Did we warn Japan's people before we bombed them?

Question

My boyfriend thinks we told them to leave the cities we were going to bomb-gave them fair warning. But wouldn't that defeat the purpose?

Answer 1

I don't know the specifics - I think leaflets were dropped on Hiroshima before it was A-bombed. But I doubt the average Japanese citizen paid it much mind.

It was total war. We threw everything we had at them, and they at us. We had more power, both to inflict casualties and to sustain them, than they had.

The firebombing of Dresden, Tokyo and other cities was horrific. As were the A-bombs. The attacks were designed to totally demoralize the enemy on top of everything else.

Was it necessary? Well, the war ended quickly, and we won. I will not second-guess people fighting for the existence of Western civilization against unimaginably brutal enemies - I wasn't in that situation. I honor my ancestors and thank them for all they have done to give this wonderful country to my generation. I hope we are doing what we should to make sure our descendants have the same thing. Sometimes I fear we are not.

Answer 2

No, as far as I know the japanese were given no particular warning (which they hardly needed, considering they were already at war and knew that their cities were going to get bombed by conventional explosives anyway). When the first nuclear bomb was dropped on Hiroshima, only the United States government, military and top scientists even knew of the existence of such a weapon. The cause of the blast in Hiroshima was only announced to the world about 16 hours after the explosion.

It is true that the United States government DID say in their most recent demand for surrender before the bombing that 'The might that now converges on Japan is immeasurably greater than that which, when applied to the resisting Nazis, necessarily laid waste to the lands, the industry and the method of life of the whole German people'. While the japanese were already very low on supplies and losing the war, they did not yet know that the americans had anything other than conventional bombs, and they wanted to stand and fight such that no japanese would be left standing by the time the americans finished conquering Japan. The americans also did not specify what city was going to be bombed, so the japanese, expecting no more than the standard carpet bombing runs, wouldn't have had particularly more reason to evacuate Hiroshima than they did before. Similarly, the attack on Nagasaki was also not specifically announced, and in fact Nagasaki was not the primary target for that bombing run, so the japanese still had no idea what city was going to be the next target of a nuclear bomb.

Answer 3

On July 26, Truman and other allied leaders issued The Potsdam Declaration outlining terms of surrender for Japan:

"...The might that now converges on Japan is immeasurably greater than that which, when applied to the resisting Nazis, necessarily laid waste to the lands, the industry and the method of life of the whole German people. The full application of our military power, backed by our resolve, will mean the inevitable and complete destruction of the Japanese armed forces and just as inevitably the utter devastation of the Japanese homeland..."
"...We call upon the government of Japan to proclaim now the unconditional surrender of all Japanese armed forces, and to provide proper and adequate assurances of their good faith in such action. The alternative for Japan is prompt and utter destruction."
The atomic bomb was still a highly guarded secret and was not mentioned in the declaration. On July 28, Japanese papers reported that the declaration had been rejected by the Japanese government. That afternoon, Prime Minister Kantaro Suzuki declared at a press conference that the Potsdam Declaration was no more than a rehash (yakinaoshi) of the Cairo Declaration and that the government intended to ignore it (mokusatsu] The statement was taken by both Japanese and foreign papers as a clear rejection of the declaration. Emperor Hirohito, who was waiting for a Soviet reply to noncommittal Japanese peace feelers, made no move to change the government position.On July 31, he made clear to Kido that the Imperial Regalia of Japan had to be defended at all costs.

Answer 4

We warned the people of Nagasaki, but not Hiroshima.
We warned the government of Japan before Hiroshima that we had the power, and were prepared to use it.

Thank God that we did, because
1. Japan knew where we were going to land our forces in a land invasion, and were prepared.
2. Japan had developed a dirty bomb and was prepared to deliver it via submarine into San Francisco Harbor. Hiroshima was where it was being built. (We did not know this at the time we dropped Fat Boy).

Answer 5

We did warn them with leaflets, and the Postdam Declaration. The Japanese did terrible things to our soldiers- beheading them for their "dishonor" for being captured, using them as bayonet targets to "increase the courage of their soldiers" and such other atrocities which include using chemical and biological warfare (I forget the name, but it was Unit *** something) anyways, he firebombing of Dresden, Tokyo and other cities caused far more damage than the A-Bombs but wasnt as cost effective- 300+ planes firebombed in one mission, and nothing was left-- things were burned to the ground to ash in the ensuing firestorm- at least with the A bomb some structures were left standing, and it had a blast radius unlike the firebombing, which enveloped everything until the flames extinguished.

Answer 6

Yes we did warn the Japanese people through dropping leaflets prior to the bombing in early August of 1945. The link below shows what the leaflets said.

Answer 7

No -- it wouldn't defeat the purpose to warn them.

The purpose was not to kill civilians -- it was to demonstrate the terrifying power of the weapon itself by destroying an entire city with one bomb.

That goal could be accomplished whether people were there or not, since the devastation and the area of destruction would be the same whether people were there or not -- hence even if all the people would have left, it would still have sent the same message.

As to whether leaflets were actually dropped -- I defer to historians who have said yes.

Answer 8

It would defeat the purpose. Japan had knowledge that an attack was coming, but to what extent and what cities was not made available. Whats the point in bombing an abandoned city?

Answer 9

Yes, We Declared War.

We did not warn the population before we dropped the A Bomb.

It was considered but not done because it would look bad if the bomb didn't explode.

Answer 10

The only warning was after the 1st bomb was dropped. It was the warning and it told all of japan that we might do it again.