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Was World War 1 Justified Research Paper

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“On August 6, 1945, the world was changed forever with the denotation of an atomic bomb over the Japanese city of Hiroshima, followed three days later with the use of another bomb over Nagasaki”1. The United States use of atomic weapons on Japan in 1945 was an event that triggered the fear of many individuals because it was during the period of war. The use of atomic weapons by the United States however, was justified because they had to end the war quicker, they intended to do minimal damage, and they had no other alternative.
Harry S. Truman, the thirty third president after Franklin D. Roosevelt, gave the authorization to drop the atomic bombs on Japan. For Truman and other military officials, atomic weapons signaled the surrender of Japan. …show more content…

The Japanese had a military code which stated that, “A soldier who surrendered was a traitor”6. In other words, the Japanese soldiers would not surrender by themselves because they would rather be killed than look as cowards among the community. John Falconer stated that, “One Jap infantry private was so exhausted that he stumbled and fell in front of us Americans….two riflemen came up, picked up the fallen soldier, took him off the road …. then we heard a shot and the two Japs returned alone”7. The Japanese were not willing to give up their honor system, which forced the American army to use atomic weapons. In the beginning, the American army attempted to use peaceful solutions to end war, but because of the honor system, atomic weapons were needed. The Japanese not only fought with fierce actions, they also mistreated American soldiers and acted uncivilized. Captain Mark Wohlfeld shared his experience of how he was mistreated. “I quickly dropped it on the ground. The Jap took his rifle and cracked me across the head. I fell. My head was covered in blood”8. Wohlfeld and his perspective demonstrates that the japanese wanted to fight and were unwilling to surrender or fight friendly. Another perspective that proved the mistreatment to the Americans came from Sergeant Ralph Levenberg. Levenberg argued that the Japanese, “Would be riding on the back of a

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