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For almost four years,

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American soldiers and Marines
in the Pacific

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have struggled across beaches,
through jungles

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and atop mountains to subdue
a nation that refuses to surrender.

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The effort has been immense.

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More is required.

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In the spring of 1945,

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the United States
will start the final push

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to defeat the Japanese empire.

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All wars changed the world,

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but none of them changed the world
like the Second World War did.

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Japan's on the march,
Germany's on the march.

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No one can imagine the nightmare
they're about to unleash.

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The most destructive war
in human history.

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Suddenly the world
is turned upside down

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and all hell is let loose.

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The West is stunned by
the speed of the advance.

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You get the allies
led by the big three:

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Roosevelt, Churchill, Stalin.

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Men who are dealing with immensely
complicated questions.

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It's the biggest military
operation of human history.

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The allies have to come together,
not just militarily,

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but industrial scale.
It's a global perspective.

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They have to fight
in every climate,

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from the Arctic
to the jungles of the Pacific,

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to the deserts of Africa
and the depths of the ocean.

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But there was no
certainty of victory.

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It was going to be
a horrific bloodbath.

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We see humans
at their absolute worst,

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how they treat other human beings,

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and we see them
at their absolute best,

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willing to give their lives
that others might live.

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World War II was a struggle
in which there could be one victor

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and vanquished.

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With the Rhine's west bank secured,

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Britain expects other crossings
of Germany's river of destiny,

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after a law to build up
our own strength,

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and after that, the end of the
European war should not be far off.

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In America
in the spring of 1945,

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there is hope that the war
in Europe is nearing its end.

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Husbands and fathers,

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boyfriends and brothers

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might finally be coming home.

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It is front and centre
on the American mind.

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How quickly can we get to Berlin

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and get the soldiers home?

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The public get this sort of
an attitude that, you know,

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hey, the war's almost over.

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They'll be coming home,
but it's almost like a marathon

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and you see the finish line
in the distance,

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and so you know you can give one
last kick and then somebody says,

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"Actually there's another
three miles to go."

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Victory in Europe
seems within reach.

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Victory over Tokyo
remains on the far horizon.

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For months, hundreds of B-29s
have been striking Japanese cities

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to marginal effect.

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The army air forces believed

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that a sufficient amount of
pinpoint bombing from high altitude

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would take out Japanese industry

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and make it impossible for them
to continue the war.

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It didn't work.

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Bombing from 30,000 feet,
the winds were too strong,

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blew the bombs all over the place.

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Under the command
of General Curtis LeMay,

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the Air Force alters its tactics.

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On March 9th, 1945,

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LeMay's B-29s will attack Tokyo from
only 5,000 feet using a new weapon.

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Bombs filled with napalm.

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Napalm is this gel combined with
gasoline that will stick to things

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and then it catches fire and it
makes it very, very hard to put out.

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It's for starting fires that are
designed to just go out of control.

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And the reason it's gonna be
so destructive is that Tokyo is

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mostly made of wooden paper
and this is just going to explode.

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It'll be incredibly inflammable.

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The argument was that

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if you destroy the housing units
of the Japanese workers,

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they wouldn't be able to go to work
and build the planes and tanks.

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They needed to continue
the conflict.

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But the outcome
was absolutely horrific.

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It is just complete
devastation in Tokyo.

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100,000 people were killed.

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We think of Dresden as
being the worst single moment

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in the European Theatre
of Operations.

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The fire storm at Dresden,

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25,000 were lost there,

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but in Tokyo

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there's a 100,000 killed
in a single operation.

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The whole city was a sea of fire.

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It was so hot
that canals start to boil

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and the fires eat up so much of
the oxygen that a lot of the people

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who die asphyxiate
because there's no oxygen left.

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A huge proportion of the city
is simply gone in one night.

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The destruction is immense.

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16 square miles of Tokyo
are obliterated.

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After this one raid, a million
Japanese no longer have a home.

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It's unprecedented.

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General LeMay later I recall that

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he would've been tried
as a war criminal

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if United States lost in the war.

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To survey the damage,

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Emperor Hirohito emerges from his
bunker beneath the Imperial Palace.

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Emperor Hirohito has been pretty
isolated throughout the war,

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but he does have a sense
that the war is not exactly

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going as his generals
and admirals are telling him.

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So when the fire bombing
in Tokyo happened,

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that only intensifies his desire

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to start looking for ways
to end the war.

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For Emperor Hirohito,
the big concern is not what might

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happen to the ordinary
Japanese people,

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but if the Americans
make it onto Japanese soil,

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what might happen to him?

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What might happen
to the imperial line

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that goes back centuries in Japan?

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He says,
"I can't possibly face my ancestors

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having sacrificed the throne."

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The emperor of Japan
is considered to be divine

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with immense authority
over his people.

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But Hirohito rarely
exerts that authority

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in political or military matters.

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There's the committee for the
supreme direction of the war,

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which is six people,
two people from the army,

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two people from the navy, the prime
minister and the foreign minister.

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Those six are the only six that
had any real say within Japan.

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The civilian leaders understood
they couldn't win the war,

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but the military
are determined to fight on.

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Japanese military leaders
have lived their whole life

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under a professional code.

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That surrender is so dishonourable
you would rather die,

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no matter what the suffering,
the warrior does not surrender.

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For all the firebombing,
for all the destruction

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already rained on Japan,
there's no sign of surrender.

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The American high command
now believes that the Japanese

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would not surrender
short of an invasion

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and occupation of the Japanese
home islands.

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The United States is gathering
its forces for the next phase

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of its assault on Imperial Japan.

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The capture of Okinawa,

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the largest island
on the Ryukyu chain.

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Okinawa is just 400 miles
south of Kyushu,

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which is the most southerly
of the Japanese home islands,

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and therefore can be used
to launch an invasion fleet.

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So Okinawa is absolutely
vital to the Americans.

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Okinawa would be defended

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by about 100,000
Japanese frontline troops

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and also native Okinawan
militia forces.

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They know that the Americans
have overwhelming superiority

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in the air and at sea.

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The plan for the defence
of Okinawa

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is don't go for a Banzai charge.

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Instead, they will prepare
these defensive fortifications,

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let the Americans come to them
and take them out that way.

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Using native
Okinawans as forced labour,

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the Japanese build a network
of bunkers and tunnels.

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And the idea
was kill four, five Americans

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before you are killed yourself.

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The Japanese overall strategy
is to make the Americans pay

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so much for Okinawa that an invasion
of the Japanese home islands

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would be unthinkable.

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The garrison on Okinawa
is only half the Japanese strategy

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for defending the island.

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The other element of the plan
is to use kamikaze,

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but in far greater numbers
than ever been used before.

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The Japanese recognise that
when the Americans conduct

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these amphibious landing operations,
the ships offshore are the lifeline

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that's keeping the battalions ashore
in the fight.

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So they came up with this idea
of these organised waves

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of kamikaze attacks.

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And if you launch 300
kamikaze at the American fleet

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and you take out seven aircraft
carriers or something,

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that is a war-changing thing.

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The Battle of Okinawa
starts with the largest invasion

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of the war in the Pacific.

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A massive effort combining
naval, air and ground support.

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60,000 soldiers and marines are
bound for Okinawa's western beaches.

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The invasion force
will land on Hagushi Bay,

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then the Marines will sweep north,
and the army south,

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to take control of
the entire island.

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The biggest danger
in an amphibious operation

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is the actual landing because
you are incredibly vulnerable.

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You are out in the open.

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The combat troops going up first.

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Both Marine and Army have been
told to expect up to 80% casualties.

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So if you've drawn the unlucky straw
of being one of the first units,

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you're pretty convinced not
many of you're gonna survive.

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They get to the beaches
start walking up it,

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body's tense waiting
for the bullets to come...

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...and there is nothing.

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They're experiencing
virtually no opposition.

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And so there was a thought that

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hey, maybe Okinawa's not gonna turn
out to be a big bloodbath after all.

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The first few days go
very well for the landing forces.

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They cut across all the way
to the other side of the island

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against minimal opposition.

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It's looking too good
to be true at this stage.

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Military leaders believed
that Japan must fight to protect

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the honour of the country.

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And these kamikaze pilots
are the chosen ones

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to go to this divine mission
to protect their homeland.

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They really believe that that
would turn the tide of the war.

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The pilots are young,
many of them are teenagers,

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they're ill-trained.

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They don't even have enough
fuel to come back from this flight

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if they wanted to.
They know they're going to die.

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So when they get to the first
American ship they see,

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they attack.

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For the first five days
of the invasion of Okinawa,

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there's no opposition to the massive
US fleet surrounding the island.

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00:13:08,920 --> 00:13:14,280
But just after noon on April 6th,
the Japanese arrive in force.

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Imagine we're on the bridge
of one of these destroyers

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80 miles north of Okinawa.

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The kamikaze come from starboard,
from port, from high, from low.

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00:13:34,280 --> 00:13:37,480
So you feel like you're in a boxing
ring with about five other boxers

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attacking you from every direction.

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Hundreds of kamikaze at a time
thrown against the invading fleet.

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They thought with the sheer numbers,

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they could take out
the capital ships;

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that's battleships
and aircraft carriers

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and drive off the US fleet
in its entirety.

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The kamikaze don't
really have much success

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against aircraft carriers...

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00:14:10,200 --> 00:14:15,120
...but 300  ships
are targeted by the kamikazes.

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More than 36 of them sink.

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It is more devastating than
any conventional bombing attack

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has been in the war so far,
but it's not enough.

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What the kamikaze tells me is that
the Japanese knew the war was lost,

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at least by conventional means.

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There's nothing more dangerous
in warfare than a cornered enemy.

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The Japanese
are gonna go down in flames

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but will never surrender, never.

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For the US Navy,

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the battle against the kamikaze
at Okinawa

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is bloodier than any
previous confrontation

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00:14:54,360 --> 00:14:56,760
of the entire Pacific War.

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And American ground forces
are now facing

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increasing resistance as well.

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The force that had landed on
the beaches is pushing south toward

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a place called Kakazu Ridge

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where they encounter
the first line of Japanese defences.

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It's the first time the
Americans meet serious opposition

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and it stops them dead.

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The Japanese have created
a defensive system that goes

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right across the whole
width of the island,

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00:15:32,440 --> 00:15:34,440
so they can't be out-flanked.

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American troops endure
days of non-stop enemy fire.

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00:15:41,440 --> 00:15:46,120
This is attritional,
grizzly, meat grinding fighting,

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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
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