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The Pros And Cons Of Atomic Bombing

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On August 6, 1945 the world’s first atomic bomb was dropped over the Japanese city of Hiroshima by an American B-29 bomber. This bomb as well as the second atomic bomb dropped on August 9, 1945 over the Japanese city of Nagasaki killed a combined 150,000 people on impact. Although these bombs killed an immense number of people, it was still better than continuing the war and allowing another country to attempt an atomic bombing on the US. Although there were many reasons to drop the atomic bomb, the most influential were that Japan was not going to surrender and there were no strong alternatives that would have had the same final effect on the war. America’s atomic bombing of Japan was the best action available because there were no strong …show more content…

According to The Japanese Minister of Foreign Affairs, “Although it is apparent that there will be more casualties on both sides in case the war is prolonged, we will stand united as one nation against the enemy if the enemy forcibly demands our unconditional surrender” (Foreign). The Japanese knew that prolonging the war would only lead to widespread death, but their immense pride would have led to them standing together and fighting until they could not fight anymore. Had the US simply shown a demonstration of the bomb’s power or continued to invade, Japanese forces would have continued to fight back. The bomb was needed because it was the only way to completely dash the spirits of their proud country. Seeing as the Japanese army had about 5 million men deployed around the world at the time of the bombing, they were expected to fight until the end in all areas of the Far East under its control (Stimson). Japan’s armed forces had millions of men around the world ready to give their lives to protect their countries pride, and if America had invaded Japan, they would have risked a potential attack on ally grounds from these deployed troops. Rather than invading or showing a demonstration, dropping the atomic bomb was the one thing that would have caused an immediate surrender. Since there was no chance of Japan surrendering, the only option America had to end the war was to drop the atomic

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