10 Things Everybody Gets Wrong About World War 2

Global warfare saw a significant but sinister leap forward when the Americans dropped two atomic bombs, Little Boy and Fat Man, on the cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, the first on 6 August 1945, and the second three days later. The twin blasts killed anywhere from 129,000 to 226,000 people and have long-lasting adverse effects on the survivors nearly 75 years later. The devastation of the bombings has been cited as the primary cause behind the end of the war.

Japan surrendered six days later and signed the Japanese Instrument of Surrender on 2 September, effectively ending the war. However, the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki were not the sole reasons behind the war's conclusion. Allied forces had been firebombing Japanese cities months before the atom bombs were dropped. These bombings were considered to be far deadlier than their nuclear counterparts and even relatively numbed Japanese war officials to the destruction of the two cities.

In addition to the atomic bombings, the Japanese were further pushed to surrender by a seemingly unstoppable Soviet invasion. The Soviets and Japanese had signed a non-aggression pact in the earlier days of the war but Stalin reneged on this and authorized a million-man strong invasion of his former ally. These factors, plus more, forced the Japanese surrender and eventual conclusion of the war.