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The Atomic Bomb

analytical Essay
571 words
571 words
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The Atomic Bomb
There were many factors both political and military that caused President Truman to order the atomic bombing of Japan. Politically, he felt as though Japan didn’t follow the laws of warfare; “… against those who have abandoned the pretense of obeying international warfare” (The Atomic Bomb). Japan had dropped a bomb on Pearl Harbor without America being warned. Truman believed that this act went against the laws of warfare. He also knew what was to come upon America if he didn’t make an order to drop the bomb; “… the disaster which would come to the nation…if they had found it first” (The Atomic Bomb). He knew there would be serious consequences that America would face if they didn’t drop the nuclear bomb first.
Militarily speaking, Truman wanted to end the war quickly with as few American casualties as possible. He wanted “…to shorten the agony of war, in order to save the lives of thousands and thousands of young Americans” (The Atomic Bomb). The bombing of Pearl Harbor killed a great number of the U.S. military. Truman states that they will use it “agains...

In this essay, the author

  • Analyzes how president truman ordered the atomic bombing of japan. he felt that japan didn't follow the laws of warfare.
  • Explains that truman wanted to end the war quickly with as few american casualties as possible. the bombing of pearl harbor killed a great number of the u.s. military.
  • Explains that president truman had thought of several alternatives before dropping the atomic bomb, including intensifying the bombing of japanese cities, waiting until the soviet union joined the war against japan, and allowing japan's emperor to remain on his throne.
  • Explains that many critics questioned truman's decision to drop the bomb. they believed that the atomic bomb would only be used by america since they found it first.
  • Argues that america's population and industry are not distributed over large areas and critics believed that this would leave them at a disadvantage.
  • Opines that the decision to drop the atomic bomb on japan was incorrect. there were other ways of attack like traditional bombing, invading japan, etc.
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