The Pros And Cons Of Atomic Bombing

On August 6th and 9th in 1945, without any warning the world was abruptly forced into the atomic age. This happened when the first atomic bomb obliterated the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki (Churchill, 2013). Many Americans at the time believed that these bombings were warranted. They were convinced that the atomic bombings were the central reason Japan surrendered and bombing Japan was the most efficient and economical way to end World War II. But were the atomic bombings necessary to stop Japan's threat to world peace and to avoid a bloody invasion of Japan? It is believed that Japan would have surrendered by the end of 1945 as their military had already been almost completely defeated and diminished by Allied troops after Germany’s surrender in May, of the same year. With their already weakened military and the realization that Japan

“The explosion wiped out 90 percent of the city” (History Staff, 2009), killing an estimated 80,000 people. Three days later a second, more powerful bomb, “Fat Man” was dropped on Nagasaki causing the deaths of 40,000 more people. Over the next few months after the attack, roughly 100,000 more people died as a result of radiation poisoning (Herken, 2014). The bombings were the result of an executive order from President of the United States during 1945, Harry Truman. President Truman was encouraged to bomb Japan in spite of their impending surrender as a consequence of their weak forces due to their stubbornness to retreat. America and allied nations wanted to have an opportunity to be a world power in the future of post-war. When this opportunity was presented to the U.S., Truman exploited it and commanded his troops to bomb Japan. The bombings resulted in an unconditional surrender by Japanese forces and subsequent surrender announcement by Emperor Hirohito on the national