“The atomic bomb certainly is the most powerful of all weapons, but it is conclusively powerful and effective only in the hands of the nation which controls the sky” (Johnson 1). Throughout World War II, the war was in pieces. The Germans were almost at world domination along with their allies, the Italians and Japanese. The Japanese and United states had remained at combat with each other since the bombarding of the Pearl Harbor ("U.S. Drops Atomic Bomb on Japan "1). There was abundant controversy as to whether the United States should have used the atomic bombs or not. There were many factors as to the argument relating to the atomic bombs leading to the United States final decision. Many people had arguments for the bombing and others had arguments against the bombings but it is still not determined if the United States made the right decision. After Truman decided to bomb Japan, they had to plan it out. They first had to decide where to release the bomb. They ended up choosing Hiroshima, Japan and Nagasaki, Japan as their two locations. Hiroshima was a significant military city in the war. It confined two army headquarters and was Japan’s communication center (World War 2 Atomic Bomb 1). Hiroshima was also a huge industrial city and had not been bombed before so it would let Japan see the wrath of the United States (Koeller 1). The planning and actual event of the bombing went great. On August 6, 1945 at 8:15 in the morning the bomb was dropped. The bomb that landed in Hiroshima was called the “Little Boy” (World War 2 Atomic Bomb 2). The bomb ended up killing about 170,000 people. 70,000 people died the first day and 100,000 people died in the next few months due to the radioactivity of the bomb and burns fro... ... middle of paper ... ... have changed and he should not have been allowed to decide at all. There were many arguments and factors as to if Truman decided correctly and if the United States should have dropped the bombs. There were many disputes supporting the bombing. Some being the Japanese were warned early enough, it shortened the war, and it saved many Americans lives. There are also voluminous quarrels against the United States bombing the Japanese. Some of these are the bombing killed innocent Japanese civilians who did not deserve it, the Japanese was about to surrender before we bombed them, and the United States only blasted the Japanese because of racism toward them. Though there are many valid reasons for and against the bombing, there is still much controversy today whether president Truman made the right decision.
We agree that, whatever be one’s judgment of the war in principle, the surprise bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki are morally indefensible. The “8 Primary Pros and Cons of Dropping the Atomic Bomb” People also say how Japan was already defeated, concluding why the bombs were unnecessary. Although, many others say that the dropping of the atomic bombs saved their lives, but the debate over the decision to drop the atomic bomb will never be resolved. The war against Japan bestowed the Allies with entirely new problems as they encountered an enemy with utterly unfamiliar tactics.
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.
The dropping of atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Japan were ethical decisions made by President Harry Truman and the United States government. By the time of the atom bomb was ready, the U.S. had been engaged in military conflict for over four years and lost over 400,000 soldiers. Truman claimed, "We would have the opportunity to bring the world into a pattern in which the peace of the world and our civilization can be saved" (Winkler 18). The bomb was aimed at ending the war immediately and avoiding prolonged battle in the Pacific Theater and the inevitable invasion of Japan. President Truman hoped that by showing the Japanese the devastating weapon the U.S. possessed, that the war could be brought ...
...it was without doubt a savior of lives, it seems most reasonable to conclude that we simply can not tell. Furthermore, Truman became President only weeks before making his monumental decision, he seems to have dropped the bomb simply because he never considered not dropping the bomb47. Together with his advisors, Truman never thought to rethink the basic principles established under the Manhattan Project’s inception under Roosevelt, and therefore, dropped the bomb because they believed in their heart it was the right thing to do, and never reconsidered. There is no way we can know for certain whether the approach of seeking alternatives would have ended the Pacific was sooner, and with fewer lives. But one may regret that such an attempt was not made. Had the attempt failed, the continuing blockade of supplies, Soviet invasion, and the atomic bombs were still available. However, anyone tempted to use the atomic bomb would have done well to share the hesitancy agreed upon Truman and President Roosevelt. Dwight Eisenhower was right, when he commented on the atomic bombings on Japan -- “It wasn’t necessary to hit them with that awful thing.” (Ike on Ike, Newsweek, 11/11/63, pg. 108).
How different would the world be if America had never dropped the bomb on Japan to end World War II? If America had simply offered Japan a way to surrender by simply threatening the use of the atomic bomb, would Japan have surrendered? The world will never know, however Leo Szilard, one of the scientists that created the atomic bomb, tried to make a plea for this to happen. A month before the atomic bomb was dropped on Japan in WWII, Leo Szilard and 59 scientists stood up for what they believed in and tried to alter the thinking and decision that the President was making.
If they do not now accept our terms they may expect a rain of ruin from the air, the like of which has never been seen on this earth.” (Truman).The justification of the bombs was the fact that the bomb was only in retaliation to a hostile nation and there refusal to cooperate with the American government. Japan was attacking with no fear they were unwavering because there military mind set was to never surrender because it was a sign of weakness it was against their nature. And so was the United States we were not going to give up though we were not gaining anything from this war only loosing we had the same sort of national mindset that we could to surrender for the fear of being preserved as week. So with the rejection of surrender the United States dropped the bomb in order to stop a more brutal war and to protect the United States from having to drop out of the
On August sixth 1945, 8:15 AM, the first successful atomic bomb attack was dropped on Hiroshima, Japan. Due to Canada’s involvement in the making of this destructive weapon, many peoples' perspective on Canada has changed for the worse.
During World War ll, Japan was on the brink of collapse. The Atomic Bombs that were dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki by the United State were unnecessary to end the war. The allied forces which were Great Britain, Soviet Union, France, United States and China, would conduct countless air raids and fire bombings on Japan. Japan’s military and civil defenses were inadequate to defend themselves and had no chance. For months Japans cities suffered attacks of bombs and fire raining down on them by the allied forces. The country was weak, starving and had no strength to fight back. On August 6 and 9, 1945, Nagasaki and Hiroshima would be the first cities to ever experience an atomic blast. Hiroshima and Nagasaki became literally test dummies for the atomic bomb. Japan had attempted to settle a peace treaty with the United States, but they refused and were determined for a unconditional surrender. Instead, the United States should have made an effort to make a peace treaty, not force them into surrender with the ultimate destruction weapon. The reason for this unconditional surrender was to prove America’s superiority over the Japanese. America used propaganda to convince Americans and demoralize the japanese people rather than their army. The use of the atomic bombs was caused by a strong racism motivating factor.
World War II brought up many new technologies for warfare. Advanced on existing developments such as weaponry, ships, vehicles air crafts, navigational devices and medicine are just a few broad examples of developments in warfare during this time in United States and World history. One development, however, changed the entire way of warfare. The Atomic bomb was developed during this time out of fears that the Germans had the same technologies, or at least were working to obtain it. Once the United States had this technological capability of producing atomic weapons, the way of fighting was changed. Two bombs were dropped on Japan in August of 1945, one on the city of Hiroshima and the other on the city of Nagasaki. Afterward, the ear of atomic diplomacy came up in American international relations, which as we have seen today, has led to the development of even stronger, more deadly weaponry and bombs. The bombing of Japan also brings up the still prevalent debate of whether the bombings were justifiable or not. Historians Gar Alperovitz, Robert P. Newman and Barton Bernstein all have written essays expressing their opinions in the matter.
After the first few days of the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki Americans, without knowledge of the aftermath of these cities, began cheering and celebrating as the bombings marked the end of World War II. Also, this event showed that Americans would be the ones who would lead the world into the nuclear age. In a Gallup Poll taken from August 10-15, 1945, Americans were asked whether or not they approved or disapproved of the use of atomic bombs on Japanese cities, 85 percent approved, ten percent disapproved and five had no opinion.30 then when asked if the development of the atomic bomb was a good or bad thing, 69 percent said it was a good thing, 17 percent said it was bad, and 14 percent had no opinion (Steele).
When it come to be publicly acknowledged that the United States government planned on using atomic bombs to fight the war against Japan, a group of scientists who had worked on the atomic bomb for many years, felt the need to protest the idea. Leo Szilard who was a head of the group of scientists came up with a petition for the president for his associated scientists to look over. In his petition he asked the President “to rule that the United States shall not, in the present phase of the war, resort to the use of atomic bombs” (Szilard, par. 1). Szilard’s thoughts mentioned in the petition sought the strength and persuasion needed to sway the President that the use of the atomic bomb was uncalled for because of the shortage of facts presented, their poor reasoning found in the writing, and the failure to communicate the significance that their arguments held in the decision.
By examining the climate of the world at the time of war, and given all other alternatives, the United States had no choice but to drop the bomb. If we had not, many thousands more American lives would have been lost, most likely on the shores of Japan during the inevitable land invasion. Once on Japanese soil our boys would have had to face off with arguably the most dedicated and fiercest warriors the world has known, willing to sacrifice their lives and those of their families for their emperor and country. While there are still many who would argue the cruelty of nuclear weapons, it is apparent that Harry S. Truman was acting in the best interest of America and the world when he authorized the use of the most devastating weapon mankind has ever created.
Historian Robert James Maddox starts the debate by siding with Truman and states that he made the right decision in dropping the bomb. Maddox uses several influential meetings, speculations and the presidents’ personal opinions on the situation to defend his statement. Some examples he uses include, Japanese military power and mentality, saving American lives, and unconditional surrender. In short, because the use of the atomic bomb occurred, the Japanese military lost their lust to fight to the end, countless lives were saved, and Japan surrendered. Therefore, although many Japanese lives were lost in the conflict the right decision was made by Harry Truman to authorize the usage of the bombs.
There are many people who oppose the use of the atomic bombs; though there are some that believe it was a necessity in ending the war. President Truman realized the tragic significance of the atomic bomb and made his decision to use it to shorten the agony of young Americans (“Was the Atomic Bombing”). The president knew of the way the Japanese fought. They fought to the death and they were brutal to prisoners of war. They used woman and children as soldiers to surprise bomb the enemy. They made lethal weapons and were taught to sacr...
A nuclear weapon is mass destruction of both people and also things it signifies the simultaneous destruction of over ten million people. The nuclear weapon also destructs the chances of immorality by decreasing the outcome of a growing society and history.