding fighting, 246 00:15:47,680 --> 00:15:49,640 and that's just the first line of defence. 247 00:15:49,800 --> 00:15:52,200 There are gonna be many more beyond this. 248 00:15:52,360 --> 00:15:55,920 What we thought was gonna be a cakewalk is anything but. 249 00:16:00,080 --> 00:16:01,360 April 12th. 250 00:16:01,520 --> 00:16:05,160 The American people learn Franklin Delano Roosevelt, 251 00:16:05,320 --> 00:16:08,760 the man they elected four times is dead. 252 00:16:11,720 --> 00:16:16,240 Vice president Harry S. Truman, a former judge and senator 253 00:16:16,400 --> 00:16:19,000 from Missouri is sworn in hours later. 254 00:16:20,400 --> 00:16:23,320 Roosevelt had led the country through the Great Depression 255 00:16:23,480 --> 00:16:25,120 and through the war. 256 00:16:26,560 --> 00:16:29,520 In the 82 days that Truman had been vice president, 257 00:16:29,680 --> 00:16:32,800 he met with Roosevelt all of twice. 258 00:16:32,960 --> 00:16:36,480 He really knows nothing about what's going on with the war effort. 259 00:16:36,640 --> 00:16:38,160 He didn't think he was up to the job 260 00:16:38,320 --> 00:16:40,720 and there are people who would say he was right. 261 00:16:40,880 --> 00:16:43,320 The new president is immediately confronted 262 00:16:43,480 --> 00:16:45,160 with enormous challenges. 263 00:16:46,160 --> 00:16:49,080 It's important for the wartime president to demonstrate 264 00:16:49,240 --> 00:16:52,120 that he has a plan for bringing this war to a successful conclusion 265 00:16:52,280 --> 00:16:54,240 and as rapidly as possible. 266 00:16:54,400 --> 00:16:56,840 It's clear to the American population that Germany 267 00:16:57,000 --> 00:17:00,480 is on its last legs, but Japan is still fighting hard. 268 00:17:00,640 --> 00:17:02,080 The question really is, 269 00:17:02,240 --> 00:17:05,480 how many American lives am I going to lose to end this war? 270 00:17:05,640 --> 00:17:08,600 That's the whole ball game for Harry Truman. 271 00:17:14,520 --> 00:17:17,400 Truman meets with Secretary of War Henry Stimson 272 00:17:17,560 --> 00:17:19,960 and Army General Leslie Groves. 273 00:17:20,120 --> 00:17:22,400 The agenda is classified. 274 00:17:22,560 --> 00:17:24,960 They hand Truman a document. 275 00:17:25,120 --> 00:17:26,680 Truman opens it up and reads it 276 00:17:26,840 --> 00:17:29,160 and the memo begins with these dramatic words. 277 00:17:29,320 --> 00:17:33,400 "Within four months, we shall, in all probability, have completed 278 00:17:33,560 --> 00:17:36,880 the most terrible weapon ever known in human history, 279 00:17:37,040 --> 00:17:41,200 one bomb which can destroy a whole city." 280 00:17:42,280 --> 00:17:46,680 The Manhattan Project, the top secret American program 281 00:17:46,840 --> 00:17:49,440 to develop the world's first atomic bombs. 282 00:17:51,160 --> 00:17:55,000 For three years, thousands of scientists and engineers 283 00:17:55,160 --> 00:17:58,560 have worked on the most powerful weapon in history. 284 00:17:58,720 --> 00:18:01,160 It is set to be tested mid-summer. 285 00:18:02,120 --> 00:18:04,920 Truman and his commanders are ready to pay any price 286 00:18:05,080 --> 00:18:07,120 to bring this war to an end. 287 00:18:07,280 --> 00:18:09,760 But an invasion of the Japanese home islands 288 00:18:09,920 --> 00:18:11,920 will be bloody on an unimaginable scale. 289 00:18:12,080 --> 00:18:14,720 Higher losses than any previous campaign, 290 00:18:14,880 --> 00:18:17,760 either in the Pacific War or in the war in Europe. 291 00:18:19,000 --> 00:18:24,440 The Manhattan project, the attempt to develop atomic weapons. 292 00:18:24,600 --> 00:18:27,080 If that proves to be successful, 293 00:18:27,240 --> 00:18:31,480 if those tests prove out, then that is an alternative. 294 00:18:43,680 --> 00:18:46,000 The war in Europe is over. 295 00:18:46,160 --> 00:18:48,240 The Nazi Third Reich has been destroyed. 296 00:18:53,800 --> 00:18:56,520 But for war-weary America and its allies, 297 00:18:58,520 --> 00:19:00,720 the war in the Pacific continues, 298 00:19:00,880 --> 00:19:03,720 and many of the men who helped defeat Germany 299 00:19:03,880 --> 00:19:07,120 may now be required to fight Japan. 300 00:19:07,280 --> 00:19:09,440 At this point, people in the military knew 301 00:19:09,600 --> 00:19:12,360 that a lot of these units are gonna need to be transferred. 302 00:19:12,520 --> 00:19:15,600 Just because the war in Europe is over, don't get excited. 303 00:19:15,760 --> 00:19:18,120 We're gonna need those troops in the Pacific. 304 00:19:23,360 --> 00:19:25,400 After two months of ceaseless combat, 305 00:19:25,560 --> 00:19:28,040 Marine and Army units break through 306 00:19:28,200 --> 00:19:31,160 the main Japanese defensive line on Okinawa. 307 00:19:32,400 --> 00:19:34,840 Japanese troops are forced to retreat 308 00:19:35,000 --> 00:19:38,720 and attempt a last stand on the Kiyan Peninsula. 309 00:19:38,880 --> 00:19:41,400 By this point, the Japanese soldiers on Okinawa 310 00:19:41,560 --> 00:19:42,760 are low on ammunition, 311 00:19:42,920 --> 00:19:44,920 they are starving, they're exhausted, 312 00:19:45,080 --> 00:19:48,600 but they realise that the next step for the allies after Okinawa 313 00:19:48,760 --> 00:19:50,080 is the home islands. 314 00:19:50,240 --> 00:19:53,320 They are all that stand between the allies and their families, 315 00:19:53,480 --> 00:19:54,720 their homes. 316 00:19:54,880 --> 00:19:58,920 They are the last line of defence and everyone is depending on them. 317 00:20:05,160 --> 00:20:07,840 Although the Americans have gained ground... 318 00:20:09,760 --> 00:20:13,400 ...the more you push and the more terrain that has been captured, 319 00:20:13,560 --> 00:20:16,280 the more dangerous and costly the battle is becoming. 320 00:20:18,640 --> 00:20:20,560 But the Americans know we're making progress. 321 00:20:20,720 --> 00:20:22,480 If war is a clash of wills, 322 00:20:22,640 --> 00:20:25,480 the United States is a nation willing to fight it out to the end. 323 00:20:29,280 --> 00:20:32,760 Organised resistance on Okinawa ends On June 22nd. 324 00:20:33,920 --> 00:20:36,080 The Japanese army's commanding general 325 00:20:36,240 --> 00:20:40,960 and his chief of staff both commit suicide by ritual seppuku. 326 00:20:41,840 --> 00:20:44,360 100,000 Japanese servicemen are killed. 327 00:20:46,080 --> 00:20:49,400 On the American side, the casualties are 50,000 killed and wounded. 328 00:20:50,280 --> 00:20:53,920 These are the worst of battle casualties in the Pacific War 329 00:20:54,080 --> 00:20:55,080 for the Americans, 330 00:20:56,560 --> 00:21:00,120 worse than all of that are the number of civilians killed. 331 00:21:00,280 --> 00:21:02,360 Up to 125,000, 332 00:21:02,520 --> 00:21:06,240 which is a third of the population caught in the crossfire. 333 00:21:06,400 --> 00:21:08,120 This is just Okinawa. 334 00:21:08,280 --> 00:21:10,480 What happens when we get to their home islands? 335 00:21:10,640 --> 00:21:13,440 The cost is gonna be enormous. 336 00:21:13,600 --> 00:21:17,520 This war ain't over. It's not even close to being over. 337 00:21:22,440 --> 00:21:25,360 American leaders understand the Battle of Okinawa 338 00:21:25,520 --> 00:21:28,000 is a frightening preview of what to expect 339 00:21:28,160 --> 00:21:30,960 when Japan's home islands are invaded. 340 00:21:31,120 --> 00:21:33,040 Truman has a meeting with General Marshall 341 00:21:33,200 --> 00:21:36,080 and the joint chiefs of staff on Operation Downfall; 342 00:21:36,240 --> 00:21:38,960 the invasion of the Japanese home islands. 343 00:21:39,120 --> 00:21:41,800 This plan goes back to the Roosevelt presidency. 344 00:21:41,960 --> 00:21:43,440 Planning is going forward 345 00:21:44,400 --> 00:21:47,160 and the most interested person at the meeting is George Marshall. 346 00:21:47,320 --> 00:21:50,120 He wants Truman to sign off on it. 347 00:21:50,280 --> 00:21:52,880 Operation Downfall will be a two-pronged operation, 348 00:21:53,040 --> 00:21:55,000 the first called Operation Olympic. 349 00:21:56,080 --> 00:21:59,560 The idea of Operation Olympic is to invade the southern island of Kyushu 350 00:21:59,720 --> 00:22:04,480 and seize naval bases and air bases while pushing Japanese forces north. 351 00:22:04,640 --> 00:22:06,840 The critical phase, though, of Operation Downfall 352 00:22:07,000 --> 00:22:09,080 is what's code-named Operation Coronet. 353 00:22:09,240 --> 00:22:12,120 It's the invasion of Honshu, which is where Tokyo itself sits. 354 00:22:12,280 --> 00:22:13,680 So this would inevitably end 355 00:22:13,840 --> 00:22:17,080 in either the destruction or capture of the Japanese capital. 356 00:22:18,320 --> 00:22:21,360 Think about the scale of Operation Downfall as a whole. 357 00:22:21,520 --> 00:22:22,840 5 million men involved, 358 00:22:23,000 --> 00:22:25,360 up to a million British and Commonwealth troops, 359 00:22:25,520 --> 00:22:28,960 4 million American troops, and this is gonna dwarf D-Day 360 00:22:29,120 --> 00:22:32,640 in the logistics and the naval of forces that are gonna be involved. 361 00:22:32,800 --> 00:22:35,200 Then the forces that are actually gonna land 362 00:22:35,360 --> 00:22:38,480 and most importantly of all is gonna dwarf the number of casualties. 363 00:22:40,360 --> 00:22:42,640 If the allies had to invade Japan, 364 00:22:42,800 --> 00:22:46,200 that would be the largest amphibious assault ever undertaken. 365 00:22:47,240 --> 00:22:51,000 And the Americans were gonna bear almost the entire weight of it, 366 00:22:52,080 --> 00:22:53,640 and the President understood that 367 00:22:53,800 --> 00:22:55,960 better than most of the American public did. 368 00:22:57,560 --> 00:23:00,040 Truman specifically says to his chiefs of staff, 369 00:23:00,200 --> 00:23:03,160 I don't want an Okinawa from one end of Japan to the other. 370 00:23:07,600 --> 00:23:10,560 So Truman, in June of '45, 371 00:23:10,720 --> 00:23:14,840 is looking at a brutal final act against Japan. 372 00:23:15,000 --> 00:23:17,000 But it is very important to Harry Truman 373 00:23:18,040 --> 00:23:20,240 that he always be seen as the decider. 374 00:23:20,400 --> 00:23:22,000 The buck stops here. 375 00:23:23,440 --> 00:23:27,000 Truman understands that this war with Japan needs to end, 376 00:23:27,160 --> 00:23:29,200 the invasion looks horrible. 377 00:23:29,360 --> 00:23:32,560 But what's option B in this situation? 378 00:23:32,720 --> 00:23:34,440 Even at this late date in June, 379 00:23:34,600 --> 00:23:38,040 there's no sense that the Manhattan Project is going to work. 380 00:23:38,200 --> 00:23:40,400 They really don't know if they have a bomb yet. 381 00:23:40,560 --> 00:23:43,520 And so Truman signs off on Operation Downfall, 382 00:23:43,680 --> 00:23:46,240 the two big invasions of Japan. 383 00:23:46,400 --> 00:23:50,640 Stage one, Operation Olympic is set for November 1st. 384 00:23:50,800 --> 00:23:52,240 The clock is ticking. 385 00:23:55,560 --> 00:24:01,280 The Japanese army's plan is to fight to the bitter end 386 00:24:01,440 --> 00:24:06,200 with a decisive and final battle in the home islands. 387 00:24:07,280 --> 00:24:09,800 For a while now, the Japanese army had been planning 388 00:24:09,960 --> 00:24:12,800 what they call Operation Ketsugo, which means operation decisive. 389 00:24:12,960 --> 00:24:15,680 It's a plan to defend Kyushu. They think they've got 390 00:24:15,840 --> 00:24:18,600 perhaps a million men that they can put into the field. 391 00:24:20,120 --> 00:24:23,000 They also want to put civilians into the field. 392 00:24:23,160 --> 00:24:26,320 Their idea is that they will make things so terrifying, 393 00:24:26,480 --> 00:24:28,240 that it will stop the Americans 394 00:24:28,400 --> 00:24:30,840 trying to do anything anywhere else in the home islands. 395 00:24:31,000 --> 00:24:35,440 Women and children were going through the military drills 396 00:24:35,600 --> 00:24:37,920 where everybody was given a bamboo spear. 397 00:24:39,920 --> 00:24:45,040 They are essentially mobilising everybody older than 12 years old... 398 00:24:47,440 --> 00:24:49,160 ...to fight to the death. 399 00:25:01,360 --> 00:25:04,120 In July, for the first time, President Truman 400 00:25:04,280 --> 00:25:07,360 meets with both British Prime Minister Winston Churchill 401 00:25:07,520 --> 00:25:11,000 and Soviet Premier Joseph Stalin at Potsdam, 402 00:25:11,160 --> 00:25:14,640 formerly the home of Prussian kings and the German Kaiser. 403 00:25:16,000 --> 00:25:17,640 Europe is devastated. 404 00:25:19,840 --> 00:25:22,440 It's a massive disaster zone. 405 00:25:24,280 --> 00:25:25,880 The point of the Potsdam Conference 406 00:25:26,040 --> 00:25:28,640 is for these three governments to come together 407 00:25:28,800 --> 00:25:31,600 and figure out how these countries are gonna be rebuilt. 408 00:25:32,800 --> 00:25:36,400 But Truman has his eyes on a completely different problem. 409 00:25:36,560 --> 00:25:39,000 He huddles with Secretary of War Stimson, 410 00:25:39,160 --> 00:25:40,960 and what are they talking about? 411 00:25:41,120 --> 00:25:43,040 They're talking about the Pacific. 412 00:25:46,360 --> 00:25:48,600 With Operation Downfall months away, 413 00:25:48,760 --> 00:25:51,960 President Truman seeks assurance that the Soviets 414 00:25:52,120 --> 00:25:55,840 will participate in the war against Japan as pledged. 415 00:25:56,000 --> 00:25:59,920 All this time, Japan and the Soviet Union had been neutral. 416 00:26:00,080 --> 00:26:02,080 They had not been at war with one another. 417 00:26:02,240 --> 00:26:06,440 Stalin promised within 90 days of the end of the war in Europe, 418 00:26:06,600 --> 00:26:08,320 he'll join the war against Japan. 419 00:26:08,480 --> 00:26:11,040 He promised that to Roosevelt back at Yalta. 420 00:26:11,200 --> 00:26:13,040 So Truman hopes that's a go. 421 00:26:14,080 --> 00:26:16,080 But at the start of the conference, 422 00:26:16,240 --> 00:26:19,760 Stimson receives a coded cable from the War Department. 423 00:26:20,680 --> 00:26:24,760 "Operated on this morning, diagnosis not yet complete, 424 00:26:24,920 --> 00:26:26,840 but results seem satisfactory. 425 00:26:27,000 --> 00:26:29,080 Dr Groves is pleased." 426 00:26:30,280 --> 00:26:34,720 Truman now knew that the atomic bomb had been detonated successfully. 427 00:26:37,480 --> 00:26:38,600 In this moment, 428 00:26:38,760 --> 00:26:41,120 we have this amazing window into Truman's thinking, 429 00:26:41,280 --> 00:26:42,800 because he was keeping a diary. 430 00:26:44,520 --> 00:26:48,760 Truman realises this bomb could be a short circuit to ending the war. 431 00:26:49,960 --> 00:26:54,760 When Truman hears that the atomic bomb actually works, 432 00:26:54,920 --> 00:26:56,880 he knows they have to use it, 433 00:26:57,040 --> 00:26:58,720 but he wants to give the Japanese 434 00:26:58,880 --> 00:27:01,400 one last chance to surrender before he does. 435 00:27:02,760 --> 00:27:05,840 President Truman, along with Churchill and Chiang Kai-shek, 436 00:27:06,000 --> 00:27:11,040 the leader of the Republic of China, issue the Potsdam Declaration, 437 00:27:11,200 --> 00:27:13,000 a warning to Japan of what awaits 438 00:27:13,160 --> 00:27:15,400 if they don't surrender unconditionally. 439 00:27:15,560 --> 00:27:17,520 But Stimson suggests 440 00:27:17,680 --> 00:27:21,640 they consider allowing Hirohito to keep his throne. 441 00:27:21,800 --> 00:27:25,320 Stimson understands the constitutional and cultural position 442 00:27:25,480 --> 00:27:29,720 that the emperor plays in Japanese life, this kind of demigod status. 443 00:27:29,880 --> 00:27:33,040 So he insists on inserting into the declaration, 444 00:27:33,200 --> 00:27:36,080 assurance that they won't try the emperor for war crimes. 445 00:27:36,240 --> 00:27:39,160 But beyond that, it will be unconditional surrender, 446 00:27:39,320 --> 00:27:41,200 and no other terms will be acceptable. 447 00:27:42,320 --> 00:27:45,000 Also in this document is wordage 448 00:27:45,160 --> 00:27:47,320 that does not mention the atomic bomb, 449 00:27:47,480 --> 00:27:50,720 but it does say that if unconditional surrender 450 00:27:50,880 --> 00:27:56,040 is not coming, the destruction was going to be historic and massive. 451 00:28:00,440 --> 00:28:04,640 The Office of War Information releases the Potsdam Declaration 452 00:28:05,560 --> 00:28:08,880 and the Japanese receive it via radio from San Francisco. 453 00:28:10,440 --> 00:28:14,360 Prime Minister Suzuki and Emperor Hirohito 454 00:28:14,520 --> 00:28:17,360 are of the opinion that 455 00:28:17,520 --> 00:28:23,520 the Potsdam Declaration is not really vindictive. 456 00:28:24,560 --> 00:28:28,160 They see some hope. 457 00:28:29,160 --> 00:28:31,520 Emperor Hirohito himself, at this point, 458 00:28:31,680 --> 00:28:34,400 he is open to accepting it, but he 459 00:28:34,560 --> 00:28:37,880 understands his role as an emperor. 460 00:28:38,040 --> 00:28:41,480 There are only certain times for him to weigh in. 461 00:28:41,640 --> 00:28:43,320 The emperor and the Peace Party 462 00:28:43,480 --> 00:28:45,120 are in an impossible position here. 463 00:28:45,280 --> 00:28:48,080 I mean, if they respond positively to the ultimatum, 464 00:28:48,240 --> 00:28:49,680 the military might turn against them, 465 00:28:49,840 --> 00:28:51,200 but if they completely ignore it, 466 00:28:51,360 --> 00:28:53,840 there's a danger that the Americans are actually gonna carry out 467 00:28:54,000 --> 00:28:55,360 what they suggest. 468 00:28:56,560 --> 00:28:57,840 Two days later, 469 00:28:58,000 --> 00:29:01,960 Japan's Prime Minister Kantaro Suzuki holds a press conference. 470 00:29:03,360 --> 00:29:06,760 When press asks about Potsdam Declaration, 471 00:29:06,920 --> 00:29:09,520 Suzuki uses the word "mokusatsu." 472 00:29:10,600 --> 00:29:13,840 The best translation for that is "no comment" 473 00:29:14,000 --> 00:29:17,480 or I'm not going to respond to that question. 474 00:29:18,440 --> 00:29:23,000 However, the word mokusatsu can also mean we're going to ignore it. 475 00:29:23,160 --> 00:29:26,080 I think the Japanese media, they're very quick to interpret it 476 00:29:26,240 --> 00:29:28,000 in the most hostile and negative way. 477 00:29:29,280 --> 00:29:30,840 Then the American media pick it up, 478 00:29:31,000 --> 00:29:34,520 then that becomes the view of the American administration as well 479 00:29:34,680 --> 00:29:38,400 that the Japanese are rejecting the Potsdam Declaration. 480 00:29:38,560 --> 00:29:42,000 And to Truman, the Japanese response is plain and clear. 481 00:29:42,160 --> 00:29:45,920 He believes that the Japanese told him to go to hell. 482 00:29:58,440 --> 00:30:00,720 By early 1945, 483 00:30:00,880 --> 00:30:05,480 Tinian Island in the Marianas is the largest air base on Earth. 484 00:30:07,280 --> 00:30:10,080 Hundreds of B-29s have taken off 485 00:30:10,240 --> 00:30:12,720 from its multiple runways to bomb Japan. 486 00:30:19,320 --> 00:30:22,920 But there's a very mysterious restricted area 487 00:30:23,080 --> 00:30:24,840 at one part of the base. 488 00:30:25,000 --> 00:30:27,720 No one really knows what's going on up there. 489 00:30:27,880 --> 00:30:32,240 It belongs to some unit called the 509th Composite Group. 490 00:30:32,400 --> 00:30:36,600 These are the preparations for the arrival of the atomic bomb. 491 00:30:38,480 --> 00:30:42,400 Components for the atomic bombs are delivered in late July 492 00:30:42,560 --> 00:30:45,840 and carefully assembled over the following days. 493 00:30:47,640 --> 00:30:51,160 So the Manhattan Project was able to produce enough uranium 494 00:30:51,320 --> 00:30:53,080 and plutonium for three bombs. 495 00:30:53,240 --> 00:30:55,320 And after the Trinity test, 496 00:30:55,480 --> 00:30:58,200 the Americans only had two bombs in the arsenal. 497 00:30:58,360 --> 00:31:01,320 Truman makes the decision to drop the bomb. 498 00:31:01,480 --> 00:31:03,680 He legitimately wants to save US casualties 499 00:31:03,840 --> 00:31:06,240 and bring this war to an end rapidly. 500 00:31:06,400 --> 00:31:10,320 At the same time, he wants to assert his authority as president. 501 00:31:16,680 --> 00:31:19,800 It is one of the most consequential decisions that... 502 00:31:21,600 --> 00:31:24,240 ...any nation has ever made, 503 00:31:26,320 --> 00:31:30,240 and no one knows what was gonna happen. 504 00:31:31,280 --> 00:31:33,800 But President Truman did understand 505 00:31:33,960 --> 00:31:36,720 that this was of a different scale and scope. 506 00:31:37,640 --> 00:31:40,600 He compares it to the biblical flood in his diary, 507 00:31:40,760 --> 00:31:45,000 "As the world was once destroyed by water for Noah, 508 00:31:45,160 --> 00:31:48,360 perhaps now it'll be destroyed by fire and destruction." 509 00:31:52,880 --> 00:31:56,200 By design, the target of the first atomic bomb is a city 510 00:31:56,360 --> 00:31:58,640 relatively unscathed by the war. 511 00:31:59,720 --> 00:32:04,360 American military leaders want the Japanese to understand 512 00:32:04,520 --> 00:32:08,080 the awful destructive power of this new weapon. 513 00:32:08,240 --> 00:32:11,280 That morning in Hiroshima is an ordinary morning. 514 00:32:11,440 --> 00:32:12,880 People are going about their business. 515 00:32:13,040 --> 00:32:15,120 Some people are going into the factories to work. 516 00:32:15,280 --> 00:32:17,640 They're still wondering why they've not yet been bombed 517 00:32:17,800 --> 00:32:20,400 and they're expecting it more or less any day. 518 00:32:20,560 --> 00:32:23,400 And then people see this light in the sky, 519 00:32:23,560 --> 00:32:27,240 sun shining off a single aircraft. 520 00:32:59,560 --> 00:33:03,400 The first thing is the flashing light 521 00:33:03,560 --> 00:33:05,640 as if sun explodes, 522 00:33:06,600 --> 00:33:09,360 then a noise and a shock. 523 00:33:13,640 --> 00:33:18,480 The people who were near the epicentre evaporate. 524 00:33:20,000 --> 00:33:22,680 The casualties mount until you get between 90,000 525 00:33:22,840 --> 00:33:25,360 and 160,000 people who've died. 526 00:33:27,320 --> 00:33:30,640 The dominant image that survivors give of Hiroshima 527 00:33:30,800 --> 00:33:33,040 is of one of the Buddhist hells. 528 00:33:38,600 --> 00:33:41,160 One thing really difficult for historians to jive with 529 00:33:41,320 --> 00:33:44,840 is this idea that Truman has chosen military targets 530 00:33:45,000 --> 00:33:48,280 and he writes even in his diary, the words, "And not women and children." 531 00:33:49,480 --> 00:33:51,560 We'll never really know. 532 00:33:51,720 --> 00:33:54,880 Did he really feel that this was a military target 533 00:33:55,040 --> 00:33:58,240 or was he writing that in his diary understanding that 534 00:33:58,400 --> 00:34:02,640 history for generations was gonna judge him for this? 535 00:34:05,960 --> 00:34:08,720 Truman is at sea coming home from Potsdam 536 00:34:08,880 --> 00:34:11,040 when he received the news. 537 00:34:11,200 --> 00:34:13,760 Later that same day, he goes on the airwaves to address 538 00:34:13,920 --> 00:34:16,600 the American people and to tell them what has just happened. 539 00:34:16,760 --> 00:34:20,720 He says it's a new type of bomb that America has used it 540 00:34:20,880 --> 00:34:23,760 and will continue to use it until Japan surrenders. 541 00:34:23,920 --> 00:34:26,880 If they do not now accept our terms, 542 00:34:27,040 --> 00:34:29,840 they may expect a rain of ruin from the air, 543 00:34:30,000 --> 00:34:32,960 the like of which has never been seen on this earth. 544 00:34:39,280 --> 00:34:44,320 Even with Hiroshima in ruins, Japanese leaders do not surrender. 545 00:34:44,480 --> 00:34:47,360 The peace camp pushed for immediate acceptance 546 00:34:47,520 --> 00:34:49,840 of the Potsdam Declaration, 547 00:34:50,000 --> 00:34:53,680 but the military side insists on continuing the war. 548 00:34:53,840 --> 00:34:58,520 The reasoning is that may be the only atomic bomb that they had. 549 00:34:58,680 --> 00:35:00,720 So they're still at the stalemate. 550 00:35:02,240 --> 00:35:04,920 And then the Soviet Union declares war on Japan. 551 00:35:11,280 --> 00:35:13,280 Just as Stalin promised, 552 00:35:13,440 --> 00:35:16,920 exactly 90 days after the surrender of Germany, 553 00:35:18,640 --> 00:35:21,320 one and a half million Soviet troops 554 00:35:21,480 --> 00:35:26,000 pour across the border into Japanese occupied Manchuria. 555 00:35:26,160 --> 00:35:28,640 The Japanese aren't aware that for months the Soviets 556 00:35:28,800 --> 00:35:32,320 have amassed their armour on the borders with Manchuria. 557 00:35:32,480 --> 00:35:35,320 But now the Russians are rolling into Manchuria 558 00:35:35,480 --> 00:35:37,840 and they're rolling over the Japanese. 559 00:35:38,000 --> 00:35:40,200 And now you've got the prospect of the Soviets, 560 00:35:40,360 --> 00:35:42,280 not just making their way into Manchuria, 561 00:35:42,440 --> 00:35:44,720 but possibly across to the Japanese home islands. 562 00:35:45,880 --> 00:35:48,560 For Japan, it's a complete disaster. 563 00:35:52,320 --> 00:35:55,680 On the same day the Red Army moves into Manchuria, 564 00:35:58,400 --> 00:36:01,280 B-29s appear over Nagasaki. 565 00:36:02,680 --> 00:36:04,960 One carries an atomic bomb. 566 00:36:06,320 --> 00:36:09,040 The US has just one more atom bomb left. 567 00:36:10,240 --> 00:36:13,200 But the whole idea is to give Japan the impression 568 00:36:13,360 --> 00:36:15,520 that the US has an unlimited stock 569 00:36:17,160 --> 00:36:19,400 and that if Japan won't surrender, 570 00:36:19,560 --> 00:36:23,640 the US will continue to unleash atom bombs on Japan. 571 00:36:27,680 --> 00:36:31,560 Between 60 and 70,000 people are killed instantly. 572 00:36:43,520 --> 00:36:45,960 Prime Minister Suzuki convenes the war council 573 00:36:46,120 --> 00:36:50,880 and the discussion is, are we gonna accept the Potsdam Declaration? 574 00:36:52,120 --> 00:36:53,800 And the answer from the military is no. 575 00:36:56,920 --> 00:36:58,680 You've had two atomic bombs. 576 00:36:58,840 --> 00:37:01,200 You've had the Soviet invasion of Manchuria, 577 00:37:01,360 --> 00:37:04,200 and yet the Supreme War Council is still split. 578 00:37:04,360 --> 00:37:06,160 The war faction, the military, 579 00:37:06,320 --> 00:37:09,440 they're absolutely not willing to consider unconditional surrender. 580 00:37:09,600 --> 00:37:14,960 That's when Prime Minister Suzuki makes the very important move 581 00:37:15,120 --> 00:37:19,320 saying that we need to ask the emperor. 582 00:37:20,200 --> 00:37:21,960 This is a standout moment. 583 00:37:22,120 --> 00:37:24,040 This is something you would never normally do. 584 00:37:24,200 --> 00:37:26,400 There's a sense Hirohito is semi-divine 585 00:37:26,560 --> 00:37:29,640 and shouldn't be troubled with the decision making process. 586 00:37:29,800 --> 00:37:32,000 It's a really extraordinary step. 587 00:37:33,080 --> 00:37:36,000 But Hirohito, I think, sees the gravity of the situation. 588 00:37:36,160 --> 00:37:39,000 He sees that this is a moment where it's his responsibility 589 00:37:39,160 --> 00:37:41,120 to step up as the leader effectively. 590 00:37:42,600 --> 00:37:45,080 And he says, 591 00:37:45,240 --> 00:37:50,080 "We must bear the unbearable and suffer the insufferable. 592 00:37:50,240 --> 00:37:54,320 We will end the war and then move on." 593 00:38:05,360 --> 00:38:07,360 I have received this afternoon 594 00:38:07,520 --> 00:38:10,080 a message from the Japanese government. 595 00:38:10,240 --> 00:38:15,080 I deem this reply, a full acceptance of the Potsdam Declaration, 596 00:38:16,200 --> 00:38:19,640 which specifies the unconditional surrender of Japan. 597 00:38:21,120 --> 00:38:22,720 And people go nuts. 598 00:38:22,880 --> 00:38:26,200 Tens of thousands of people gather at the gate of the White House. 599 00:38:27,320 --> 00:38:30,840 The world has been holding its breath since the war began. 600 00:38:32,280 --> 00:38:36,760 Now it is over and there is great celebration. 601 00:38:38,320 --> 00:38:41,080 One of the crucial factors in ending this war is that you have 602 00:38:41,240 --> 00:38:43,920 Harry Truman, an accidental president who had to be briefed 603 00:38:44,080 --> 00:38:46,440 on the wartime situation when he enters the Oval Office. 604 00:38:47,920 --> 00:38:52,880 And Hirohito, who has never really made political decisions. 605 00:38:53,040 --> 00:38:57,840 They assert themselves and bring the war to an end in August of 1945. 606 00:39:00,240 --> 00:39:06,240 Batan, Guadalcanal, Iwo Jima, Okinawa, 607 00:39:07,760 --> 00:39:10,000 once obscure points on a map, 608 00:39:10,160 --> 00:39:13,360 now each place has a new meaning. 609 00:39:19,440 --> 00:39:22,160 In Japan on August 15th, 610 00:39:22,320 --> 00:39:27,040 Emperor Hirohito addresses a nation that has never surrendered. 611 00:39:28,280 --> 00:39:30,920 Most Japanese had never heard the emperor's voice before, 612 00:39:31,080 --> 00:39:34,280 but the Jewel Voice Broadcast as it became known, 613 00:39:34,440 --> 00:39:38,840 is essential to getting most Japanese used to the idea 614 00:39:39,000 --> 00:39:41,480 of laying their arms and admitting surrender. 615 00:39:56,840 --> 00:39:59,040 When the Japanese hear that the war is over, 616 00:39:59,200 --> 00:40:01,320 there has to be a combination of feelings. 617 00:40:01,480 --> 00:40:04,080 We sacrificed all these people, all this money 618 00:40:04,240 --> 00:40:07,400 and these cities of Japan, and we lost. 619 00:40:08,520 --> 00:40:10,880 Shock, sadness, 620 00:40:12,240 --> 00:40:17,800 but also this incredible sense of grief that we let the emperor down. 621 00:40:18,720 --> 00:40:20,920 Our lack of effort let the emperor down. 622 00:40:22,280 --> 00:40:25,320 The Japanese accepted the idea of surrender. 623 00:40:25,480 --> 00:40:27,640 The allies accepted the idea of Hirohito 624 00:40:27,800 --> 00:40:31,640 remaining on the Japanese throne, and that was the end of the war. 625 00:40:32,720 --> 00:40:35,400 September 2nd, 1945, 626 00:40:35,560 --> 00:40:39,400 on the deck of the USS Missouri anchored in Tokyo Bay, 627 00:40:39,560 --> 00:40:43,240 the Japanese sign the instrument of surrender, 628 00:40:43,400 --> 00:40:45,400 the largest conflict in world history 629 00:40:45,560 --> 00:40:48,240 closes with a signature and a speech. 630 00:40:49,480 --> 00:40:51,600 Douglas MacArthur marks the occasion. 631 00:40:51,760 --> 00:40:55,200 "It is my earnest hope and indeed the hope of all mankind, 632 00:40:55,360 --> 00:40:56,960 that from this solemn occasion, 633 00:40:57,120 --> 00:41:00,920 a better world shall emerge out of the blood and carnage of the past." 634 00:41:01,080 --> 00:41:03,080 Subtitles by Sky Access Services 53958

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