Atomic Bombs DBQ Imagine you are a WWII pilot that is about to drop an enormous atomic bomb on Hiroshima, Japan. What are your thoughts? On August 6th and August 9th, 1945, two atomic bombs were dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Japan. The atomic bombs that were dropped were a military necessity. Firstoff, the bombs justified the times of the war. For example, Pearl Harbor. On December 7, 1941 Japan raided Pearl Harbor. Prior to this, America could be explained as a sitting duck in the war. One source states, “At 8:10, a 1,800-pound bomb smashed through the deck of the battleship USS Arizona and landed in her forward ammunition magazine” (OI). When Pearl Harbor was raided The USS Arizona burned for two days after their attack (Doc A). The wreckage of the Arizona still remains at the bottom of Pearl Harbor, and it still leaks a quart of oil daily. The U.S. Navy never recovered the ship because it is used as a memorial as respect. In addition, most Hawaii-based combat planes were also knocked out, More than 2,400 Americans died in the attack, including civilians, and another 1,000 people were wounded …show more content…
President Harry Truman had the idea to invade the Japanese mainland by foot (Doc. 1). America would have lost many more lives with this plan. There could have been diseases spread and the geography of Japan is so hefty that it would have taken a gargantuan amount of time. The plan of invading Japan was named “Operation Olympia,” a full scale invasion of Japanese home islands (Doc. E). There would be many difficulties conducting the invasion of Japan. For instance, getting there would be a struggle because they had to travel overseas to get there. In addition, in 1945 Japan was approximately 1,984,000 km squared (OI/nationalww2museum.org). Traveling this far across Japan could lead to the loss of many soldiers. Therefore, the bombs were immense necessities to save American
The U.S. viewed bombings as a necessity because Truman gave the Japanese a chance to surrender when he issued the Potsdam Declaration. In his message, Truman warned the Japanese that if they would not unconditionally surrender that they would be struck with “prompt and utter destruction.” Similarly, by bombing the Japanese it would spare up to 1 million American lives along with 250,000 British casualties because U.S and allied soldiers didn’t have to attempt to invade the heavily guarded Japanese territories. Another reason the United States needed to bomb Japan was dominance. The secretary of state thought it would put the U.S. in a dominant position in the postwar and have power over the Germans.
On the clear mornings of August 6 and 9, 1945, the first atomic bombs were dropped on the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagaski. Gigantic clouds of ominous dark smoke stained the sky, signaling the end of a seemingly incessant war. Americans and Europeans rejoiced throughout the world; many lives were spared from the brutality of continuing the war. Although this was an extremely hard decision to make and the results were devastating, the atomic bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki was a military necessity. To begin, America had already seen how ruthless and cruel the Japanese could be.
If they dropped the atomic bomb on Japan, they would not have to worry about them fighting back and would not have to keep making more weapons just to defeat the Japanese. It is expensive to manufacture weapons over and over, dropping the atomic bomb would just be a one time thing and it would save time as well. Also, If the Americans and Japanese fought on the island of Kyushu, then more Americans would die as well, if they dropped the atomic bomb then lots of lives would be saved. Also, Nicholas Kristoff said that military officials were likely to fight on, furiously, until the end willing to "Sacrifice 20 million Japanese lives," as late as August of 1945.” (Doc. I)
The huge bombs might have destroyed the cities but it ended the war in a matter of seconds. Japan and America were at war during the mid 1900s. Two bombs were dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki in an effort to finish the war for good. With the amount of power carried within the bomb the casualties brought the war to a finish. The atomic bombs were a military necessity because it saved combat and lives, we had the technology to do so, and it was justified in the time of war.
The atomic bomb dropping was the last resort for the Americans during the brutal pacific front warfare. Fighting the war on the pacific homefront was different than in Europe because the terrain was different, the weather was vastly different, and the jungles were booby-trapped. The Americans tried the strategy of island hopping, the goal was to take over the islands one by one, and work closer to the mainland. They also wanted to establish bases on those islands and be closer to the enemy. The Japanese had the bushido mentality; death before dishonor.
Japan’s cities had been destroyed and the bombs were overkill just to through defeat in Japan’s face. “ The use of this barbarous weapon at Hiroshima and Nagasaki was of no material assistance in our war against Japan. The Japanese were already defeated and ready to surrender”(Doc 2). The bomb almost seemed impatient because Japan was on their last leg, likely ready to throw up the white flag.
Therefore, it was necessary for the US to drop the bomb on Japan during WWII because not dropping it would have prolonged the war and caused more casualties. For example, May and Astore’s artcle "Atomic Bomb: Was the Atomic Bombing Are Hiroshima and Nagasaki Justified?” argues, “The employment of the atomic bomb was the culmination of a U.S. attempt to end the Pacific war as quickly as possible by all military means available.” This illustrates how the war was at such a high priority to the world that the US made a tough decision and decided to bomb Hiroshima and Nagasaki to end world war II as quickly as possible. On the other hand, the US dropping the atomic bomb started the cold war. Dropping the bomb ended one war while starting another, causing even more loss of life and plunged the world into another war.
According to sources it has been said that President Truman had 3 other options for efforts of bringing about Japan's surrender in the second world war. 2 While these options were potential choices they were just as much of a slippery slope.3 It has been said that if one of these options were chosen the war would have gone longer and caused more casualties & destruction than the atomic bombings. 4 However before the use of the atomic bomb General Dwight D. Eisenhower recalled later saying that Japan was already harshly defeated and that there was no use of the atomic bomb the way things were going.
These soldiers are fatigued and wanted the war to end, they did not want to fight anymore. With the atomic bomb it helped them, it ended the war. The bomb even ended the war quickly after the two bombs were launched at Japan. This bombing made it justified by the quick end to the war because we helped those soldiers who were hoping to go home from the first place after the battle against Germany. Besides other people wanted that war to end as well.
Comments left by readers of the US History Magazine, American Heritage, basically say that the Japanese Islands were also very difficult to attack, as Japan still had millions of troops still stationed there, leaving no choice but to attack from the air. The Japanese army left no point of vulnerability for the US to take advantage of, and any land invasion would surely be stopped, as Japan had around 12 divisions defending the island. The first atomic bomb did not force surrender from Japan, but the second, combined with Russia planning to invade, forced Japan’s hand. The decision to drop the bomb was made quickly, as any land lost to Russia in Japan or China would never be returned to the countries. These comments from others give useful reasons on why the US Military dropped the atomic bombs: to end the war quickly before Russia gained a strategic advantage on the Islands of Japan before the long anticipated Cold War.
In the twentieth century, the United States dropped two atomic bombs, which were the most powerful weapons at that time, on Japan. It happened on August 6 and August 9, 1945. The atomic bombs killed 226,000 Japanese and ended the war. However, America should not have dropped the atomic bombs for two reasons. First, it was not necessary to drop the bomb to win the war militarily or to get the Japanese to surrender.
The civilians were also suffering from extreme food ration and were about to starve to death. (“I couldn’t have survived another month,” he said. “If the military had its way, we would have fought until all 80 million Japanese were dead. Only the atomic bomb saved me. Not me alone, but many Japanese, ironically speaking, were saved by the atomic bomb.
Another option was to launch a large-scale invasion of Japan's home islands, which was estimated to result in a high number of casualties on both sides. Finally, Truman had the option of using the newly developed atomic bombs, which promised to end the war quickly but carried significant ethical
President Truman and his associates believed that if they dropped the bomb they would receive surrender from Japan. Thus, saving millions of American lives, and ending the war. Nevertheless, by saving American lives they would sacrifice thousands of Japanese civilians. They had other idea to have Japan to surrender, but were willing to take the one that would have the most consequences. They were thinking too much about the US instead of creating actually peace within the nations.
There were 2 atomic bomb that was dropped in the World War II. The 2 atomic bombs is called The Fat Man and The Little Boy. Little boy was dropped on the city of Hiroshima on August 6, 1945. An American B-29 (a type of plane) called the "Enola Gay" was piloted by Paul W. Tibbets, dropped a uranium atomic bomb that is called The Little Boy, the bomber dropped the world’s first atomic bomb with its name Little Boy on Hiroshima, Hiroshima was Japan's seventh largest city. In minutes, half of the city was destroyed.