To What Extent Were The Atomic Bombs On Japan Justified

525 Words2 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: To What Extent Were the Atomic Bombs Dropped on Nagasaki and Hiroshima Necessary for the Surrender in Ending the Second World War in 1945

Were the atomic bombs dropped on Japan justified? On August 6 and 9, 1945, the U.S. President Harry S. Truman ordered the dropping of atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, upon which Japan surrendered, ending World War II. Over 200,000 people died. Some people may say “How can this event be humane or even possibly”? The truth the dropping of the bombs was that it infact saved lives on both sides of the war. It ended the war sooner and saved supplies and American troops. The U.S even warned the people of Japan to surrender or else mass destruction and loss will come in the future. In February and April 1945, the U.S attacked 2 islands of Japan. The first island was Iwo Jima, the Americans were able to capture the island but the Japanese soldiers never surrendered causing the American to kill every single soldier on the island. With tragic losses for both sides, 6,800 American soldiers dead and 21,000 Japanese soldiers dead. On the second island Okinawa the U.S attacked and suffered many loses again with the Japanese since they never surrender again. 7,300 U.S soldiers dead and 107,000 Japanese soldiers dead. Traumatic losses from just capturing 2 small islands. In total there was 14,100 dead American soldiers and 128,000 Japanese soldiers dead. When dropping the bombs on Japan we saved lives on both sides. Imaging what would happen if the U.S invaded Japan would end in deaths never seen before. 100,000 more dead American soldiers and 6x the amount of deaths of Japanese. This would of been the most inhumane thing to have happened. …show more content…

There would be a loss of crops and natural resources that could be used in the U.S. Their will have to been more drafting of young men that would have to leave their

Show More
Related

  • Atomic Bomb Justified Dbq

    646 Words  | 2 Pages

    In discussion of the atomic bombs dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, one controversial issue has the dropping of the atomic bombs being justified. On the other hand others believe that there were other ways of getting Japan to surrender and it was not justified, the only way we could get Japan to surrender was to invade them. Our strategy was to island hop until we got to Japan. Many more lives were at steak when doing that. Not only would just Americans would die, but a lot of the Japanese would have died as well, and the death toll would have much greater. 199,000 deaths came after the dropping of the atomic bombs. However, many American lives were saved, what the Japanese did to Pearl Harbor, and the treatment of our American soldiers while

    Read More

  • How Has Pearl Harbor Changed America

    1065 Words  | 3 Pages

    Japan killed millions in World War II. We killed under 100,000 in the dropping of the bombs. “More than 46 million people died in World War II. The Japanese, alone, may have killed 17 million. So why have so many focused so intently on the 80,000 who died at Hiroshima on Aug. 6, 1945?”(Benson).

    Read More

  • What Is The Bombing Of Hiroshim Necessary Or Justified?

    575 Words  | 2 Pages

    1.The dropping of the bomb on Hiroshima was necessary to end the war with the least number of total casualties and in the fastest possible way. The figures regarding the exact number of American lives that would’ve been lost has been highly debated, but considering the great resolve that the Japanese army had, they would almost surely have been more than those killed in Nagasaki, and that is just on the American side. I do not value American lives more than the lives of the innocent, many of whom were victims to the attack, but it is important to remember that regardless of whether we had dropped the bomb or not, we were fighting total war. In the many battles that would’ve occurred if the war had continued, women and children may have still been victims as we advanced our troops. These battles could’ve taken as long as another year, and who can say when the Japanese would’ve finally surrendered? They were filled with pride and resilience, and many soldiers would’ve prefered to die with honor, defending their homeland, than to surrender.

    Read More

  • Pearl Harbor Dbq

    696 Words  | 2 Pages

    The Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor was one of the most atrocious attacks to have ever happened on American soil, starting with disagreement on the Potsdam declaration. Japan’s greed for more land and industrial materials led the Japanese to make a plan to keep the United States out of the war, which consisted the use of kamikaze pilots and bombs to destroy our aircraft carriers and boats in an attempt to control the Pacific. While leaving the drowning, and dead bodies of thousands of American seamen and battleships at the bottom of the sea, seemed to be a good idea to the Japanese; America joined World War II and introduced the first nuclear weapons as reprisal for the surprise attack on Pearl Harbor. Had the Japanese agreed to an unconditional surrender and end to militarism during the agreement on the Potsdam declaration, the introduction to nuclear weapons and the death count wouldn’t have been so high and devastating on both the American and Japanese sides.

    Read More

  • The United States was Justified in Dropping the Atomic Bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki

    965 Words  | 2 Pages

    The United States was justified in dropping the atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki for many reasons. First of all, just to start out, the bombings had nothing to do with Japan, it was about the Cold War and the real reason America used these weapons was to show Russia that the US possessed them. Second, the war in the Pacific had been raging for almost four years. The two battles immediately preceding the bomb decision were Iwo Jima and Okinawa, two battles where the Japanese fought to the death and the cost in American casualties was horrific. It was predicted that the invasion of the Japanese mainland at the Island of Kyushu -- scheduled for November of 1945 -- would be even worse. The entire Japanese military and civilian population would fight to the death. American casualties -- just for that initial invasion to get a foothold on the island of Japan would have taken up to an estimated two months and would have resulted in up to 75,000 to 100,000 casualties. And that was just the beginning. Once the island of Kyushu was captured by U.S. troops, the remainder of Japan would follow. You can just imagine the cost in injuries and lives this would take. Also It is not beyond the possibility that a million or more Americans could have been killed had we landed. The Japanese had correctly guessed where we intended to land, and were ready and waiting for us. The casualties would have been high. Another reason the atomic bomb was justified is the bomb was dropped with a desire to save lives. It is a matter of math. How many Americans lost their lives fighting how many Japanese at Tarawa, Iwo Jima, Okinawa. The mathematical formula showed the closer we got to Japan the more we lost.

    Read More

  • Michael Walzer, 'Noncombatant Immunity And Military Necessity'

    1019 Words  | 3 Pages

    ...ty of Hiroshima was completely unnecessary, and that the psychological and physical damage it left behind was enough to make the Japanese people lose all hope. I do understand that death is inevitable in times of war, but I don’t believe that this was the necessary face of death that should have been deemed necessary in this particular situation. This opinion is especially strengthened by the fact that many sources claim that Japan was going to surrender to American forces even before the atomic bomb was dropped. If we knew that the war was coming to a close, then why did we feel the need to go out with an unnecessary bang? It just does not seem morally or ethically right in my opinion and it is therefore why I feel that the atomic bombing of Hiroshima was not a justified act of military necessity, and was absolutely an unjustified violation of noncombatant immunity.

    Read More

  • Examples Of Utilitarianism: Dropping The Bomb

    1287 Words  | 3 Pages

    On August 6, 1945, the United States dropped the first atomic bomb used in warfare against the city of Hiroshima, Japan. Three days later on August 9th, a second bomb was dropped on Nagasaki, Japan. Just six days after the second atomic explosion, Japan announced its unconditional surrender to the United States after almost four years of war. Philosophers have argued that President Truman took a utilitarian point of morals when deciding to use nuclear weapons: do what is best for the largest number of people. Others say he blatantly ignored Kant’s teachings regarding the morality of attacking non-combatants. Regardless, President Truman was faced with one of the most morally difficult decisions any

    Read More

  • The Decision To Drop The Atomic Bomb

    884 Words  | 2 Pages

    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.

    Read More

  • Atomic Bomb Morality

    1771 Words  | 4 Pages

    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 ...

    Read More

  • The Atomic Bombs

    734 Words  | 2 Pages

    As World War 2, came to a close, The United States unleashed a secret atomic weapon upon the enemy nation of Japan that was quickly recognized as the most powerful wartime weapon in human history. They completely destroyed the entire Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, and essentially vaporized countless innocent Japanese lives. Some historians believe that it was a foolish, brutal decision to use the atomic bomb on a weakened Japan, and that the civilians of the country did not deserve that kind of mass-annihilation. On the opposite side, other historians assert that dropping the bomb saved countless American and Japanese lives by ending the war faster than a regular invasion would have. What is undisputed is that this sad event dramatically changed the course of human history.

    Read More

  • The Pros And Cons Of The Bombing Of Hiroshima

    405 Words  | 1 Pages

    T Making a decision about a serious topic is hard, especially when it affects civilians lives even till now. In any event, it would be wrong to put someone’s life in danger, especially civilians. They were not participating in the war, yet they are the one being punished. I understand in class we said that the Americans decided to drop the bomb on Hiroshima, so the Japanese would surrender. But do we really think that dropping an atomic bomb would be a great solution to make them surrender?No, I think that this atomic bomb would cause the Japanese military to continue in war. By using this tragic event against the Americans. This atomic bomb could set yet another uprise of cold war between the two countries. There we would find our self in

    Read More

  • Harry Truman's Decision to Drop the Atomic Bomb

    1330 Words  | 3 Pages

    To what extent was Harry Truman’s decision to drop atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki justified?

    Read More

  • Prompt and Utter Destruction

    1090 Words  | 3 Pages

    ..., in a way that would undoubtedly change the image of the American military. The bomb on Hiroshima did just that, and left Japan with only the option to consider a surrender that would end the war. The first bomb was a horrific, necessary military operation. The bomb that destroyed Nagasaki just three days later, with a warning after the fact, was an animalistic attack. With the combination of the bomb on Hiroshima and the Russian invasion, the attack on Nagasaki was completely unnecessary. If the United States had never used the second bomb, the same conclusion would have been reached, but without the added destruction and brutal murder of innocent, noncombatant Japanese.

    Read More

  • Attacking Hiroshima

    758 Words  | 2 Pages

    First of all, President Truman shouldn’t have initiated this savage way of ending a war. He could’ve found an alternate route by either cutting of the Japanese’s supplies and resources and force the people to surrender. Also Truman could’ve just fought out the war with Japan instead of just bombing their land and killing many innocent lives. According to Truman’s diary, Truman even wrote in his diaries that he did not know how extensive and lethal this nuclear bomb was. He claimed that his main intention to bomb Hiroshima was to test out the strength of the nuclear bomb and stop the war. But I think Truman went too far with this testing of his, this little test that he pursued to fire at the Japanese had caused many lives. "I have always felt that if, in our ultimatum to the Japanese government issued from Potsdam [in July 1945], we had referred to the retention of the emperor as a constitutional monarch and had made some reference to the reasonable accessibility of raw materials to the future Japanese government, and it would have been accepted. Indeed, I believe that even in the form it was delivered, there was some disposition on the part of the Japanese to give it favorable consideration. When the war was over I arrived at this conclusion after talking with a number of J...

    Read More

  • Was The Dropping Of The Atomic Bomb Justified?

    2763 Words  | 6 Pages

    On August 6, 1945 the United States dropped the first atomic bomb on the Japanese city of Hiroshima. This was an extremely controversial military strategy in the United States. Was the United States justified in the dropping of the atomic bomb? The U.S. feared the rise of communism and gave aid to any country against it. The U.S. also fought countries threatening the spread communism. One of these countries was Japan. We began a harsh and brutal war against Japan and against communism. This war was killing many soldiers and Japan was not backing down. President Truman decided to use the atomic bomb when things were getting worse. The decision to use the atomic bomb was a difficult one and many people wonder if it was the right choice.

    Read More

More about To What Extent Were The Atomic Bombs On Japan Justified

Open Document