The Pros And Cons Of Atomic Bombing

One of the most controversial and heavily scrutinized issue of the twentieth century was President Harry S. Truman’s decision to unleash atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki in 1945. The motives behind Truman’s actions are shrouded in controversy as top military officials publicly denounced the use of such a disastrous weapon. There is overwhelming evidence supporting both sides of the decision, as historians are split in opinion. The United States had been using conventional bombing to try to push Japan over the edge to surrender, but with countless Japanese civilians loyal to their country, invading Japan proved to be more problematic than first thought. Harry S. Truman made the ultimate decision of dropping the atomic bomb in hopes that it would end the war, but the amount of casualties caused by it has historians questioning if it was morally right, “The bomb was unfortunate, but it was the only means to bring Japan to a surrender,” historian Sadao Asada states (Bomb 9). Truman’s decision to drop the atomic bomb on Hiroshima and Nagasaki were justifiable because they would ultimately lead to the end of the war and would demonstrate U.S. supremacy.

Whether the use of the atomic bomb on Japan during World War II was justified, we will never know. However, the amount of time spent on discussing the use and effect of the bomb seems to be nonexistent. If they talked about the bomb there was no major argument against using the bomb; with that came mystery because they did not understand the bomb. There were factors that they used as an excuse to use the bomb, but these were in the background and later added to make the argument seem more one-sided, in their favor. Whether the use of the atomic bomb proved helpful or not is up to debate. The atomic bomb changed the world, and given the evidence, the use of the bomb was not talked about in detail except for when and where to use it.

Japan during the 1940’s was a nation that prided itself on the concept of never surrendering. It was something that they took fierce and obsessive pride in. Their culture dictated that they are never to give up, even if they fought until every single man,woman, and child living in Japan was slaughtered, they would never surrender. This doctrine was one of the key deciding factors that influenced Truman in making the decision to drop the atomic bomb on Hiroshima. Several weeks before the Atomic bomb was dropped, The Untied States of Military issued a warning to the Japanese government. “It warned the Japanese to surrender immediately or face ‘prompt and utter destruction.” (Yes! Harry Truman’s Simple Decision) Unfortunately, a mere two weeks before the first atomic bomb dropped, the Japanese prime minister publically dismissed the warning and refused to surrender. Even after the bombing of Hiroshima, the Japanese government refused to stand down. Even though they had suffered over 225,000 civilian casualties in the attack, the Japanese military refused to surrender. It took until the second bombing of Nagasaki to finally force the Japanese to surrender on American

The US’s declaration of unconditional surrender was called the Potsdam Declaration and it was issued on July 26, 1945 demanding that Japan surrender or face utter destruction. In addition to administering the Potsdam Declaration, US warplanes rained 63 million leaflets on 35 cities that were to be targeted by the bomb. These leaflets said that these 35 cities ,which got the leaflets, should evacuate due to the fact that they were being targeted by US warplanes. The Japanese had known that the US had something specially planned for them, so it was fair game to drop the bomb. Also the leaflets stated that the Japanese should evacuate but since they ignored the leaflets and didn’t evacuate the people, they had to suffer the consequences. In addition, the Potsdam Declaration was never responded to so the US went ahead with their plan and dropped the atomic bomb. This was entirely Japan’s government fault because although many Japanese citizens feared of what was to come and believed the leaflet, the Japanese arrested anyone who had a copy of it. The atomic bomb was justified due to the negligence of Japan not responding to the Potsdam Declaration or following the orders of the

“The city was hidden by that awful cloud . . . boiling up, mushrooming, terrible and incredibly tall," said Colonel Paul Tibbets, pilot of the modified B-29 bomber that dropped the world’s first atomic bomb over Hiroshima. The bombings resulted in the death of thousands, including not only Japanese citizens, forces, and military but also American captive soldiers. In the midst of World War II the United States forced Japan to surrender by dropping bombs in the major cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. They released the second atomic bomb shortly after, in Nagasaki, Japan.

While this is true, it becomes apparent that every option had its flaws and none seemed as immediate of a solution as dropping single highly destructive bombs on what Stimson (the secretary of war) named as “cities in Japan devoted exclusively to production” (p.287). The first alternative mentioned in the RTAP (page 273) was “continue and intensify the bombing and naval blockade of Japan”. The second option mentioned on the same page was to “wait for the Soviet Union to enter the war with Japan by attacking Manchuria” and the third option mentioned was to “allow the Japanese to retain their emperor with his power reduced to the status of a constitutional monarch”. Each option was unique in its requirements of effect, strategic planning, and man power. However, they all shared the distinct quality of baring absolutely no guarantee of Japanese surrender.

When they were about to drop the bombs, American bombers dropped flyers saying that they were going to do this but that the civilians were not targets. The Japanese didn't listen to this, and maybe just a few left but that is kind of their fault. America came out and said that they would not drop them in the new or old capital in fear off killing to many. Document B. It stilled killed many people but imagine the destruction and deaths if it was dropped on the capital. Technically, every last Japanese civilian was a threat to America, because they said every last Japanese civilian will pit themselves against America. Document J. So by killing civilians (who were not the targets) they were killing soldiers as well. America needed to end the war efficiently. And by going in an all out invasion would have killed those people as well. It was the most efficient way to end the war.t the main targets even though many of them

The result of this was the death of tens of thousands of individuals, even civilians, in place of those who would’ve died in future battle, where it could even result in even more bloody casualties, as well as a substantial amount of American casualties. As stated by President Harry S. Truman, “It was their recommendation that the bomb be used against the enemy as soon as it could be done. They recommended further that it should be used without specific warning…” (Doc 1). In my opinion, this quote shows how we needed no demonstration and no warning to the Japanese and hit them hard, fast, and respond exactly how they did at Pearl Harbor. Another quote from Document 1 includes how this atomic bomb “would likely bring the war to an end,” (Doc

Japan had already admitted to being defeated and knew they were ready to surrender. “The use of this barbarous weapon at Hiroshima and Nagasaki was of no material assistance in our war against Japan. The Japanese were

Various viewpoints see the decision to use atomic weapons on Japan as completely justified. When the bombs were dropped in 1945, many Americans were all for it. A few of the main arguments backing the use of the bombs were to keep the lives of Americans safe, to end the war quickly to strike back at the Japanese for the attack on Pearl Harbor in 1941. One of the major arguments is that the use of the bombs saved numerous American lives and put a quick end to the war. If the bombs had not been dropped, more American soldiers would have been shipped to Japan to invade the mainland. Hypothetically, the lives of many American soldiers could have been lost and the US military might have sustained considerable damage. Another argument for the use of atomic bombs on Japan is the swift ending they brought to the war. The war ended on September 2, 1945 when the Japanese surrendered and complied with the Potsdam Declaration that demanded “the unconditional surrender of all

Japan had no other choice with its current condition it was bound to fail. Not to mention Japan had invested too much into the east asian invasion and that they needed to get satisfactory results from it, but it was later seen as futile by the war and prime minister of Japan considering they cannot just expand with stationed troops.(Doc E) The minister has a point considering the fact that they won’t even be able to reach another place with their limited oil supply to fill up their ships. Also since their mobility is hindered like I said their plans have been slowed by the US, and they plan for revenge. Not to mention our Naval fleet was a lot better than theirs, and if I know anything it is that if you are an island you need to have a strong

First, the bombings were a military correct decision. The Japanese Emperor, Hirohito stated publicly that Japan was not going to surrender. Japan proved that they were even more deadly when faced with defeat by inflicting numerous allied casualties. This created a large threat to America that needed to be dealt with. Furthermore, the dropping of the atomic bombs brought a quick and decisive end to the war. The Allies had already defeated Germany on May 7th, 1945, but could not completely conclude the war until the Allies defeated Japan. A few days after the second atomic bomb was dropped, Japan announced its surrender to the world. This was a humongous victory for the Allies because the second world war would finally come to an end. Pertaining to the decision to

On August 15th Japan surrendered, and on September 2nd, 1945 they signed the “Instrument of Surrender”. Hospitals were filled with patients who had not seemed sick before. People vomited, bled from their gums, and spots had begun to appear on their skin. Later Japanese doctors discovered that the people were dying from radiation that came from the atomic bomb. {look up: conspiracy theory} When considering using the atomic bombs, President Truman took into account the lowest possible cost for ending the war, he also wanted to end the war quickly. Truman once stated, “When you have to deal with a beast you have to treat him as a beast.” After the Pearl Harbor invasion. The U.S. started with “Operation Downfall,” invading Kyushu, many casualties where estimated, but this war proved to be even more deadly than predicted. General MacArthur thought that dropping more bombs, and using air power by itself would protect American lives, while also bringing forth a quicker surrender from the Japanese. When I look at both sides of the 1945 Japan bombing I really tried to stay open about the different viewpoints. The fact that the U.S., Britain, and the Netherlands crippled Japan was interesting to find. I felt that the Japanese did not want to compromise, and in some way bit the hands that fed them. It seems these allies had allot of power. The Japanese seemed to only

As the war continued and violence escalated, bombings caused enormous destruction and high death tolls, leading inevitably to the use of the atomic bombs. The bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki represented a culmination in the destructiveness of bombings, not a significant deviation from previous bombing practices. The alternatives to the use of the atomic bomb were likely to have caused equal suffering for the Japanese people. The use of the atomic bomb was no less moral than these horrific wartime practices. Harry Truman’s decision to use the atomic bomb against Japan was justified by Japan’s refusal to immediately surrender. Harry Truman gave the Japanese time to surrender in order to preserve the existence of their people. They did not comply and as a result endured the consequences. (Walker) Yet an alternate perspective states that it was quite unnecessary to drop the Atomic Bombs in that Japan was practically an already defeated opponent. If a conditional surrender were to be issued by the United States to Japan in

The Japanese way was “to fight to the death,” so the only way to defeat the Japanese was to bomb them. With Japan’s heavily guarded enemy lines, there was no way that the U.S. would be able to invade them without the tragic loss of numerous soldiers. As a result, Truman gave the Japanese a chance to surrender, but they turned it down, so Truman gave the command to bomb Hiroshima and Nagasaki. I support the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki because Japan refused to an unconditional surrender, it would save many allied lives, it would establish U.S. as a dominant power, and end the war.