Analysis: Was The Atomic Bomb Necessary?

Japanese Bombing The bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki was necessary in order for Japan to surrender, save American lives, and keep the Soviet Union from expanding its influence in Asia. After the attack on Pearl Harbor, the U.S. held a conference in which they made it official that they were at war with Japan and ready to strike back as soon as possible. The bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki made the Japanese realize that they couldn’t afford another fatal bombing and cause innocent people to die again so shortly after the bombing, they surrendered to the United States. Soon after the bombing of Pearl Harbor, the United States knew that they had to come up with a plan to invade Japan and force them to surrender. As the United States were planning on how to invade Japan, there had been a lot of controversy between Chairman of the Joint Chiefs Staff Admiral William Leahy, Secretary of War Henry Stimson as to how to attack Japan until Secretary of State James Byrnes brought up the idea of bombing Japan without any warning, shocking Japan into surrendering.

This attack was a turning point for the United States because this was one factor that brought them into World War II to fight against the Axis Powers. In conclusion, Japan attacked Pearl Harbor because of their nationalist mentality, America’s embargo of oil to Japan and fearing that the United States will attack them first. The first reason why Japan had attacked Pearl Harbor was because the Japanese had nationalistic and narcissistic political mentality. The Japanese believed the Yamato race was a superior race to the other Asian race(Document A). They also believed they will become the “new order” once Europe and America crumble and become the “old orders”(Document A).

Imagine living in a period in which the realities of war encased the world, and the lethal potential to end all suffering was up to a single being. During World War II, tensions between Japan and the United States increased. Despite pleas from US President, Harry Truman, for Japan to surrender, the Japanese were intent on continuing the fight. As a result, Truman ordered the atomic bomb, a deadly revolution in nuclear science, to be dropped on the towns of Nagasaki and Hiroshima. President Harry Truman, in his speech, “Announcement of the Dropping of the Atomic Bomb,” supports his claim that the dropping of the A-bomb shortened the war, saved lives, and got revenge by appealing to American anger by mentioning traumatic historical events and

One reason for why this was a heinous act is that it was unneeded. Japan had been given the chance to agree to an unconditional surrender, this would never have been allowed because their whole society believes greatly in the importance of honor so, of course, they were dubious. But they had informed the U.S. of the chance to negotiate a conditional surrender (“The Decision to Drop the Bomb”). If the U.S. had allowed Japan to keep their emperor then Japan most likely would have agreed to surrender. This is because the Japanese saw their emperor as a deity (Donohue).

This statement affirms the fact that even if the atomic bombs were not dropped, and a land invasion had taken place instead, the battle would not have been easily fought. Aside from the hostility of the Japanese, the war was almost over, and dropping the atomic bombs expedited the prolonging of the war. The planned operation, titled ‘Downfall,’ would have taken many years and the estimated casualties of “a half-million American lives” (O’Neal). Based on the estimation, which excludes an added number of casualties, it was necessary to drop the bombs. Lastly, the Manhattan project was rather expensive, and Japan’s persistent honor and barbarism justified using the bomb’s destructive

The bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki is one of the most controversial events that came out of world war two. This event of speculation should not be, simply because as a modern day society we can not fairly evaluate the situation as if we were there. Though killing many innocent lives the bomb ultimately stopped the war that would have ended even more lives. The bombs of Hiroshima and Nagasaki should have been dropped because the bombing of these cities caused the political and militaristic changes and because of these changes, the United States benefited greatly. At the end of the war, devastating bombs were dropped on the two unsuspecting cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

Due to Albert Einstein 's fear for the safety of the United States, he prompted the destruction of other nations. Despite Einstein’s good intentions, his suggestion led to the destruction

Once Germany unconditionally surrendered on May 8, 1945, the Allies were hoping Japan would surrender too. However, Japan was keen on fighting till the very end. As a result, the war was not over. The Allies had to make a decision how to conquer Japan and end the War. The end result was the use of the atomic bomb.

“The full application of our military power, backed by our resolve, will mean the inevitable and complete destruction of the Japanese armed forces and just as inevitably the utter devastation of the Japanese homeland. (“The Potsdam Proclamation”)" However, Japan would not surrender, because surrendering would be a disgrace. They feared that their emperor would be executed if they surrendered. The U.S. used the atomic bomb to save American and Japanese lives in the long run(Priano). So, at the end of WWII, the U.S. put Japan under international control.

The alternative for President Franklin D. Roosevelt and his advisors was doing nothing and letting Nazi Germany develop atomic power and going on to use it to conquer the world. The United States of America wanted to end World War II on both the Atlantic and Pacific fronts and needed the quickest possible method to do so. Franklin D. Roosevelt’s advisors concluded that hundreds of thousands of American lives would be lost on an assault on the island of Japan. The U.S. Armed Forces was over 16,000,000 strong and Franklin D. Roosevelt’s main motive for dropping the atom bombs was to save American lives.5 The fact of the matter is World War II was started by the Axis powers which were Germany, Italy and Japan. The Axis powers alone turned Europe upside down.