On July 26, 1945, Proclamation Defining Terms for Japanese Surrender (Potsdam Declaration) was presented by the President of the United States, the President of the National Government of the Republic of China, and the Prime Minister of Great Britain. This Potsdam Declaration was issued to give Japan a chance to terminate the war by making them accept it. Then, the leader of the Soviet Union later signed the Potsdam Proclamation and decided to join the war. Although Japanese leaders had already knew that they would not achieve a victory in this war, they did not confirm the declaration until atomic bombs were dropped in Hiroshima and Nagasaki by the United States and ended up accepting the unconditional surrender on August 15th of the same year. Despite of their circumstances, they did not want to surrender as it was regarded as a political act and it was not same as defeat (Hasegawa 2005).
Harry S. Truman and His Decision to Drop the Atomic Bomb Harry S. Truman once said, “Carry the battle to them. Don’t let them bring it to you.” In World War II, that is exactly what he did. While Japan was breaking treaties and fighting with allied countries, the United States was developing a powerful weapon that would cripple Japan and end World War II. This weapon was called the atomic bomb. After it was fully developed and tested, Harry S. Truman made the decision to drop this deadly weapon on two cities in Japan, Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
During this time period, the U.S. War Department developed the 1940 Principles of War, and the Potsdam Declaration was received by Japan; one which restricted a majority of their rights. More importantly, the culmination of the war was the deployment of two atomic bombs. From the mass ruination of the fire bombings to the atomic bombs, there is clearly a misinterpretation of rules and ethics during WW2. From each of the firebombings to the atomic bombs, there is a clear representation and violation of the 1940 Principles of War; there were massive civilian casualties due to these bombings and gave no military target. Truman even gave his own opinion on Rules and Ethics, “Finally, Japan has consistently disregarded the rules of war and I believe we are justified in using our full military strength” (Meet and Greet Roles Document).
The War in Germany was over, and fighting continued only throughout the Pacific Islands, where American troops were “island hopping” frenziedly in an effort to finally vanquish the Japanese. The Japanese tactics were simple; they did not cease fighting until they won, and their Kamikazes, the original suicide bombers, sunk hundreds of American ships. The United States, tired of incessant violence, issued the Potsdam Declaration, which outlined the consequences that the Japanese would face should they refuse to surrender, it however was ignored. Meanwhile, just months after the European theater of the war ended, the infamous atomic weapons had been completed and were ready for use. Everything was coming to the end.
And when we did drop this bomb we made a statement not only to Japan but the world that we are not afraid to do what we have to do to protect our homeland and defeat our enemies. War is not a pretty thing and you don 't worry about other people’s feelings especially when they are the enemy, it needed to be done because we needed to end the war and save our American troops lives and give them what they deserved from Pearl Harbour. • They had warnings. It wasn 't a direct warning that the US was going to bomb, but there was a statement warning telling Japan to surrender while the bomb was still being talked about. Japan didn 't surrender.
American Citizens wanted justice for the horror that happened the night of the attack. Many wanted Japanese to pay for the crimes they committed and FDR wanted that very much as well. He wanted to do a bombing raid on Japanese soil because japan would least expect it. So, the war went on with the goal to punish japan for what they did. The united states were not standing on the sidelines anymore, The goal was to get to Japanese territory and force them to surrender, but in order to get their territory American had to get through the Pacific Ocean which was heavily guarded by Japanese
On August 6, 1945 the United States dropped an Atomic bomb called the Little Boy on Hiroshima in Japan. A few days later the united states dropped another atomic bomb called the Fat man on the city of Nagasaki. The dropping of an atomic bomb in Hiroshima and Nagasaki ended the wars quickly, as Japan saw the devastating effects it had on their people and country. The decision to drop the bomb was a very hard one to agree on but changed lives for others. There are many pros and cons of the atomic bombs.
The alternative for President Franklin D. Roosevelt and his advisors was doing nothing and letting Nazi Germany develop atomic power and going on to use it to conquer the world. The United States of America wanted to end World War II on both the Atlantic and Pacific fronts and needed the quickest possible method to do so. Franklin D. Roosevelt’s advisors concluded that hundreds of thousands of American lives would be lost on an assault on the island of Japan. The U.S. Armed Forces was over 16,000,000 strong and Franklin D. Roosevelt’s main motive for dropping the atom bombs was to save American lives.5 The fact of the matter is World War II was started by the Axis powers which were Germany, Italy and Japan. The Axis powers alone turned Europe upside down.
The debate over the legitimacy of the atomic bombings of Japan generally revolves around what it was going to take to get Japan to agree to an unconditional surrender and what that might cost in American and Japanese lives. Those who supported the use of the bomb took the utilitarian view that it would end the war quickly and thereby save even greater numbers of American and Japanese lives by avoiding an Allied invasion of the home islands. In the context of The Just War Theory, however, the issue still comes down to the legitimacy of targeting civilians in industrial cities this line had already been crossed. Utilitarian considerations, such as the doctrine of double effect, only apply if the intended target is indeed military. Strategic bombing in World War II essentially was a decision to kill people not because of their military role, but because of their nationality.
It was not to end the war. We are often taught that the use of the atomic bomb was necessary to end the war with Japan at the earliest possible moment, but judging by the statements of many high ranking political and military personnel, this is simply not the case. "The Japanese were ready to surrender and it wasn 't necessary to hit them with that awful thing ... I hated to see our country be the first to use such a weapon,"Eisenhower said in 1963. On September 9, 1945, Admiral William F. Halsey, commander of the Third Fleet, was publicly quoted as stating that the atomic bomb was used because the scientists had a “toy and they wanted to try it out…” He further stated that “the first atomic bomb was an unnecessary experiment” and that it was“a mistake to ever drop it.” By all the evidence and information we have above, it shows us that to end the WWII is not really the reason for U.S. to drop that bombs on Japan.