In 1941, US President Franklin Roosevelt approved the funding for the American-led effort to develop an atomic weapon. This project was codenamed “The Manhattan Project.” The original motivation to create an atomic bomb was out of fear that Nazi Germany was pursuing their own atomic project. When the United States successfully tested their nuclear weapon in July 1945, Germany had already surrendered, and the focus of the Allied powers was on the defeat of Imperial Japan. Ultimately, two atomic bombs were dropped on Japanese cities in early August 1945, leading to the end of the Second World War. The dropping of the bombs led to over 150,000 civilian and military deaths. Despite the massive loss of innocent life, I believe that the United …show more content…
Conservative estimates have said that a million lives could have been lost had the US launched a full assault on the Japanese home islands. Strictly looking at the numbers, dropping the atomic bombs saved nearly a million lives. Also, Imperial Japanese forces controlled hundreds of thousands of Chinese and Indonesian people in 1945. On average, about 10,000 civilians and POWs under Japanese rule were killed every week the war continued. Not only were the bombs dropped to save the lives of those American soldiers that were invading the Japanese homeland, but it also saved the lives of innocent civilians in mainland Asia who were suffering under Japanese rule. In addition to these innocent civilians, by the end of the war, Japanese military leaders were training civilians to fight. It was the Japanese belief that despite the lack of military training, these civilians, often women, would overcome American soldiers with their “Japanese spirit”. These soldiers would have stood no chance against a well trained American Marine, especially a Marine who had just fought at Peleliu and Okinawa. Marines who had fought in these previous battles would have been so mentally and physically fatigued that the difference between civilian and soldier would have been indistinguishable. These “trained” Japanese civilians would have been annihilated by US soldiers. The mental effects
The bomb itself was already controversial, they knew the destructive force of it, so President Truman tried finding different ways of ending the war without using the bomb; they had options, and the use of the atomic bomb was the last of all of them. The United States had four different options they could take instead of the bomb. (www.nps.gov) Option one included the conventional Bombing of the Japanese Home Islands, option two: invade Japan, option three: demonstrate the bomb on an unpopulated island option four: drop the bomb on an inhabited Japanese City. However, even if the president did have these options, they were not used for a reason. For option one, the United States actually had been doing the conventional bombing,
In 1945, two atomic bombs were dropped over Japan on Hiroshima and Nagasaki which resulted in thousands of civilian deaths and a detrimental impact on the environment.
During World War II, President Harry S. Truman ordered for an atomic bomb to be dropped on the Japanese city of Hiroshima on August 6th ,1945. The second and last atomic bomb to ever be dropped was in the city of Nagasaki on August 9th, 1945. Many Americans believed dropping the atomic bomb was necessary to end the war in a more timely manner, however, many others believed dropping the atomic bomb was too extreme of a measure to take against Japan. With the creation of the atomic bomb, the United States had a weapon of mass destruction that no one else yet had. Therefore, with the power the atomic bomb possessed, some people believed its use should only be used as a last resort. If Japan would not surrender during this war, then the United States would have a valid and necessary reason in using the power of an atomic bomb. For the other Americans that believed in the immediate drop of the atomic bomb, dropping it would end the war sooner, which would then decrease the amount American soldiers who would be killed during the war. Whether dropping the atomic bomb on Japan was the most ethical decision that President Truman could have ordered is still debated.
At the end of World War II, Winston Churchill said, “Never in the field of human
The atomic bombs might have killed thousands, but the bombs also saved millions. Before the war even started Japan had a grudge on America for cutting off of their oil supplies. Germany lost to the allies after hitter committed suicide. Japan was the last remain axis power. When Japan attacked Pearl Harbor, America had a right to join the war and get revenge. When America dropped the bombs, they did their best not to harm many civilians. Also they saved more lives than they took. The atomic bomb was the best way toned the war efficiently.
The two atomics bombings dropping on Japan are forever remembered today as a changing moment in history. The US dropped the atomic bomb called “Little Boy” on Hiroshima on August 6th, 1945. Only three days later on August 9th, 1945, the second atomic bomb called “Fat Man” was dropped on Nagasaki. This has been the only time that nuclear weapons have been used in war. These bombs have been questioned through history if it was moral or immoral correct. However, the bombs were definitely a moral decision, which helped the country immeasurably. The atomic bombing of Japan was a military success, and a moral decision because it was less harmful than the fire bombings and it helped the country immeasurably.
Although Truman realized that “an atomic bomb explosion would inflict damage and casualties beyond imagination,” he believed it would be the most effective approach in destroying the heartless nation of Japan (doc 1). Harry Truman also concluded that an invasion of Japan could cost as many as 1,000,000 American casualties. Therefore, if the US used atomic bombs against Japan, Japan would hopefully surrender, thus decreasing the number of American casualties. In agreement with Truman, Secretary of War, Henry Stimson, explained that the destruction of HIroshima and Nagasaki “stopped the fire raids, and the strangling blockade; it ended the ghastly specter of a clash of great land armies” (doc 3). An end to the massive number of bombs dropped, the blockade (?), and the horrific menace between Allied and Axis powers, caused the death toll in the Pacific to adequately decrease. In addition to saving thousands of American lives, it was in the United State’s best interest to force the Japanese to surrender, and to put an end to the immense fighting that occurred in the Pacific.
Atomic bombs can hurt about 100,000 people. They can get burns, radiation sickness, or even die from just one drop of this bomb. America and Japan have fought for four years, and Japan wouldn’t surrender. To make them surrender, America’s scientists created an atomic bomb, and dropped it onto Japan, and they finally surrendered. This nuclear weapon was needed to end war. The bombs did stop war and ended the rivalry between the two countries. Although, the bombs would pass along to other nations, ruin America’s reputation, and it affected a lot of people.
The Japanese are a very resilient people. For this reason alone they could have made the War last another year. This is all if the bomb didn’t drop. At the time when the bomb dropped the south of Japan was overrun by U.S.
Many Japanese soldiers were suffering and had little resources left, they were struggling to stay alive (Document D). The atomic bombs were able to stop the fighting and help the soldiers go home to their families safely. On the American side, soldiers had a plan of invading Japan but it would have been hard because of low resources, it was too expensive, and the Japanese home islands were heavily guarded (Document E). The bombs clearly were the right way to go. Many believe that Japan would have surrendered anyway due to sea blockade (Document K). That could have been true but due to the aforementioned evidence Japan would have continued fighting leading to more casualties on both sides than the amount of casualties caused by the bombs. Many people supported the nuclear violence, especially American soldiers who were glad they were going to live and did not have to invade Japan after all (Document H). Due to the personal accounts of civilians and soldiers it can be concluded that the Hiroshima and Nagasaki bombings were a military necessity because they saved the lives of Japanese and American
Two thousand four hundred and three Americans were killed and one thousand one hundred and seventy eight were wounded on the early morning of December 7, 1941; when the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor (Pearl Harbor Statistics 1). The dropping of the atomic bomb was a reasonable reaction to the atrocities, including the bombing of Pearl Harbor, committed by Japan to many countries. A man named Marine Corporal E.C Nightingale was on the USS Arizona when the Japanese attacked. “The bodies of the dead were thick, and badly burned men were heading for the quarterdeck, only to fall apparently dead or badly wounded. The Major and I went between No. 3 and No. 4 turret to the starboard side and found Lieutenant Commander Fuqua ordering the men over the side and assisting the wounded. Charred bodies were everywhere” (Eyewhitness to History 1). Not only did the Japanese leave the beaches and people of Hawaii in ruins, they have also taken many POWs, especially during WWII, and treated them
President Truman made the best decision he could have when he chose to drop the atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki during WWII. When you ask any historian whether or not Truman was right to drop the atomic bomb, you’re asking one of the most debated questions among them. This may seem like it should have a simple yes or no answer, but if you look deeper than the surface level, you’ll see it’s a lot more complex than that. Some think he was wrong to drop the bomb, and morally he was. However when you put yourself in the shoes of a president protecting your country and look at the war from a political and strategic viewpoint, you begin to realize he was right for dropping the bomb.
There are many reasons why we should not have dropped the atomic bomb. So I will tell you some reasons why we should not have dropped the atomic bomb.
The Atomic Bomb should be used very strategically and tactically in order to ensure a minimal loss of American life and a quick end to the war. Japan will not surrender until defeat meets them face to face. Japan’s women and children are jumping off of cliffs so that they can not be captured by the Allies. The Japanese soldiers are kamikaze bombing our American soldiers. Russia is preparing for an invasion into Eastern Asia. This madness must come to a halt. The United States needs to drop one Atomic Bomb on an outlying city of the capital, Tokyo. This will wake up the Japanese Emperor, Hirohito, and make for a quick surrender. We, however, cannot utterly destroy Japan with a second Atomic Bomb. We must remember that this is 1945 and communication is slow with the Asians. Their message of surrender will take several days to get to the United States. Therefore, we must save the second Atomic Bomb for an emergency situation only. In conclusion, only one Atomic Bomb should be dropped on an outlying city of Japan: to
Can you imagine yourself getting evaporated in a blink of an eye? I know no one wants to imagine that, but it might become reality soon if countries still keep possessing nuclear weapons. Furthermore, these weapons of mass eradication are an upcoming threat across the world because of its capacity for destruction which is why I chose to tell people my opinion on this matter. Additionally, I adopted this crisis as my essay topic because nuclear arms aren't just a domestic problem; it is a dilemma on a global scale. My aim today is to give you my two cents on why the prohibition of nuclear arsenals is the right thing to do! To stop this emergency, I will need all my readers help in protesting in peaceful ways against the arms because as Martin Luther once said: “Nothing good ever comes from violence.”