The 6th of August 1945.

[Sully60]

What would the world be like today if the events of this day never happened?
That's one of those questions that cannot really be answered but one that can be answered is how have the events of this day and the 9th shaped the world we live in today?

Has the world been a safer place with the following proliferation of Nuclear weapons? Was the prospect of mutually assured destruction really what kept the world safe in the intervening years?

I don't know about you but the prospect that there are plenty of missles still around that carry five or more warheads each far more powerful than the weapons used 63 years ago scares the bejesus out of me.

Has the human race advanced so far that we a immune to repeating events of the past?

On one last note a solemn thought goes out to the people of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, may the memory of your suffering serve to keep this world a safer place for future generations.

[Number One]

RIP Hiroshima peeps. The prospect scares me too....nout we can do though eh? Don't worry be happy...


WOW that was shallow wasn't it?! Sorry BUMP I guess...

[Pussy]

Probably sounds callous, but those two bombs ultimately saved lots of lives

[pzkpfw]

What would the world be like today if the events of this day never happened?

There'd probably be fewer Americans alive today.

The ending of the war would likely have required an invasion of the Japanese home lands (unless you think the initial Japanese terms of "surrender" should have been accepted) - and that would have resulted in lots of American deaths, and possibly as many or more Japanese deaths, anyway.

Even a passive blockade would have resulted in Japanese deaths.

That's one of those questions that cannot really be answered

No. I just did.

but one that can be answered is how have the events of this day and the 9th shaped the world we live in today?

Has the world been a safer place with the following proliferation of Nuclear weapons? Was the prospect of mutually assured destruction really what kept the world safe in the intervening years?

You can't keep the genie in the bottle. If the U.S. hadn't been building "the bomb" would that have stopped anyone else?

Stalin? (He killed plenty - of his own people - without "the bomb".)

I think MAD has helped, as otherwise one side with an advantage might have been tempted.

The interlocking of economies has also been one of the things that stopped certain kinds (and locations) of war. As with MAD, "everyone" knows they lose. Germany (just for e.g.) has more to gain by trade with the rest of Europe, than it has by trying to conquer it all.

I don't know about you but the prospect that there are plenty of missles still around that carry five or more warheads each far more powerful than the weapons used 63 years ago scares the bejesus out of me.

Used to scare me too.

Now I'm more worried about terrorists or rogue states that sneak ONE bomb in somewhere*.

It'll happen one day.

(*Yes, I know that sounds like U.S. propoganda, but I do think it's true.)

Has the human race advanced so far that we a immune to repeating events of the past?

Shit no. Wars still happen.

On one last note a solemn thought goes out to the people of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, may the memory of your suffering serve to keep this world a safer place for future generations.

...and those in Tokyo and Dresden and Canterbury and London and Rotterdam and Darwin and Nanking and...

[Sully60]

Probably sounds callous, but those two bombs ultimately saved lots of lives

Absolutley no doubting that John and I would add that most of those lives would have been Japanese. I'd also hazard to guess that a good number of people on this site may never had been born if this didn't happen.

My question was more how the world has been shaped by the advent of Nuclear weapons, 63 years ago today the world changed forever.

[MIXONE]

Is the world a better place now?Sometimes I wonder but I'm sure glad I didn't have to go to war.

[Oakie]

Probably sounds callous, but those two bombs ultimately saved lots of lives

I was having deep thoughts about it just a few days ago. Those two bombs saved lots of American lives back then. Hard to tell how big the toll would have been on the Japanese side had the allies had to invade Japan. Probably would have been many more than perished in the blasts.
I was wondering though how many lives may have been saved later on when having seen the actual horror of these weapons in 1945 may have prevented someone lobbing a few around in somewhere like Korea, Cuba or Vietnam. At least back in 1945 there were only a very few weapons to use. In any of those subsequent conflicts if someone had pressed the button there could well have been a full scale exchange.

As unpleasant as it is to say, perhaps the horror of Hiroshima and Nagasaki may have ultimately saved mankind.

[Sully60]

Used to scare me too.

Now I'm more worried about terrorists or rogue states that sneak ONE bobm in somewhere*.

It'll happen one day.

(*Yes, I know that sounds like U.S. propoganda, but I do think it's true.)

I draw a comparison to gun laws, if there are no guns available people don't get shot. Humans will always devise ever more clever ways to kill each other but will always go for the easiest option first, there's extra kudos points for those who scare the shit out of half the worlds population doing so.

Shit no. Wars still happen.

That's true and I believe the pressure on the worlds resources will only make the likelihood of war greater.

...and those in Tokyo and Dresden and Canterbury and London and Rotterdam and Darwin and Nanking and...

Don't forget Coventry.

Innocent civilians, victims of circumstances well beyond their control, the tyrannies of evil men. R.I.P.

[Sully60]

As unpleasant as it is to say, perhaps the horror of Hiroshima and Nagasaki may have ultimately saved mankind.

That's a good point, if Truman didn't push the button (figuratively) then who would and against who?

Perish the thought.

[Mom]

I had the priveledge of nursing an eldery Hiroshima survivor. She had TB and was a very sick woman at the time, and had been for most of her life as a result of the radiation poisoning the bomb created in her home town. She was 6? if I remember right, but certainly very young and retold her experience on the day. She lost most of her family that day.

The amazing thing about it for me, nursing her in the mid '70s, was her complete acceptance of what happened and the reasons why. She bore no malice to anyone. She said it had to happen to stop the madness!

Terrible thing if you count the human cost, but thank God it did happen. Horrible reconcilliation to make

[Mully]

Slightly off topic, but wasn't it the 6th August for Hiroshima and the 9th for Nagasaki??

[98tls]

Nice post Mom,what scares me is we remember the bomb,we remember D-day etc but shitloads perish through lack of food etc every day and we go about our business without giving it a thought,i make a token gesture by going in with a few others at work to sponser a child somewhere.Not really a "save the world" kind of person but do you get what i am saying?off topic i guess sorry.

[Pussy]

I admire the Japanese for the way they picked themselves up (after the war), dusted themselves off, and got stuck in to it.
When I was a little kid, if anything had "made in Japan" on it, most people were reluctant to touch it, whereas nowadays, I just about won't buy stuff unless it HAS got "made in Japan" on it.
There is no doubt the two bombs changed the world forever... who knows how different it might have been

[Mom]

off topic i guess sorry.

Fairly hard to be off topic with such a big subject mate.

My take on life...

[Sully60]

Slightly off topic, but wasn't it the 6th August for Hiroshima and the 9th for Nagasaki??

You're absolutley right I will get a mod to change the title, thanks.

Shit being eight hours out of step with the rest of the world can get real confusing, the 8th of August is the day I joined KB so not that historic.