Justification for Using Atomic Bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki

“In 1957, with the arms race in full swing, the Department of Defense had decided it was just a matter of time before an airplane transporting an atomic bomb would crash on American soil, unleashing a radioactive disaster the likes of which the world had never seem.” On August 6, 1945, the first atomic bomb was dropped on Hiroshima, killing 20,000 soldiers and 70,000 – 126,000 civilians. On August 9, 1945, the second atomic bomb was dropped on Nagasaki, killing 39,000 – 80,000. A total of 129,000 – 226,000 people were killed in combining both bomb droppings. Dropping both atomic bombs on Japan was necessary to end the war because the military needed to end the war, the Japanese were given fair warnings

In my opinion, the dropping of the Atomic bomb on Hiroshima and Nagasaki wasn’t justified because many innocent civilians were killed when the Americans were close to defeating the Japanese. Nonetheless, I do acknowledge that others may have a different opinion, because dropping the bomb ended the war and they freed prisoners of war.

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.

The US’s declaration of unconditional surrender was called the Potsdam Declaration and it was issued on July 26, 1945 demanding that Japan surrender or face utter destruction. In addition to administering the Potsdam Declaration, US warplanes rained 63 million leaflets on 35 cities that were to be targeted by the bomb. These leaflets said that these 35 cities ,which got the leaflets, should evacuate due to the fact that they were being targeted by US warplanes. The Japanese had known that the US had something specially planned for them, so it was fair game to drop the bomb. Also the leaflets stated that the Japanese should evacuate but since they ignored the leaflets and didn’t evacuate the people, they had to suffer the consequences. In addition, the Potsdam Declaration was never responded to so the US went ahead with their plan and dropped the atomic bomb. This was entirely Japan’s government fault because although many Japanese citizens feared of what was to come and believed the leaflet, the Japanese arrested anyone who had a copy of it. The atomic bomb was justified due to the negligence of Japan not responding to the Potsdam Declaration or following the orders of the

When the atomic bombs were dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki all living things in a five square mile radius of where the atomic bombs impacted died instantly, it ended the war and saved thousands lives. The following documents tell you about the importance of dropping the atomic bomb and the thinking behind there strategies. The US wanted Japan to surrender and wanted no more bloodshed and wanted the Soviet Union to be surprised. As stated in document 13 the Americans concern for Japan's unwillingness to resign, “imminent threat of a landing, on Japan proper by us, to convince them of the hopelessness of their situation”1. and again in document 16 shares thoughts for Russia involvement, “atomic attack against Japan would shock the Russians”2 finally document 17 shows the stubbornness of “Japan to agree Japanese leadership would probably not have surrendered if the Truman administration had clarified the status of the emperor when it demanded unconditional surrender prolongation of the war and cost a large number of human lives”3. Although some people think dropping the atomic bombs on Japan wasn’t justified, I think that dropping the atomic bombs on Japan was justified.

On August 6th, 1945, the first atomic bomb to ever be used in the history of the world was dropped on Hiroshima. The result of this bomb killed roughly 80,000 people from the blast itself, and tens of thousands more due to radiation poisoning. After a few days passed, the United States dropped another nuclear bomb on Nagasaki, and threatened to drop another if the Japanese did not surrender. The bombs that were dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki lead to the Japanese surrender to the United States, removing them from the war. While the use of this bomb was likely necessary at the time, was it an ethical decision? The lives that were affected from this blast were not just of those who experienced it, generations later, people who weren’t even alive at the time were faced with trauma as well. With that being said, the dropping of the bomb might have been necessary, but it was an unethical decision, even though the Japanese made it perfectly clear that they will fight until the last civilian.

Another key thing to remember is the war could have ended sooner. In document two, we learned that President Truman didn't want to drop the atomic bombs, but it would hopefully lead the war to an end. “He did not like the idea. But was persuaded that it would shorten the war against Japan and American lives.” We needed to get Japan to surrender. They didn't want to surrender unconditionally and refused. Japan didn't surrender until September of 1945, The war could have gone on longer.

Second World War was one of the most devastating wars of all time. The War started when Germany invaded Poland which led Britain and France declaring war on Nazi Germany in 1939. Meanwhile, the Marco Polo Bridge incident led to war between China and Japan. President Roosevelt declared the United States as a neutral country which would not participate in the war. Even though the United States was a neutral country, Japanese air bombed Pearl Harbor, a United States Naval Base located in Hawaii on December 7, 1941. This attack led to the death of over 2400 Americans. Because of the attack on Pearl Harbor United States was forced to enter the War. The United States fought alongside the Allied Powers on two different fronts, European and the Pacific front, for the next four years. Allied Powers finally won after Germany surrendered about a week after their Nazi leader Adolf Hitler’s suicide on May 8, 1945. Japanese did fight for another four months and then surrendered on September 2, 1945, after the United States dropped two Atomic Bombs on Japanese cities Hiroshima and Nagasaki. The Bombing of these two cities has been the talk of dispute ever since. Many believe that the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki was justified because it ended the war, while others say it was unjustified because the war would have ended even if the atomic bombs weren’t used.

The total amount of people that died from the dropping of the atomic bomb was immense. Here are the statistics. Within the first two to four months of the bombings, the acute effects of the atomic bombings killed 90,000–146,000 people in Hiroshima and 39,000–80,000 in Nagasaki; roughly half of the deaths in each city occurred on the first day.

During World War II Americans dropped atomic bombs over the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki killing nearly 200,000 people. This resulted in Japans surrender in World War II. J. Samuel Walker analyzes this historical event in his book Prompt and Utter Destruction: Truman and the Use of Atomic Bombs. Over the past 70 years’ extensive research has been conducted and there is an understanding that Truman’s decision to drop the atomic bombs is inconclusive. It is impossible to determine that the use of the bomb was the quickest way to end the war. An analysis of President Truman’s decision to drop the atomic bomb reveals one challenge: was the decision to destroy Hiroshima and Nagasaki a show of good judgment.

On August 6, 1945 the United States dropped the first atomic bomb on the Japanese city of Hiroshima. This was an extremely controversial military strategy in the United States. Was the United States justified in the dropping of the atomic bomb? The U.S. feared the rise of communism and gave aid to any country against it. The U.S. also fought countries threatening the spread communism. One of these countries was Japan. We began a harsh and brutal war against Japan and against communism. This war was killing many soldiers and Japan was not backing down. President Truman decided to use the atomic bomb when things were getting worse. The decision to use the atomic bomb was a difficult one and many people wonder if it was the right

On the 6th and 9th of August, 1945, the United States of America dropped the Atomic Bombs on the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. The use of these bombs brought a quick end to World War 2, yet caused extensive damage to the two Japanese cities. There have often been disputes as to whether the USA was justified in the dropping of the atomic bombs because of the damage they caused, not only to the cities, but to the people of Japan as well. Many people believe that the USA should not have dropped the bombs because of the damage they caused, and they also claim that Japan was already defeated. However, Japan did not surrender, and prolonging the war was not an option for America, as it believed it would cause even more casualties, not only to American troops, but to Japan as well. Thus the USA was justified in dropping the bombs on Japan.

In the 1960s the public saw the bomb only as an action to gain an upper hand with Russia (Goodman, screen 2). Also, on a more tragic note, by 1946, 240,000 Japanese had died from the two bombs (screen 1). Even now people are still dying from the effects of the Atomic Bomb(Why, screen 1). One aspect that is under big concern is whether dropping the bomb or an invasion would have taken more lives. One source that gave estimates of an invasion stated, "In a meeting on 18 June the Joint War Plans Committee gave Truman projected death rates ranging from a low of 31,000 to a high of 50,000" (Goodman, screen 6).

The dropping of the atomic bomb on Nagasaki and Hiroshima in 1945 by the Americans is a very controversial issue with no definite answer. Both sides of the issue have very justifiable arguments. Reasons for dropping the bomb include the fact that Truman’s options were limited at this point in the war, that the bomb did have the desired outcome of Japans surrender and that the majority of reasons America had for dropping the bomb are justifiable. On the other hand, the atomic bomb was complete new technology and there is no way that Japan could have possibly been ready for it and for that reason the dropping of the atomic bomb is very

At about eight A.M on August sixth, 1945 the Japanese city Hiroshima was destroyed by the deployment of the first nuclear weapon, nicknamed “Little Boy.” Soon after, at about eleven A.M the following day, a second bomb was dropped, called “Fat Man” on Nagasaki. Together, these bombings caused massive destruction. The death total was well near 220, 000. Only portions of these deaths were from the days of the bombings, with an equal number occurring later in the year from exposure to radiation. More have died since from leukemia.