Wartime photograph: Ruins of Hiroshima, August 6, 1945.
The U.S. launched the first nuclear attack in history on the city of Hiroshima on August 6, 1945, and three days later dropped a second atomic bomb on Nagasaki. This event is often presented and justified as the decisive factor that led to Japan's surrender and marked the end of World War II.
It is estimated that some 210,000 people lost their lives over the years as a result of the bombings, which also left 150,000 injured and caused humanitarian and environmental consequences that remain palpable to this day.
The dropping of atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki on August 6 and 9, 1945, is frequently portrayed and justified as the decisive event that ended World War II on the Eastern Front. It is therefore necessary to clarify this issue—one that Yankee imperialists and their allies and rivals seek to spin in a particular way on every anniversary. The historical truth is, as Chairman Gonzalo states:
"(That) faced with the fear that—following the conclusion of the war on the European Western Front in May 1945 and in accordance with existing agreements—the USSR would turn its forces against Japan; and fearing the expansion of the Red Army, they had to use the atomic bomb. Yes, here one clearly sees how politics directs war: the Japanese were going to be crushed; they could not hold out (...) the justifications they try to offer us today are just that—justifications.
(...) one must see the political essence that directs the war; weapons are used in service of political objectives. That 'little bomb' killed a staggering 60,000 people in Hiroshima; in Nagasaki, the toll was 145,000. Yet Hiroshima is commemorated or remembered more because it was the first instance, even though the death toll in Nagasaki was higher—145,000. These are, then, events of great significance that shaped people's minds during those tumultuous times."
The Communist Party of China, under the leadership of Chairman Mao Tse-tung, stated:
"After World War II, U.S. imperialism replaced German, Japanese, and Italian fascism."