Before the polychromatic clouds of atomic bombs burnt to black the cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, the bloodstained shores of Okinawa seemed to lay the fateful path of Pyrrhic Victory before Allied troops who awaited to invade the Japanese mainland. During this time, Allied bombers under the command of Major General Curtis LeMay, launched a victorious offensive of fire-bombings which ignited the wooden city of Tokyo into consuming flames, leaving the Japanese capital in smoldering ashes, killing more than 100,000 people. Moreover, advancing in the west, the Soviet Army marched into Japanese occupied Manchuria, further crippling the weakened nation whose supply of soldiers and war materials dwindled; the fall of Japan seemed inevitable. However, …show more content…
In their desperation for an end to the bloodbath in the waters of the Pacific, the Allies forged two strategies for bringing a swift conclusion to the seemingly infinite terror of war: a strategy of words and a strategy of weapons. From the strategy of words emerged the Potsdam Declaration which declared a dire ultimatum of life or death to the Japanese: “Japan must surrender unconditionally or face ‘prompt and utter destruction.’” However, the declaration’s provision of “unconditional surrender” required the Japanese to tax their religious beliefs and remove their sacred emperor from sovereign rule of the Empire, a demand the Japanese were more willing to pay the ultimate price for than to meet. Therefore, the mallet of fate was hammered upon Japan, the strategy of weapons would be used to break the adamantine nature of the island nation: the loud blast of the atomic bomb would quell the raging barrage of war. On August 6th, 1945, 50,000 Japanese were killed when the B-29 bomber, Enola Gay, piloted by Colonel Paul W. Tibbets dropped the first atomic bomb over Hiroshima, yet after three days the Japanese did not
The Potsdam Conference occurred from July 17th to August 2nd, 1945. The conference took place between US president Harry Truman, Soviet’s Joseph Stain, and England’s Prime Minister Winston Churchill. The major goal of the Potsdam meeting was what would happen with Germany postwar. They wanted to be able to ensure the “eventual reconstruction of Germany’s democracy and peace.” At that time, the Soviet Union occupied a lot of the Eastern part of Germany and wanted a “unified, but unarmed Germany.” However, President Truman did not trust Stalin’s motives. In addition, Truman had found out that they had tested their atomic bomb and it was ready to be used in battle. Truman seeing the immense advantage the US had from a military standpoint knew he had leverage.
In August of 1944 the war in Europe was over and the face off between the United States and Japan had finally arrived. The United States had to choose between sending hundreds of thousands of US soldiers, to invade Japan killing and being killed by the hundreds of thousands, OR dropping a newly developed weapon called the atomic bomb on two cities in Japan which would result in tens of thousands of civilian lives with little cost to US servicemen. The only hope of ending the war quickly and honorably was to drop the bombs. Calls for surrender were ignored and the Japanese hierarchy, Okinawa and Iwo Jima had shown clearly what an invasion of Japan would be like. The decision was made, the bombs were dropped, the war was ended and both military and civilian lives were saved by both countries.
The United States of America’s use of the atomic bomb on the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki has spurred much debate concerning the necessity, effectiveness, and morality of the decision since August 1945. After assessing a range of arguments about the importance of the atomic bomb in the termination of the Second World War, it can be concluded that the use of the atomic bomb served as the predominant factor in the end of the Second World War, as its use lowered the morale, industrial resources, and military strength of Japan. The Allied decision to use the atomic bomb not only caused irreparable physical damage to two major Japanese cities, but its use also minimized the Japanese will to continue fighting. These two factors along with the Japanese neglect of the Soviet Invasion of Manchuria, proved that the Allied use of the atomic bomb was the definitive factor in the Japanese decision to surrender.
This has been a horrific six years with so many of soldiers fighting a fight that doesn’t need to be fought. There is talk of an invasion of japan since the defeat of Germany but there is another way, the Potsdam Declaration. The Declaration has been signed and agreed upon and all we need to do is to present it properly by showing them it’s the only way, showing them it isn’t weakness, and showing them that this will help them. This war has had its effect on all of us especially Europe and it is time to end it, no more blood needs to be spilled. At this moment, it is critical that we use our political power instead of military force.
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 ...
“My God, what have we done?” were the words that the co-pilot of Enola Gay wrote in his logbook after helping drop two bombs, one in Hiroshima and one in Nagasaki, that killed an estimated two-hundred thousand individuals. The bombings were completely unnecessary. Japan was already defeated because they lacked the necessary materials to continue a world war. The Japanese were prepared to surrender. There was no military necessity to drop the atomic bombs nor is there any factual information stating that the bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki were dropped to “save the lives of one million American soldiers.” The United States bombed Japan in August of 1945. The atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki were uncalled for and could have been avoided.
Devastation and terror. Describing the atomic bomb’s after effects does not elicit the use of positive terms. The destruction caused by the atomic bombs dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki was immense, being a true demonstration of the complete power of the atomic bomb’s life taking capabilities. When the United States decided to drop the atomic bombs on the two Japanese cities, they made a decision to put American lives over Japanese. The bombing of Japanese cities was, however extreme and terrible, justified in the course of World War II. The actions made by Japan and its allies had called for an extreme response, and the United States had to reciprocate with one that would effectively end a war with blood spilt in amounts never before seen.
On August 6, 1945 to August 9, 1945, during World War II, an American bomber dropped the world's first two deployed atomic bomb over the Japanese city of Hiroshima and Nagasaki which resulted in an explosion that wiped out 90 percent of the city. The bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki was known for the following two things: the mass murder of a million innocent lives, and the end of World War II. After analyzing the sources provided, it is evident that the use for atomic bombs was equally argued for and against because on one side, many believe that a purely technical demonstration of the atomic bombs would have also caused the war to cease, and on the other, countless do not and view direct military use the most efficient. On side
Japan refused to accept an unconditional surrender, which was demanded by the allied powers in order to stop the war against them. On August 6, 1945 Truman allowed Enola Gay to drop the atomic bomb on top of Hiroshima and later Nagasaki to end the war. The revisionists and the orthodox views have different opinions on President Truman’s decision to use the atomic bomb. The revisionists believed that Truman’s decision was wrong and that there could have been alternatives. They say that the bomb was unnecessary and it was only used as a “diplomatic tool” and to show the power of the US to the world....
In 1945, the United States was facing severe causalities in the war in the Pacific. Over 12,000 soldiers had already lost their lives, including 7,000 Army and Marine soldiers and 5,000 sailors (32). The United States was eager to end the war against Japan, and to prevent more American causalities (92). An invasion of Japan could result in hundreds of thousands killed, wounded and missing soldiers, and there was still no clear path to an unconditional surrender. President Truman sought advice from his cabinet members over how to approach the war in the Pacific. Although there were alternatives to the use of atomic weapons, the evidence, or lack thereof, shows that the bombs were created for the purpose of use in the war against Japan. Both the political members, such as Henry L. Stimson and James F. Byrnes, and military advisors George C. Marshall and George F. Kennan showed little objection to completely wiping out these Japanese cities with atomic weapons (92-97). The alternatives to this tactic included invading Japanese c...
To fully examine the factors that led to the United States dropping an atomic bomb on the city of Nagasaki, one can look at the event as a result of two major decisions. The first decision concerned the use of newly developed nuclear weapons in lieu of other military techniques to secure a timely Japanese surrender. The second decision was to use several of these weapons instead of only one. Although the Truman administration displayed little hesitation or ambivalence over the decision to use atomic weapons (Walker, 51), it is important to examine what factors contributed to these swift actions. It was believed that dropping an atomic bomb on Nagasaki would resolve a number of problems in a simpler fashion than prolonging the conventional warfare until Japan finally ceded defeat.
Although WW II ended over 50 years ago there is still much discussion as to the events which ended the War in the Pacific. The primary event which historians attribute to this end are the use of atomic bombs on the cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Although the bombing of these cities did force the Japanese to surrender, many people today ask “Was the use of the atomic bomb necessary to end the war?” and more importantly “Why was the decision to use the bomb made?” Ronald Takaki examines these questions in his book Hiroshima.
The devastation brought about by the atomic bomb has caused fear among all the people that have realized the potential destructive power of its invention. The atomic bombs dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki on August 6 and 9, 1945 completely obliterated both cities (Lanouette 30). “Little Boy,” the bomb dropped on Hiroshima killed 70,000 people with an additional 66,000 injured (30-39). “Fat Man,” the bomb dropped on Nagasaki also carried its “share of America’s duty” by killing 40,000 people and injuring another 25,000 (30-39). The bombs also killed an estimated 230,000 more people from the after effects of the two explosions (30). The two bombings had opened the world’s eyes to the destructive power that could be unleashed by man.
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. Admittedly, dropping the atomic bomb was a major factor in Japan's decision to accept the terms laid out in the Potsdam agreement, otherwise known as unconditional surrender. The fact must be pointed out, however, that Japan had already been virtually defeated.
"Was the Atomic Bombing of Japan Justifiable?" The Pacific War 1941-43. Web. 10 June 2010.