The huge bombs might have destroyed the cities but it ended the war in a matter of seconds. Japan and America were at war during the mid 1900s. Two bombs were dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki in an effort to finish the war for good. With the amount of power carried within the bomb the casualties brought the war to a finish. The atomic bombs were a military necessity because it saved combat and lives, we had the technology to do so, and it was justified in the time of war.
Our technology has advanced significantly since the 18th century. Technology is a main tool for success. During the mid 1850s, America had the machinery to take control. The Boeing B29 was a super fortress bomber that was manufactured by America. This was a stronger, faster
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The total casualties of the droppings was 70,000-130,000 in Hiroshima and 60,000-80,000 in Nagasaki. In some of our past wars like WW2 had nearly 56.4 million casualties (Guinnessworldrecords.com). While people died in great numbers, the bombs saved lives more effectively. In Hiroshima, the bombs killed 70,000 people instantly and thousands died from sears of heat (Doc. 1). President Truman said, “We have used it to shorten the agony of war, in order to save the lives of thousands and thousands of young Americans” (Doc. I). Similarly, the bombs were available for us to use instead of wasting millions of other weapons. Another quote by Colonel Paul Tibbets, Jr. says, “It would have been morally wrong if we'd have had that weapon and not used it and let a million more people die.” Ultimately, the bombs saved people from the raging war that could've gone on for an extended amount of time. More lives were saved with the bombs with almost no use of weapons along with less …show more content…
First, the Japanese began the war in Pearl Harbor. The attack on Pearl Harbor was a surprise attack that caused mass destruction. According to one historian, “The tactics were brutal and many more Americans lost their lives.” (Nuclearmuseum.org). Following Pearl Harbor, the way the Japanese were going about the war was barbaric. Japan also attacked the U.S ships in the Pacific Theater using Kamikaze pilots (Doc. C). Japan also showed the U.S they were willing to kill themselves and sacrifice their own people to destroy Americans. The U.S offered an ultimatum but Japan refused it and didn’t accept the terms (Doc. I). In the same way as the ultimatum, there were also many warnings. At the point in the war before the droppings, surrendering was a clear option. Americans were weary and wanted war to end. The bomb was the best way to terminate the
Most people know that the United States dropped two atomic bombs on Japan during World War Two. But what most people don’t know is why the United States decided to drop weapons of mass destruction on their enemies. America decided to develop and use atomic bombs during World War Two to save both American and Japanese lives, end the war, and to have a defense against Germany. One of the main reasons the United States decided to drop the atomic bombs was to save lives. While it may seem contradictory, by dropping the atomic bomb, the number of lives lost was minimized.
The amount of people killed during the war is more than 10x the amount killed because of the atomic bombs in Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Also, death is just a part of war,these deaths, and possibly more would have been caused, even if the United States did not drop the atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. To continue, atomic bombs were new technology during this time and the use of them showed the world how destructive and deadly these bombs can really be. The droppings of the bombs on Japan could have prevented more nuclear warfare from
The atomic bombs that were dropped were a military necessity. Firstoff, the bombs justified the times of the war. For example, Pearl Harbor. On December 7, 1941 Japan raided Pearl Harbor. Prior to this, America could be explained as a sitting duck in the war.
They were so desperate that they were sending kamikaze to U.S. ships in the Pacific (Doc. C). This action showed America just how desperate the Japanese truly were, meaning that they were already winning the war (Doc. C). According to the Air Force Strategy Bombing Survey, “certainly prior to 31 December 1945, and in all probability prior to 1 November 1945 (well before the date of the [proposed] invasion) Japan would have surrendered even if the atomic bombs had not been dropped” (Doc. K). This means that the Survey agreed that the war would have ended even without the bombing. Furthermore, Dwight Eisenhower stated, “I was one of those who felt that there were a number of cogent reasons to question the wisdom of such an act.... first on the basis of my belief that Japan was already defeated and that dropping the bomb was completely unnecessary, and second because I thought that our country should avoid shocking world opinion by the use of a weapon whose employment was, I thought, no longer mandatory as a measure to save American lives.
They rejoiced because they knew they would live. Paul Fussel, an American soldier, expressed how thrilled he was when he learned that the bomb was dropped. He says that he and his comrades “ broke down and cried with relief and joy ” (Doc. H). The bomb rightfully caused this reaction to more than just a couple of men. The atomic bomb strangely saved roughly 32 million people.
It was a calm August morning in the year 1945, and citizens were out living their lives as normal, getting groceries, playing at the park, and walking to work, little did everyone in what was the beautiful town of Hiroshima know, there was an atomic bomb right above their heads. Boom. Simultaneously 70,000 innocent lives were lost. 30,000 more lives were taken later on due to the atomic bomb. Hiroshima and Nagasaki were the two Japanese cities that the United dropped the Atomic Bomb on in 1945 to try & bring an end to World War 2.
The atomic bomb brought the war to a quick end and prevented many more casualties from
These atomic bombs, in the eyes of the United States during this time, looked like miracles from God, ending this tragedy of war and saving American citizens. Looking back at this decision in history, was saving ourselves and causing some much harm worth it? Did we need to kill so many innocent people, including children, to be a victor in a one-sided attack? The United States should have never dropped
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.
In the article “Why We Did It” ,it stated that people wanted the war to end (“Why We Did It”, 1995). People were tired of the sacrifice of the army. For better understanding imagine that someone has not seen their friend for a long time because they are fighting a war and they want to see them again and are tired of the war with Japan and just wants this battle to stop. Many people have felt exhausted from the long lasting wars being fought and wanted it to end. Soon the atomic bomb was the solution to end this.
In fact, Ralph A. Bard, Undersecretary of the Navy wrote to Secretary of War Stimson in a June 27, 1945 memorandum. “I define this decision as an emotional and reckless decision, Japanese government may be searching for some opportunity which they could use as a medium of surrender” (Bard). In fact, the Japanese government expressed desire to end the war, and would have accepted conditional surrender before the mainland invasion in November. The reason for dropping the bomb was forcing Japan to surrender unconditionally. In America’s opinion, Japan had lost the war; they did not have any capital to negotiate with.
First, many lives of American soldiers were saved. One unique perspective of this is from Professor Paul Fussell, who without the bombs would have had to invade Tokyo, and would most likely have died. As Paul Fussell said in response to hearing the news of the bombs, ”We were going to live. We were going to grow to adulthood after all”(Doc. H).
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.
President Truman and his associates believed that if they dropped the bomb they would receive surrender from Japan. Thus, saving millions of American lives, and ending the war. Nevertheless, by saving American lives they would sacrifice thousands of Japanese civilians. They had other idea to have Japan to surrender, but were willing to take the one that would have the most consequences. They were thinking too much about the US instead of creating actually peace within the nations.
The dropping of the atomic bombs on World War II on the city of Hiroshima and Nagasaki was a very important part of World War II. The atomic bomb ended the war between America and Japan. This was just one of the important events during the battle in World War II. The Battle at Pearl Harbor, where the Japanese attacked U.S. soil was also why the americans bombed Nagasaki and Hiroshima. Some believe that the United States was correct in dropping these bombs on Japan because of the attack on Pearl Harbor while others believe that it was very wrong to dropped the bomb.