Was Hiroshima Bombing Necessary

On August 6, 1945, the United states have dropped the atomic bomb on Japan city of Hiroshima and three days after The United States have dropped the second bomb on Japan city of Nagasaki to end World War II. The United States should not have dropped the atomic bombs on Japan to end World War II because it was inhumane, unnecessary, and brutal.

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 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.

I believe that the dropping of the atomic bombs were a necessity to end the war. There are 3 main reasons I believe this. Those reasons are that millions of American and Japanese lives were saved, there was no imminent evidence that Japan was going to surrender, The US was trying to show their power to the USSR.

The Atomic Bomb or known Atom Bomb was created by a scientist, which assembled the first bomb. He and General Leslie Graves officially and successfully tested it in New Mexico, July 21, 1945. Despite this, two refugees from Italy and Germany in the early 1940’s, Enrico Fermi and Leo Szilard were the first to ever produce a controlled chain reaction. The bomb was created to use during WW2 and end it. This was big for America as president Franklin was notified that Germany was working on a similar weapon to use on America and its Allies. This bomb was needed to win the war and it took approximately 160,000 lives as a result while also having many affects on the people then, the people today, and the environment (Henretta, Edwards, & Self, 2012). The US was the first and only country to this day to drop an atomic bomb on another country, not once, but twice. This did end the war; however, the results were quite devastating to Japan. The environment and lives lost were all greatly impacted however, the world as a whole would be impacted for years to come. It also had its political reasoning behind it to show the global power of America. The devastation caused by the bombs also created deterrence from using them in the future at the time. Furthermore, now as other countries have improved technological

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.

Another key thing to remember is the war could have ended sooner. In document two, we learned that President Truman didn't want to drop the atomic bombs, but it would hopefully lead the war to an end. “He did not like the idea. But was persuaded that it would shorten the war against Japan and American lives.” We needed to get Japan to surrender. They didn't want to surrender unconditionally and refused. Japan didn't surrender until September of 1945, The war could have gone on longer.

The U.S did have to drop the bomb to bring an end to world war II in the pacific. The bomb needed to be dropped to keep the Soviets out of the pacific, to demonstrate the power of bombs and the U.S., and the cost in the U.S. troops to invade Japan. The U.S. needed to drop the bomb so that the Soviets wouldn’t get into the pacific. If the bomb was not dropped in Japan Russia would have tried to invade and take over Japan and become closer to the US. Because the bomb destroyed Japan and most of its resources Russia had no reason to go to japan.

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.

However the fact is that they didn’t and this is irrelevant when it comes to the question if dropping the bomb was justified. This is because humans are unpredictable and human action and human thoughts are two different things. Talking about something is not the same as proceeding to do something, this is why speculations cannot be seen as facts. Also by denying the terms of Japanese surrender, Japan forced the US to proceed with their promised actions. This war was not only a war with Japan, but also a war against communism and its ideology.

(Szilard pg. 1). The scientists knew if the US dropped the bomb then the war would end. Since the war kept going without purpose. The US had every right to drop the bomb to end the war. This evidence is flawed as the US could’ve showed the Japanese how powerful the bomb

There were many causes for the United States dropping the bomb on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. One of these causes was because we wanted to increase the chances of Japan surrendering so that our

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.

On August 6, 1945, an airplane named the Enola Gay successfully dropped the first atomic bomb in human history on the city of Hiroshima Japan. Just three days later on August 9, 1945 the U.S. successfully dropped the second atomic bomb on Nagasaki Japan. The events of those two days would change the world forever. Ever since those bombs were dropped, people have questioned if it was really necessary for the U.S. to use atomic weapons on Japan in order for them to surrender and to end the war. Throughout my life, I have been taught that the use of atomic bombs were necessary in order for Japan to surrender, but after thoroughly researching this topic, I have come to the conclusion that the U.S. should have sought an alternative to dropping atomic