Was Hiroshima Bombing Justified

From their inception the Japanese had a unique culture, and it extended to battle plans. The state of the Japanese combined with their culture was one reason dropping the bomb was necessary. To start, The Japanese strategy was to never surrender; they would fight not just till the last man, but till the last women and child(OI). This was as ingrained in their heads as freedom for all is ingrained in ours. Furthermore, they refused the Potsdam declaration, that would give them peace if they surrendered(OI). Next, the Japanese were torturing American soldiers. 5,200 prisoners were tortured in what was called the “March of Death”.(Ooc. B) In addition, the Japanese were desperate to get a foot up in the war. So, they blew up USS Essex in the Pacific theater (Doc. C). Also,

The bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki were only a few days apart from each other and before they dropped the atomic bombs on those two cities, airplanes flew by and dropped leaflets warning the people of Japan warning them to evacuate the cities. The leaflets warned the people of Japan that they have the most destructive weapon possessed by man and the only reason they are forced to use said bombs is because Japan’s military leaders will not surrender to the United States (“WGBH”). While people believe that the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki was unjustified, the U.S. was right in bombing Japan to defend their country and to not cause any more allied casualties.

The solution chosen resulted in the least possible allied casualties compared to the other solutions. 1. If the US chose not to bomb Hiroshima and Nagasaki, they would have chosen operation downfall which was an invasion of Japan. This would have resulted in casualties estimated to be in the millions for the US. 2. The other solutions were to demonstrate the power of the bomb by dropping it on a remote island or waiting for the Soviets to declare war on Japan, but dropping the bomb on a remote island would be a complete waste of money as atomic bombs weren't cheap and waiting for the Soviets could still

Bombing two major cities may seem wrong but it was necessary in order to come out as a successful nation. During World War 2 on August 6th and 9th of 1945 the United States was the first country to use an atomic device against an enemy. This enemy was the country of Japan. After the Japanese killed thousands of U.S soldiers with their ruthless and unexpected attack on Pearl Harbour the United States released two atomic bombs on their two major cities. These cities were known as Nagasaki and Hiroshima. After the bombs were dropped the war was put to an end. The use of the atomic bombs is a widely debated topic on whether their use was necessary or not. The bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki were not only necessary to end the war but it was also necessary because many American lives were lost.

The fatal atomic bombings of the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki during the end of World War II are written down in history books today. This is because they had a drastic story behind them that changed the world and the lives of many civilians. The United States decision to drop the atomic bomb on Hiroshima and Nagasaki during World War II had both positive and negative results.

After victory in Europe and defeating the Third Reich Nazis, World War II was not yet over. Japan was still a threat, their persistence and ability to fight really annoyed America. As a propaganda poster from World War II exclaimed, “Shall we let him get away with it,” (Document B). The United States needed to punish Japan for attacking American territories such Pearl Harbor, the Philippines, and Wake Island. Dropping the bombs would send a message

On August 6, 1945 an explosion blew up the city of Hiroshima. It was reduced to rubble. In the months leading up to the bomb, WWII was close to being over. Germany had surrendered but Japan wasn't ready to give up without a fight. The USA issued a warning to Japan but Japan ignored it. The USA went ahead with their plan and dropped the atomic bomb from a B-29 which brought havoc to Hiroshima. The bombing of Hiroshima was justified because it saved American lives, the Japanese had been given an ultimatum and the bomb was a retaliation for the bombing of Pearl Harbor.

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 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

On the 6th and 9th of August, 1945, the United States of America dropped the Atomic Bombs on the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. The use of these bombs brought a quick end to World War 2, yet caused extensive damage to the two Japanese cities. There have often been disputes as to whether the USA was justified in the dropping of the atomic bombs because of the damage they caused, not only to the cities, but to the people of Japan as well. Many people believe that the USA should not have dropped the bombs because of the damage they caused, and they also claim that Japan was already defeated. However, Japan did not surrender, and prolonging the war was not an option for America, as it believed it would cause even more casualties, not only to American troops, but to Japan as well. Thus the USA was justified in dropping the bombs on Japan.

This is understandable and makes sense, however the choice for where to drop the bomb, when examined, has malicious. The people who made this decision were known as “The Target Committee”. This committee went through numerous Japanese towns and prefectures as possible targets, a main one that was considered was Kyoto. When trying to decide which town to bomb, the target committee considered Kyoto, which had about 1 million citizens at this point.(Ham). This shows that they really wanted to hurt as many people as possible. Their decision of Hiroshima wasn’t much better. The target committee chose Hiroshima due to its large population and “sentimental value”(Ham). In fact, a direct quote from the target committee shows that this bomb and its dropping was meant to cause excessive damage. “This is an important army depot and port of embarkation in the

One reason is that it was used as a field experiment on Japan. The second reason would be that when dropping this bomb, it would ensure and demonstrate how powerful America was. This would give America a lot of presence. Another reason is because the two cities hiroshima and Nagasaki were vital points for the war effort towards the Japanese firepower (History.com-Bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki). America also decided to target these two cities is because when compared to the other cities, these two were less densely populated (Doug).

The decision to drop the atomic bomb on Hiroshima and Nagasaki was influenced by several different factors which ultimately justified the use of the atomic bomb. To begin with, the motives as to why the bomb was dropped on specifically Japan were completely reasonable despite the moral issues that existed. The presidents’ diary writings and public statements showed that one of the main motives as to why the bomb was dropped was to save more people than the amount that would have been dead from an actual invasion. This was a completely valid reason as the estimated number of allied deaths from invasion were significantly larger than the amount that died from an atomic bomb. His other big motive was to destroy Japan’s capacity to make war which would ultimately end the war. He had also written about his plans to team up with Russia with a goal to solely force Japan to surrender. Both these motives show he did it for peace and not out of revenge or hatred specifically towards Japan. Although the bombing happened after the attack on pearl harbor, this had very little to do with the decision to drop the bomb on Japan according to the president’s journal entries. There could be some

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

On August 6, 1945, after forty-four months of increasingly brutal fighting in the Pacific, an American B-29 bomber loaded with a devastating new weapon flew in the sky over Hiroshima, Japan waiting for a signal. Minutes later the signal was given, that new weapon, the atomic bomb, was released. Its enormous destructive energy detonated in the sky, killing one hundred thousand Japanese civilians instantly. Three days later, on August 9, 1945, the United States dropped a second atomic bomb over the city of Nagasaki, with similarly devastating results, killing seventy-thousand Japanese citizens. The following week, Japan’s emperor addressed his country over the radio to announce the decision was made to surrender. At that moment World War II had finally come to its dramatic conclusion. Even though some people defend the atomic bombings, because of a weak Japan refusing to give up, the U.S. could’ve chosen a less populated area of Japan to bomb, like the coast to warn the Japanese. Claiming thousands of innocent lives, prove that the U.S. unnecessarily dropped the Atomic Bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki.