America Drops the Atomic Bomb on Japan Was it necessary for United States to drop the atomic bomb, on Hiroshima, and Nagasaki towards the end of World War II.(Air power history pg.55) The United States was in the process of developing a massive bomb that was very destructive. It started under the watch of FDR, and continued after his death. One of his principal goals during the Big Three meeting in the Berlin suburb of Potsdam in July 1945 was to secure Stalin's pledge to enter the war within a few weeks. When the time came Soviet dictator agreed, Truman jotted in his diary: "Fini Japs when that comes about. (Time) “The atomic bomb, and its destruction capabilities on Hiroshima, and Nagasaki, also did President Truman have all the information he needed to drop the bomb. …show more content…
Secretary of War Stimson informed him of the important matter: A project to develop a new bomb of almost unbelievable destructive power, this was the first time Truman had heard of the atomic bomb. A few months later, while Truman was attending Potsdam, The weapon was successfully tested"(Air power history pg.56). "President Harry S Truman" had a lot of decision-making to make. He would have to depend on the information that was getting to him from his war advisors furthermore, he wasn’t sure the decision he had to make, would be an easy one for him to make. But he knew he had to drop the bomb on Hiroshima. The destructive force was more than any human had ever seen before. Hiroshima was devastated by the "fat man" bomb. The devastation was so great there was almost 100,000 life taken with that one bomb that was dropped. With that said there was another decision to make, Whether or not a second bomb was
At 8:16 A.M on August 6, 1945, 80,0000 people ceased to breathe immediately upon the bombed dropped on Hiroshima (History.com.) Meanwhile, three days later another atomic bomb discharged from the aircraft of the Enola Gay, navigating its way on Nagasaki killing 40,000 people instantly. As a result, others endured severe burns and were contaminated with radiation illness due to the exposure from the bomb. In addition, the dynamic blast that plummeted onto Nagasaki and Hiroshima was equivalent to the power of 15,000-18,000 tons of TNT (History.com.) The United States wanted to put a stop to World War II as soon as possible and decided to release two dominant charges on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Ryan Browne from CNN states, “Rushay said that Hiroshima was one of four potential targets and that Truman left it up to the military to decide which city to strike. Hiroshima was chosen as a target because of its military importance.” President Harry Truman wanted to make a statement to the world and Japan by releasing the two atomic bombs, which is similar to the government (Big Brother) in 1984 when
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)
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.
On August 5th, 1945 the Enola Gay, a B-29 bomber flew over the Japanese city of Hiroshima and released the most destructive weapon known to mankind. Mere moments later the city was engulfed in a fireball that rose up into the sky. Thousands perished instantly and many more would die from severe exposure to radiation. Two days later a second atomic bomb was dropped on the city of Nagasaki increasing the death toll to 120,000. The decision to drop nuclear weapons on Japan was made by the United States president Harry S. Truman. The decision to use these weapons has sparked controversy over whether or not a justification exists for extinguishing the lives of innocent civilians. For President Truman the decision
Imagine yourself making the toughest decision in your life, whether sacrificing a million of our men and thousands of war ships and plans, verses several thousand of Japanese civilian populists. This decision was on the shoulder of Harry S. Truman, the United States President, who had to make this decision by deciding whether or not to drop a newly designed weapon. The atomic bomb was tested in the sands of New Mexico, where it proved to be very successful. Harry S. Truman made a very successful decision, because he wanted to end the war quickly, show others that the United States had power, and the retribution of Pearl Harbor.
President Harry S. Truman 's intentions of the atomic bomb were to bring an end to the war, the Japanese had made it clear that there would be no surrender on their side. In Truman 's diary entry from the Potsdam Conference, he discussed that the bomb would only be dropped and used on "military objectives and soldiers and sailors", the innocent women and children where not their target. Although he did state “Even if the Japs are savages, ruthless, merciless, and fanatic, we as the leaders of the world for the common welfare cannot drop this terrible bomb on the old capital or the new.” Truman was aware of the affect the atomic bomb had, and how dangerous it was; making it known that dropping such forces on the people of Japan would cause major damage. He also mentioned that there would be a warning to the Japanese government to and save the lives of their people, even though they had
Asia so Truman used the bomb as a message to him not to go further.
The dropping of the atomic weapons in Hiroshima and Nagaski, ordered by President Harry S. Truman, were completely necessary to ensure a speedy end to the war while saving many lives that would have otherwise been taken, had the battle continued. The atomic bombs, also known as Fat Man and Little Boy, were dropped in Japan in the summer of 1945. To this day, The United States stands as the only nation to have used a nuclear weapon on another nation. A single atomic bomb can reduce a city and its population to dust. Although the bombings were inhumane and had negative effects that were unavoidable, the nature of war is catastrophic and human lives are taken nonetheless. What was to be decided was whether these deaths should be of the Japanese
"Should we drop the weapon of mass destruction capable of taking out entire civilizations? At this point, you're probably thinking that we shouldn't. Let's set the stage on we should, the Japanese dropped many regular bombs on us when we weren't ready or expecting the attack, Now if you've taken your history classes this is known as The Sneak Attack. Following the dropping of the bombs we entered one of the bloodiest wars ever, World War II, hundreds of thousands of people were dying and according to Tom Nichols, Professor of National Security Affairs, "The fact of the matter is that Japan was not preparing to surrender; it was preparing to fight to the death." So this war was not going to be over anytime soon. As far as Truman, the president at the time could tell this war was not going to be over anytime soon. This is why the bomb should have been dropped.
should have had more patience with Japan rather than dropping the bombs so sudden. When the bomb was dropped, many Japanese people were killed, buried alive, critically burned, and severely injured (Michiko, “800 Meters”). The importance of this article was that many people were decapitated from their bodies and many Japanese were very deprived in money, they could not receive the proper medical treatments for their injuries at that time. The use of the bomb was more to scare Russia. In Truman’s diary, it stated that he told Stalin that he has a new weapon that was a destructive force (Barnes, www.bit.ly/2zL4iFd). During that time, Truman had a deep hatred towards Stalin. Therefore he was bragging to him about this “new weapon” because the U.S. went being their back and the USSR could not play a role in the war. Truman was not thinking about the effects towards the Japanese at that
It wasn’t necessary to drop the atomic bomb on Hiroshima. The U.S. could’ve staged a full scale attack on the Japanese mainland. This might have resulted in the deaths of thousands of U.S. and Japanese soldiers, but it wouldn’t have required the deaths of over a hundred thousand innocent civilians. There were other options, such as accepting a conditional surrender by Japan, which would’ve resulted in far less causalities. Dropping an atomic bomb wasn’t the only way to end the war, and it can be argued that the bomb itself wasn’t what ended the war.
The decision to drop the bomb on Hiroshima and Nagasaki was the hardest decision for President Truman to make. He had the power right there in his hands to end the war but he would have to unleash the most powerful weapon known to man, at this time. Everyone was very tired of fighting but the Japanese would not give up so Truman decided to drop it. Even though we told Japan that if they did not surrender we would completely demolish some of their cities, they did not listen and they did not surrender. Maybe they did not think about what kind of weapons we would use because
The decision to drop Atomic bombs on the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki in August 1945 was not an easy decision. Some people were astonished by the idea of America having Nuclear weapons in their possession and by the fact that it could end this deathly and overdue war quicker, while others believe 200,000 civilians would die in vain. Both opinions were deeply taken into consideration before making the decision on dropping the bombs. In 1942 the U.S government created the Manhattan project. A top secret research and developmental program to develop the first atomic bomb ever. President Roosevelt assigned General Leslie Groves and scientist Robert Oppenheimer co-leaders of the Manhattan Project. In April 1945 the new president Truman
a fireball that reached a diameter of 1,000 ft. and a temperature of more than
With the approval of American President Harry S. Truman, the fates of two Japanese cities, Hiroshima and Nagasaki were sealed. This decision came with heavy hearts, as the United States attempted to end their involvement in World War II by using nuclear power against the nation of Japan. Truman’s primary goal in this form of attack was to discontinue the war as quickly as possible, while also sending a message to the enemy and establish the United States as the leader in atomic energy. Beginning as a secret operation labeled the Manhattan Project, atomic bombs became the new weapons of mass destruction. The evident frontrunner in nuclear technology, the United States was the first country to release atomic bombs on another nation for war