The bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki was a very controversial event in history that led to the inevitable end of WWII. Some think that the bomb was necessary to end the war and without it, the war couldn’t end. But others think the bomb was overkill because the Japanese were already on the brink of surrender. Dropping the bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki had positive and negative effects. The bomb needed to be dropped for the war to end or the Japanese would have kept on fighting. If the Japanese refused to surrender when Germany did, when were they going to? “I regarded the bomb as a military weapon and never had any doubt that it should be used”(Doc 1). The bomb needed to be used not demonstrated to clearly show the war can only go …show more content…
“The U.S. dropped a bomb on Hiroshima, the Japanese surrendered, and the war was over. We were so relieved”(Doc 6). The soldiers who had fought in numerous battles during WWII wanted nothing to do with landing in Japan and capturing it. The soldiers did not care that the bombs had been dropped because they no longer had to fight and lose their lives along with all their friends and such. "Yeah, like what? Me and all my buddies jumping in Tokyo, and the Allied forces going in, and all of us getting killed”(Doc 6). People will always question other's decisions when they have no clue what they were thinking at the moment. Nobody wants to have to jump out of an airplane say, and then get shot out of the sky or lit up on a beach, but they have to even though it’s not in THEIR best interest. The Japanese tried to capture Hawaii and which is part of America and got the Americans angry so dropping the bomb would have needed to be done as soon as possible. Also, Iwo Jima was very deadly because taking over …show more content…
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. The country without order would eventually crumble and surrender. “Japan was ready to call it quits anyway. More than 60 of its cities had been destroyed by conventional bombing, the home islands were being blockaded by the American Navy, and the Soviet Union entered the war by attacking Japanese troops in Manchuria”(Doc 7). The effects of the prior non-nuclear bombings had probably not taken their full effect yet, so if the US let it set in then maybe the bomb may not have been needed. Also, the Japanese couldn’t even leave due to the blockades, they had no other option than to surrender. Germany surrendered right after Hilter had killed himself because they had no leader to really enforce the main ideas of what they were fighting for. But Japan had all of their Capital Tokoyo destroyed by bombing and firebombing and were threatened with more bombing, while their leader was hidden in a bomb shelter unable to help, anyone in
They declared it unnecessary and were saddened by it. General Dwight Eisenhower even said, “It wasn't necessary to hit them with that awful thing.” A majority of them felt this way due to the fact that Japan had already been essentially defeated by the time the bombs were dropped. Japan was running out of natural resources and their military was at it wit’s end.
According to Document G, a memoir of General H. H. Arnold, whether or not the bombs were dropped, the Japanese were already on the verge of surrendering. The United States had already killed about 241,000 people, wounded 313,000, and destroyed about 2,333,000 homes, making it increasingly evident that their decision to drop the bomb was just a selfish and easy manner to end the war. The document also states that the air force was aware that the destruction of most Japanese industries and the prevention of the arrival of the incoming cargo had made it impossible for Japan to carry out a large-scale war. With this fact, the knowledge of their increasing vulnerability was in effect throughout the military and the white house, bringing to light the leverage the United States had going through with the bombings. Overall, the decision to drop the bombs can be viewed as unnecessary as the U.S could have kept fighting knowing that
ATOMIC BOMB: HIROSHIMA AND NAGASAKI The end of world war II brought the extensive discussion to the world. On August 6, 1945, the first atomic bomb was dropped by an American B29 bomber over the Japanese city of Hiroshima. Three days later a second B-29 dropped the second atomic bomb over Nagasaki. On August 15, Japan's emperor announced Japan's unconditional surrender, which led to the end of the war. After several years, doubt about the use of these atomic bombs has appeared, and the debate about if the dropping of the atomic bomb was the right and necessary decision.
In late July of 1945 at the Potsdam Conference, the Allied leaders gave the Japanese a chance to surrender, and they totally rejected it (Doc. 1). After the American invasion of Iwo Jima, the Japanese defenders felt discouraged and defeated, as well as desperate to do whatever it took to win (Doc. D). So, by dropping the bomb and ending the war quickly, the opportunity for the Japanese to brutally attack the U.S in a desperate scramble to win was eliminated. Although Japan would need to use money to rebuild the destroyed areas, ending the war saved both sides from spending even more trying to clutch the victory, as the United States alone spent over 4 trillion dollars on the war (Harrington, John and Suneson, Grant.). In all, both sides were relieved by dropping the atomic bomb and ending the war more
Much consideration and thought had to go into this decision. World War II had been going on for four years. Many casualties on both sides occurred. Many factors led to the dropping of the bomb including Pearl Harbor, it ended the war quickly which would save more lives, and the Japanese weren’t going to stop fighting. President Truman’s decision to drop the bombs was the right thing to do because it happened for the better.
The dropping of the bombs were necessary and fair due to the refusal of the Japanese to surrender, the millions of lives saved by a quick end to the war, and the warnings given to the Japanese. To begin, the Japanese soldiers have it ingrained in their brains that it is dishonorable to surrender. The author of Drop the Bomb as agreed by saying that “the Japanese have demonstrated a willingness to fight to the death”. During the war there were many times for the Japanese to surrender, but it was never done. With this in mind, they would have continued to drag out the war, which shows that dropping the bombs sped up the war which lessened the casualties.
The end of World War II can be credited to the dropping of the atomic bomb on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. It is hard to imagine being in a world war for six years. Many citizens had their families torn apart. Being in the position to end it all, but at a cost is an impossible decision. Even though there are many people that can argue that the dropping of the bomb was over kill, the atomic bomb was a military necessity.
It was a military necessity to drop the atomic bomb on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. For starters, it was a war necessity to drop the atomic bomb was because it ended the war faster. It got them to surrender instead of continuing to fight. The atomic bomb was called, “ The Winning Weapon” because it forces the other country to surrender (OI). “We have used it to shorten the agony of the war, in order to save the lives of thousands and thousands of young Americans” (Doc I).
Moreover, as document 6 indicates through a letter from a soldier who fought in the Pacific, many believed that deploying the bomb saved countless American lives and facilitated an end to World War II. According to various arguments put up by supporters of the bombing, it can be inferred that the usage of atomic bombs was an essential and justified action. The belief is that Japan would have prolonged the war further, potentially costing many more lives. Additionally, the attacks on Hiroshima and Nagasaki made Japan sorry for initiating conflict, and eventually led to
It was a calm August morning in the year 1945, and citizens were out living their lives as normal, getting groceries, playing at the park, and walking to work, little did everyone in what was the beautiful town of Hiroshima know, there was an atomic bomb right above their heads. Boom. Simultaneously 70,000 innocent lives were lost. 30,000 more lives were taken later on due to the atomic bomb. Hiroshima and Nagasaki were the two Japanese cities that the United dropped the Atomic Bomb on in 1945 to try & bring an end to World War 2.
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 was weakening, “The food situation gradually becoming worse and worse…” Stated in source H. America had many industrial resources to use against Japan and so Japan had essentially been defeated. Japan pushed only for the sake of their countries honour as the shame of unconditional surrender goes against their code of honour. Furthermore a warning was given to Japan with America promising to drop the atomic bomb, however there was no evidence and so it could have easily been deemed a bluff. An American nuclear scientist stated, “A demonstration of the bomb best be made… Japan could then be asked to surrender.” This source seems somewhat reliable as it is from one of the American scientists and they would know the strength of the bomb.
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.
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 article states, “It achieved its primary objective of shortening the war.” (History on the Net 15) Dropping the bomb actually shortened the war, which also means there were less deaths compared to how many more there would have been if they did not drop the bomb, and the war may have gone on for much longer without the bomb. The article adds, “President Truman and the Allies issued a final ultimatum to Japan, known as the Potsdam Declaration” (History on the Net 19). The president and the Allied powers gave further warning about the bomb and even issued a final compromise, Japan still didn’t do anything and refused to cooperate, which forced the US to drop the atomic bomb on Japan.