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Is The Atomic Bomb Justified

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One of the most significant events of the 20th century was the “Second Great War”, known to many of us as World War II. In this worldwide conflict that lasted between 1939-1945 more than 60 million people lost their lives, making WW II the deadliest conflict in the history of humankind. After six long years of fighting and the loss of human life reaching unimaginable levels the United States Government determined it was necessary to use its newly developed weapon, the atomic bomb. In a span of a couple of days, August 6th and 9th of 1945 to be exact, the United States military dropped two atomic bombs on the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Thus, resulting in the eventual unconditional surrender of the Empire of Japan six days later. Many American scholars believe that the use of the atomic bombs was necessary to force the Japanese surrender prior to a military invasion. Therefore, saving thousands or millions of American lives, as well as being the more humane thing to do to avoid the images of the mingled bodies of U.S. soldiers. On the other side of this argument opponents of the atomic bombs have claimed that the United States Government should have considered alternative ways to end the war. This heated debate …show more content…

It wasn’t long after that many scholars viewed the atomic bombs as unnecessary, therefore criticized President Truman and his administration’s decision to ultimately use the atomic bombs to succumb Japan into surrendering. Many critics believed that the U.S. Government could have ended the war without the use of nuclear weapons and felt that conventional military methods could have sufficed. Many suggested that the United States demonstrated acts of racism towards the Japanese people, while others believed that by using the atomic bomb the U.S. flexed its muscles towards a new threat, the Soviet Union and its communist

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