Before President Truman decidecd to drop the two atomic bombs, the war with the Japanese had no end insight. The United States had been already attacking Japan from the air from B-29
As World War II was coming to an end, the U.S. was searching for a way to finish the war with Japan. The U.S. went about doing this by first dropping 2,000 tons of flammable bombs on Tokyo, Japan on March 9th, 1945. As a result of these fire bombings, between 80,000 to 130,000 innocent Japanese civilians were killed, which was the worst single firestorm in history. After this overwhelming event occurred, Japan didn’t chose to surrender unconditionally; however, the U.S. was well aware that Japan was already largely defeated due to the fire bombings. The U.S. was ready to potentially invade Japan, but an invasion of Japan couldn’t begin for another three months, so the U.S. had an opportunity to wait and see if Japan would surrender before
knowledge with regards to the whereabouts of this attack, furthering the argument that the attack was a genuine surprise. American intelligence was unable to speculate or guess the Japanese nation’s intention (source B). This statement is supported by the fact that Japan had meticulously planned the attack, taking various precautionary measures to safeguard the security of their plan (source A). The United States would have found it tremendously difficult to completely decipher the Japanese plan. The messages that were recovered by American intelligence gave no indication that there would be an, “outbreak of hostilities” (Source B).
Document 7 shows Japanese soldiers killing American soldiers during WWII, it was described the “March of Death.” Document 35 talks about the attack on Pearl Harbor:” The principal political, social, and military objective of the United States in the summer of 1945 was the prompt and complete surrender of Japan. Only the complete destruction of her military power could open way to lasting peace… (Secretary of War Henry Stimson, 1947). This document explains the only way to end the conflict between Japan is to destroy their military base, this shows how dangerous Japan was towards the U.S. Lastly, document 44 shows a Japanese soldier carrying a dead Lady Liberty, whom is a patriotic symbol of the U.S. This image shows how big of a threat and danger Japan is- it also shows how important it is to bring Japan down. The atomic bombs are justified because of Japan’s aggressions towards U.S.
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. Second, America dropped the bomb not to win the war and save American lives, but to show its power to the Soviet Union.
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 atomic bombing in Hiroshima is a historical, forever-reigning mystery to the Japanese. We can learn from our past by thinking before we make a decision that could impact the life of others and by helping each other in a time of need to come together.
President Harry Truman gave an executive order in 1945 to drop to atomic bombs in popular downtown cities in Japan. With the guidance of many scientists and political leaders President Truman made the extremely tough decision to drop the bombs. After listening to arguments from both sides President Truman came to the conclusion that dropping bombs would be the best thing to do for this war. It would also show that the United States had an extreme military power. Many American politicians were for the idea of dropping the bomb, because they believed that it was the only way to end the war and get Japan to surrender. Giving them other options at this point seemed useless. Hundreds of thousands of Japanese civilians were killed when the bombs
On August 6th, 1945 at 8:16 AM, a great yet horrific event in history occurred. This event is known as the dropping of the atom bomb on the city of Hiroshima, Japan, the event that would begin and end the pain and suffering of millions. The atom bomb was dropped by an American B-29 Superfortress bomber named Enola Gay and 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.
World War II introduced the most dangerous weapon in the world, the atomic bomb. When the US used it on Japan we went to far and caused unnecessary damage to the people. Many people believe this to the only truth but, the real truth is that dropping the atomic bomb was a necessary evil we had to use in order to win the war in World War II and future wars to come. It save many american soldiers lives, stopped the Soviets from joining, and helped us win against Japan.
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. However, the Japanese were committed to fight to the bitter end of the war and see it all the way through, regardless of the fact that the United States demanded unconditional surrender from the small country of islands. This further emphasizes that since the Japanese were not simply going to give up, Truman came to the conclusion that in order to save millions of lives, he had to take thousands. President Truman decided to drop the atomic bomb on Japan to warn the world about the new found power of the United States, force an unconditional surrender of the Japanese, and save millions of lives.
Although Harry S. Truman said that the bombs saved the Japanese from thousands of casualties, it caused even more, and especially worse suffering. In Hiroshima, the death toll was between 80,000 to 120,000 people. The Nagasaki bomb killed 35,000 to 74,000. Even after the bombing there were more people dying from radiation, scarcity of food, and overall horrible living conditions. John Hall on Daily Mail showed pictures of the aftermath of the bombings, and corpses lying in rubble, other people barely surviving. One picture shows a large Japanese arch standing amongst bed frames, wagons, and pieces of wood from burnt trees with the caption, ¨Hardly any buildings were left in Hiroshima after the massive atomic bomb blast.¨ That is one of the less horrifying pictures, as others depict people suffering, with skin melting off of their bodies. A true story from Keiko Murakami was told by Drew Frame in the article, ¨The Effects Of the Bomb Dropped On Hiroshima and Nagasaki¨. Drew Frame described what had happened to Keiko in Hiroshima saying, ¨They got out of the rubble to find her mother,´with my baby sister in her arms...her right eyeball was out and drooped around her breast like a lump of blood.´….They found other people but ´Their faces were so damaged by the heat of the blast
Would this imperialistic empire accept an unconditional surrender that would go against their national interests for the international welfare and security? Aforementioned evidence puts forward a different approach, the idea that Japan would have been persistent in their futile efforts to combat Allied forces—to maintain dignity and avoid humiliation. Inevitably lengthening the war, an estimated 1.7 to 4 million American and 5 to 10 million Japanese casualties would have occurred through a ground invasion of Japan. An actively planned invasion proposed by allied forces for a means to neutralize Japan and end World War Two. Also known as “Operation Downfall”— an atrocity prevented as a result of Harry Truman’s decision to use nuclear warfare. Ultimately, Harry Truman is an ultranationalist to a moderate extent because in spite of his atrocities involving the atomic bombs, they consequently had a direct impact on the end of World War Two; Evidently shown in Hirohito’s speech accepting the surrender of Japan “Moreover, the enemy has begun to employ a new and most cruel bomb, the power of which to do damage is, indeed, incalculable…Should we continue to fight,
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.
In the United States, it is often taught that the use of nuclear weapons in Hiroshima and Nagasaki was the deciding factor for the Japanese to surrender during World War II. However, upon closer inspection that may not be the reason why. For example, by the time both cities were destroyed Japan had already lost dozens of cities to American fire bombs and conventional raids. As a result, the only difference between the cities that were previously burned and Hiroshima and Nagasaki was the type of weapon used. Therefore,the Japanese government was aware and accustomed to loosing cities and large number of civilian lives. On the other hand, the inclusion of Russian forces in a war against Japan was new and could have possibly had more weight when