Original subtitles

The 4th of July, 1945.

Americans celebrate their independence, but somewhat gloomily.

Despite all the parades and the glorious weather, their hearts aren't in it.

It's been two months since Germany surrendered, and people are impatient.

For over in the Pacific, the Second World War is still dragging on.

The Japanese have still not laid down their arms.

The enemy is still out there.

The battle is a furious one, and with great loss of human life.

That spring alone, nearly 100,000 American soldiers have died.

The recent battle of Okinawa has shown just how determined the enemy is.

It took 82 days of fierce fighting against a massive armada to conquer one

tiny island of the Japanese archipelago.

And at what a price.

As one GI writes, the only rule here is kill, kill.

Kill

Yet

in this summer of 1945 the nightmare is ending for thousands

of soldiers In Japan the situation is desperate

The empire of the rising sun no longer has the means to continue the war.

It can't stem the American advance.

Its centers of industry have been systematically destroyed by the U.S. Air

Force's bombardments. Its supply lines all cut off.

With no shipping lines and a strict blockade in place, Japan is in trouble.

There's nothing left.

No coal, no petrol, no rubber, and no rice.

Starved by rationing, broken by air raids, the population is demoralized.

One young man writes, Most people do not believe in victory, and if they don't

believe, there is no way we can win.

The people of Japan are preparing to face the unthinkable.

And in the corridors of power, too, many of their leaders are resigned to the war

being lost.

But the ministers cannot accept the shame and the risks of an unnegotiated

surrender.

They must maintain the emperor on his throne to preserve the very essence of

Japan and the military traditions it represents at any price.

For months now, emissaries have been sounding out the neutral countries to

try and negotiate with the United States.

They even approached the Vatican.

But the country is divided.

Though many desire an honorable peace, the military refuse to raise the white

flag. War is honor, death a duty, and patriotism the ultimate virtue.

Just like back in the glory days of Pearl Harbor, the propaganda drives home

its bellicose slogans, and the warmongering of the Prime Minister,

General Tojo, is relentless.

Just one word from the Emperor could bring the war to an end.

He's all-powerful. His word is the law.

But Hirohito remains silent and distant.

The sun of heaven will not speak.

His empire has already lost the Philippines, Borneo, and Burma.

And now the islands of Iwo Jima and Okinawa have fallen.

But Japan still occupies Indochina, Malaysia, Indonesia, and Korea,

as well as a large area of eastern China.

It also still holds Manchuria.

And there, on the Russian-Chinese border, is where its most impressive

forces are stationed.

700,000 men, all raised on an unshakable faith that a soldier's sacrifice can

change the course of history.

It's a vain illusion, though, for the Japanese Army is a shadow of its former

self.

The Navy is dying.

The Air Force has lost its best planes.

As for the infantry, it's desperately lacking arms.

And what's worse, the poorly trained new conscripts have none of the bite or the

energy of their elders.

In the first months of the war, the Japanese high command were on the

offensive, and their troops were going from victory to victory.

Those triumphs, though, are now a thing of the past.

Today, the Allies' supremacy is indisputable.

The Empire of the Rising Sun is cornered and on the defensive.

Before he left his post, General Tojo exhorted his troops, do not survive in

shame as prisoners.

Die rather than leave nothing but ignominy.

Ever since, the suicide operations have multiplied.

Thousands of airmen are still ready for the supreme sacrifice.

Before taking off, one young kamikaze writes, The order has come through for

an attack we will not return from.

I have no regrets.

All that is left for me is to do the duty I was trained for and obey the

Emperor's decree.

With such a determined enemy, the US Navy and Air Force focus on a war of

attrition.

They are convinced that time is on their side.

Under a hail of bombs and without enough food to live on, the Nippon Empire is

doomed.

At the head of the US forces in Asia, General MacArthur is burning to put an

end to it all.

it has gone on long enough three years ago when he fled the philippines he made

a vow i shall return he has kept his word not

only is he back but he's getting ready to invade japan only a huge landing

there he reckons will bring a swift victory

But studies show that it'll take a three-month campaign and that 400,000

will die.

That's too high a price.

President Harry Truman is procrastinating.

Should we invade Japan, bombard it, or besiege it, he asks in his diaries,

never has a decision been harder to take.

Truman is a timid man.

He's small, lacking in charisma, and a mediocre orator.

Nothing about him suggests an intrepid poker player.

But Stillwater's can run deep.

In fact, he's an outstanding player.

And the hand he's about to play will prove that.

His motto?

If you can't take the heat, get out of the kitchen.

After endless debate, MacArthur gets his way.

A gigantic landing is programmed for the autumn.

And to be sure of victory, the Americans are counting on a fearsome ally, the

Soviets.

A year earlier, Stalin promised to stand by them in the Pacific, on condition

that he would get back the islands of Kuril and Sakhalin that Tokyo seized

back in 1905.

The Kremlin boss hasn't yet honoured his promise, but he will.

In his way.

No hurry.

He'd rather let the Japanese believe that the 1941 non-aggression pact

between their two countries still holds, so he can surprise them.

Crafty as ever, he's gearing up for a fight.

Ever since the Reich surrendered, the troops that brought down the Wehrmacht

have remained mobilized.

More than six million men are still bearing arms.

And soon they'll see action again.

The Soviet intervention is set for the 15th of August.

If Stalin goes to war August 15th with no strings on it, I'll say that we'll

end the war a year sooner now, says Truman.

On that day, the Japs have had it.

One event though, will upset all his plans.

For some years now, America has been trying to develop an atomic bomb.

In the summer of 1945, the Manhattan Project achieves its aim.

On the 16th of July, 1945, way out in the desert of New Mexico, a group of

scientists watch in both awe and terror an entirely new type of explosion.

Five, four, three, two, one.

At 5.30 in the morning, a blinding light sets the horizon ablaze.

The first ever mushroom cloud rises up into the sky.

Robert Oppenheimer, the program's director, will later admit that he

murmured, Now I am become death, the destroyer of worlds.

That same day, in the greatest secrecy, two atomic bombs are sent to the

Pacific.

Fat Man and Little Boy will very soon explode for all the world to see.

The next day, the 17th of July, as the Allies arrive at the Potsdam Conference,

an agreement has to be reached.

At the little White House in Potsdam, Generalissimo Stalin of Russia is one of

the first to welcome the President.

Next to join the group is Prime Minister Churchill, who meets an old conference

friend. Here, the fate of Germany and the end of Japanese aggression will be

settled.

Next to Churchill and Stalin, Truman looks like a novice.

It's his first summit conference.

But the American president has an ace up his sleeve.

He straightaway warns his Soviet counterpart that the United States have

a new weapon of unusual destructive force.

The man from the Kremlin's unmoved, but he gets the message.

I'm glad to hear it, he replies.

I hope the Americans will make good use of it against the Japanese.

Stalin knows of the existence of America's nuclear project, but not of

its recent advances.

He immediately starts weighing up the implications.

An atomic strike could make the Japanese surrender before he's had time for any

conquests.

From now on, preparing for an Asian offensive is his top priority.

Within weeks, a huge mobilization is underway.

1.5 million men,

86,000 vehicles, 30,000 artillery pieces, 5.5 thousand tanks,

and 3,800 aircraft are all heading east.

A massive achievement.

The race between the Soviet Union and the USA to get Japan to surrender has

begun.

Meanwhile in Potsdam, talks continue between the three great powers.

And not without some tension.

Truman seems emboldened by the power of his bomb.

He's strutting for the cameras now.

He doesn't really see the need for any Soviet intervention anymore, but keeps

it on the agenda as an insurance policy.

After all, it's not yet certain that the bomb will cause Japan to fold.

A few days later, the U.S. again demands the enemy's immediate surrender.

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.

Behind this air attack will follow sea and land forces in such numbers and

power as they have not yet seen.

And with the fighting skill...

of which they are already well aware it doesn't work the japanese

reject america's ultimatum but their prime minister

suzuki kantaro doesn't completely close the door he tries to gain time believing

he still has room to maneuver tokyo turns to moscow

Which seems odd since the Japanese leaders are so virulently anti-communist

But Stalin has always come hell or high water maintained

his neutrality Using him as a mediator could well be a way to

reach an acceptable truce If

we hadn't made overtures to the Soviet Union Togo, the foreign minister at the

time, will say, we would obviously have had to accept an unconditional

surrender.

But Truman has made his mind up.

If the Japanese won't surrender, to hell with them.

In Washington, though, Politicians and the military are at odds about the fate

of Japan and about using the bomb.

The debate drags on.

But to wait will mean opening the gates of Asia to Stalin, and Truman is wary of

the Soviets' ambitions.

The bomb is the solution.

It will both break Japan's intransigence and curb Moscow's greed.

It'll also hasten the liberation of all the prisoners of war in the enemy's

hands.

They're being kept in appalling conditions, and their desperate fate is

stirring up public opinion.

What am I doing in this hell, one GI writes to his grandmother.

Now I know.

They don't allow us to speak about all the atrocities in our letters, but when

it comes to brutality, barbarity, and cruelty, the Japanese are the masters.

But back in Washington, Truman has managed to silence any reluctance.

A campaign of nuclear bombardment until the enemy surrenders is approved.

The city of Hiroshima is chosen as the target.

The countdown has begun.

Two days later.

The cruiser USS Indianapolis transporting the two atomic bombs berths

at the Mariana Islands.

The final elements needed to arm the bombs are flown in.

The plutonium core for Fat Man.

The uranium cylinders for Little Boy.

Finally, on the 31st of July, President Truman orders the bombing of Hiroshima

as soon as the weather permits.

The die is cast, for better or for worse.

In Tokyo, life goes on.

But it's a struggle.

It's total devastation, with people stumbling through the rubble.

A huge bombing campaign in March left over 100,000 dead, and the city's just a

heap of ruins.

267,000 buildings have been destroyed, leaving thousands of people in the

street.

For these unfortunate souls, it's a daily fight for survival.

One of them says, I can't stand it anymore, being hungry day after day.

It's only thanks to the kindness of strangers that I haven't starved to

death.

But the military remain unmoved by it all.

Doggedly, they stick to their guns.

The American landings MacArthur has been promising worry them, but the general

staff has a fearsome response planned.

If the Japanese troops can't prevent their sacred lands being invaded, at

least they can ensure it's no triumph for the enemy.

By forcing them to engage in very bloody battles, they can compel them to

negotiate, even if it means fighting to the very last man.

So the combat drags on, and more and more desperately.

The US Army is suffering heavy losses.

Here at the beginning of August 1945, one thing is certain.

The Japanese are determined to resist anything to prevent the Soviets joining

the dance.

But by the 6th of August, the Red Army is finally ready and can deploy a very

powerful force.

Its troops are massed on the Manchurian border.

patiently awaiting the order to attack.

These troop movements on the edges of its empire have not gone unnoticed by

the Japanese general staff.

But as General Yamada notes in his report, only a fool would launch an

offensive in the region in the month of August, in the rainy season, when the

roads are all waterlogged.

He doesn't know how determined Stalin is.

On this same 6th of August, a hand-picked team of 12 men in the

Mariana Islands are preparing to leave on a mission.

Paul Tibbets, a young U.S. Air Force Lieutenant Colonel, is their commander.

The crew climbs aboard the Enola Gay, named after the pilot's mother.

The base's medic hands them a little box containing 12 cyanide pills in case

they're captured.

They pose for some final photos.

And take off at last.

Very soon, they will drop little boy.

At eight in the morning, as Enola Gay flies over Hiroshima, the skies are

clear, and it looks like it'll be a sunny day.

The crew can clearly make out the coast, the boats at anchor in the port, and the

bridge that is their landmark.

It's rush hour.

But all's calm in this city that has hitherto been spared the bombardments

people are on their way to work the kids are off to school They hardly

notice a tiny sliver of light glinting up there in the sky

At 8.15, the bomb is launched.

At ground level, the temperature goes up to 4,000 degrees.

More than 70,000 people die instantly.

Bob Lewis, the co-pilot, cries out, My God, what have we done?

Hiroshima is razed to the ground for an area of two miles all around.

Everything is burnt, smashed, annihilated.

It's an apocalypse.

One survivor tells how it was like the city was turned into a desert.

For acres and acres there was nothing but bits of bricks and tiles.

Among the dead were women, children, and old people, as well as prisoners of war,

and thousands of Koreans from the forced labor program.

Others died more slowly and silently.

Badly burned or irradiated.

As one witness tells it, people were suffering in silence.

Nobody was crying.

Not a single person who died made any noise.

Even the children were silent.

The atomic bomb just made its mark on history.

On their return to the United States, the crew of the Enola Gay get a hero's

welcome.

In the general enthusiasm, Tibbets is awarded the Distinguished Service Cross.

When later he is received at the White House, Truman will tell him, Don't you

ever lose any sleep over the fact that you planned and carried out that

mission? It was my decision.

You had no choice.

Tibbets would be proud that his whole life long he always slept easy.

Despite the chaos that reigns in the shattered city, the authorities remain

calm.

It's not the first city to be bombed.

Many others have been destroyed by conventional strikes, with those on

Tokyo causing even more deaths.

The Nippon Times prints just a short statement.

Hiroshima was attacked on Monday at 8.20am. The damage is being assessed.

No one's in any hurry.

The Emperor isn't even told of the nature of the bombardment until the next

day.

As for the military, they're stonily indifferent.

They resolve to fight to the last man and refuse to surrender.

Soon, though, their hopes will be dashed.

Six days earlier than planned, the Soviet Union declares war on Japan.

At one in the morning of the 9th of August, the Red Army invades Manchuria.

Shaken by the bombing of Hiroshima Stalin is concerned that Tokyo will

capitulate before Moscow can get its hands on any of the spoils.

His aviation shells the Japanese troops.

His artillery decimates them.

The Russian steamroller is on the move.

Nothing can resist his advancing tanks.

One Russian officer reports that the tanks and artillery were bogged down,

the clay was sticking to our boots, but we kept pushing ahead much faster than

we did on the German-Soviet front back in 1944.

The Red Army has a crushing superiority.

The Imperial Army's infantrymen are desperately sacrificing their lives in

futile bayonet charges.

Everywhere the cry of Bonsai echoes around the front.

Manchuria falls with staggering rapidity.

The Japanese side, surprised, is in full rout.

Our worst fears have come true, says Prime Minister Suzuki Kantro.

On the American side, General MacArthur is delighted.

Still preparing for his landings, he exclaims, In Europe, Russia was the

Eastern Front, and we were in the West.

Now we're the East, and Russia's the West.

In Washington, though, this lightning victory has people worried.

Truman has made a big mistake.

Far from intimidating the Soviets, Hiroshima has galvanized them.

What's more, he's underestimated the power of the Red Army.

Is he letting slip the endgame?

So... America decides to strike again.

On the 9th of August 1945, the very day the USSR enters the war, the bomber

carrying Fat Man takes off.

Its target?

Kokura, on the island of Kyushu.

But straight away, its pilot, Charles Sweeney, has a problem.

The weather.

Due to heavy cloud cover, he sets course for another target.

Nagasaki.

The Japanese commanders have no idea what's heading their way. But since the

Red Army's attack, they're under no more illusions.

Their leadership is in complete disarray.

If all hope is lost of any Soviet mediation, then it's obviously pointless

to keep on resisting.

Pincered to the north by the Red Army and to the south by the Americans, the

Emperor's forces are too weak to fight on both fronts.

They're trapped.

It's a desperate situation.

So on this day, the 9th of August, as the Americans prepare to strike,

Hirohito at last breaks his silence.

At dawn, he convenes his supreme council for the direction of the war.

For the first time, and at the highest level, the possibility of surrender must

be considered.

At 11.02 AM, the bomb is dropped on Nagasaki.

Previously unseen footage released by Russia in 2016 shows the city just weeks

after the explosion.

A Soviet delegation has come to assess the damage.

It's considerable.

The Japanese leadership at last realizes the extent of the tragedy.

But still, they don't know what to do about it.

The war council is profoundly divided.

The arguments go on for hours.

The military is still refusing to lay down its arms.

But this time, the emperor shows his authority and reaches a decision.

The Soviets have them cornered.

The future of the dynasty, and thus the country, is at stake.

If all is lost, better to surrender to the adversary who offers the best terms.

It's quite clear that Moscow will never accept to maintain an emperor and the

prospect of a Soviet occupation is a frightening one

But

if the Americans will agree to respect the form of the

regime a surrender may be feasible Japan will surrender to the

Americans not to the Soviets

On the 12th of August 1945, the long-awaited news hits the headlines.

The day of days for America and her allies.

Crowds before the White House await the announcement from the President that the

Japs have surrendered unconditionally.

I have received this afternoon a message from the Japanese government in reply to

the message forwarded to that government by the Secretary of State on August

11th.

Truman has won.

The corridors of the White House are in uproar.

This is complete capitulation, something the Stun Japs have yet to realize to its

full extent.

Meanwhile, their armies throughout Asia and the Pacific are crumbling in

surrender.

In the end, the Japanese get what they want.

The Emperor gets to stay on his throne.

Truman has no problem with this concession.

Later he will declare, They wanted to keep their Emperor. We told them they

could, but on our conditions.

So General MacArthur will never get his landings.

Very shortly, I trust we'll all be going home.

But for America, it's a great relief.

400,000 of their boys were going to die, and now they're saved.

Two days later, Hirohito calls for an end to hostilities.

On the 15th of August, at midday, an extraordinary spectacle takes place.

For the first time, Hirohito speaks directly to his people.

Huddled around whatever radios they can find, the people listen to the words of

the one they consider a living god.

They've never heard his voice before.

The Emperor's declaration is skillful.

He's presenting himself as a ruler who cares for the precious lives of his

subjects. Not a word about the Soviet offensive, though.

It's better to concede that it is the power of the atom bomb alone that has

led to defeat, and to ignore any role the Red Army has played.

In a serious and embarrassed voice, Hirohito enjoins his people to endure

the unendurable and surrender.

The Japanese people, brought to their knees, stunned, submit.

One of them remembers,

Sadness and happiness.

Happiness and sadness.

How could I separate the two emotions?

And then, how could I reconcile them?

All day, people were just lifeless, says another.

As if they just had no more appetite.

The country is submerged in a wave of suicides.

The humiliation is too much. Japan has lost face.

As their tradition demands, a dozen generals and admirals perform seppuku.

In the US, on the other hand, they're delirious with joy.

This time, it's over.

Crowds pack the streets.

Happy, triumphant faces are all around.

Japan surrenders, the headlines scream.

Peace in the Pacific.

Our bomb did the job.

Hardly are the facts out when the press starts rewriting history.

To mention the decisive role the Soviet offensive played in the victory would

put a damper on things.

Especially since the Red Army is still fighting, continuing its advance into

Asia.

Stalin's orders are quite clear.

Occupy as much territory as possible, invade Korea, and seize the islands of

Kuril and Sakhalin.

On the 20th of August, during the evacuation of the town of Maoka, a

desperate call comes from the telephone exchange.

Soviet soldiers have just entered the building.

This may be our last message.

There are nine of us operators staying at our posts no matter what.

Any minute now they're going to kill us.

The Russian troops are closing in. I can hear them coming.

Goodbye to you all. It's over.

Goodbye.

The Soviets are victorious.

Propaganda footage shows people freed from the yoke of the Japanese joyfully

welcoming their liberators.

Now the Soviet ogre controls a large part of Asia.

But Stalin won't push his advantage.

He'd rather be conciliatory towards Washington in order to advance his pawns

in Europe.

In Korea, the Red Army will not cross the 38th parallel.

And the occupation of Japan will remain strictly an American affair.

under the orders of MacArthur.

We are gathered here to conclude a solemn agreement

whereby peace may be restored.

On the 2nd of September 1945, the official surrender is signed on board

the battleship Missouri.

The Americans put on a show of force designed to show the Japanese how

powerful they are.

As Supreme Commander for the Allied Powers, I announce it my firm purpose to

proceed in the discharge of my responsibilities to ensure that the

terms of surrender are fully, promptly, and faithfully complied with.

America is triumphant, and her conscience is clear.

The war had to be won. Lives had to be saved, especially American lives.

Pray that peace be now restored to the world, that

God will preserve it always.

Truman declares, when you have to deal with a beast, you have to treat him as a

beast.

On the 3rd of May, 1946, when the war trials in Tokyo, the Nuremberg of the

Far East, open, there's one person missing.

Hirohito.

The emperor is not there in the dark.

He's more useful subdued than accused.

With the Cold War coming, he needs to be absolved so Japan can become a pillar of

America's defenses in Asia.

As so often.

Realpolitik has triumphed over justice.

In 2016, for the very first time, an acting US president visited Hiroshima.

The ruins there have been classified as a World Heritage Site, and there is a

huge memorial dedicated to peace.

But the Hiroshima bomb was not the sole reason for Japan's surrender, no more

than the one at Nagasaki.

The Soviet intervention made a large contribution to the country's defeat,

and yet the legend of the miracle weapon that brought an end to war still lives

on.

It has enabled the Americans to claim that they alone brought down Japan, and

to write off the role of the Soviet Union in the victory.

It has been useful to Japan, too, allowing her to identify as a victim and

make people forget all her atrocities.

It has covered up any responsibility, starting with that of the Emperor.

That is the future we can choose.

A future in which Hiroshima and Nagasaki are known not

as the dawn...

of atomic warfare, but as the start of our own moral awakening.

Barack Obama didn't apologize.

He spoke for an end to the nuclear bomb, so the two cities it destroyed may

remain tragic exceptions.

At Hiroshima, a flame burns like a prayer.

It's only a little flame.

but it pierces through the dark night of barbarity.