In August of 1945, the United States military was beaten, battered, and eager to end World War II. The Germans had surrendered, silencing the European theatre, but the Japanese threat remained in the Pacific. The American forces knew that invading Japan would cost nearly half a million lives, an amount which President Truman felt could not be sacrificed. In an effort to end the war quickly, with minimum American lives lost, the United States dropped two atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Japan. Now, seventy-two years later, it is easy to look at the ramifications of the atomic bomb and call America’s actions unwise and catastrophic, but the leaders of the American military saw the bomb as the only option to end World War II. The dropping of the atomic bomb effectively ended World War II, but its consequences not only drastically affected the people of Japan, but also presence of nuclear weapons in modern militaries. President Truman knew that in order for the country to recover the war had to come to an immediate end. However, the only option the United States leaders saw to end the war was to drop the atomic bomb. Doing what he thought best for his country, Truman decided to bomb Nagasaki and Hiroshima. The bomb dropped on Hiroshima instantly killed 70,000 people and the bomb on Nagasaki killed 80,000. Combined deaths from the aftermath of the bombs, including injuries and radiation, amounted to over 200,000. Due to the massive casualty amount and the lasting
On the clear morning of August 6, 1945 in Hiroshima, Japan, the world was hit with a total shock, that went down in history as a day for the history books. This day, the city of Hiroshima was blasted by the world’s first atomic bomb, which sent the grounds quaking, and leaving thousands dead. The debates for years since the bombing were having us all wonder if the attack was a military necessity or not. Considering both sides of the argument, it is clear to me that the bombing was the best plan for ending the world war. The use of the bomb saved more lives than it took.
The pressing question still lingers: Was the United States justified in using the Atomic Bomb against Japan during WWII? World War II stands as the bloodiest and deadliest war of all time. It involved more than thirty countries and resulted in over fifty million civilian and military deaths. It lasted six years, beginning with Adolf Hitler’s invasion of Poland in 1939. As the Allied Powers (mainly the United States, Britain, and the Soviet Union) and the Axis Powers (Germany, Italy, and Japan) were in direct conflict with each other, many wonder if the cost of victory was too extreme. In late 1941, the process of creating the world’s first, most deadly weapon began. The production of the first atomic bomb was code named “the Manhattan Project.” After months of production, August 6, 1945, America dropped the “Little Boy” bomb on Hiroshima, wiping out ninety percent of the city. August 9, 1945, just three days after the devastation of the first bomb, America dropped the “Fat Man” bomb on Nagasaki. Dropping the atomic bomb on Japan was not necessary, nor justified in ending World War II. Due to the fact that America targeted heavily civilian populated cities (with limited military value), that Japan was in a position of surrender before the bomb was dropped, and the fact that the U.S. did not give enough time for Japan to process the devastation of the first bomb before the second in Nagasaki shows that America’s decision to drop the atomic bomb was entirely unjustified.
1. Long after World War II and the use of the atomic bombs against Hiroshima and Nagasaki, a great debate remains. It seems that there are two main potential arguments as to why the bombs were detonated and whether or not they were even necessary to begin with. The first theory surrounds the notion of the national security interests of the United States. In this theory essentially, Truman’s actions had been defended and justified as necessary in order to quickly end the war with U.S. causalities kept to a minimum.
President Truman elected to use the atomic bomb against Japan to hasten the end of the World War II. President Truman saw no issues with using the atomic bomb against Japan if it would save American lives in doing so (Roark 856). Japan, with their numerous defeats, still had millions of reserves to use as a last-minute defense against the Allies. U.S. military advisers estimated that the last-minute defense would kill at least 250,000 Americans (Roark 856). President Truman issued an ultimate surrender completely or face ruin. The Japanese failed and the U.S. bombed Hiroshima on August 6. When Japan would still not surrender the U.S. used a second atomic bomb on Nagasaki on August 9. Japan surrendered on August 14, after receiving assurance
To fully examine the factors that led to the United States to drop an atomic bomb on the city of Nagasaki, one can look at the event as a result of two major decisions. The first decision concerned the use of newly developed nuclear weapons in lieu of other military techniques to secure a timely Japanese surrender. The second decision was to use several of these weapons instead of only one. Although the Truman administration displayed little hesitation or ambivalence over the decision to use atomic weapons (Walker, 51), it is important to examine what factors contributed to these swift actions.
The two bombs combined killed over 240,000 people. In the article, "Truman’s Obvious Choice: Using the Atomic Bomb on Japan Was the Fastest Way to Produce a Victory with the Lowest Cost in American Lives," by Samuel Walker, he says, " The Japanese had given no indication that they were ready to stop fighting, and Truman authorized the bomb because it appeared to offer the most likely way to produce an American victory on American terms with the lowest cost in American lives." The Japanese were not showing any signs of easing on the pressure they were giving so instead of losing more men, Truman ended it quickly by having the bombs dropped, therefore ending the
“Truman stated that his decision to drop the bomb was purely military. Truman believed that the bombs saved Japanese lives as well. Prolonging the war was not an option for the President,” (ushistory.org 1). President Truman and the United States government made a fair decision by dropping the atomic bomb on the Japanese citizens in Hiroshima and Nagasaki during 1945. The bomb allowed the United States to appear more powerful and led to them influencing the rest of the world. The dropping of the atomic bomb was also a just response to the previous atrocities committed by Japan to other countries including the United States. In the long run, the bomb saved more lives that would have been lost in the war, since the bombs caused the
America’s use of the atomic bombs on the Japanese cities also opened the door to other countries challenging them through their own use of nuclear bombs. Many have criticized that the atomic bomb was an act of “muscle flexing” due to the sheer power and destruction caused by the decision to drop the two bombs. (Nicholls, 67). Not only were these bombs a demonstration of the power that these nuclear weapons had, but they were a testament of power that the United States now held. Never before had a country surrendered in war without first being invaded, so the decision to drop the bomb and Japan's subsequent surrender were extremely significant (Baldwin, 39). These bombings didn’t just impact the Japanese, but the whole world and gave way to
The decision to drop the bomb on Hiroshima and Nagasaki was the hardest decision for President Truman to make. He had the power right there in his hands to end the war but he would have to unleash the most powerful weapon known to man, at this time. Everyone was very tired of fighting but the Japanese would not give up so Truman decided to drop it. Even though we told Japan that if they did not surrender we would completely demolish some of their cities, they did not listen and they did not surrender. Maybe they did not think about what kind of weapons we would use because
One of the most controversial and heavily scrutinized issue of the twentieth century was President Harry S. Truman’s decision to unleash atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki in 1945. The motives behind Truman’s actions are shrouded in controversy as top military officials publicly denounced the use of such a disastrous weapon. There is overwhelming evidence supporting both sides of the decision, as historians are split in opinion. The United States had been using conventional bombing to try to push Japan over the edge to surrender, but with countless Japanese civilians loyal to their country, invading Japan proved to be more problematic than first thought. Harry S. Truman made the ultimate decision of dropping the atomic bomb in hopes that it would end the war, but the amount of casualties caused by it has historians questioning if it was morally right, “The bomb was unfortunate, but it was the only means to bring Japan to a surrender,” historian Sadao Asada states (Bomb 9). Truman’s decision to drop the atomic bomb on Hiroshima and Nagasaki were justifiable because they would ultimately lead to the end of the war and would demonstrate U.S. supremacy.
Wars are horrible situations to be in because wars destroy people’s economic, living, and families. This can be seen during World War Two when Japan wanted the island of Hawaii to be their own island, and they wanted to claim it from the u.s.a. This is what lead to the war and it was also what further on had lead to the atomic bombs. If the United States had not dropped the atomic bomb, the Japanese wouldn't turn into a colony of the U.S. America had been preparing to invade Japan for a long time and they wanted to take over when the atomic bomb became available as soon as possible. They decided this would be a better option to limit the amount of American lives that would have been lost if they invaded. The United States and Japan had not predicted the aftermath of the bombing that led to massive loss of lives. However, the bombing has made Japan realize that they do not have supreme power over the U.S. The Japanese were thought to surrender or to give up due to massive side attacks of
Although WW II ended over 50 years ago there is still much discussion as to the events which ended the War in the Pacific. The primary event which historians attribute to this end are the use of atomic bombs on the cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Although the bombing of these cities did force the Japanese to surrender, many people today ask "Was the use of the atomic bomb necessary to end the war?" and more importantly "Why was the decision to use the bomb made?" Ronald Takaki examines these questions in his book Hiroshima.
As the war continued and violence escalated, bombings caused enormous destruction and high death tolls, leading inevitably to the use of the atomic bombs. The bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki represented a culmination in the destructiveness of bombings, not a significant deviation from previous bombing practices. The alternatives to the use of the atomic bomb were likely to have caused equal suffering for the Japanese people. The use of the atomic bomb was no less moral than these horrific wartime practices. Harry Truman’s decision to use the atomic bomb against Japan was justified by Japan’s refusal to immediately surrender. Harry Truman gave the Japanese time to surrender in order to preserve the existence of their people. They did not comply and as a result endured the consequences. (Walker) Yet an alternate perspective states that it was quite unnecessary to drop the Atomic Bombs in that Japan was practically an already defeated opponent. If a conditional surrender were to be issued by the United States to Japan in
The decision to drop the bomb on Hiroshima and Nagasaki was the hardest decision for President Truman to make. He had the power right there in his hands to end the war but he would have to unleash the most powerful weapon known to man, at this time. Everyone was very tired of fighting but the Japanese would not give up so Truman decided to drop it. Even though we told Japan that if they did not surrender we would completely demolish some of their cities, they did not listen and they did not surrender. Maybe they did not think about what kind of weapons we would use because
Some regard the atomic bomb as “the thank God for the atom bomb”. This places God on the U.S. side and regards the bombs as our saving grace. This bomb forced the Japanese to surrender which in turn proved the U.S. to be the heroes who saved the American’s lives.1 The Americans intended on ending the war but did not expect to end it with such a large number of casualties. The results of the atomic bomb and how it effected the Japanese people both emotionally and physically will be addressed. “The bombs marked both an end and a beginning—the end of an appalling global conflagration in which more than 50 million people were killed and the beginning of the nuclear arms race and a new world in which