Dropping The Atomic Bombs On Japan

The dropping of the atomic bomb was the first of many nuclear projects. The first project was called the Manhattan project. Three bombs were created, one was a test, and the two others were dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, cities in Japan. These bombs created mass destruction for the two cities; buildings were obliterated, fires erupted, and radiation spread for miles. After foreign countries saw what the United States was capable of, countries all around the world started to develop their own nuclear weapons, creating a surplus of weapons of mass destruction. “Today, eight countries in the world have nuclear arsenals (weapon supplies). The United States and Russia (formerly part of the Soviet Union) have most of the world’s nuclear weapons. Other countries with nuclear arms include China, France, India, Israel, Pakistan, and the United Kingdom” (Kroenig). Following World War Two, the Soviet Union and the United States were leaders of nuclear weapons. This period was called the Cold War. Forty-five years of potential nuclear destruction loomed over the Soviets and Americans. It wasn’t until after the Cold War that diplomats created the Nuclear Non Proliferation Treaty. The Nuclear Non Proliferation Treaty, or NPT for short, recognizes the United States, Russia, China, France, and the United Kingdom as nuclear weapon states. Nearly every country in the world is a member of the treaty, even if they do not possess nuclear weapons, by law they state that they are a nonnuclear

Was it necessary for Truman to drop the Atomic Bombs on Japan in World War II? On August 6, 1945, the first atomic bomb was dropped by a US aircraft on Hiroshima. This atomic bomb was dropped to force Japan into surrender, this bomb alone destroyed Hiroshima and over 90,000 people were instantly killed in the explosion and an additional 100,000 people perished from burns and radiation sickness. On August 9, 1945 only three days later, the second atomic bomb was dropped over Nagasaki resulting in an additional 80,000 casualties of the Japanese population. The people of Japan surrendered on August 14, 1945 soon after the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Many people opposed to the use of the atomic bombs because people argued that Truman 's decision to use atomic bombs was a barbaric act of cruelty. People also argued that the US government had other ulterior motives to drop the atomic bomb that were necessary for America 's ideals. Necessary motives like presenting The Soviet Union a strong message for the Soviets to watch their step around America. A conventional way of warfare for Japan 's surrender would have costed many more American lives. Truman and others believed that the atomic bomb was necessary to save American lives but also Japanese lives. These actions from President Truman marked the end of the most destructive war in history. The two sources that will used and evaluated in this paper are is The Decision to Drop the Atomic Bomb by Dennis D. Wainstock (1996)

With the closing of the Second World War at hand, Harry S. Truman represented the United States in Potsdam Germany to decide the fate of a post war world. The key individuals in the conference consisted of the allied leaders, Soviet Premier Stalin, Prime Minister Churchill, and Truman. Dubbed the “big Three” in the second conference of the post war, they were charged with the daunting task of dealing with Japan and their continued effort in the ending war. The Potsdam Declaration was devised. It simply stated that Japan must immediately agree to an unconditional surrender or face total destruction. Japan would ignore this declaration (Scoenberger, 1969).

Intense moral justification was needed in order to make the decision to drop the bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki however, President Truman was ultimately the man who made the final decision to launch ‘Little Boy’ and destroy Hiroshima, Nagasaki and their civilians, thus forcing an end to the war. Although there were many alternatives presented to President Truman, it is unknown as to whether they would have actually succeeded in ending the war or producing less casualties. Truman made the decision to drop these bombs in the heat of war but his justification of having a military target appeared extremely unrealistic, as both cities were full of innocent civilians. The morality of the bombs have been debated over the years, however the publication of the actual damage to civilian life caused a strong voice opposed to the usage in the 60 years following the action.

The research question of this essay is “To what extent was the atomic bombing of Japan at the end of the Second World War Justified? In 1945, the United States authorized the dropping of the atomic bomb on the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. The first bomb, dropped on August 6th 1945, had a total casualty rate of 135,000, including non-combatant civilians, and as this, the atomic bombing of Japan at the end of the Second World War has indeed been a hugely discussed topic within academic and social circles until today. There have been historians, academics, and other influential individuals throughout the world who have argued on both sides of the spectrum regarding the effects of the bombings on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, and whether they were necessary and justified towards the ending of the conflict. According to the Center For Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), by 1944, it had become clear to both the United States and the Empire of Japan that Japan was indeed losing the war, and as this, there are many arguments and counterarguments regarding the effectiveness of the atomic bombing of Japan, as well as suggestions regarding alternatives due to the enormous human toll the bomb caused.

Thesis: The dropping of the atomic bomb during World War II by the United States on Japan was a justified act. Not only was the dropping of the atomic bomb used to save American lives, but it prevented the war from lingering on, taking the lives of more civilians. The bomb did not just make sense, but it saved lives, despite taking some, therefore making the atomic bomb a reasonable action. It is not war mentality to think of preserving the lives of innocent people when the safety of the world is at stake. World War II, taking place in Japan, was likely to continue to linger on which would produce more deaths in the long run. In a book entitled, Thank God for the Atomic Bomb, by WWII soldier, Paul Fussell, he noted that "The people who preferred an invasion to a bombing seemed to have no intention of proceeding to the Japanese front themselves. I have already noted what a few more days would mean to the luckless troops and sailors on the spot....on Okinawa, only a few weeks before Hiroshima, 123,000 Japanese and Americans killed each other. War is immoral. War is cruel". By saying this it proves that although dropping the atomic bomb had some consequences, not dropping it, and letting the war carry on had far worse outcomes, and those who did want an invasion were not willing to go fight for it, again proving the high demand for the wars end. Then, in a speech made by President Truman he explains, "My chief

First of all, the dropping of the atomic bomb caused the Japanese to surrender and leading to the end of the war. For the reason that, after the first bomb was dropped on the city of Hiroshima, yet Japan did not want to surrender. The Japanese empire surrender after that second atomic bomb was dropped on the city of Nagasaki. According to Harrys S Truman’s Decision “One week later, on August 14, 1945, after the second atomic bomb was dropped on Nagasaki, the Japanese surrendered” . The results of the significant and brave decision that President Truman made; put a stop to many issues that may had occurred during the WWII. Nevertheless, the usage of the second atomic bomb made the Japanese realize that the United States had created a powerful weapon, and lead to their surrender. Second of all, the atomic bomb was the most proper manner in avoiding a Japanese invasion. The United States was mostly concern on an unexpected invasion or attack from Japan, such as the attack on Pearl Harbor. According to the article History, President Roosevelt commented “I believe I interpret the will of the congress and of the people when I assert that we will not only defend ourselves to the uttermost, but will make very certain that this form of treachery shall never endanger us again.” Moreover, the unexpected attack on Pearl Harbor is a perfect example of the damages that they

The decision for the United States to drop the atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki has been debated since the days they were dropped, just as it was debated in the days leading up to the drop. It is a debate that people will likely always disagree on, considering it is such a high controversial topic. The United States had been fighting the Japanese Empire for years, and had not made any significant strides that indicated a success any time soon. Due to this seemingly never ending struggle, the United States made the decision to drop two atomic bombs on the cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. These bombs were more deadly and destructive than any weapons had ever been before and caused the suffering and death of thousands of innocent civilians.

Historians, Scientist, and military advisors all have diverse opinions on the dropping of the atomic bomb. Varying from, it should be dropped to bring an end to the war with Japan, to it is inhumane to use such a power weapon on the Japanese military. Having so many diverse opinions on the newest found weapon, made the decision difficult for President Truman. There is no found proof that the war would have ended shortly after if it hadn’t been dropped. It was an uncertain factor on what would happen if the bomb wasn’t dropped, as well as what would happen if it was dropped.

I think Truman made a right decision on dropping the atomic bomb on Japan. If he didn't made that decision the war against Japan would have been lasted for another year and the causalities for both side would have been increased. We would have been wasted more money, resources and lives. By the decision to drop the atomic bomb on Japan; the number of death people was less and it stopped the war and the resources of Japan to fight.

Explain why America dropped the bomb on the city of Hiroshima and describe the effects of the bombing?

Well what if America didn’t nuke Hiroshima.World War 2 would’ve ended regardless.America had the upper hand if Japan didn’t attack at pearl harbor they wouldnt’ve nuked hiroshima.World War 2 would’ve ended but not as soon but it would’ve ended.A couple things that would’ve happened is that the US wouldn’t have military bases on japan.

If the US hadn't completely destroyed these two cities and destroyed all hope for Japanese civilians the war would've went on until either side ran out of resources or men. The Atlantic(1946) also stated that “Without the atomic bomb, the surrender would have come without a great deal more of costly struggle and bloodshed”. and that “If the atomic bomb had not been used, evidence like that I have cited points to the practical certainty that there would have been many more months of death and destruction on an enormous scale. Although most of the morals and ethics behind the bombings of the civilians in Hiroshima and Nagasaki were immoral and inhumane, without them the effects of the war continuing would've been far

The atomic bombing of Japan was an unjustified decision that many considered was inhumane. Through the use of atomic bombs, many innocents were harmed in one way or another. Berger described the atomic bombing of Hiroshima as "a terrorist act" and that it was "evil". While Berger 's argument was extreme, the U.S. still remains unjustified because they did not know exactly how much damage the bomb would actually cause. Bombing Japan, the U.S. harmed thousands of civilians and displayed the effectiveness of the atomic bomb despite having other options to end the war.

Would you kill a thousand to save millions? Well the drastic actions taken by the United States did save millions. There were two actions that had to occur to save the millions and end the war, the dropping of the two atomic bombs being the first of their kind were to be the most powerful bomb ever invented using atomic and nuclear forces so create it and packed over 20,000 tons of TNT and was about ten feet long. The bomber that transported and dropped them was called the 'Enola Gay’. The two Japanese cities’ that were struck by such creations were Hiroshima and Nagasaki. In this essay I will be discussing on how the actions taken by the United States of America were completely justified in dropping the two bombs as is established a future power image, saved millions, ended the war and ended the axis of evil.