The Dropping Of The Atomic Bomb

In the 1930’s and the 1940’s there was a change in American leadership. Having this change not only changed the outcome of the war that we were currently in, but how the rest of the world would view our country after the war. The decision that Harry Truman was forced to make on the choice to drop the atomic bomb or to attempt more land invasions was a choice that shaped the outcome of the war. There were major influences and side effects from the dropping of the atomic bomb and what it did to the country of Japan. Having the option and the weight of the moral decision weighing on Truman’s shoulders about what decision should be made, he was the only one who was capable of making the decision that shaped the outcome of the war. Having dropped the bomb on Japan, as a statement of power and a means to an end in a form was the only way that American lives could have been spared as comparing that to the lives that would have been lost in a land invasion. Knowing what the issues with the bomb was; one has to look at the moral issues, the results of the incident, and also how it played in the rest of the development of the world.

The dropping of the atomic bomb was the first of many nuclear projects. The first project was called the Manhattan project. Three bombs were created, one was a test, and the two others were dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, cities in Japan. These bombs created mass destruction for the two cities; buildings were obliterated, fires erupted, and radiation spread for miles. After foreign countries saw what the United States was capable of, countries all around the world started to develop their own nuclear weapons, creating a surplus of weapons of mass destruction. “Today, eight countries in the world have nuclear arsenals (weapon supplies). The United States and Russia (formerly part of the Soviet Union) have most of the world’s nuclear weapons. Other countries with nuclear arms include China, France, India, Israel, Pakistan, and the United Kingdom” (Kroenig). Following World War Two, the Soviet Union and the United States were leaders of nuclear weapons. This period was called the Cold War. Forty-five years of potential nuclear destruction loomed over the Soviets and Americans. It wasn’t until after the Cold War that diplomats created the Nuclear Non Proliferation Treaty. The Nuclear Non Proliferation Treaty, or NPT for short, recognizes the United States, Russia, China, France, and the United Kingdom as nuclear weapon states. Nearly every country in the world is a member of the treaty, even if they do not possess nuclear weapons, by law they state that they are a nonnuclear

The atomic bombs were dropped with purpose of solving diplomatic reasons and to inevitably make Japan surrender. The diplomatic goals the US had at the time was to prevent Russia from joining the war against Japan, but the US wanted to win the war before the USSR joined in order to prevent Stalin from claiming land in Japan and spreading communist influence throughout Asia. So in order to impede the potential spread of Russian influence and communism in post­war Japan, the US had to end the war as soon as possible or else the potential spread of Stalin and the Soviet Union’s influence might bring forth more devastating and graver consequences for the future of the US. The atomic bomb was a diplomatic and intimidating way of keeping the Soviet

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.

The bomb that was dropped on Hiroshima killed millions of people and destroyed a city. Although that happened, Japan attacked the United States first at Pearl Harbor. The United States made the right choice when they dropped the atomic bomb because they ended the war, Japan wasn’t going to surrender without it, and the United States really didn’t have another choice. Japan would not have surrendered as easily if the U.S did not drop the atomic bomb.

Therefore, The United States dropped it in order to finish the war. They wanted to prevent more deaths and if the atomic bomb didn’t stop them, nothing would’ve stopped them. For example, after Truman dropped the bomb he released a letter and sources from CNN quoted “that the decision to use the two nuclear bombs saved the lives of 250,000 Allied troops and 250,000 Japanese by helping to prevent an invasion”. Although it was rough because they didn’t know the long term effects on that the atomic bomb would have on the cities. If the U.S. didn’t drop the bomb the war could’ve gotten worse and be more deadly in the long run.

On the 8th of December 1941, the United States congress declared war on the empire of japan in response to that country’s surprise attack on Pearl Harbor the prior day. It was formulated an hour after the infamy speech of US President Roosevelt. Following the declaration, Japan’s allies, Germany and Italy, declared war on the United States, bringing the United States fully into World War II. When the Allied forces finally got to the point where an invasion on the Japanese mainland was inevitable, it was decided to use the Atomic weapons due to the fact that Japanese leaders had convinced their people to fight the death against “the foreign invaders”. Faced with the prospect of an invasion that could easily cost millions of lives on both sides, the US decided to drop the big ones and hopefully end the war with relatively few lives lost. They chose to target Hiroshima and Nagasaki because of their strategic importance to the empire. Both were military ports used to supply the armed forces of Japan and were filled with military supplies. So the bombs were dropped to end the war, not in revenge of Pearl

    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

Although dropping the Atomic Bomb was detrimental to a group of Japanese citizens, it saved many American lives and ultimately ended the war. If the American Army tried to make a land attack against the Japanese they would have lost many American lives, and possibly many more Japanese lives. And there would have been a possibility of many more years of fighting. Also the Japanese were given fair warning, on July 26 the Japanese were given the chance to surrender known as the Potsdam Declaration. Even though many people see the dropping of the Atomic bomb as a good thing, many people were against it because it cost many civilians their lives.

On December 7, 1941, the United States was unexpectedly attacked by Japan, now known as the Attack on Pearl Harbor. In retaliation to Japan’s attack on Pearl Harbor, U.S President Harry S. Truman ordered the use of atomic weapons on Japan to help fight the war. In my opinion, the decision to drop atomic bombs on the cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki was justified.

The decision for the United States to drop the atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki has been debated since the days they were dropped, just as it was debated in the days leading up to the drop. It is a debate that people will likely always disagree on, considering it is such a high controversial topic. The United States had been fighting the Japanese Empire for years, and had not made any significant strides that indicated a success any time soon. Due to this seemingly never ending struggle, the United States made the decision to drop two atomic bombs on the cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. These bombs were more deadly and destructive than any weapons had ever been before and caused the suffering and death of thousands of innocent civilians.

1945, America dropped the two first atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. The decision to drop the bomb was the best decision , because people were saved, it protected the POWs and brought the war to an end.

The atomic bomb was originally planned to be used on Germany to stop the Nazis (LaFeber, 2008). However, with the Allied countries closing in on Berlin and the suicide of Adolf Hilter, the Nazis surrendered without the need to use the atomic weapon. But the war still raged in the Asian theater with no hope of surrender by Japan. In July 1945, the Allies decreed that Japan must unconditionally surrender, but the Japanese refused. (Harry S. Truman Library & Museum, n.d.). President Truman felt that in using the bomb he would save not only American lives but Japanese as well

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 question on every person’s mind when it comes to this topic, is whether or not it was necessary for the USA to drop the bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki on the 6th and 9th of August 1945 at the end of World war two.