One advantage of Truman’s approach was Stalin asked no questions. When Truman told Stalin about the new weapon, “all he said was he was glad to hear it and hope we would make “good use of it against the Japanese”.” This was good for the Americans because they wouldn’t have to share their secrets of producing the atomic weapons. This meant that Stalin was unaware of any type of atomic weapon research. The conversation was kept breif and genial, which was also good since they wouldn’t have to answer any questions and go into depth about. The US-Soviet relations could still be ruined though since Truman never told him the full truth about what type of weapon they had.
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
President Truman was justified in his decision to drop the atomic bombs in Japan. Truman faced many pros and cons of his decision, however, the pros outweighed the cons. There were very few alternatives to the extreme, the casualties in the Pacific were growing and the rate the war it would save lives. Although, there were many lives lost Truman made the right decision for his country.
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. With a demonstration it would for one, give the Japanese proof of the bomb and two, show them how destructive the bomb is. Furthermore, an attack on civilians is not regarded, despite the extent they are involved in the war effort. The military is a force that knows that they are putting their life on the line for their country, willingly making a commitment and understanding death is a possibility. However civilians are entirely different, as their involvement in war is scarce. They cannot be considered necessary to a war effort. Thinking with a humane mindset it is more ethical to continue to fight a long and hard struggle, rather than slaughter many innocent
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 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.
On the other side of the argument, the Japanese did bomb Pearl Harbor which was the catalyst that got America involved in the first place. We as a country should not need to compromise with the nation who started the battle. Our country only wants to be the one who ends it, and loses the least amount of lives in the process. After the atomic bombs landed in Japan the war ended around a month later. The bombs did the job they were meant to do. I would like to think that there could have been a better way. But sometimes you do have to push the bully a little harder in order from them to
According to an excerpt from Three Narratives of our Humanity, “It is hard to imagine that the Japanese would have surrendered without the atomic bomb”. The bomb was a necessary step in the war to defeat the ever growing Japanese military. Dropping a bomb seemed like the most efficient way to kill a large amount of the Japanese without having to but insert thousands of American soldiers into enemy territory. According to a World War II veteran, “The people who preferred invasion to A-bombing seemed to have no intention of proceeding to the Japanese fronts
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. Afterwards, the United States declared war on Japan, and joined allies against the axis powers. The United States’ use of the atomic bombs is justified because it saved American lives; Japan was given fair warning, and their aggressions towards the U.S.
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.
Harry Truman evidently demonstrates ultranationalist actions and motives to a moderate extent, accordingly, he is guilty of crimes involving the mistreatment, internment, and use of nuclear warfare against the Japanese peoples. Arguments on whether or not he is an ultranationalist are debatable to a considerable extent. Nevertheless, due to the complexity of the issue, the most reinforced position points to a moderate degree of ultranationalism for various reasons.
I am an American citizen and if I were listening to FDR’s speech it would affect me strongly. When FDR read his speech, he explained that the Empire of Japan had attacked Pearl Harbor. Right away we knew we might be in grave danger. The President then went on to say how we were “at peace with that nation,” and that we did not expect Japan to do this. Before the attack, both countries were not friendly with each other but still tried to not cause any trouble. During his speech, President Roosevelt made it seem like the Japanese just attacked us out of nowhere but really we provoked it. Japan tried to suggest ideas for compromise between itself and the United States,” but “The U.S did not agree.” After this, Japan tried to make another attempt
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. Jane Runyon stated that “some civilian leaders even declared the bombs a good thing”. These leaders concluded that if the war continued without the bombs at least a million
This call could possibly have led to the Japanese Emperor, Hirohito, being tried on counts of war crimes, which may have possibly made the Japanese to be reluctant on surrendering even in light of a crushing defeat (Huczko). Samuel Walker also provides useful insights into contribution made by the decision to use Atomic weapons on Japanese decision to surrender. Overall, the work is worth reading and is recommendable for students and scholars with interest in the Truman administration, atomic warfare and weapons, the second world war, relations between the US and the Soviet, and those curious of knowing the reasons that led to Truman’s decision to use two atomic bombs on
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.