THE GREAT DEPRESSION
During the Twenties, many people invested a lot of their time and money into the Wall Street Dow Jones Stock Trade. So when the stock market crashed, most American lost most of their money, plunging the country into a time period known as the Great Depression. (5)Not only did it affect Americans, but the rest of the world as well. Every other country on the globe relied on the American economy, so when the American economy collapsed, so did the economies of the rest of the countries. The Depression would last about ten years.
THE RISE OF DICTATORS IN EUROPE (1) The global depression gave way for dictators ,who promised to restore peace and the economy, to rise to power. In Italy, Benito Mussolini would rise to power through the political movement called fascism. Fascism was a system in which leaders ruled through terror and by appealing to racism. In 1922, Mussolini became prime minister. He won over nationalists by promising to turn Italy into the New Roman Empire. In 1935, his troops invaded Ethiopia. In Germany, Adolf Hitler joined the Nationalist Socialist German Workers, more famously known as the Nazi party. He, like many Germans, were angry about the end of World War 1 and The Treaty of Versallies. The treaty forced Germany to pay millions to make up for war damages. Hitler blamed people like the Jews for Germany's economic crisis. When he came to power in 1933, his first move was to violate the World War 1 peace treaty. Hitler sent his troops into Reinland. In 1938, Hitler invaded Austria and added it to Germany. Prime Minister of Britain,Neville Chamberlain, met with Hitler in September of 1938. The Prime Minister said he would allow Germany to take parts of Czhechoslovakia and in return, Hitler promised to take no more land. During the same time period, Joeseph Stalin controlled the Soviet Union. The Communist parties that were loyal to the Soviet Union had followers throughout most of Europe, however Nazis and Facscists won many supporters by opposing the Communists. In Japan, military leaders were powerful in the government. In 1931, Japan invaded Machuria. This was the beginning of Asian expansion. In 1940, Japan, Italy, and Germany formed the Axis Powers.
THE SECOND WORLD WAR BEGINS, MAJOR BATTLES OF THE WAR, AND JAPANESE INVOLVEMENT (1)In 1939, Germany invaded Poland. This made Britain and France realize Hitler could only be stopped by force. On September 3 1939, France and Britain declared war on Germany. Britain, France, the Soviet Union, and many others formed the Allies. the first years of the war were dark for the Allies. (2)Germany seemed unstoppable. Hitler's troops conquered the Netherlands, Norway, Denmark, and Belgium. Much of France, including Paris, was taken by Germany in June. In 1941, Hitler took Eastern Europe and invaded the Soviet Union. Great Britain was now alone against Germany. Despite nightly bombings onto the British cities, Prime Minister Winston Churchill inspired the people of Great Britain to "Keep Calm and Carry On." Despite Britain's dire situation, isolationist in the United States urged Americans to stay out of the war. The memories of the first World War still haunted them. However, the United States' uninvolvement in the war would not last long. (3)On December 7, 1941 Japan launched a mass arial attack on the pacific naval base, Pearl Harbor, which at the time was home to the U.S Pacific Fleet. At about 7:48 on the morning of December 7, Japanese planes began bombing the harbor. About thirty warships were damaged during the attack. Six of those ships, the U.S.S Arizona, Utah, Oklahoma, California, West Virginia, and Oglala, sank during the attack. In total, 2,403 Americans died and 1,178 were wounded. Of the American deaths, half were due to the explosion of the U.S.S Arizona's forward magazine. Fifty-five Japanese airmen were lost during the attack. Out of the 414 Japanese planes, 29 were lost, and seventy-four were damaged. On December 8, 1941, America declared war on Japan and joined the Allies. Two days later, Germany and Italy declared war on America. (4)As the years went on, the fighting only became worse. At the Battle of Midway, Japanese hoped to eliminate the United States as a power in the Pacific. They chose to occupy Midway to extend the fighting perimeter and lure American aircraft carriers into a fight. Luckily for the Americans, they had broken the Japanese code and therefore knew where and when the Japanese would launch their attack. The Japanese on the other hand, only thought they would be up against two aircraft carriers, but in reality, they were up aga
inst three. The Japanese had four but the Americans had an airfield in Midway. The sides were even. The victor would be decided by which side discovered the other and attacked first. The American B-17s at Midway found the Japanese ,led by Admiral Nagumo,but failed to hit any target. Fighting finally began on June 4, 1942. Most American planes were destroyed. Admiral Nagumo attacked Midway again. However, his forces were crushed by more American aircraft. American torpedo planes were destroyed by the Japanese air patrol. The Japanese also lost four aircraft carriers. By the end, there was no clear victor. After that came the Battle of Kursk. This would be the final offensive the Germans would launch in the east. The Germans' goal was to break through the northern and southern flanks to encircle the Soviet Union forces. The Soviets realized this and set up a line of defenses. The Germans had to wait for the for their Tiger and Panther tanks to arrive, giving the Soviets enough time to prepare for the attack. Finally, the Germans attacked on July 5. However, due to the Soviet defenses, their attack was stopped. The Soviets then counter attacked. The Germans would be on the defensive for the rest of the war in the East. Many other battles occurred over the course of the war, like the Battle of Iwo Ji- ma and the Battle of Okinawa. Each one brought the Allies closer and closer to victory.
USS Arizona Sinking
USS Shaw Blowing Up
USS Oklahoma Capsized
USS West Virginia Burning and Sinking
Map of Pearl Harbor
Map of Battle of Midway
U.S. INVOLVMENT
During WWII the U.S. Government passed many neutrality acts to keep the U.S. out of war. These laws made it illegal to support countries at war. In September, 1939 President Roosevelt requested that the U.S. be allowed to sell weapons to the Allied Forces. The Allies would buy arms and transport them using their own ships. Under the Lend-Lease Act, the U.S. was allowed to support any country that was important to the U.S. In 1941, the U.S. had its Navy escorting British cargo ships. Hitler gave orders to his submarines to sink any ships they came into contact with. On September 4, a German U-boat sunk a U.S. ship. Roosevelt ordered his ships to fire at any submarines they encountered. In 1940, the U.S. had been able to crack one of the codes that Japan had used to send secret messages. The U.S. knew about Japan's plans to conquer European colonies in Southeast Asia. These plans endangered the safety of U.S. Territories in Guam and the Philippines. Aid was sent to these territories, and when Japan attacked European colonies, the U.S. cut off oil supplies to Japan. On December 7, 1941 American soldiers at Pearl Harbor were attacked. U.S. Military leaders knew an attack was on its way, but they did not know when or where it would occur. In two hours, the Japanese had sunk or damaged 19 ships. More than 2,300 American soldiers were killed, while another 1,000 were injured. This became the main reason the U.S. Was driven to war. (7)
THE HOLOCAUST
The Holocaust was the effort of Adolf Hitler and his Nazi Party to eliminate all those who they considered inferior, mainly Jews, in Europe. This operation caused the death of more than 11,000,000 people. More than half of these people were Jews. On January 30, 1933, AdolfHitler became chancellor of Germany. The Nazi party had used the political unrest in Germany to gain more power. Soon after he was named chancellor, Hitler called for a new election so he could gain full power of the German Reichstag, which was the legislative branch of the German government. Hitler and the NaziParty used the Jews as a scapegoat for their loss of power after WWI. They issued newspapers claiming "The Jews Are Our Misfortune." Many laws known as the Nuremberg Laws restricted Jews of their rights in German society, this caused many Jews to flee to other countries. When Germany invaded Poland in 1941, they forced Polish Jews, over 10% of the population, to move to confined ghettos. The ghettos were very over crowded, and the lack of food, water, space, and sanitary facilities caused many deaths. Four mobile killing groups were created, they were called Einsatzgruppen A, B, C, and D. Each group would gather the Jews together town by town and lead them to huge pits that were dug earlier. When they arrived at these pits, they would shoot the Jews with automatic weapons. The most infamous of these massacres was the Babi Yar Massacre near Kiev, Russia. In two days, 30,000-35,000 Jews were killed. On January 20, 1942, the German government met to discuss their plans for the extermination of the Jews. This meeting was known as the Wannsee Conference. At this conference, they decided to make a total of six death camps in Poland. The death camps were Chelmno (Kulmhof), Belzec, Sobibor, Treblinka, Maidanek, and Auschwitz, and they were all located near railroads. The Nazis put the camps near railroads to make the transportation of Jews easier. They also created concentration camps, slave labor camps, and transit camps. At these camps, Jews were forced to work for German munitions and factories. Many died from lack of food, water, space, and sanitary facilities. Still others died from disease, the cold, and exhaustion. A majority of the people died from gas chambers. The Nazi troops would gather the Jews in a room so they could "shower". Once everyone was in the room, poison gas would be released killing everyone in the room. Nearly 6,000 Jews were killed everyday at Auschwitz. (9)
Number of Jews Killed During Holocaust
ALLIED VICTORY
In 1943, British and American Forces defeated the Italians and Germans in North Africa. Soon after, the Allies invaded Sicily and Italy, causing Mussolini's government to fall. Even though the Italian forces were defeated, the Germans moved to Northern Italy to continue the fight. The Germans in Italy continued to fight until the year 1945. On the Eastern Front, the Germans had captured the Soviet city of Stalingrad, but the Soviets launched a counter-attack to retake the city. The cold of winter, and decreasing amount of supplies, caused the Germans to finally surrender on January 31, 1943. On June 6, 1944, the Allies began a major invsion of Europe. This invasion included 156,000 British, Canadian, and American troops. The invasion, known as "D-Day", occured on the beaches of Normany, France. Hitler pulled all his troops from the Eastern Front to the Western Front to prevent his defeat in France. This allowed for Soviet troops to continue their advance on Poland, Czechoslovakia, Hungary, and Romania. The last major German offensive became known as the "Battle of the Bulge", but by the time Hitler gathered his troops to drive the Americans and British out of Germany, it was already too late. After Hitler commited suicide on April 30, 1945, Germany officially surrendered May 8, 1945. (10)
DESTRUCTION IN EUROPE AND JAPAN
At the end of WWII, nearly 40,000 civilians died. Two-thirds of the people that died were civilians. Many cities and towns were bombed. People in these towns either stayed where they were and tried to survive, or they fled to other countries. Many buildings were destroyed. Farms were also destroyed, causing a lack of food. Many people starved because of this. The first winter after the war caused many problems because, not only did the people not have homes or food, they did not have clothes to keep them warm. Many people blamed their government for the war and destruction. This caused some places to return to their original governments from before the war. They got rid of the old German governments forced upon them. Communism began to look very promising in Europe, this was because they promised change and many people in France and Italy were already heading towards communism. The Nuremberg Trails were trails that were held to deal with war crimes. Adolf Hitler, Heinrich Himmler, and Joseph Goebbels all committed suicide before the could be put on trial. In Japan two million people died, and the country's major cities were destroyed including the capital Japan. The Atomic Bombs dropped at Hiroshima and Nagasaki caused about 199,000 casualties. General Douglas MacArthur took control of Japan after they surrendered. The U.S. decided that to keep peace, they must demilitarize Japan. (8)
THE "LITTLE BOY" AND "FAT MAN"
The target for the first atomic bomb was a manufacturing center 500, miles away from Tokyo. The target was the city of Hiroshima, with a population of about 350,000. When the bomb arrived at the U.S. base on the Pacific island of Tinian, it was loaded on a modified B-29 bomber named Enola Gay. The bomb known as "Little Boy", was over 9,000 pounds and made of uranium-235. "Little Boy" was dropped at 8:15 in the morning by parachute. It blasted 2000 ft. above Hiroshima, destroying 5 square miles of the city. Even with the destruction of Hiroshima, the Japanese still refused to surrender. On August 9, another B-29 bomber named Bockscar dropped a plutonium bomb called "Fat Man" on the city of Nagasaki at 11:02. The original target was the city of Kokura, but the clouds over the city made it to dangerous to fly. The bomb weighed 10,000 pounds and was supposed to produce a 22-kiloton blast, but Nagasaki was located in a valley between two mountains which reduced the blast to 2.6 square miles. At 12:00 on August 15, 1945, Emperor Hirohito announced Japan's surrender on a radio broadcast. The official surrender agreement was signed on September 2, aboard the U.S. battleship Missouri.
During the Twenties, many people invested a lot of their time and money into the Wall Street Dow Jones Stock Trade. So when the stock market crashed, most American lost most of their money, plunging the country into a time period known as the Great Depression. (5)Not only did it affect Americans, but the rest of the world as well. Every other country on the globe relied on the American economy, so when the American economy collapsed, so did the economies of the rest of the countries. The Depression would last about ten years.
THE RISE OF DICTATORS IN EUROPE
(1) The global depression gave way for dictators ,who promised to restore peace and the economy, to rise to power. In Italy, Benito Mussolini would rise to power through the political movement called fascism. Fascism was a system in which leaders ruled through terror and by appealing to racism. In 1922, Mussolini became prime minister. He won over nationalists by promising to turn Italy into the New Roman Empire. In 1935, his troops invaded Ethiopia. In Germany, Adolf Hitler joined the Nationalist Socialist German Workers, more famously known as the Nazi party. He, like many Germans, were angry about the end of World War 1 and The Treaty of Versallies. The treaty forced Germany to pay millions to make up for war damages. Hitler blamed people like the Jews for Germany's economic crisis. When he came to power in 1933, his first move was to violate the World War 1 peace treaty. Hitler sent his troops into Reinland. In 1938, Hitler invaded Austria and added it to Germany. Prime Minister of Britain,Neville Chamberlain, met with Hitler in September of 1938. The Prime Minister said he would allow Germany to take parts of Czhechoslovakia and in return, Hitler promised to take no more land. During the same time period, Joeseph Stalin controlled the Soviet Union. The Communist parties that were loyal to the Soviet Union had followers throughout most of Europe, however Nazis and Facscists won many supporters by opposing the Communists. In Japan, military leaders were powerful in the government. In 1931, Japan invaded Machuria. This was the beginning of Asian expansion. In 1940, Japan, Italy, and Germany formed the Axis Powers.
THE SECOND WORLD WAR BEGINS, MAJOR BATTLES OF THE WAR, AND JAPANESE INVOLVEMENT
(1)In 1939, Germany invaded Poland. This made Britain and France realize Hitler could only be stopped by force. On September 3 1939, France and Britain declared war on Germany. Britain, France, the Soviet Union, and many others formed the Allies. the first years of the war were dark for the Allies. (2)Germany seemed unstoppable. Hitler's troops conquered the Netherlands, Norway, Denmark, and Belgium. Much of France, including Paris, was taken by Germany in June. In 1941, Hitler took Eastern Europe and invaded the Soviet Union. Great Britain was now alone against Germany. Despite nightly bombings onto the British cities, Prime Minister Winston Churchill inspired the people of Great Britain to "Keep Calm and Carry On." Despite Britain's dire situation, isolationist in the United States urged Americans to stay out of the war. The memories of the first World War still haunted them. However, the United States' uninvolvement in the war would not last long. (3)On December 7, 1941 Japan launched a mass arial attack on the pacific naval base, Pearl Harbor, which at the time was home to the U.S Pacific Fleet. At about 7:48 on the morning of December 7, Japanese planes began bombing the harbor. About thirty warships were damaged during the attack. Six of those ships, the U.S.S Arizona, Utah, Oklahoma, California, West Virginia, and Oglala, sank during the attack. In total, 2,403 Americans died and 1,178 were wounded. Of the American deaths, half were due to the explosion of the U.S.S Arizona's forward magazine. Fifty-five Japanese airmen were lost during the attack. Out of the 414 Japanese planes, 29 were lost, and seventy-four were damaged. On December 8, 1941, America declared war on Japan and joined the Allies. Two days later, Germany and Italy declared war on America. (4)As the years went on, the fighting only became worse. At the Battle of Midway, Japanese hoped to eliminate the United States as a power in the Pacific. They chose to occupy Midway to extend the fighting perimeter and lure American aircraft carriers into a fight. Luckily for the Americans, they had broken the Japanese code and therefore knew where and when the Japanese would launch their attack. The Japanese on the other hand, only thought they would be up against two aircraft carriers, but in reality, they were up aga
inst three. The Japanese had four but the Americans had an airfield in Midway. The sides were even. The victor would be decided by which side discovered the other and attacked first. The American B-17s at Midway found the Japanese ,led by Admiral Nagumo,but failed to hit any target. Fighting finally began on June 4, 1942. Most American planes were destroyed. Admiral Nagumo attacked Midway again. However, his forces were crushed by more American aircraft. American torpedo planes were destroyed by the Japanese air patrol. The Japanese also lost four aircraft carriers. By the end, there was no clear victor. After that came the Battle of Kursk. This would be the final offensive the Germans would launch in the east. The Germans' goal was to break through the northern and southern flanks to encircle the Soviet Union forces. The Soviets realized this and set up a line of defenses. The Germans had to wait for the for their Tiger and Panther tanks to arrive, giving the Soviets enough time to prepare for the attack. Finally, the Germans attacked on July 5. However, due to the Soviet defenses, their attack was stopped. The Soviets then counter attacked. The Germans would be on the defensive for the rest of the
war in the East. Many other battles occurred over the course of the war, like the Battle of Iwo Ji-
ma and the Battle of Okinawa. Each one brought the Allies closer and closer to victory.
U.S. INVOLVMENT
During WWII the U.S. Government passed many neutrality acts to keep the U.S. out of war. These laws made it illegal to support countries at war. In September, 1939 President Roosevelt requested that the U.S. be allowed to sell weapons to the Allied Forces. The Allies would buy arms and transport them using their own ships. Under the Lend-Lease Act, the U.S. was allowed to support any country that was important to the U.S. In 1941, the U.S. had its Navy escorting British cargo ships. Hitler gave orders to his submarines to sink any ships they came into contact with. On September 4, a German U-boat sunk a U.S. ship. Roosevelt ordered his ships to fire at any submarines they encountered. In 1940, the U.S. had been able to crack one of the codes that Japan had used to send secret messages. The U.S. knew about Japan's plans to conquer European colonies in Southeast Asia. These plans endangered the safety of U.S. Territories in Guam and the Philippines. Aid was sent to these territories, and when Japan attacked European colonies, the U.S. cut off oil supplies to Japan. On December 7, 1941 American soldiers at Pearl Harbor were attacked. U.S. Military leaders knew an attack was on its way, but they did not know when or where it would occur. In two hours, the Japanese had sunk or damaged 19 ships. More than 2,300 American soldiers were killed, while another 1,000 were injured. This became the main reason the U.S. Was driven to war. (7)
THE HOLOCAUST
The Holocaust was the effort of Adolf Hitler and his Nazi Party to eliminate all those who they considered inferior, mainly Jews, in Europe. This operation caused the death of more than 11,000,000 people. More than half of these people were Jews. On January 30, 1933, Adolf Hitler became chancellor of Germany. The Nazi party had used the political unrest in Germany to gain more power. Soon after he was named chancellor, Hitler called for a new election so he could gain full power of the German Reichstag, which was the legislative branch of the German government. Hitler and the Nazi Party used the Jews as a scapegoat for their loss of power after WWI. They issued newspapers claiming "The Jews Are Our Misfortune." Many laws known as the Nuremberg Laws restricted Jews of their rights in German society, this caused many Jews to flee to other countries. When Germany invaded Poland in 1941, they forced Polish Jews, over 10% of the population, to move to confined ghettos. The ghettos were very over crowded, and the lack of food, water, space, and sanitary facilities caused many deaths. Four mobile killing groups were created, they were called Einsatzgruppen A, B, C, and D. Each group would gather the Jews together town by town and lead them to huge pits that were dug earlier. When they arrived at these pits, they would shoot the Jews with automatic weapons. The most infamous of these massacres was the Babi Yar Massacre near Kiev, Russia. In two days, 30,000-35,000 Jews were killed. On January 20, 1942, the German government met to discuss their plans for the extermination of the Jews. This meeting was known as the Wannsee Conference. At this conference, they decided to make a total of six death camps in Poland. The death camps were Chelmno (Kulmhof), Belzec, Sobibor, Treblinka, Maidanek, and Auschwitz, and they were all located near railroads. The Nazis put the camps near railroads to make the transportation of Jews easier. They also created concentration camps, slave labor camps, and transit camps. At these camps, Jews were forced to work for German munitions and factories. Many died from lack of food, water, space, and sanitary facilities. Still others died from disease, the cold, and exhaustion. A majority of the people died from gas chambers. The Nazi troops would gather the Jews in a room so they could "shower". Once everyone was in the room, poison gas would be released killing everyone in the room. Nearly 6,000 Jews were killed everyday at Auschwitz. (9)
ALLIED VICTORY
In 1943, British and American Forces defeated the Italians and Germans in North Africa. Soon after, the Allies invaded Sicily and Italy, causing Mussolini's government to fall. Even though the Italian forces were defeated, the Germans moved to Northern Italy to continue the fight. The Germans in Italy continued to fight until the year 1945. On the Eastern Front, the Germans had captured the Soviet city of Stalingrad, but the Soviets launched a counter-attack to retake the city. The cold of winter, and decreasing amount of supplies, caused the Germans to finally surrender on January 31, 1943. On June 6, 1944, the Allies began a major invsion of Europe. This invasion included 156,000 British, Canadian, and American troops. The invasion, known as "D-Day", occured on the beaches of Normany, France. Hitler pulled all his troops from the Eastern Front to the Western Front to prevent his defeat in France. This allowed for Soviet troops to continue their advance on Poland, Czechoslovakia, Hungary, and Romania. The last major German offensive became known as the "Battle of the Bulge", but by the time Hitler gathered his troops to drive the Americans and British out of Germany, it was already too late. After Hitler commited suicide on April 30, 1945, Germany officially surrendered May 8, 1945. (10)
DESTRUCTION IN EUROPE AND JAPAN
At the end of WWII, nearly 40,000 civilians died. Two-thirds of the people that died were civilians. Many cities and towns were bombed. People in these towns either stayed where they were and tried to survive, or they fled to other countries. Many buildings were destroyed. Farms were also destroyed, causing a lack of food. Many people starved because of this. The first winter after the war caused many problems because, not only did the people not have homes or food, they did not have clothes to keep them warm. Many people blamed their government for the war and destruction. This caused some places to return to their original governments from before the war. They got rid of the old German governments forced upon them. Communism began to look very promising in Europe, this was because they promised change and many people in France and Italy were already heading towards communism. The Nuremberg Trails were trails that were held to deal with war crimes. Adolf Hitler, Heinrich Himmler, and Joseph Goebbels all committed suicide before the could be put on trial. In Japan two million people died, and the country's major cities were destroyed including the capital Japan. The Atomic Bombs dropped at Hiroshima and Nagasaki caused about 199,000 casualties. General Douglas MacArthur took control of Japan after they surrendered. The U.S. decided that to keep peace, they must demilitarize Japan. (8)
THE "LITTLE BOY" AND "FAT MAN"
The target for the first atomic bomb was a manufacturing center 500, miles away from Tokyo. The target was the city of Hiroshima, with a population of about 350,000. When the bomb arrived at the U.S. base on the Pacific island of Tinian, it was loaded on a modified B-29 bomber named Enola Gay. The bomb known as "Little Boy", was over 9,000 pounds and made of uranium-235. "Little Boy" was dropped at 8:15 in the morning by parachute. It blasted 2000 ft. above Hiroshima, destroying 5 square miles of the city. Even with the destruction of Hiroshima, the Japanese still refused to surrender. On August 9, another B-29 bomber named Bockscar dropped a plutonium bomb called "Fat Man" on the city of Nagasaki at 11:02. The original target was the city of Kokura, but the clouds over the city made it to dangerous to fly. The bomb weighed 10,000 pounds and was supposed to produce a 22-kiloton blast, but Nagasaki was located in a valley between two mountains which reduced the blast to 2.6 square miles. At 12:00 on August 15, 1945, Emperor Hirohito announced Japan's surrender on a radio broadcast. The official surrender agreement was signed on September 2, aboard the U.S. battleship Missouri.
CITATIONS
1. American History Book Chapter 25.2 http://teachersites.schoolworld.com/webpages/TBurke1/files/25.2%20The%20Rise%20of%20Dictators%20and%20World%20War%20II.pdf
2. Wikipedia: World War II http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_War_II
3. Wikipedia: Attack on Pearl Harbor http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Attack_on_Pearl_Harbor
4. Listverse: Top 10 Battles of World War II http://listverse.com/2012/08/26/top-10-battles-of-world-war-ii/
5. Wikipedia: Great Depression http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Depression
7. World History Patterns of Interaction: Chapter 32.2
8. World History Patterns of Interaction: Chapter 32.5
9. The Holocaust: An Introductory History: https://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/Holocaust/history.html
10. World War II History: http://www.history.com/topics/world-war-ii/world-war-ii-history
11. Bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki: http://www.history.com/topics/world-war-ii/bombing-of-hiroshima-and-nagasaki