1945 Army Information Branch Newsmap of Japan and China - Atomic Bomb Issue

This is the chilling Atomic Bomb issue from the iconic World War II Newsmap series. Issued in 1945 as the 'Army Information Branch Newsmap of eastern China and Japan' shortly after the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, this edition the Japanese surrender to the Allies to end the War in the Pacific during World War II by less than a week.

Understanding the Map

The map depicts the region from central China and Mongolia to Japan and from the Soviet Union to Taiwan (Formosa) and Hong Kong. Red areas highlight the regions controlled by the Chinese nationalists led by Chiang Kai-shek and the Soviet Union with the white illustrating the Japan's ever-dwindling empire. Thick red arrows illustrate the directions of advance by the Chinese south of Hankow (Hankou), the Soviet Red Army in Manchuria and Karafuto, and the U.S. Navy in the western Pacific near Japan itself. A photograph in the upper left corner presents Soviet troops in combat against the Japanese, on whom the Soviets declared war on August 8th. The photograph in the upper right corner has since become iconic and almost immediately recognizable as the mushroom cloud rising above Hiroshima following the atomic bombing of that city by the U.S. on August 6, 1945. The bottom photograph presents the deck guns of an American warship, but it is unclear which one, though it is likely a cruiser.

Mushroom Cloud: The Bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki

To a modern audience, the iconic photograph situated in the upper right corner immediately provokes a reaction. The atomic bombings have become two of the most remembered events of a cataclysmic period in human history. The atomic bomb was first dropped on Hiroshima on August 6, 1945, and Nagasaki suffered the second nuclear attack three days later, on August 9, 1945. These two bombs killed an estimated combined 200,000 people, with half of those killed dying within the first day of each attack. The bombs leveled both cities and caused immeasurable amounts of pain and suffering. Today, survivors of the bombings are known as hibakusha, which literally translates as 'explosion-affected people', and are recognized as a group by the Japanese government.

Publication History and Census

This map was created by the Army Information Branch and published on August 20, 1945. Ten examples are catalogued in the OCLC and are part of the institutional collections at Denison University, Ohio Wesleyan University, Davidson College, the Library of Michigan, the University of Wisconsin-Madison, Southern Illinois University at Edwardsville, the University of Missouri – Columbia, Wichita State University, the Denver Public Library and Texas A and M University.