On August 6th 1945, the United States, led by Harry Truman, decided to drop the atomic bomb on Hiroshima, Japan, forever changing warfare. This paper will be dedicated to why Harry Truman decided to use the atomic bomb on Japan and the effects that this decision had on humanity afterward. The creation of the atomic bomb, and subsequently the Manhattan Project, was created in response to the belief that the German Government was in the process of creating atomic weapons. This belief was expressed to President Roosevelt in a letter written to him by Albert Einstein, who introduce Roosevelt to the ability of atomic weapons and shared with him that the German Government had stop selling the crucial ingredient of uranium from their recently …show more content…
This attitude was only compounded when United States Government were informed of the treatment of American prisoners of war after the Battle of Bataan in the Philippines, which resulted in the Bataan Death March in April 1942. The Bataan Death March was a 65-mile march in which American and Filipino prisoners of war were gathered into groups of 100 and forced to march North towards Camp O’Donnell. The prisoners were given little food or water during the march, which led to starvation and extreme fatigue for many of the soldiers. On occasion, soldiers would break formation to try and drink stagnant water of the sides of the road, after having their canteens emptied by the Japanese. These actions resulted in being bayoneted or shot. Other actions by the Japanese were dragging prisoners behind trucks, making the prisoners sit in the sun for hours without shade, and random executions . This brutal treatment of these prisoners resulted in over 5,000 deaths and has been labeled as one of the worst atrocities in modern wartime history. These events led the United States to have an attitude of revenge for the rest of the war, which played a factor in the decision to use the atomic bomb on Japan, which Truman made evident by stating, “The Japanese began the war from the air at Pearl Harbor. They have been repaid many fold.” Revenge was only part of the equation for the decision to use atomic weapons in
1. Long after World War II and the use of the atomic bombs against Hiroshima and Nagasaki, a great debate remains. It seems that there are two main potential arguments as to why the bombs were detonated and whether or not they were even necessary to begin with. The first theory surrounds the notion of the national security interests of the United States. In this theory essentially, Truman’s actions had been defended and justified as necessary in order to quickly end the war with U.S. causalities kept to a minimum.
Introduction After the death of Franklin D. Roosevelt, the new president Harry Truman became president and was faced with crucial decisions which would steer the future of the war. Harry Truman was alerted about the very confidential Manhattan Project to build a working atomic bomb. Just as soon as the Japanese Islands of Iwo Jima and Okinawa were taken from them, the time to attack Japan was soon arising. Japanese soldiers deployed in those two Islands killed or wounded over 89 thousand Americans(PBS.org). Harry Truman was right to drop the Atomic Bombs because it saved considerable American and Japanese lives, ender WW2 faster, and turned the USA into a global superpower.
The atomic bomb was created during World War II was a destructive device the likes of witch the world had never seen. It produced devastating power that decimated two Japanese cities. This essay is going to discuss some of the issues surrounding the decision to implement an atomic weapon, as well as, motives for and arguments against its use. The United States decided to employ such a devastating weapon for several reasons. One of these reasons revolves around the anti-Japanese sentiment that was created after the bombing of Pearl Harbor.
On August 2, 1939, just before the beginning of World War II, Albert Einstein wrote to then President Franklin D. Roosevelt. Einstein and several other scientists told Roosevelt of efforts in Nazi Germany to purify uranium-235, which could be used to build an atomic bomb. It was shortly thereafter that the United States Government began the serious undertaking known then only as "The Manhattan Project." Simply put, the Manhattan Project was committed to expediting research that would produce a viable atomic bomb.
There was a need for them to be stopped, for the sake of anyone conquered by the Japanese. Then, there was the Bataan Death March of 1942, another instance of Japanese savagery treatment. On August 9, 1942, American and Filipino forces surrendered to the victorious Imperial Japanese Army (The Bataan Death March). The 76,000 prisoners were forced to march 60 miles in disease, sun, starvation, dehydration, and pointless murder. People who fell behind the group were shot and left for dead.
America’s use of the atomic bombs on the Japanese cities also opened the door to other countries challenging them through their own use of nuclear bombs. Many have criticized that the atomic bomb was an act of “muscle flexing” due to the sheer power and destruction caused by the decision to drop the two bombs. (Nicholls, 67). Not only were these bombs a demonstration of the power that these nuclear weapons had, but they were a testament of power that the United States now held. Never before had a country surrendered in war without first being invaded, so the decision to drop the bomb and Japan's subsequent surrender were extremely significant (Baldwin, 39). These bombings didn’t just impact the Japanese, but the whole world and gave way to
On August 2, 1938, in the heat of World War II, Albert Einstein, a physicist born in Germany, sent a letter to Franklin Delano Roosevelt, the 32nd president of the United States. The letter suggested America to build an atomic bomb before the Nazi Germany does. However, it took more than two months for the letter to reach Roosevelt. On October 19, 1938, Roosevelt agreed, replying, “I found this data of such import that I have convened a Board … to thoroughly investigate the possibilities of your suggestion regarding the element of uranium” (“President Roosevelt's response to Dr. Einstein”). As a result, America held a secret program, code named Manhattan Project, and started to build new, destructive weapons in a laboratory in Los Alamos,
Truman said “Without these bombs america will soon become a new okinawa, coast to coast.” The death toll was up in the millions by time the war was over and the bombs shot that number skyhigh and was largely known as a myth until they were raining on them.
While many believe the bombing of Hiroshima was justifiable and necessary to end WWII, there are still points of contention surrounding this decision. This essay will discuss the events and decisions that led up to this conclusion. Harry Truman, the U.S. President deemed responsible for this decision, was not completely informed with all the possible options and had less engagement than other associates in the decision-making process. The Soviets had just declared war on Japan which was putting pressure on the Japanese to accept surrender. The conventional methods of war were already defeating the Japanese which would have led to an eventual surrender from Japan.
regardless of how the cause of the war should be judged." (Ronald Clark, pg. 428). Unfortunately, his stance wavered during World War 2. Albert Einstein didn’t invent the atomic bomb, but was crucial in its development. He signed a letter to Roosevelt suggesting that the bomb be created. Shortly before his death, he spoke about his role in the bombings of Japan. "I made one great mistake in my life... when I signed the letter to President Roosevelt recommending that atom bombs be made; but there was some justification - the danger that the Germans would make them." (Clark, pg. 752). He realized the bombings were an ill-concieved plan, but, along with everyone else, Einstein gave into justifying his action with possibilities.
The dropping of the atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki in August of 1945 was a definite turning point in the Pacific War of World War II. Earlier that year, Germany had been defeated and the world then turned its attention to the Pacific war. Most history books state the argument that the dropping of the atomic bombs on Japan was necessary to stop the war in order to save thousands of lives of American troops that were planning to invade Japan. "Had the bombs not been employed (so the "wisdom" goes), an enormous number of American troops would have perished in an inevitable amphibious operation against the Japanese mainland."(McManus 1) This paper will demonstrate that Japan was willing to
The atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki are generally seen as successes in Truman’s presidency, although there are a large number of people who see it as a failure as well as a horrendous crime against humanity. However, by making the decision to
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.
In the summer of 1939, Einstein, along with another scientist, Leo Szilard, was persuaded to write a letter to President Franklin D. Roosevelt to alert him of the possibility of a Nazi bomb. President Roosevelt could not risk the possibility that Germany might develop an atomic bomb first. The letter is believed to be the key factor that motivated the United States to investigate the development of nuclear weapons. Roosevelt invited Einstein to meet with him and soon after the United States initiated the Manhattan Project (M. Talmey).
The United States was completely unjustified in dropping the atomic bomb because it was used so we could have a sense of “power” over the rest of the world. President Harry Truman had paid no heed to his prior statements as to the intended use of the bomb; and not only had it violated the Hague Convention, but it also caused lifelong repercussions for Japan’s land and people.