Endgame

Summary

Episode Summary: “Endgame”

Podcast: World War II with Tom Hanks
Episode Date: July 28, 2026

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Overview

“Endgame,” episode 19 of World War II with Tom Hanks, delivers a gripping and human-centric account of the final months of World War II. Guided by Tom Hanks and a panel of historians, analysts, and firsthand accounts, the episode traces the closing battles against Japan, culminating in the use of atomic bombs and Japan’s surrender. With immersive storytelling and expert analysis, it sheds light on the military strategies, political dilemmas, and devastating human costs as the war drew to a close.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. The Last Push: Pacific Conflict Intensifies

• Hope and Fatigue in Spring 1945

  • The Allies sense the European war is nearing its end but recognize that the conflict with Japan is far from over.
  • Civilians at home begin anticipating soldiers’ return, only to discover “there’s another three miles to go.” (Military Analyst, 01:55)

• Strategic Shifts in Aerial Warfare

  • General Curtis LeMay orders low-altitude firebombing of Tokyo with napalm.
  • Tokyo is largely constructed of wood and paper, leading to a firestorm that kills about 100,000 civilians and leaves a million homeless.
    • “It was so hot that canals start to boil… a huge proportion of the city is simply gone in one night.” (War Expert, 04:12)

2. Japanese Response: Leadership and Stubborn Resistance

• Emperor Hirohito, previously isolated, begins contemplating an end to the war as devastation mounts.

  • “If the Americans make it onto Japanese soil, what might happen to him, what might happen to the Imperial line?” (War Expert, 05:28)

• The Japanese military clings to a strict code: surrender is dishonorable. Despite “all the firebombing… there’s no sign of surrender.” (Historian, 06:35)

3. The Battle of Okinawa: Brutality Unmatched

• Tactical Significance

  • Okinawa is the planned staging ground for a mainland invasion—vital to the American strategy.
  • The Japanese construct elaborate bunkers and plan massive Kamikaze attacks to inflict unsustainable casualties.

• American Landing and Japanese Defense

  • Initial landings encounter little resistance—“they get to the beaches… and there is nothing.” (Military Strategist, 09:23)
  • Kamikaze attacks soon escalate: “You feel like you’re in a boxing ring with five other boxers attacking you from every direction.” (Military Historian, 11:15)
  • The ground campaign devolves into grisly, attritional warfare.

• Casualties and Civilian Suffering

  • “100,000 Japanese servicemen are killed. On the American side, the casualties are 50,000 killed and wounded. Worse than all of that are the number of civilians killed, up to 125,000…” (Military Strategist, 19:34)

4. Leadership Changes and Policy Crossroads

• Franklin D. Roosevelt’s death shakes the American public; Harry S. Truman is thrust into leadership.

  • “He really knows a million nothing about what’s going on with the war effort.” (Political Analyst, 13:54)

• Truman’s urgent challenge: end the war quickly and with minimal American casualties.

  • Privately briefed on the top-secret Manhattan Project and the potential of atomic weapons.

5. Operation Downfall and the Prospects of Invasion

• Allies devise Operation Downfall—a massive invasion of Japan, projected to dwarf D-Day in scale and anticipated casualties:
  • “Truman specifically says… ‘I don’t want an Okinawa from one end of Japan to the other.’” (Military Strategist, 21:43)
  • Japanese prepare to mobilize civilians, training even children with bamboo spears. “Everybody older than 12 years old to fight to the death.” (Japanese Historian, 23:15)

6. Diplomatic Maneuvering: Potsdam and the USSR

• Truman, Churchill, and Stalin meet at Potsdam to shape postwar Europe and negotiate Soviet participation against Japan.

• During the conference, Truman learns the atomic bomb test succeeded:

  • “Truman realizes this bomb could be a short circuit to ending the war.” (Political Analyst, 25:05)

• The Potsdam Declaration warns Japan to surrender unconditionally, hinting at “historic and massive” destruction without disclosing the bomb’s specifics.

7. Refusal to Surrender and Atomic Bombings

• Japanese leaders, divided between the peace party and militarists, struggle to respond.

  • Ambiguous press statements lead the U.S. to interpret their stance as outright rejection.

• Atomic Bombings

  • Hiroshima: “The people who were near the epicenter evaporate.” (Japanese Historian, 30:39)
  • “Casualties mount…90,000 to 160,000 people have died. The dominant image that survivors give of Hiroshima is of the Buddhist hells.” (War Expert, 30:59)
  • Truman goes on air: “If they do not now accept our terms, they may expect a reign of ruin from the air, the like of which has never been seen on this earth.” (Historical Narrator, 31:57)

• Soviet Union invades Manchuria.

• Nagasaki bombed—another 60,000-70,000 dead instantly.

  • Japanese War Council still split; finally, the decision is put to the Emperor.

8. Japan’s Surrender

• Emperor Hirohito intervenes directly:

  • “We must bear the unbearable and suffer the insufferable. We will end the war and then move on.” (Japanese Official, 35:32)

• World Reaction

  • America erupts in celebration: “Tens of thousands gather at the White House.” (Political Analyst, 36:02)

• Japan’s Emotional Aftermath

  • “Shock, sadness, but also this incredible sense of grief that we let the Emperor down.” (Japanese Historian, 37:46)

• Formal surrender on the USS Missouri, September 2, 1945.

  • “It is my earnest hope, and indeed the hope of all mankind, that from this solemn occasion a better world shall emerge…” (Douglas MacArthur, quoted by Narrator, 38:12)

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Notable Quotes & Moments (with Timestamps)

• On the paradox of war’s end:

  “It’s almost like a marathon and you see the finish line in the distance… and then somebody says, actually, there’s another three miles to go.”
  (Military Analyst, 01:55)

• On the horror of Tokyo’s firebombing:

  “We think of Dresden as being the worst…25,000 were lost there. But in Tokyo, there’s 100,000 killed in a single operation. The whole city was a sea of fire.”
  (Military Strategist, 03:53)

• On the dilemma facing American leaders:

  “The question really is how many American lives am I going to lose to end this war? That’s the whole ball game for Harry Truman.”
  (Japanese Historian, 14:35)

• On Operation Downfall:

  “Five million men involved… this is going to dwarf D-Day in the logistics and the naval forces… and most importantly of all, it’s going to dwarf the number of casualties.”
  (Military Strategist, 21:06)

• On the power of the atomic bomb:

  “He [Truman] compares it to the biblical flood and his diary. As the world was once destroyed by water for Noah, perhaps now it’ll be destroyed by fire and destruction.”
  (Historian, 29:27)

• On Hiroshima’s devastation:

  “The people who were near the epicenter evaporate.”
  (Japanese Historian, 30:39)

• On Japan’s surrender:

  “We must bear the unbearable and suffer the insufferable. We will end the war and then move on.”
  (Japanese Official quoting Hirohito, 35:32)

• On the world’s hope:

  “It is my earnest hope, and indeed the hope of all mankind, that from this solemn occasion a better world shall emerge…”
  (Douglas MacArthur, quoted by Narrator, 38:12)

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Important Timestamps

• 03:08 – 04:12: Napalm bombing of Tokyo and its aftermath.
• 07:05 – 08:44: Strategic and tactical setup for the Battle of Okinawa.
• 09:23 – 13:17: Initial invasion and escalation of Okinawa battle.
• 13:33 – 15:14: Roosevelt’s death and Truman’s transition.
• 18:21 – 19:59: Crushing casualties and psychological toll of Okinawa.
• 20:19 – 21:43: Operation Downfall and the outlook for a Japanese invasion.
• 23:32 – 25:05: Potsdam Conference and news of atomic bomb success.
• 30:01 – 31:57: Hiroshima bombing and global reaction.
• 32:35 – 33:55: Soviet entry and impact on Japanese decision-making.
• 34:07 – 35:32: Nagasaki, Council deadlock, and Hirohito’s intervention.
• 36:02 – 38:12: Public reactions, surrender, and lasting legacy.

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Conclusion

“Endgame” delivers a harrowing and nuanced narrative of World War II's conclusion. It immerses listeners in the strategic, political, and deeply personal stakes of the final acts of the Pacific War, culminating in unprecedented destruction and a new world order. The episode balances military analysis with emotional resonance, making the human cost and legacies of global conflict unforgettably clear.

Transcript

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[Narrator]

for almost four years, American soldiers and Marines in the Pacific have struggled across beaches, through jungles and atop mountains to subdue a nation that refuses to surrender. The effort has been immense. More is required. In the spring of 1945, the United States will start the final push to defeat the Japanese empire.

[Tom Hanks]

This is World War II with Tom Hanks. Episode 19 Endgame.

[Historical Narrator]

With the Rhine's west banks secured, Britain expects other crossings of Germany's river of Destiny. After a lull to build up our own strength. And after that, the end of the European war should not be far off.

[Narrator]

In America, in the spring of 1945, there is hope that the war in Europe is nearing its end. Husbands and fathers, boyfriends and brothers might finally be coming home.

[Historian]

It is front and center on the American mind. How quickly can we get to Berlin and get the soldiers home?

[Military Analyst]

The public get this sort of an attitude that, you know, hey, the war's almost over. They'll be coming home. It's almost like a marathon and you see the finish line in the distance. And so, you know, you can give one last kick and then somebody says, actually, there's another three miles to go.

[Narrator]

Victory in Europe seems within reach. Victory over Tokyo remains on the far horizon. For months, hundreds of B29s have been striking Japanese cities to marginal effect.

[Military Historian]

The Army Air Forces believed that a sufficient amount of pinpoint bombing from high altitude would take out Japanese industry and make it impossible for them to continue the war. It didn't work. Bombing from 30,000ft. The winds were too strong, blew the bombs all over the place.

[Narrator]

Under the command of General Curtis LeMay, the Air Force alters its tactics. On March 9, 1945, LeMay's B29s will attack Tokyo from only 5,000ft using a new weapon, bombs filled with napalm.

[War Expert]

Napalm is this gel combined with gasoline that will stick to things and then it catches fire and it makes it very, very hard to put out. It's for starting fires that are designed to just go out of control.

[Military Strategist]

And the reason it's going to be so destructive is that Tokyo is mostly made of wooden paper. And this is just going to explode. It'll be incredibly inflammable.

[Military Historian]

The argument was that if you destroyed the housing units of the Japanese workers, they wouldn't be able to go to work and build the planes and the tanks they needed to continue the conflict. But the outcome was absolutely horrific.

[War Expert]

It's just complete Devastation in Tokyo, 100,000 people who were killed.

[Military Strategist]

We think of Dresden as being the worst single moment in the European theater of operations. The firestorm at Dresden. 25,000 were lost there. But in Tokyo, there's 100,000 killed in a single operation. The whole city was a sea of fire.

[War Expert]

It was so hot that canals start to boil, and the fires eat up so much of the oxygen that a lot of the people who die asphyxiate because there's no oxygen left. A huge proportion of the city is simply gone in one night.

[Narrator]

The destruction is immense. 16 square miles of Tokyo are obliterated after this one raid. A million Japanese no longer have a home.

[Japanese Official]

It's unprecedented. General Lumei later recalled that he would have been tried as a war criminal if United States lost in the war.

[Narrator]

To survey the damage, Emperor Hirohito emerges from his bunker beneath the Imperial Palace.

[Japanese Historian]

Emperor Hirohito has been pretty isolated throughout the war, but he does have a sense that the war is not exactly going as his generals and admirals are telling him. So when the firebombing in Tokyo happened, that only intensifies his desire to start looking for ways to end the war.

[War Expert]

For Emperor Hirohito, the big concern is not what might happen to the ordinary Japanese people, but if the Americans make it onto Japanese soil, what might happen to him, what might happen to the Imperial line that goes back centuries in Japan? He says, I can't wait, possibly face my ancestors having sacrificed the throne.

[Narrator]

The Emperor of Japan is considered to be divine, with immense authority over his people. But Hirohito rarely exerts that authority in political or military matters.

[Military Planner]

There's the Committee for the Supreme Direction of the War, which is six people. Two people from the army, two people from the Navy, the prime minister and the foreign minister. Those six are the only six that have any real say within Japan.

[Military Strategist]

The civilian leaders understood they couldn't win the war, but the military are determined to fight on.

[War Commentator]

Japanese military leaders have lived their whole Life under a professional code that surrender is so dishonorable, you would rather die. No matter what the suffering, the warrior does not surrender.

[Historian]

For all the firebombing, for all. For all the destruction already rained on Japan, there's no sign of surrender.

[Military Historian]

The American high command now believes that the Japanese would not surrender short of an invasion and occupation of the Japanese home islands.

[Narrator]

The United States is gathering its forces for the next phase of its assault on Imperial Japan. The capture of Okinawa, the largest island on the Ryukyu chain.

[Military Strategist]

Okinawa is just 400 miles south of Kyushu, which is the most southerly of the Japanese home islands, and therefore can be used to launch an invasion fleet. So Okinawa is absolutely vital to the Americans.

[Military Historian]

Okinawa would be defended by about 100,000 Japanese frontline troops and also native Okinawan militia forces. They know that the Americans have overwhelming superiority in the air and at sea.

[War Expert]

The plan for the defense of Okinawa is don't go for a banzai charge. Instead, they will prepare these defensive fortifications, let the Americans come to them, and take them out that way.

[Narrator]

Using native Okinawans as forced labor, the Japanese build a network of bunkers and tunnels.

[Military Historian]

And the idea was kill four or five Americans before you are killed yourself. The Japanese overall strategy is to make the Americans pay so much for Okinawa that an invasion of the Japanese home islands would be unthinkable.

[Military Strategist]

The garrison on Okinawa is only half the Japanese strategy for defending the island. The other element of the plan is to use kamikaze, but in far greater numbers than ever been used before.

[Battlefield Reporter]

The Japanese recognize that when the Americans conduct these amphibious landing operations, the ships offshore are the lifeline that's keeping the battalions ashore in the fight. So they came up with this idea of these organized waves of kamikaze attacks.

[Military Analyst]

And if you launch 300 Kamikaze at the American fleet and you take out seven aircraft carriers or something, that is a war changing thing.

[Narrator]

The battle of Okinawa starts with the largest invasion of the war in the Pacific. A massive effort combining naval air and ground support. 60,000 soldiers and marines are bound for Okinawa's western beaches. The invasion force will land on Hagushi Bay. Then the Marines will sweep north and the army south to take control of the entire island.

[Military Strategist]

The biggest danger in an amphibious operation is the actual landing. Because you are incredibly vulnerable. You're out in the open, the combat troops going up first. Both Marine and army have been told to expect up to 80% casualties. So if you drawn the unlucky straw of being one of the first units, you're pretty convinced not many of you are going to survive. They get to the beaches, start walking up it, bodies tense, waiting for the bullets to come, and there is nothing.

[Battlefield Reporter]

They're experiencing virtually no opposition. And so there was a thought that hey, maybe Okinawa is not going to turn out to be a big bloodbath after all.

[Military Strategist]

The first few days go very well for the landing forces. They cut across all the way to the other side of the island against minimal opposition. It's looking too good to be true at this stage.

[Japanese Historian]

Military leaders believed that Japan must fight to protect the honor of the country. And these Kamikaze pilots are the chosen ones to go to this divine mission to protect their homeland. They really believe that that would turn the tide of the war.

[Military Historian]

The pilots are young, many of them are teenagers. They're ill trained, they don't even have enough fuel to come back from this flight if they wanted to. They know they're going to die. And so when they get to the first American ship they see, they attack.

[Narrator]

For the first five days of the invasion of Okinawa, there's no opposition to the massive US fleet surrounding the island. But just after noon on April 6, the Japanese arrive in force.

[Military Historian]

Imagine we're on the bridge of one of these destroyers. 80 miles north of Okinawa. The Kamikaze come from starboard, from port, from high, from low. So you feel like you're in a boxing ring with about five other boxers attacking you from every direction.

[Military Strategist]

Action. Hundreds of Kamakazi at a time are thrown against the invading fleet. They thought with the sheer numbers they could take out the capital ships, that's battleships and aircraft carriers, and drive off the US Fleet in its entirety.

[Military Historian]

The Kamakaze don't really have much success against aircraft carriers. But 300 plus ships are targeted by the kamikazes. More than 36 of them sink. It is more devastating than any conventional bombing attack has been in the war so far. But it's not enough.

[War Commentator]

What the Kamikaze tells me is that the Japanese knew the war was lost, at least by conventional means. There's nothing more dangerous in warfare than a cornered enemy. The Japanese are going to go down in flames, but will never surrender. Never.

[Narrator]

For the U.S. navy, the battle against the Kamikaze at Okinawa is bloodier than any previous confrontation of the entire Pacific war. And American ground forces are now facing increasing resistance as well.

[Battlefield Reporter]

The force that had landed on the beaches is pushing south toward a place called Kakazu Ridge, where they encounter the first line of Japanese defenses.

[Military Strategist]

It's the first time the Americans meet serious opposition and it stops them dead. The Japanese have created a defensive system that goes right across the whole width of the island so they can't be outflanked.

[Narrator]

American troops into her days of non stop enemy fire.

[Military Strategist]

This is attritional, grisly, meat grinding fighting. And that's just the first line of defense. And there are going to be many more beyond this. What we thought was going to be a cakewalk is anything but.

[Narrator]

April 12, the American people learn Franklin Delano Roosevelt, the man they elected four times, is dead. Vice president Harry S. Truman, a former judge and senator from Missouri, is sworn in hours later.

[Political Analyst]

Roosevelt had led the country through the great depression and through the war. In the 82 days that Truman had been vice president, he met with Roosevelt all of twice. He really knows a million nothing about what's going on with the war effort.

[Military Analyst]

He didn't think he was up to the job. And there are people who would say he was right.

[Narrator]

The new president is immediately confronted with enormous challenges.

[Military Planner]

It's important for a wartime president to demonstrate that he has a plan for bringing this war to a successful conclusion and as rapidly as possible. It's clear to the American population that Germany is on its last legs. But Japan is still fighting hard.

[Japanese Historian]

The question really is how many American lives am I going to lose to end this war? That's the whole ball game for Harry Truman.

[Narrator]

Truman meets with secretary of war Henry Stimson and army general Leslie Groves. The agenda is classified.

[Political Analyst]

They hand Truman a document. Truman opens it up and reads it. And the memo begins with these dramatic words. Within four months, we shall in all probability have completed the most terrible weapon ever known in human history. One bomb which can destroy a whole city.

[Narrator]

The Manhattan project. The top secret American program to develop the world's first atomic bombs. For three years, thousands of scientists and engineers have worked on the most powerful weapon in history. It is set to be tested mid summer.

[War Commentator]

Truman and his commanders are ready to pay any price to bring this war to an end. But an invasion of the Japanese home islands will beat bloody on an unimaginable scale. Higher losses than any previous campaign either in the pacific war or in the war in Europe.

[Historian]

The Manhattan project. The attempt to develop atomic weapons. If that proves to be successful, if those tests prove out, then that is an alternative.

[Battlefield Reporter]

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[Historian]

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[Military Planner]

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[Battlefield Reporter]

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[Military Planner]

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[Military Planner]

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[Narrator]

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[Military Planner]

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[Battlefield Reporter]

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[Military Planner]

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[Narrator]

The war in Europe is over. The Nazi Third Reich has been destroyed. But for war weary America and its allies, the war in the Pacific continues, and many of the men who helped depend feed Germany may now be required to fight Japan.

[Military Analyst]

At this point, people in the military knew that a lot of these units are going to need to be transferred Just because the war in Europe is over. Don't get excited. We're going to need those troops in the Pacific.

[Narrator]

After two months of ceaseless combat, Marine and Army units break through the main Japanese defensive line on Okinawa. Japanese troops are forced to retreat and attempt a last stand on the Kiyon Peninsula.

[War Expert]

By this point, the Japanese soldiers on Okinawa are low on ammunition. They are starving, they're exhausted. But they realize that the next step for the Allies after Okinawa is the home islands. They are all that stand between the Allies and their families, their homes. They are the last line of defense, and everyone is depending on them.

[Battlefield Reporter]

Although the Americans have gained ground, the more you push and the more terrain that has been captured, the more dangerous and costly the battle is becoming.

[Military Analyst]

But the Americans know we're making progress. If war is a clash of wills, the United States is a nation willing to fight it out to the end.

[Narrator]

Organized resistance on okinawa ends on June 22. The Japanese army's commanding general and his chief of staff both commit suicide by ritual seppuku.

[Military Strategist]

100,000 Japanese servicemen are killed. On the American side, The casualties are 50,000 killed and wounded. These are the worst battle casualties in the Pacific war for the Americans. Worse than all of that are the number of civilians killed, up to 125,000, which is a third of the population caught in the crossfire.

[Military Analyst]

This is just Okinawa. What happens when we get to their home islands? The cost is going to be enormous. This war isn't over. It's not even close to being over.

[Narrator]

American leaders understand the battle of Okinawa is a frightening preview of what to expect when Japan's home islands are invaded.

[War Commentator]

Truman has a meeting with General Marshall and the Joint Chiefs of Staff on Operation Downfall, the invasion of the Japanese home islands. This plan goes back to the Roosevelt presidency. Planning is going forward, and the most interested person at the meeting is George Marshall. He wants Truman to sign off on it.

[Military Planner]

Operation Downfall will be a two pronged operation. The first called Operation Olympic. The idea of Operation Olympic is to invade the southern island of Kyushu and seize naval bases and air bases while pushing Japanese forces north. The critical phase, though, of Operation Downfall is what's codenamed Operation Coronet. It's the invasion of Honshu, which is where Tokyo itself sits. So this would inevitably end in either the destruction or capture of the Japanese capital.

[Military Strategist]

Think about the scale of Operation Downfall as a whole. Five million men involved, up to a million British and Commonwealth troops, 4 million American troops. And this is going to dwarf D day in the logistics and the naval forces that are going to be involved in the forces that are actually going to land. And most importantly of all, it's going to dwarf the number of casualties.

[Military Analyst]

If the Allies had to invade Japan, that would be the largest amphibious assault ever undertaken. And the Americans were going to bear almost the entire weight of it. And the president understood that better than most of the American public did.

[Military Strategist]

Truman specifically says to his chiefs of staff, I don't want an Okinawa from one end of Japan to the other.

[Historian]

So Truman in June of 45 is looking at a brutal final act against Japan. But it is very important to Harry Truman that he always be seen as the decider. The buck stops here.

[Japanese Historian]

Truman understands that this war with Japan needs to end. The invasion looks horrible, but what's option B in this situation?

[Political Analyst]

Even at this late date in June, there's no sense that the Manhattan Project is going to work. They really don't know if they have a bomb yet.

[War Commentator]

And so Truman signs off on Operation Downfall, the two big invasions of Japan. Stage one, Operation Olympic, is set for November 1st. The clock is ticking.

[Japanese Official]

The Japanese army's plan is to fight to the bitter end with a decisive and final battle in the home islands.

[War Expert]

For a while now, the Japanese army had been planning what they call operation, which means operation decisive is a plan to defend Kyushu. They think they've got perhaps a million men that they can put into the field. They also want to put civilians into the field. Their idea is that they will make things so terrifying that it will stop the Americans trying to do anything anywhere else. In the home islands,

[Japanese Historian]

women and children were going through the military drills where everybody was given a bamboo spear. They are essentially mobilizing Everybody older than 12 years old to fight to the death.

[Narrator]

In July, for the first time, President Truman meets with both British prime minister Winston Churchill and Soviet premier Joseph Stalin at Potsdam, formerly the home of Prussian kings and the German kaiser.

[Political Analyst]

Europe is devastated. It's a massive disaster zone. The point of the Potsdam conference is for these three governments to come together and figure out how these countries are going to be rebuilt.

[War Commentator]

But Truman has his eyes on a completely different problem. He huddles with secretary of war Stimson. And what are they talking about? They're talking about the Pacific.

[Narrator]

With operation downfall months away, President Truman seeks assurance that the Soviets will participate in the war against Japan as pledged.

[Military Historian]

All this time, Japan and the Soviet Union had been neutral. They had not been at war with one another.

[War Commentator]

Stalin promised within 90 days of the end of the war in Europe he'll join the war against Japan. He promised that to Roosevelt back at Yalta. So Truman hopes that's a go.

[Narrator]

But at the start of the conference, Stimson receives a coded cable from the

[War Commentator]

war department, operated on this morning. Diagnosis not yet complete, but results seem satisfactory. Dr. Groves is pleased. Truman now knew that the atomic bomb had been detonated successfully.

[Political Analyst]

In this moment, we have this amazing window into Truman's thinking. Because he was keeping a diary, Truman realizes this bomb could be a short circuit to ending the war.

[Military Strategist]

When Truman hears that the atomic bomb actually works, he knows they have to use it. But he wants to give the Japanese one last chance to surrender before he does.

[Narrator]

President Truman, along with Churchill and Chiang Kai Shek, the leader of the republic of China, issue the Potsdam declaration, a warning to Japan of what awaits if they don't surrender unconditionally. But Stimson suggests they consider allowing Hirohito to keep his throne.

[Military Strategist]

Stimson understands the constitutional and cultural position that the emperor plays In Japanese life, this kind of demigod status. And so he insists on inserting into the declaration assurance that they won't try the Emperor for war crimes. But beyond that, it will be unconditional surrender and no other terms will be acceptable.

[Political Analyst]

Also in this document is wordage that does not mention the atomic bomb, but it does say that if unconditional surrender is not coming, the destruction was going to be historic and massive.

[Narrator]

The Office of War Information releases the Potsdam Declaration, and the Japanese receive it via radio from San Francisco.

[Japanese Official]

Prime Minister Suzuki and Emperor Hirohito are the opinion that the Potsdam Declaration is not really vindictive. They see some hope.

[Japanese Historian]

Emperor Hirohito himself at this point, he is open to accepting it, but he understands his role as an emperor. There are only certain times for him to weigh in.

[Military Strategist]

The Emperor and the peace party are in an impossible position here. I mean, if they respond positively to. To the ultimatum, the military might turn against them. But if they completely ignore it, there's a danger that the Americans are actually going to carry out what they suggest.

[Narrator]

Two days later, Japan's Prime Minister, Kantaro Suzuki holds a press conference.

[Japanese Historian]

When press asks about potsudan declaration, Suzuki uses the word mokusatsu. The best translation for that is no comment or I'm not going to respond to that question. However, the word moksatsu can also mean we're going to ignore it.

[War Expert]

And I think the Japanese media, they're very quick to interpret it in the most hostile and negative way, and then the American media pick it up, and then that becomes the view of the American administration as well, that the Japanese are rejecting the Potsdam Declaration.

[Political Analyst]

And to Truman, the Japanese response is plain and clear. He believes that the Japanese told him to go to hell.

[Narrator]

By early 1945, Tinian island in the Marianas is the largest air base on Earth. Hundreds of B29s have taken off from its multiple runways to bomb Japan.

[Japanese Historian]

But there's a very mysterious restricted area at one part of the base. No one really knows what's going on up there. It belongs to some unit called the 509th Composite Group. These are the preparations for the arrival of the atomic bomb.

[Narrator]

Components for the atomic bombs are delivered in late July and carefully assembled over the following days.

[Political Analyst]

So the Manhattan Project was able to produce enough uranium and plutonium for three bombs. And after the Trinity test, the Americans only had two bombs in the arsenal.

[War Commentator]

Truman makes the decision to drop the bomb. He legitimately wants to save US casualties and bring this war to an end rapidly. At the same time, he wants to assert his authority as president.

[Historian]

It's one of the most consequential decisions that any nation has ever made. And no one knows what was going to happen. But President Truman did understand that this was of a different scale and scope. He compares it to the biblical flood and his diary. As the world was once destroyed by water for Noah, perhaps now it'll be destroyed by fire and destruction

[Narrator]

by design. The target of the first atomic bomb is a city relatively unscathed by the war. American military leaders want the Japanese to understand the awful destructive power of this new weapon.

[War Expert]

That morning in Hiroshima is an ordinary morning. People are going about their business. Some people are going into the factories to work. They're still wondering why they've not yet been bombed. And they're expecting it more or less any day. And then people see this light in the sky, the sun shining off a single aircraft.

[Japanese Historian]

That first thing is the flashing light as if sun explodes. Then a noise and a shock. The people who were near the epicenter evaporate.

[War Expert]

The casualties mount until you get between 90,000 and 160,000 people who've died. The dominant image that survivors give of Hiroshima is of. Of the Buddhist hells.

[Political Analyst]

One thing that's really difficult for historians to jive with is this idea that Truman has chosen military targets. And he writes even in his diary the words and not women and children, we'll never really know. Did he really feel that this was a military target or was he writing that in his diary, understanding that history for generations was going to judge him for this?

[War Commentator]

Truman is at sea coming home from Potsdam when he received the news. Later that same day, he goes on the airwaves to address the American people and to tell them what has just happened. He says it's a new type of bomb, that America has used it and will continue to use it until Japan surrenders.

[Historical Narrator]

If they do not now accept our terms, they may expect a reign of ruin from the air, the like of which has never been seen on this earth.

[Narrator]

Even with Hiroshima in ruins, Japanese leaders do not surrender.

[Japanese Historian]

The peace camp pushed for immediate acceptance of the Potsdam declaration, but the military side insists on continuing the war. The reasoning is that may be the only atomic bomb that they had. So they're still at the stage stalemate. And then the Soviet Union declares war in Japan,

[Narrator]

just as Stalin promised. Exactly 90 days after the surrender of Germany, one and a half million Soviet troops pour across the border into Japanese occupied Manchuria.

[War Expert]

The Japanese aren't aware that for months the Soviets have massed their armor on the borders with Manchuria. But now the Russians are rolling into Manchuria and they're rolling over the Japanese. And now you've got the prospect of the Soviets not just making their way into Manchuria, but possibly across to the Japanese home islands. For Japan, this is a complete disaster.

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[Narrator]

On the same day the Red army moves into Manchuria. B29s appear over Nagasaki. One carries an atomic bomb.

[Japanese Historian]

The US has just one more atom bomb left. But the whole idea is to give Japan the impression that the US has an unlimited stock and that if Japan won't surrender, the US will continue to unleash atom bombs on Japan.

[Narrator]

Between 60 and 70,000 people are killed instantly.

[Military Strategist]

Prime Minister Suzuki convenes the War council and the discussion is, are we going to accept the policy Potsdam Declaration? And the answer from the military is no.

[War Expert]

You've had two atomic bombs, you've had the Soviet invasion of Manchuria, and yet the supreme war council is still split. The war faction, the military, they're absolutely not willing to consider unconditional surrender.

[Japanese Historian]

That's when Prime Minister Suzuki makes the very important move saying that we need to ask the Emperor.

[War Expert]

This is a standout moment. This is something you would never normally do. There's a sense Hirohito is semi divine and shouldn't be troubled with the decision making process. It's a really extraordinary step.

[Military Planner]

But Hirohito, I think sees the gravity of the situation. He sees that this is a moment where it's his responsibility to step up as the leader effectively.

[Japanese Official]

And he says, we must bear the unbearable and suffer the insufferable. We will end the war and then move on.

[Historical Narrator]

I have received this afternoon a message from the Japanese government. I deem this reply a full acceptance of the Potsdam Declaration, which speaks the unconditional surrender of Japan.

[Political Analyst]

And people go nuts. Tens of thousands of people gather at the gate of the White House.

[Narrator]

The world has been holding its breath since the war began. Now it is over. And there is great celebration.

[War Commentator]

One of the crucial factors in ending this war is that you have Harry Truman, an accidental president who had to be briefed on the wartime situation when he enters the Oval Office, and Hirohito, who has never really made political decisions. They assert themselves and bring the war to an end in August of 1945.

[Narrator]

Bataan, Guadalcanal, Iwo Jima, Okinawa. Once obscure points on a map. Not now. Each place has a new meaning in Japan. On August 15, Emperor Hirohito addresses a nation that has never surrendered.

[War Commentator]

Most Japanese had never heard the Emperor's voice before. But the jewel voice, broadcast, as it became known, is essential to getting most Japanese used the idea of laying down their arms and admitting surrender.

[Tom Hanks]

The enemy has begun to employ a new and most cruel bond, the power of which to do damage is indeed incalculable.

[Military Analyst]

When the Japanese hear that the war is over, there has to be a combination of feelings. We sacrificed all these people, all this money and all this. These cities of Japan, and we lost.

[Japanese Historian]

Shock, sadness, but also this incredible sense of grief that we let the Emperor down. Our lack of effort let the Emperor down.

[Military Historian]

The Japanese accepted the idea of surrender. The Allies accepted the idea of Hirohito remaining on the Japanese throne. And that was the end of the war.

[Narrator]

September 2, 1945. On the deck of the USS Missouri anchored in Tokyo Bay, the Japanese sign, the instrument of surrender, the largest conflict in world history, closes with a signature and a speech. Douglas MacArthur marks the occasion. It is my earnest hope, and indeed the hope of all mankind, that from this solemn occasion a better world shall emerge out of the blood and carnage of the past.

[Tom Hanks]

World War II with Tom Hanks is produced by A E Factual Studios, Newtopia Ltd. Playtone Productions and Back Pocket Studios in association with Motion Entertainment for the History Channel. This episode was narrated by Tom Hanks and mixed by John Lloyd. Additional voicing provided by me, Jeremy Reagan from the History Channel. Our executive producers are Eli Lehrer and Liv Fiddler for Playtone. Executive producers are Tom Hanks and Gary Getzman for Back Pocket Studios. Our executive producer is Ben Dickstein.

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