The explosion of atomic bombs over Hiroshima and Nagasaki – crimes which should never be forgotten – demonstrated to the world the ruthless nature of U.S. imperialism and the terrible and devastating consequences of the use of nuclear weapons. The U.S. decision to drop atomic bombs on Hiroshima (6 August 1945) and Nagasaki (9 August 1945) were calculated demonstrations of imperialist power aimed not just at Japan but at the Soviet Union and the global communist movement. By unleashing unprecedented destructive force, the U.S. sought to secure post-war dominance over East Asia and to intimidate other peoples who were fighting to follow a socialist path.
The destruction of Hiroshima and Nagasaki was designed by imperialism to send a message to the Soviet Union that the U.S. controlled nuclear weaponry and would dictate the post-war order; to reinforce U.S. hegemony in Japan and to deter liberation movements worldwide by showcasing the ultimate weapon of mass destruction.
These aims revealed the capitalist rivalry and geopolitical competition. The bombings epitomized how advanced military technologies under capitalism inflict disproportionate suffering on working‐class and peasant populations.
Over 200,000 people died instantly or later succumbed to burns, malnutrition, and radiation-related illnesses. Many of their descendants carried the affected genes and passed them onto their children.
Rather than securing lasting peace, as the imperialists claimed, Hiroshima and Nagasaki inaugurated the arms race as the U.S. rushed to develop even more powerful thermonuclear weapons.
Despite the efforts of the communists and the world peace movement, imperialism continues to develop nuclear arms production and other weapons of mass destruction which endanger the future of humanity and the planet.
For many years nuclear arsenals have been sufficient to destroy the world, yet the accumulation of weapons continues. Developments in nuclear weapons technology has proliferated into the oceans and into space and the world has also witnessed the development of smaller nuclear weapons for so-called “battlefield” use which increase the possibilities for escalation to full-scale nuclear war. With the ever-greater reliance on advanced technology, arms production draws into its orbit ever new sectors of the capitalist economy and further accelerates the arms race.
While the world faces critical problems of poverty, hunger, malnutrition, pollution, environmental destruction and war, imperialism increases its military budgets to the detriment of spending on the people’s vital social and economic needs. The diversion of scientific and technological resources to military ends imposes ever increasing attacks on peoples’ rights in the capitalist countries, including health, education, housing and social spending. The depletion of natural resources, both energy and raw material reserves, and the environmental damage caused by the arms race pose a continuing menace to the world. The pretexts used by the EU, the USA, NATO, and Israel regarding a green transition or the prevention of nuclear weapons acquisition, which they attribute solely to their capitalist rival states, are provocative and recently led to the bombing of Iran.
The concentration of immense economic power in the hands of monopoly capital and the competition between imperialist centres and alliances create and perpetuate the conditions for imperialist aggression and war. The struggle against imperialist wars, the involvement of the governments of our countries, the arms race and the elimination of nuclear weapons and other weapons of mass destruction remains a vital part of the workers and peoples’ fight against the capitalist system and the oppression, exploitation and misery it engenders.
Only socialism, the collective, control and socialisation of the means of production and scientific and technological development, not capitalist competition, can avert the threat of nuclear annihilation and ensure peace and prosperity for the peoples.
