WW2: How The War Ended

Warfare

History Hit

History

4.5 • 943 Ratings

🗓️ 4 September 2023

⏱️ 39 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

The Second World War officially ended on September 2nd 1945 - and it's estimated that around 3% of the Earth's population perished during the conflict. But what ultimately bought WW2 to an end - and how vital a role did the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki play in obtaining a Japanese surrender?

In this episode, James welcomes journalist and New York Times Bestseller Evan Thomas to the Podcast, to look at how the end of one of the deadliest conflicts of modern history came to a close. Drawing on research from Evan's latest book, 'Road to Surrender', together they discuss the vital roles taken up by Henry Stimson, Gen. Carl “Tooey” Spaatz, and Shigenori Togo that ultimately led to Japan's surrender. Looking at the consequences of the atomic bomb, Japanese infighting, and an immeasurable loss of human life - what exactly bought WW2 to an end, and could the conflict have ended sooner?

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Transcript

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0:00.0	Hello everyone I'm your host James Patton Rogers. This is Warfare and I have some news.
0:05.0	After an amazing three years and hundreds of episodes, the Warfare Podcast is coming to an end.
0:11.0	I always say it's a true joy to present this podcast. I've learnt so much over the years from our expert guests, but all good things must come to an end and it's time for me to take a break from podcasting. I've just moved to the US to start a new job and my wife and I are excitedly expecting a baby very soon.
0:28.6	But of course, it won't be the last you hear from me. So now is the time, if you haven't already, to drop me a follow on
0:34.3	Instagram at James Rogers History. This just leaves me to say a massive thank you to the
0:39.2	excellent history hit team for their hard work over the years. To Sophie who started the
0:43.5	podcast with me, to James and Dan who commissioned it, to Steve who runs all the
0:47.5	podcast at History Hit, to Aidan who helps edit it, and to Elena and
0:51.6	Annie who basically run the entire show working tirelessly to produce
0:56.4	and edit the episodes that have allowed us to reach 180 countries worldwide.
1:00.9	And of course my final thanks goes to all of you. Thank you for your emails, for your
1:05.9	support, for your suggestions, and it's been a pleasure to meet so many of you around
1:10.6	the world in person. I hope you've enjoyed the podcast and maybe like me you've even learned a thing or two and
1:16.2	discovered a new history along the way.
1:19.2	I hope you'll join me on my next chapter.
1:21.8	Our last episode will air in a couple of weeks on
1:24.0	September 4th and up until then we have amazing content. So enjoy these
1:28.4	episodes. Enjoy our vast back catalog. Enjoy all the other history hit podcasts, and especially enjoy today's episode.
1:36.8	Thank you all so much. At exactly 920 a.m. on the morning of May 30th 1945, General Leslie Groves received a message
1:49.8	to report to the Office of the Secretary of War at once.
1:54.0	Stimson was waiting for him.
1:57.0	He wanted to know had Groves selected the targets yet.
	...

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