All language subtitles for World.War.II.with.Tom.Hanks.S01E19.1080p.HEVC.x265-MeGusta[EZTVx.to]

[dramatic music]

- [Tom Hanks] For almost four
years, American soldiers and

Marines in the Pacific have
struggled across beaches,

through jungles and atop
mountains to subdue a nation

that refuses to surrender.

The effort has been immense.

More is required.

In the spring of 1945,

the United States will
start the final push

to defeat the Japanese empire.

[dramatic music]

- All wars changed the world,

but none of them
changed the world

like the second World War did.

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

[dramatic music continues]

- No one can imagine
the nightmare

they're about to unleash.

The most destructive
war in human history.

- Suddenly the world
is turned upside down

and all hell is let loose.

[dramatic music continues]

- The West is stunned by
the speed of the advance.

[dramatic music continues]

- You get the allies
led by the big three,

Roosevelt, Churchill, Stalin,

men who are dealing with
immensely complicated questions.

- It's the biggest military
operation of human history.

- The allies have to come
together, not just militarily

but industrial scale.

It's a global perspective.

- [Historian] They have
to fight in every climate

from the Arctic to the
jungles of the Pacific,

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

[dramatic music]

- But there was no
certainty of victory.

It was going to be a
horrific bloodbath.

- We see humans at
their absolute worst,

how they treat
other human beings,

and we see them at
their absolute best,

willing to give their lives
that others might live.

- World War II was a struggle

in which there could be
one victor and vanquish.

[dramatic music]

[bomb exploding]

[sirens wailing]

[radio static crackling]

- [Radio Host] With the
Rhine's West Bank secured,

Britain expects other
crossings of Germany's river

of Destiny after a law to
build up our own strength,

and after that, the
end of the European war

should not be far off.

[dramatic music]

- [Tom Hanks] In America
in the spring of 1945,

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

Husbands and fathers,

boyfriends and brothers
might finally be coming home.

- It is front and center
on the American mind.

How quickly can we get to Berlin

and get the soldiers home?

- The public get this
sort of an attitude

that you know, hey,
the war's almost over.

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

and you see the finish
line in the distance

and so you know you
can give one last kick

and then somebody says,

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

- [Tom Hanks] Victory in
Europe seems within reach.

Victory over Tokyo remains
on the far horizon.

[dramatic music]

For months, hundreds of B-29s

have been striking Japanese
cities to marginal effect.

- The army air forces believed
that a sufficient amount

of pinpoint bombing
from high altitude

would take out Japanese industry

and make it impossible for
them to continue the war.

It didn't work.

[dramatic music continues]

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

blew the bombs all
over the place.

- [Tom Hanks] Under the command
of General Curtis LeMay,

the Air Force
alters its tactics.

[fast-paced music]

[airplane roaring]

On March 9th, 1945,

LeMay's B-29s will attack
Tokyo from only 5,000 feet

using a new weapon.

Bombs filled with napalm.

- Napalm is this gel
combined with gasoline

that will stick to things
and then it catches fire

and it makes it very,
very hard to put out.

It's for starting
fires that are designed

to just go out of control.

- And the reason it's
gonna be so destructive

is that Tokyo is mostly
made of wood and paper

and this is just
going to explode.

It'll be incredibly imflamable.

- [Craig] The argument was that
if you destroy the housing units

of the Japanese workers, they
wouldn't be able to go to work

and build the planes
and the tanks.

They needed to
continue the conflict.

[dramatic music]

But the outcome was
absolutely horrific.

[dramatic music]

[bombs whirring]

[fire crackling]

- [Historian] It is just
complete devastation in Tokyo.

[soft music]

A hundred thousand
people were killed.

[soft music continues]

- [Saul] We think of Dresden as
being the worst single moment

in the European
Theater of Operations.

The fire storm at Dresden,
25,000 were lost there,

but in Tokyo there's a
hundred thousand killed

in a single operation.

The whole city
was a sea of fire.

[soft music]

- [Christopher] It was so hot
that canals start to boil

and the fires eat up
so much of the oxygen

that a lot of the people
who die asphyxiate

because there's no oxygen left.

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

[soft music]

- [Tom Hanks] The
destruction is immense.

16 square miles of
Tokyo are obliterated.

After this one raid,

a million Japanese no
longer have a home.

- It's unprecedented.

General LeMay later I recall
that he would've been tried

as a war criminal if United
States lost in the war.

[soft music]

- [Tom Hanks] To
survey the damage,

Emperor Hirohito
emerges from his bunker

beneath the Imperial Palace.

- Emperor Hirohito has
been pretty isolated

throughout the war,

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

as his generals and
admirals are telling him.

So when the fire bombing
in Tokyo happened,

that only intensifies his desire

to start looking for
ways to end the war.

- [Christopher] For Emperor
Hirohito the big concern

is not what might happen to
the ordinary Japanese people,

but if the Americans make
it onto Japanese soil,

what might happen to him?

What might happen
to the imperial ine

that goes back
centuries in Japan?

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

having sacrificed the throne."

- [Tom Hanks] The emperor
of Japan is considered

to be divine with immense
authority over his people.

But Hirohito rarely exerts
that authority in political

or military matters.

- There's the committee
for the supreme direction

of the war, which is six people,
two people from the army,

two people from the
Navy, the prime minister

and the foreign minister.

Those six are the only six

that had any real
say within Japan.

- The civilian
leaders understood they

couldn't win the war, but the
military are determined to

fight on.

- Japanese military leaders
have lived their whole life

under a professional code.

That surrender is
so dishonorable you

would rather die, no matter
what the suffering,

the warrior does not surrender.

- [Jon] For all the
firebombing,

for all the destruction
already rained on Japan,

there's no sign of surrender.

- [Craig] The American high
command now believes

that the Japanese would not
surrender short of an invasion

and occupation of the
Japanese home islands.

[dramatic music]

- [Tom Hanks] The United
States is gathering its forces

for the next phase of its
assault on Imperial Japan.

[boat whirring and
dramatic music]

The capture of Okinawa,

the largest island
on the Ryukyu chain.

- Okinawa is just 400
miles south of Kyushu,

which is the most southerly
of the Japanese home islands,

and therefore can be used
to launch an invasion fleet.

So Okinawa is absolutely
vital to the Americans.

[dramatic music continues]

- [Craig] Okinawa would be
defended

by about a hundred thousand
Japanese frontline troops

and also native
Okinawan militia forces.

They know that the Americans
have overwhelming superiority

in the air and at sea.

[dramatic music continues]

- [Christopher] The plan for
the defense of Okinawa

is don't go for a Banzai charge.

Instead, they will prepare
these defensive fortifications,

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

[dramatic music continues]

- [Tom Hanks] Using native
Okinawans as forced labor,

the Japanese build a network
of bunkers and tunnels.

- [Craig] And the idea was kill
four, five Americans

before you are killed yourself.

The Japanese overall strategy
is to make the Americans pay

so much for Okinawa
that an invasion

of the Japanese home islands
would be unthinkable.

[dramatic music]

- [Saul] The garrison on Okinawa
is only half the Japanese

strategy for
defending the island.

The other element of the
plan is to use kamikaze,

but in far greater numbers
than ever been used before.

- The Japanese recognize

that when the Americans conduct

these amphibious
landing operations,

the ships offshore
are the lifeline

that's keeping the battalions
ashore in the fight.

So they came up with this
idea of these organized waves

of kamikaze attacks.

- [Dan] And if you launch 300
kamikaze at the American fleet

and you take out seven
aircraft carriers or something,

that is a war changing thing.

[bombs exploding]

- [Tom Hanks] The
Battle of Okinawa starts

with the largest invasion
of the war in the Pacific.

A massive effort combining
naval, air and ground support.

60,000 soldiers and
marines are bound

for Okinawa's western beaches.

The invasion force will
land on Hagushi Bay,

then the Marines
will sweep north

and the army south to take
control of the entire island.

[guns firing]

- [Saul] The biggest danger in
an amphibious operation

is the actual landing because
you are incredibly vulnerable.

You are out in the open.

The combat troops
going up first.

Both marine and army have
been told to expect up

to 80% casualties.

[dramatic music]

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

of the first units, you're
pretty convinced not many

of you're gonna survive.

[dramatic music continues]

They to the beaches
start walking up it,

body's tense waiting
for the bullets to come

and there is nothing.

[dramatic music]

- [Martin] They're experiencing
virtually no opposition.

And so there was a
thought that hey,

maybe Okinawa's
not gonna turn out

to be a big bloodbath after all.

[fast-paced music]

- [Saul] The first few days go
very well for the

landing forces.

They cut across all the
way to the other side

of the island against
minimal opposition.

[fast-paced music continues]

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

[dramatic music]

- [Yuki] Military leaders
believed that Japan must fight

to protect the honor
of the country.

And these kamikaze pilots
are the chosen ones

to go to this divine mission
to protect their homeland.

They really believe that

that would turn the
tide of the war.

- [Craig] The pilots are young,
many of them are teenagers,

they're ill trained.

They don't even have enough fuel

to come back from this
flight if they wanted to.

They know they're going to die

and so when they get to the
first American ship they see,

they attack.

[dramatic music]

- [Tom Hanks] For
the first five days

of the invasion of Okinawa,
there's no opposition

to the massive US fleet
surrounding the island.

[dramatic music]

But just after
noon on April 6th,

the Japanese arrive in force.

[dramatic music]
[signals beeping]

- Imagine we're on
the bridge of one

of these destroyers 80
miles north of Okinawa.

The kamikaze come from
starboard, from port,

from high, from low.

[dramatic music and
planes whirring]

So you feel like
you're in a boxing ring

with about five other
boxers attacking you

from every direction.

[planes whirring and
dramatic music continues]

- Hundreds of kamikaze
at a time thrown

against the invading fleet.

They thought with the sheer
numbers they could take out

the capital ships
that's battleships

and aircraft carriers and drive
off the US fleet

in its entirety.

[bomb exploding]

- [Craig] The kamikaze don't
really have much success

against aircraft carriers,

[bombs whirring]

but 300 plus ships are
targeted by the kamikazes.

More than 36 of them sink.

[dramatic music]

It is more devastating than
any conventional bombing attack

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

- What the kamikaze tells me is

that the Japanese
knew the war was lost,

at least by conventional means.

There's nothing more
dangerous in warfare

than a cornered enemy.

The Japanese are gonna
go down in flames

but will never surrender, never.

- [Tom Hanks] For the US Navy,

the battle against the
kamikaze at Okinawa is bloodier

than any previous confrontation
of the entire Pacific War.

And American ground
forces are now facing

increasing resistance as well.

- [Martin] The force that had
landed on the beaches is pushing

south toward a place
called Kakazu Ridge

where they encounter the first
line of Japanese defenses.

[dramatic music]

[bomb exploding]

- [Saul] It's the first
time the Americans

meet serious opposition
and it stops them dead.

[dramatic music continues]

The Japanese have created
a defensive system

that goes right across the
whole width of the island,

so they can't be out flanked.

- [Tom Hanks] American
troops endure days

of nonstop enemy fire.

[guns shooting]

- [Saul] This is attritional,
grizzly, meat grinding fighting,

and that's just the
first line of defense

there are gonna be
many more beyond this.

What we thought was gonna be
a cakewalk is anything but.

[dramatic music]

- [Tom Hanks] April 12th.

The American people learn
Franklin Delano Roosevelt,

the man they elected
four times is dead.

[soft music]

Vice president Harry S.
Truman, a former judge

and senator from Missouri
is sworn in hours later.

- Roosevelt had led the country
through the Great Depression

and through the war.

In the 82 days that Truman
had been vice president,

he met with Roosevelt
all of twice.

He really knows nothing
about what's going on

with the war effort.

- He didn't think
he was up to the job

and there are people who
would say he was right.

- [Tom Hanks] The new president
is immediately confronted

with enormous challenges.

- [Jonathan] It's important for
the wartime president to

demonstrate that he has a plan
for bringing this war

to a successful conclusion
and as rapidly as possible.

It's clear to the
American population

that Germany is
on its last legs,

but Japan is still
fighting hard.

- The question really is, how
many American lives am I going

to lose to end this war?

That's the whole ball
game for Harry Truman.

[dramatic music]

- [Tom Hanks] Truman meets
with Secretary of War

Henry Stimson and Army
General Leslie Groves.

The agenda is classified.

- [A.J.] They hand Truman a
document.

Truman opens it up and reads it

and the memo begins with
these dramatic words.

"Within four months,

we shall in all
probability have completed

the most terrible weapon
ever known in human history,

one bomb which can
destroy a whole city."

[dramatic music]

- [Tom Hanks] The
Manhattan Project,

the top secret American program

to develop the world's
first atomic bombs.

For three years, thousands
of scientists and engineers

have worked on the most
powerful weapon in history.

It is set to be
tested midsummer.

- [Robert] Truman and his
commanders are ready to pay any

price to bring
this war to an end.

But an invasion of the
Japanese home islands

will be bloody on an
unimaginable scale.

Higher losses than
any previous campaign

either in the Pacific War
or in the war in Europe.

- The Manhattan project,

the attempt to develop
atomic weapons.

If that proves to be successful,

If that proves to be successful,

if those tests prove out,
then that is an alternative.

[bells ringing and
fast-paced music]

- [Tom Hanks] The war
in Europe is over.

The Nazi Third Reich
has been destroyed.

[fast-paced music continues]

[whistle hissing]

But for war weary
America and its allies,

the war in the Pacific continues

and many of the men who
helped defeat Germany

may now be required
to fight Japan.

- At this point, people in
the military knew that a lot

of these units are gonna
need to be transferred.

Just because the war
in Europe is over,

don't get excited.

We're gonna need those
troops in the Pacific.

[guns firing]

- [Tom Hanks] After two
months of ceaseless combat,

Marine and Army units break

through the main Japanese
defensive line on Okinawa.

Japanese troops are
forced to retreat

and attempt a last stand
on the Kiyan Peninsula.

- [Christopher ] By this point,
the Japanese soldiers on Okinawa

are low on ammunition,

they are starving,
they're exhausted,

but they realize that the
next step for the allies

after Okinawa is
the home islands.

They are all that stand
between the allies

and their families, their homes.

They are the last
line of defense

and everyone is
depending on them.

[dramatic music]

- [Martin] Although the
Americans have gained ground,

[bombs exploding]

the more you push
and the more terrain

that has been captured,
the more dangerous

and costly the
battle is becoming.

[dramatic music continues]

- But the Americans know
we're making progress.

If war is a clash of wills,

the United States is a nation
willing to fight it out

to the end.

[dramatic music]

- [Tom Hanks] Organized
resistance on Okinawa

ends On June 22nd.

The Japanese Army's
commanding general

and his chief of staff
both commit suicide

by ritual seppuku.

- [Saul] A hundred thousand
Japanese servicemen are killed.

On the American side,

the casualties are 50,000
killed and wounded.

These are the worst

of battle casualties in the
Pacific War for the Americans,

worse than all of that are the
number of civilians killed.

Up to 125,000, which is a third

of the population
caught in the crossfire.

- [Col. Douglas] This is just
Okinawa.

What happens when we get
to their home islands?

The cost is gonna be enormous.

This war ain't over.

It's not even close
to being over.

[dramatic music]

- [Tom Hanks] American
leaders understand

the Battle of Okinawa
is a frightening preview

of what to expect when Japan's
home islands are invaded.

- Truman has a meeting
with General Marshall

and the joint chiefs of
staff on Operation Downfall,

the invasion of the
Japanese home islands.

This plan goes back to
the Roosevelt presidency.

Planning is going forward

and the most interested
person at the meeting

is George Marshall.

He wants Truman
to sign off on it.

- Operation Downfall will
be a two-pronged operation,

the first called
Operation Olympic.

The idea of Operation Olympic is

to invade the southern
island of Kyushu

and seize naval bases

and air bases while pushing
Japanese forces north.

The critical phase though
of Operation Downfall

is what's code named
Operation Coronet.

It's the invasion of Honshu,

which is where
Tokyo itself sits.

So this would inevitably end
in either the destruction

or capture of the
Japanese capital.

[dramatic music]

- [Saul] Think about the scale
of Operation Downfall

as a whole.

5 million men involved,
up to a million British

and Commonwealth troops,
4 million American troops,

and this is gonna dwarf
D-Day in the logistics

and the naval of forces
that are gonna be involved.

Then the forces that
are actually gonna land

and most importantly of all
is gonna dwarf the number

of casualties.

[soft music]

- [Dan] If the allies had
to invade Japan,

that would be the largest
amphibious assault

ever undertaken.

And when the Americans
were gonna bear

almost the entire weight of it

and the President
understood that better

than most of the
American public did.

[soft music continues]

- [Saul] Truman specifically
says to his chiefs of staff,

I don't want an Okinawa from
one end of Japan to the other.

[soft music continues]

- [Jon] So Truman in June
of '45 is looking

at a brutal final
act against Japan.

But it is very important
to Harry Truman

that he always be
seen as the decider.

The buck stops here.

- Truman understands that this
war with Japan needs to end,

the invasion looks horrible.

But what's option B
in this situation?

- Even at this late date
in June, there's no sense

that the Manhattan
Project is going to work.

They really don't know
if they have a bomb yet.

- [Robert] And so Truman signs
off on Operation Downfall,

the two big invasions of Japan.

Stage one, Operation Olympic
is set for November 1st.

The clock is ticking.

[dramatic music]

- [Noriko] The Japanese Army's
plan is to fight to the bitter

end with a decisive and final
battle in the home islands.

- [Christopher] For a while now,
the Japanese army had been

planning what they call
Operation Ketsugo,

which means operation decisive.

It's a plan to defend Kyushu.

They think they've got
perhaps a million men

that they can put
into the field.

They also want to put
civilians into the field.

Their idea is that they will
make things so terrifying

that it will stop
the Americans trying

to do anything anywhere
else in the home islands.

- [Yuki] Women and children
we're going through the military

drills where everybody was
given a bamboo spear.

They are essentially
mobilizing everybody

older than 12 years old
to fight to the death.

[crowd chanting
and dramatic music]

[fast-paced music]

- [Tom Hanks] In July
for the first time,

President Truman meets with
both British Prime Minister

Winston Churchill and
Soviet Premier Joseph Stalin

at Potsdam, formerly the
home of Prussian Kings

and the German Kaiser.

- [A.J.] Europe is devastated.

[soft music]

It's a massive disaster zone.

The point of the
Potsdam Conference is

for these three governments
to come together

and figure out how these
countries are gonna be rebuilt.

- But Truman has his eyes on a
completely different problem.

He huddles with
Secretary of War Stimson,

and what are they talking about?

They're talking
about the Pacific.

[soft music]

- [Tom Hanks] With Operation
Downfall months away,

President Truman seeks assurance

that the Soviets will
participate in the war

against Japan as pledged.

- [Craig] All this time, Japan

and the Soviet Union
had been neutral.

They had not been at
war with one another.

- [Robert] Stalin promised
within 90 days of the end

of the war in Europe, he'll
join the war against Japan.

He promised that to
Roosevelt back at Yalta.

So Truman hopes that's a go.

- [Tom Hanks] But at the
start of the conference,

Stimson receives a coded
cable from the War Department.

- "Operated on this morning,
diagnosis not yet complete,

but results seem satisfactory.

Dr. Groves is pleased."

[dramatic music]

- [Robert] Truman now knew
that the atomic bomb

had been detonated successfully.

[dramatic music]

- [A.J.] In this moment we
have this amazing window

into Truman's thinking because
he was keeping a diary.

Truman realizes this bomb
could be a short circuit

to ending the war.

- [Saul] When Truman hears that
the atomic bomb actually works,

he knows they have to use it,

but he wants to give the
Japanese one last chance

to surrender before he does.

[dramatic music]

- [Tom Hanks] President
Truman, along with Churchill

and Chiang Kai-shek, the leader
of the Republic of China,

issue the Potsdam Declaration,
a warning to Japan

of what awaits if they don't
surrender unconditionally.

But Stimson suggests they
consider allowing Hirohito

to keep his throne.

- [Saul] Stimson understands
the constitutional

and cultural position
that the emperor plays

in Japanese life, this
kind of demigod status.

And so he insists on inserting
into the declaration,

assurance that they won't try
the emperor for war crimes.

But beyond that, it will
be unconditional surrender

and no other terms
will be acceptable.

- [A.J.] Also in this
document is wordage

that does not mention
the atomic bomb,

but it does say that if
unconditional surrender

is not coming, the destruction
was going to be historic

and massive.

[dramatic music]

- [Tom Hanks] The Office
of War Information

releases the Potsdam Declaration

and the Japanese receive it
via radio from San Francisco.

- [Noriko] Prime Minister Suzuki
and Emperor Hirohito

are the opinion that
the Potsdam Declaration

is not really vindictive.

They see some hope.

- [Yuki] Emperor Hirohito
himself at this point,

he is open to accepting it,

but he understands his
role as an emperor.

There are only certain
times for him to weigh in.

- [Saul] The emperor and
the Peace Party

are in an impossible
position here.

I mean, if they respond
positively to the ultimatum,

the military might
turn against them,

but if they completely
ignore it, there's a danger

that the Americans are
actually gonna carry out

what they suggest.

- [Tom Hanks] Two days
later, Japan's Prime Minister

Kantaro Suzuki holds
a press conference.

- [Yuki] When press asks about
Potsdam Declaration,

Suzuki uses the word mokusatsu.

The best translation
for that is no comment

or I'm not going to
respond to that question.

However, the word
mokusatsu can also mean

we're going to ignore it.

- [Christopher] And I think the
Japanese media,

they're very quick
to interpret it

in the most hostile
and negative way.

And then the American
media pick it up.

And then that becomes the view

of the American
administration as well

that the Japanese are rejecting
the Potsdam Declaration.

- [A.J.] And to Truman, the
Japanese response is

plain and clear.

He believes that the Japanese
told him to go to hell.

[dramatic music]

- [Tom Hanks] By early 1945,

Tinian Island in the Marianas

is the largest
air base on Earth.

Hundreds of B-29s have taken
off from its multiple runways

to bomb Japan.

[dramatic music]

- But there's a very
mysterious restricted area

at one part of the base.

No one really knows
what's going on up there.

It belongs to some unit called
the 509th Composite Group.

These are the preparations
for the arrival

of the atomic bomb.

[dramatic music]

- [Tom Hanks] Components
for the atomic bombs

are delivered in late July

and carefully assembled
over the following days.

[dramatic music continues]

- [A.J.] So the Manhattan
Project was able

to produce enough uranium and
plutonium for three bombs.

And after the Trinity test,

the Americans only had
two bombs in the arsenal.

- [Robert] Truman makes the
decision to drop the bomb.

He legitimately wants
to save US casualties

and bring this war
to an end rapidly.

At the same time, he wants

to assert his
authority as president.

[dramatic music]

- [Jon] It is one of the most
consequential decisions

that any nation has ever made,

and no one knows what
was gonna happen.

But President Truman did
understand that this was

of a different scale and scope.

He compares it to the
biblical flood in his diary,

"As the world was once
destroyed by water for Noah,

perhaps now it'll be destroyed
by fire and destruction."

[dramatic music]

- [Tom Hanks] By design, the
target of the first atomic bomb

is a city relatively
unscathed by the war.

American military
leaders want the Japanese

to understand the
awful destructive power

of this new weapon.

- That morning in Hiroshima
is an ordinary morning.

People are going
about their business.

Some people are going into
the factories to work.

They're still wondering why
they've not yet been bombed

and they're expecting
it more or less any day.

And then people see
this light in the sky,

sun shining off a
single aircraft.

[dramatic music]

[airplane whirring]

[soft music]

- [Yuki] The first thing is
the flashing light

as if sun explodes,

then a noise and a shock.

[soft music]

The people who were near
the epicenter evaporate.

[soft music]

- [Christopher] The casualties
mount until you get between

90,000 and 160,000
people who've died.

The dominant image that
survivors give of Hiroshima

is of one of the Buddhist hells.

[soft music]

- [A.J.] One thing that's really
difficult for historians to jive

with is this idea that Truman
has chosen military targets

and he writes even in
his diary, the words,

"And not women and children."

We'll never really know.

Did he really feel that
this was a military target

or was he writing
that in his diary

understanding that history

for generations was
gonna judge him for this.

[soft music]

- [Robert] Truman is at sea
coming home from Potsdam

when he received the news.

Later that same day,
he goes on the airwaves

to address the American people

and to tell them what
has just happened.

He says it's a new type of
bomb that America has used it

and will continue to use
it until Japan surrenders.

- If they do not now
accept our terms,

they may expect a rain
of ruin from the air

the like of which has never
been seen on this earth.

[dramatic music]

- [Tom Hanks] Even with
Hiroshima in ruins,

Japanese leaders
do not surrender.

- [Yuki] The peace camp pushed
for immediate acceptance

of the Potsdam Declaration,

but the military side insists
on continuing the war.

The reasoning is

that may be the only
atomic bomb that they had.

So they're still
at the stalemate.

And then the Soviet Union
declares war in Japan.

[dramatic music]

- [Tom Hanks] Just as Stalin
promised exactly 90 days

after the surrender of Germany,

one and a half
million Soviet troops

pour across the border into
Japanese occupied Manchuria.

- [Christopher] The Japanese
aren't aware that for months

the Soviets have
masked their armor

on the borders with Manchuria.

But now the Russians are
rolling into Manchuria

and they're rolling
over the Japanese.

And now you've got the prospect

of the Soviets not just making
their way into Manchuria,

but possibly across to
the Japanese home islands.

[dramatic music]

For Japan, it's a
complete disaster.

[dramatic music]

- [Tom Hanks] On the same
day the Red Army moves

into Manchuria, the B-29s
appear over Nagasaki.

into Manchuria, the B-29s
appear over Nagasaki.

One carries an atomic bomb.

- [Dr. Rebecca] The US has just
one more atom bomb left.

But the whole idea is to
give Japan the impression

that the US has
an unlimited stock

and that if Japan
won't surrender,

the US will continue to
unleash atom bombs on Japan.

[dramatic music]

- [Tom Hanks] Between
60 and 70,000 people

are killed instantly.

[dramatic music]

- [Saul] Prime Minister Suzuki
convenes the war council

and the discussion is,

are we gonna accept the
Potsdam Declaration?

And the answer from
the military is no.

[dramatic music]

- [Christopher] You've had two
atomic bombs.

You've had the Soviet
invasion of Manchuria,

and yet the Supreme War
Council is still split.

The war faction, the military,

they're absolutely not
willing to consider

unconditional surrender.

- [Yuki] That's when Prime
Minister Suzuki

makes the very important move

saying that we need
to ask the emperor.

- [Christopher] This is a
standout moment.

This is something you
would never normally do.

There's a sense
Hirohito is semi divine

and shouldn't be troubled with
the decision making process.

It's a really
extraordinary step.

- [Bradley] But Hirohito, I
think, sees the gravity

of the situation.

He sees that this is a moment
where it's his responsibility

to step up as the
leader effectively.

- [Noriko] And he says,

"We must bear the unbearable
and suffer the insufferable.

We will end the war
and then move on."

[soft music]

- I have received this
afternoon a message

from the Japanese government.

I deem this reply,
a full acceptance

of the Potsdam Declaration,

which specifies
the unconditional

surrender of Japan.

- And people go nuts.

Tens of thousands
of people gather

at the gate of the White House.

- [Tom Hanks] The world
has been holding its breath

since the war began.

Now it is over and there
is great celebration.

- [Robert] One of the crucial
factors in ending this war is

that you have Harry Truman,
an accidental president

who had to be briefed
on the wartime situation

when he enters the Oval Office.

And Hirohito, who has never
really made political decisions.

They assert themselves and
bring the war to an end

in August of 1945.

[dramatic music]

- [Tom Hanks] Batan,
Guadalcanal, Iwo Jima,

Okinawa, once obscure
points on a map,

now each place
has a new meaning.

[soft music]

In Japan on August 15th, Emperor
Hirohito addresses a nation

that has never surrendered.

- [Robert] Most Japanese had
never heard the emperor's voice

before, but the Jewel Voice
Broadcast as it became known,

is essential to getting most
Japanese used to the idea

of laying their arms
and admitting surrender.

[Hirohito speaking
in foreign language]

- [Dan] When the Japanese hear
that the war is over,

there has to be a
combination of feelings.

We sacrificed all these
people, all this money

and these cities of
Japan, and we lost.

- [Yuki] Shock, sadness,

but also this incredible
sense of grief

that we let the emperor down.

Our lack of effort
let the emperor down.

- [Craig] The Japanese accepted
the idea of surrender.

The allies accepted the idea

of Hirohito remaining
on the Japanese throne,

and that was the end of the war.

- [Tom Hanks] September 2nd,
1945 on the deck

of the USS Missouri
anchored in Tokyo Bay,

the Japanese sign the
instrument of surrender,

the largest conflict
in world history closes

with a signature and a speech.

Douglas MacArthur
marks the occasion.

"It is my earnest hope

and indeed the hope
of all mankind,

that from this solemn occasion,

a better world shall emerge
out of the blood and carnage

of the past."