Decision to Drop the Atomic Bomb: By Jason Chamberlin The atomic bomb was one of the most impacting event of the 20th century. It forever changed the way that people looked at war. For the first time, the human race possed the ability to destroy on a massive scale, and they actually got to see how they could do it during the second World War. It was a decision that the president, Harry Truman, had to think and decide very carefully on what exactly he wanted to do. Never in the history of war has anyone had the power that now existed within the United States of America. With a single decision, the President struck fear in the people of other nations. It was an exclamation point that stated how powerful a nation that America now is. The nuclear technology that has been displayed, changed the way things work in times of war. This massive weapon first came into the public eye on August 6th, 1945, when the United Sates bombed Hiroshima. It was then later used in the bombing of Nagasaki on August 9th of that same year. Both of these bombs left extraordinary damage to the cities, and around 200,000 people died. This does not include the amount of people that died as a result of radiation from the bomb, both in America during the testing and in Japan.1 This was new technology to the world. It had never been used in a war, so the total effect that the bomb caused was not known. Up until this time wars were fought between soldiers on the ground and planes in the air. So what actually caused the United Sates to use the bomb? One of the main reasons it was used was to save American troops that were fighting on the ground. The bomb was seen as a quick way to end the war, which it obviously did. After the two atomic bomb... ... middle of paper ... ...uclear technology was now on permanent display to the world. It demonstrated just how powerful the field of science actually was. End Notes 1. Szliard, Leo. "Atomic Bomb Decision." http://www.dannen.com/decision/index.html (2 Mar. 2000) 2. Stanley Goldberg. "What Did Truman Know, and When Did He Know It?" Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists. 1 June 1998, 18-19. 3. Lisa Bier. "Atomic Wives and the Secret Library at Los Alamos." American Libraries. 1 Dec. 1999, 54-56. 4. Bier, 54. 5. Bier, 55. 6. Szliard. http://www.dannen.com/decision/index.html (2 Mar. 2000) 7. Szliard. http://www.dannen.com/decision/index.html (2 Mar. 2000) 8. Goldberg. 19. 9. Szliard. http://www.dannen.com/decision/index.html (2 Mar. 2000) 10. Szliard. http://www.dannen.com/decision/index.html (2 Mar. 2000) 11. Goldberg. 18.
http://www.usatoday.com/sports/college/basketball/men/02tourney/2002-03-27-cover-fab5.html, February 7, 2014. 3. What is the difference between a'smart' and a'smart'? Milbert, Neil, "Howard's Effort Honors Grandma." April 7th, 1992.
On August 6, 1945, the U.S. dropped the world’s first atomic bomb over Hiroshima. Three days later, a second bomb was dropped on Nagasaki. On August 15th, the Japan announced unconditional surrender in World War II. To this day historians still discuss why the U.S. decided to use the atomic bombs. Orthodox historians argue that the decision to drop the bombs was a military one designed purely to defeat the Japanese.
The atomic bomb killed many innocent people, but it was necessary to end World War II.
...s who would do anything to win their war so a powerful weapon was needed to weaken their will. The bomb?s intense impact saved more soldiers? and civilians? lives involved in the war than it destroyed. The damage the atomic bombs produced was miniscule compared to the massacres the Japanese militarists created. The bomb clearly improved American foreign relations, especially with the Soviet Union. The choice to use the atomic bomb was justified because it coerced a Japanese surrender, saved countless lives, served as retribution for the sufferings of many people, and acted as an anti-Soviet deterrent.
Harry Truman's decision to drop the atomic bomb changed the way Americans thought about war because of the traumatic after effects. Works Cited Clancey Patrick ed., p. 78. " HyperWar: USSBS:
On August 6th, 1945, the United States of America dropped the world’s first atomic bomb on the city of Hiroshima in Japan. Two days later, a second bomb was dropped on the city of Nagasaki. These two bombs were the most devastating weapons ever seen, and their effects on human beings and property were plainly horrifying. Approximately 110,000 people were killed; most of them were innocent civilians who just happened to have lived in the wrong place at the wrong time. Although using this weapon was an atrocity to both the Japanese, and humanity in general, the world was at war. No matter what ulterior motives may have existed, the fact remains that the bomb was a justifiably necessary measure to bring an early end to aggressive war that was instigated by Japan. Japan would never have surrendered unconditionally, as decreed in the Potsdam Ultimatum. Invasion of the Japanese home islands were out of the question because of the ferocious defense that would have been staged, and the huge number of casualties that it would entail. The bomb shocked the Japanese militarists into surrender and gave the “peace-party” the added credibility they required to bring about a quick end to the war. The use of the bomb also kept Russia out of the war, preventing problems that had occurred in post-war Germany, and later on in Korea. When all factors are taken into consideration, the use of the atomic bomb actually saved more lives, both Japanese and American than it took.
Atomic Bomb The use of the atomic bombs on Japan was necessary for the revenge of the Americans. These bombs took years to make due to a problematic equation. The impact of the bombs killed hundreds of thousands of people and the radiation is still killing people today. People today still wonder why the bombs were dropped. If these bombs weren’t dropped on the Japanese the history of the world would have been changed forever. The Atomic bomb took 6 years to develop (1939-1945) for scientists to work on a equation to make the U-235 into a bomb. The most complicated process in this was trying to produce enough uranium to sustain a chain reaction. The bombs used on the cities cost about $2 billion to develop, this also making the U.S. wanting to use them against Japan. “Hiroshima was a major military target and we have spent 2 billion dollars on the greatest scientific gamble in history- and won.” (3) The bomb dropped on Hiroshima weighted 4.5 tons and the bomb used on Nagasaki weighted 10 kilotons. On July 16, 1945, the first ever atomic bomb was tested in the Jamez Mountains in Northern New Mexico, code named “Gadget.” The single weapon ultimately dropped on Hiroshima, nicknamed “Little Boy,” produced the amount of approximately twenty- thousand tons of TNT, which is roughly seven times greater than all of the bombs dropped by all the allies on all of Germany in 1942. The first Japanese City bomb was Hiroshima on August 6, 1945. An American B-29 bomber, named Enola Gay, flown by the pilot Paul W. Tibbets, dropped the “Little Boy” uranium atomic bomb. Three days later a second bomb named ”Fat Boy,” made of plutonium was dropped on the Japanese city of Nagasaki. After being released, it took approximately one minute for Little Boy to reach the point of explosion, which was about 2,000 feet. The impact of the bombs on the cities and people was massive. Black rain containing large amounts of nuclear fallout fell as much as 30km from the original blast site. A mushroom cloud rose to twenty thousand feet in the air, and sixty percent of the city was destroyed. The shock wave and its reverse effect reached speeds close to those of the speed of sound. The wind generated by the bombs destroyed most of the houses and buildings within a 1.
President Truman's decision to drop the atomic bomb on the cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki were the direct cause for the end of World War II in the Pacific. The United States felt it was necessary to drop the atomic bombs on these two cities or it would suffer more casualties. Not only could the lives of many soldiers have been taken, but possibly the lives of many innocent Americans. The United States will always try to avoid the loss of American civilians at all costs, even if that means taking lives of another countries innocent civilians.
In 1945, Germany had surrendered, but the war in the Pacific raged on. The allies were becoming desperate to end the war before it was necessary to carry out a full scale invasion. New developments in science had made it possible for the United States to weaponize the atom, and the consequent bomb created was dropped on Hiroshima and later Nagasaki at the approval of President Harry S. Truman and his advisors. In years to come, Truman would have to face questions over the merit of his actions. Although some may believe the atomic bomb was needed because it ended WWII, it was unnecessary to drop the nuclear bomb because of the alternatives that existed, the effect it had on the Japanese people, and because of the unethical reasons for dropping it.
“Truman, Harry S.” The Concise Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia. Columbia: Columbia, 1994. Online. Internet. Available at HTTP: http://www.historychannel.com/. 24 Sept. 2001.
Walker, J. Samuel. Prompt and Utter Destruction Truman and the Use of Atomic Bombs against Japan, Revised Edition. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina, 2005. Print.
The atomic bomb is the subject of much controversy. Since its first detonation in 1945, the entire world has heard the aftershocks of that blast. Issues concerning Nuclear Weapons sparked the Cold War. We also have the atomic bomb to thank for our relative peace in this time due to the fear of Mutually Assured Destruction (MAD). The effects of the atomic bomb might not have been the exact effects that the United States was looking for when they dropped Little Boy and Fat Man on Hiroshima and Nagasaki respectively (Grant, 1998). The original desire of the United States government when they dropped Little Boy and Fat Man on Hiroshima and Nagasaki was not, in fact, the one more commonly known: that the two nuclear devices dropped upon Hiroshima and Nagasaki were detonated with the intention of bringing an end to the war with Japan, but instead to intimidate the Soviet Union. The fact of Japan's imminent defeat, the undeniable truth that relations with Russia were deteriorating, and competition for the division of Europe prove this without question.
Maddox, Robert. “The Biggest Decision: Why We Had to Drop the Atomic Bomb.” Taking Sides: Clashing View in United States History. Ed. Larry Madaras & James SoRelle. 15th ed. New York, NY. 2012. 280-288.
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