What were the causes of the atomic bombings on Hiroshima and Nagasaki and their effects on Japan’s economy?
By: Ronan Uy
ABSTRACT
Warfare has been through many periods of technology, in spite of this a single aspect remains constant: death. Though there were numerous deadly weapons utilized in war, the deadliest of them all is the atomic bomb. The atomic bomb, is as defined by britannica.com “a deadly weapon caused by the sudden release of energy after the splitting, or fission, of the nuclei of heavy elements like uranium.” In 1945, the United States (US) dropped two atomic bombs, one in Hiroshima and the other in Nagasaki ending WWII. It was the first event in which the whole world witnessed the power of nuclear weapons and the only time nuclear weapons have been used in war. The present text explores the causes of the atomic bombings on Hiroshima and Nagasaki and their effects on Japan’s economy. The author attempts an understanding of these evidences through many reliable government records and historical sources. This paper seeks to answer the question: What were the causes of the atomic bombings on Hiroshima and Nagasaki and their effects on Japan’s economy?
INTRODUCTION
On August 6th, 1945, an B-29 aircraft dropped the very first nuclear bomb over the city of Hiroshima. 90 percent of the
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During the war, the Japanese industry was compelled to dedicate most of their effort to addressing military needs however, they were not able to meet the business necessities of Japan because they depended on exchange with Western nations for their goods causing rampant inflation with Japan’s currency. Furthermore, sea trade, whereupon the Empire depended incredibly, was damaged over the course of the war. Transport was also nearly impossible, and industrial growth in Japan came to a
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Show MoreName: Course Instructor: Class: Date: Critical Book Review: Prompt and Utter Destruction Introduction Within weeks, word on the US dropping of atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki began to spread that the main reason behind the bombs was to save the lives of Americans (Bernard). It was put that hundreds of thousands of American military causalities were saved through the bombings.
The United States and Japan fought in World War II during 1941 to 1945. Japan planned to expand their land and gain resources- which led them to invade China whom was an ally of the U.S. In result, the United States cut off the supply of oil to Japan. On December 7th 1941, Japan’s air force did a surprise attack on Pearl Harbor because that is where their military base is located.
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 bomb’s code name was “Little Boy”. Three days later, on August 9th, 1945, America dropped another bomb on Nagasaki with the code name “Fat Man”. As many as 200,000 deaths were caused by “Little Boy” alone and many people would die of radiation for years to come. The dropping of the Atom bomb on Hiroshima is an extremely debatable issue with no right or wrong answer. In this essay I will describe both sides to the argument then conclude using my final opinion on whether I am for or against the dropping of the bomb on Hiroshima.
As the atomic bomb was dropped on Hiroshima, it caused a massive shock wave and radiation that killed more than 100,000 Japanese citizens instantly. When the atomic was released it also created a fireball that began to spread out across the city of Hiroshima. After this tragic event occurred, Japan still had not surrendered to the U.S. unconditionally. Only three days later after the destruction of Hiroshima, on August 9th, 1945 at 11:00 A.M. the U.S. would then drop another atomic bomb over the Japanese city of Nagasaki, which killed thousands more innocent people. In total deaths of both the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, around 300,000 people were killed.
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.
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.
Was America right to use atomic weapons against Japan? The dropping of the atomic bomb in Japan at Hiroshima and Nagasaki, was the end of WWII. However, there has been much conflict considering the use of the bomb. In this essay, I will discuss reasons from both sides of the argument and justify my opinion.
The social impact of the Hiroshima bombing was of all the people who died, and the buildings that were destroyed when the bomb
Theoretically of course, what if a country was to develop a weapon strong enough to completely disintegrate cities and all the people living in it? Coincidently, the United states discovered a bomb that did exactly that and ended up thrusting the world into a new era of weaponized technology towards the end of World War II. Countries from this point on became wary of opposing the United States, aware of the power they possessed, especially since the US had already used this weapon on Japan to end the war.
Thesis statement: Though many speculate that the act of dropping the atomic bomb on Japan (Hiroshima and Nagasaki) while not doing so on Europe (Germany and Italy) was racially motivated, racism played little to no role in these bombings. The United States of America and her allies were willing to end World War II at any cost, had the atomic bombs been available they would have been deployed in Europe. In the 1940’s there is no doubt that the United States of America was engulfed by mass anti-Japanese hysteria which inevitably bled over into America’s foreign policy. During this period Japanese people living in both Japan and the United States of America were seen as less that human.
Moreover, Japan’s not the reason this war started, yet two of their cities were obliterated, and many civilians died for doing nothing. Even Japan knew they were losing, and their military was weak, and the U.S. saw that, except they still dropped the bomb. “Certainly...Japan would have surrendered, even if the atomic bombs had not been dropped.” (The United States Strategic Bombing) In addition, Japan got
According to pearl harbor and the coming of the pacific war 1999 it states, “August 1941, The united states imposes an embargo on oil shipments to japan”. This piece of evidence shows that the U.S stopped trade with Japan. Some may think that this a negative because they lose trade but they could easily trade with other countries for the same amount of money. The economy would stay the same.
Could you ever image seeing a flash of light and having an entire building crash right on top of you? That was the reality of the people in Hiroshima when they were hit with a nuclear bomb in World War II. A nuclear bomb is an explosive device that blows up due to nuclear reactions. Hiroshima- a city in Japan had an explosion from the first ever nuclear bomb to be used in war causing lots of damage to the city and people. Before the nuclear bomb Hiroshima was a beautiful little city in Japan where people went to visit, shop, and live.
The dropping of the atomic bombs on World War II on the city of Hiroshima and Nagasaki was a very important part of World War II. The atomic bomb ended the war between America and Japan. This was just one of the important events during the battle in World War II. The Battle at Pearl Harbor, where the Japanese attacked U.S. soil was also why the americans bombed Nagasaki and Hiroshima. Some believe that the United States was correct in dropping these bombs on Japan because of the attack on Pearl Harbor while others believe that it was very wrong to dropped the bomb.