The Atomic Bomb Was Necessary

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)

World War 2 was one of the worst wars in world history. The allied forces, the U.S., France, China, Russia, and Great Britain, were at war against the axis powers, Germany, Italy, and Japan, to stop the nazis from taking over the world. There were many bad events and battles that happened over the 6 year time span of the war; but one of the worst has to be the Hiroshima and Nagasaki bombings at the end of the war. Some people say that the U.S. Needed to drop the bombs to save American and Japanese lives. Some think otherwise, that the bombs were not nessecary to end the war. Even the scientists who created the bombs believed it shouldn't have been used. Once the bomb was created, there was controversy

Atom bomb is a new bomb invention during the WWII. “Begin in 1944, some young Japanese men chose to become kamikaze pilots who undertook suicide missions, crashing their explosive-laden airplanes into American warships” (Ellis Esler 588). Because of this team, Japan won a lot of battles and it made the United States angry. Some scientists offered a new way to end of the war. They invented a new bomb, this new bomb was super powerful than any bomb before, and this project is called the Manhattan Project. In July 1945, American successfully tested the first atom bomb in Alamogordo, New Mexico. Then they told president about this project, during that time, the president of America is Harry Truman. And he found that atom bomb was a really useful weapon to end the war, so he decided to use it to against Japan. They gave Japan a warning about that surrender or “complete destruction” and “utter devastation”. But Japan even didn't care about this. Then, the hell was coming. On August6, 1945, American dropped the first atom bomb “little boy” over the city of Hiroshima. “The bomb flattened four square miles and instantly killed more than 70,000 people” (Ellis Esler 589). We can find that the atom bomb was a definitely destruct weapon, it killed 70,000 people at the same time. "We turned back to look at Hiroshima. The city was hidden by that awful cloud...

With the start of World War II the race for the first atomic bomb started. With Germany under Hitler’s reign, the Nazis began separating uranium to form the first atomic bomb to control the world. The push for the United States build the first atomic bomb began with this knowledge. With the help of several scientists the United States succeeded in building the atomic bomb first. Two atomic bombs were used; a uranium bomb on Hiroshima and a plutonium bomb on Nagasaki. Along with the many deaths were six stages of A-bomb illness which includes acute stages, atomic bomb trauma, A-bomb radiation illness, radiation blood injury at lethal dosage, blood injuries, and secondary radiation illness. Seven unhealed scars were also an effect of the atomic bombs that includes keloids, A-bomb cataracts, leukemia, cancers, chromosome changes, exposure in utero and microcephaly, and genetic surveys. Regulations and guidance were set in place soon after the bombings to protect the people of the world based on the information that was gathered and it has changed over the years based on the new information that was learned. With the use of the atomic bombs in World War II, a lot of pain and suffering was caused, but a great deal of information was learned to help protect future generations from radiation.

“ The atom bomb was no ‘great decision.’ It was merely another powerful weapon in the arsenal of righteousness.” This quote was said by Harry S. Truman the first President who used an atomic bomb. The program that was able to create this monstrous power was known as the Manhattan Project. Creating this weapon was their main priority. The United States was in the midst of World War 2. The atomic bomb is considered to be the main factor that ended that war. It was a race against the multiple enemies of the United States, to be the first to acquire this power and use it when necessary. The Manhattan Project was kept strictly confidential and, created the foundation of the future and more powerful nuclear weapons to come.

The necessity of the atomic bombs have long been debated in America. Although they did contribute to stopping the war, Americans still wonder if murdering Japanese civilians was a necessary means to an end, or if it could have been avoided. Some people believe that the war would have ended without using the bombs. Others believe they were the sole purpose that the war finally ended. Many people were involved with bringing the bombs to fruition, such as the scientists, the government and military leaders, and the very teams that flew them to their targets. Then the President addressed the situation and American citizens spoke their minds. All of these people had their own thoughts on whether the bombs were needed. In this essay, the opinions on the atomic bomb’s necessity will be reviewed by presenting both the pros and cons from a variety of sources.

The atomic bomb was seen as a weapon capable of ending the war, and it did just that. Due to its quick and magnificent destruction capabilities, the United States could avoid hand to hand combat and save the lives of many Americans. On the other hand, the bombs were seen as unnecessarily brutal. Because of its lethal range, hundreds of thousands of civilians were killed.

Furthermore, if the true intention for the use of bombings was to end the war quicker as declared by the President Truman, then the war could really have ended months earlier without the bombs. This is because, in January 1945, General Douglas MacArthur informed President Roosevelt that the Japanese had offered peace overtures to end the war (Trohan, 1986, as cited in Weber, 1997). The terms were virtually similar to the Potsdam Declaration, but, with emphasis that the Emperor must not be touched. The Japanese were willing to end the war on any terms, as long as the Emperor was not molested (Weber, 1997). I believe that if the U.S. had not insisted on unconditional surrender and was willing to permit the Emperor to remain in place; the end of the war could have been brought forward as the Japanese would have surrendered immediately, thus saving many innocent civilians.

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.

During World War II, there was much advancement in technology that led to the destruction of many countries after World War II. New advanced weaponry of World War II or “The Great War” led a lack of new skills that led to many casualties because of the advancement in technology. The most significant weapon that was used and had a huge impact in the World War II was the creation of the atomic bomb. This weapon was so significant because as soon as this weapon was dropped, it would immediately cause great destruction from its explosion. The United States was the first to create and use the atomic bomb. In July 1945, the Manhattan Project, which was the creation of the atomic bomb, was successfully tested the first atomic bomb in New

World War II began September 1, 1939 and ended September 2, 1945. When this war began, many young boys and men were drafted into the war. Most of them left what they were doing and all they’ve known, to fight in the war. It was the war that advanced technology and created social changes. The United States was the first country to use the atomic bomb in warfare. On August 6, 1945, the first of two atomic bombs were dropped. The first bomb was named, “Little Boy,” and was dropped on the city of Hiroshima. The second bomb was named, “Fat Man,” (History.com Staff 2009) and was dropped on the city of Nagasaki three days later. The bombs resulted in thousands of casualties and radiation among the civilians. Dropping the atomic bomb was the right decision because the bomb would end the war, it was revenge for Pearl Harbor, and it saved the lives of more Americans.

Three well revered American generals, Leahy, Macarthur, and Eisenhower, stated the dropping of the atomic bomb “was not a military necessity.” Japan was already struggling greatly to maintain itself, and they felt that it would fall soon. Leahy even went as far as to say that a continuation of the blockade of Japan and bombings would have been enough to bring Japan to its knees. These generals acknowledged the efficiency of the atomic bomb, but could not reconcile that efficiency to the devastating consequences. Two mainly civilian cities were almost completely leveled. Prior to the test dropping of the atomic bomb, a survey was given out to the scientists working on the Manhattan Project to gauge what they thought would be the best

The atomic bomb was dropped on Hiroshima on August 6, 1945. The bomb was used to end the war 6 months earlier than the war would have ended naturally. If the bomb was never dropped then the United States would have invaded japan and lost up to 1,000,000 soldiers in the battle (source 8). The United States should not have dropped the bomb because it killed more innocent people than it did threats to the country. The bomb had a blast radius of over 2,000 yards. This bomb disintegrated anything that was 1 mile within ground zero which was the drop site of the bomb.

America chose to drop atomic bombs on Japan, and this affected the war and the country in many ways. America was trying to stop the war and make Japan surrender. Atomic bombs, which are nuclear weapons, were dropped by the United States on the cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Japan. Atomic bombs terrify everyone today, but at that time, they were considered an indispensable step for an early end to the war with minimal human losses. Some people believed the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki were necessary to end the war. Some people believed the bombings were a terrible mistake. Many of the events that shaped this creation were The Manhattan Project, the actual creation of the atomic bomb, Hiroshima, and Nagasaki. Therefore, the

The Atomic bomb was developed in the early 1940’s as Nazi Germany and the American and allied scientists raced to create the first ever atomic bomb. Still, even today there has only ever been two atomic bombs used during an attack, the Hiroshima, and Nagasaki. Both atomic bombs are what pushed to the end of World War II however, it was at the cost of many innocent lives. The atomic bomb had ended one war but started the “Atomic Age” which would create fear and desperation across many different nations. The creation and development of the atomic bomb were unnecessary because from the past and current world events it has shown that it only lead to fear, destruction, and war, not peace.