Nuclear Weapons And The Bombing Of Hiroshima

Hiroshima was such an ideal target for American bombing. According to the book, this was because the city was considered an important place for establishing a military command center. Another reason was that it was a place where communication would be coordinated from. It was the perfect city for militaries to station their operations in.

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)

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.

President Harry Truman decided to try out the atomic bomb on Japan after being involved in many tragic battles against them. One of the horrific attacks was on the morning of December 7, 1941 when Pearl Harbor, a naval base in Hawaii, was unexpectedly bombed by the Japanese. When the attack was over, 2,403 Americans died. A day later, President Franklin Delano Roosevelt declared war against Japan. In his speech, Roosevelt described the attack to 81 million Americans listening on the radio as sudden and deliberated for weeks in advance. For the next four years, the war between the U.S. and Japan raged on.

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.

Hiroshima and Nagasaki altered the course of world events by starting the Cold War, ushering advancements in technology, and by influencing cultures worldwide. Occurring on August 6 and August 9 in 1945, the bombing of the cities set of a series of events that would forever change history. The United States and the Soviet Union emerged from the war as superpowers with seemingly limitless power. Their ideologies, however, contrasted greatly, and the once allied nations would turn against each other, setting the entire world into a period of uncertainty. The atomic bomb, alone, would influence countless decisions, technologies, and policies in the following years and strike fear and awe into many around the world.

        August 6, 1945 defines a pivotal moment in world history. At 8:15am, the United States

On December 7, 1941, hundreds of Japanese fighter planes attacked the American Naval base at Pearl Harbor near Honolulu, Hawaii. The Japanese managed to destroy about 20 American Naval vessels, including eight enormous battleships, and more than 300 airplanes.there we more than 2,000 Americans Soldiers and Sailors that died in the attack, and another 1,000 that were wounded. After the attack President Franklin D. Roosevelt asked congress to declare war on Japan. Congress approved his declaration with just one dissenting vote. Japanese allies Germany and Italy also declared war on the United States, and congress reciprocated. Two years into the conflict, American had joined World War II.

In 1945 America committed an act that some consider to be one of the most destructive acts in the world. It has been questioned why America would execute the devastating dropping of the bombs, nicknamed fat man and little boy, on Hiroshima and Nagasaki during World War two.

December 7, 1941, was the day America would enter a time of war known as World War II. The United States had refused to take part in the world war that had already begun due to Adolf Hitler and his German forces. It was only a matter of time before the United States would be drug into this already bloody war. Japan had been in diplomatic negotiations with the United States revolving around continued peace talks regarding pacific area. On December 7, 1941, Japan launched a surprise naval and aerial attack on Pearl Harbor, located on Oahu island in Hawaii. President Franklin D Roosevelt delivered a national speech immediately, stating to Congress that they must go to war against the Empire of Japan, and seek revenge for what they had done. Roosevelt

On December 7, 1941, Japanese forces attacked an American naval base, Pearl Harbor, in Honolulu, Hawaii. Twenty naval vessels and 200 airplanes were destroyed during the attack. 2000 soldiers were killed and 1000 were injured. The following day, December 8, President Franklin Delano Roosevelt asked the United States congress to declare war on Japan. Three days later, after the United States turned its attention to Germany and Italy, the two countries declared war on the United States, which the President and Congress freely agreed to. After two years of continuous fighting in the second World War, America had finally joined (“Pearl Harbor”).

On December 7th, 1941 Pearl Harbor, Hawaii was the target of an unannounced military attack by the Japanese Navy. This resulted in the United States entry into World War II. After almost 4 years of war, 400,000 US casualties, 6 months of air strikes on Japanese cities and an impending defeat of Japan, an ultimatum was delivered to Japan by the United States: surrender or be destroyed.

There is no way to justify killing people, simply, because it is wrong and immoral, but what if it’s done to protect your own people? Would it be justified then? President Truman thought so. In 1945, during the heightened onslaught of World War II with Japan, Harry S. Truman was faced with a difficult decision that would determine the future of the War and the future of our nation. Before Franklin D. Roosevelt passed away, he had been working on a secret, powerful, nuclear weapon that not even his Vice President knew about. This weapon was geared up and ready to end the War, but it came at a price. The radioactive material inside the bomb was only about the size of an orange, but it could wipe out an entire population. On August 6th, 1945 Truman makes the difficult decision to drop the first atomic bomb on Hiroshima, Japan. The bomb killed 140,000 people and destroyed 80% of the buildings in the city. This was the beginning of a new age. Three days later Truman dropped the second bomb on Japan killing 70,000 people. Emperor Hirohito of Japan was forced to surrender on August 14th, 1945, in order to salvage the rest of his country. Although there was massive devastation in Japan, I believe President Harry Trumans’ actions were justified because the dropping of the atomic bomb gave Japans leadership the final jolt it needed to surrender and it saved lives on, not only the American side, but also the Japanese side of the war.

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.