the atomic bomb

Now, with a new President, Harry Truman, the pressure to use the bomb was too great to be denied. On August 6th, 1945 an American bomber, the Enola Gay, dropped an atomic bomb on Hiroshima. More than 80,000 people died on impact, and tens and thousands later on. Two days later Russia entered the war against Japan and invaded Manchuria, but still Japan did not ask for peace. That is why three days after the first bomb was dropped; another was aimed at Nagasaki killing thousands more.

What is undisputed is that this sad event dramatically changed the course of human history. To choose whether or not it was morally sound to use the atomic bomb, we must first examine the background as to what circumstances it was dropped under. In 1945, American soldiers and civilians were weary from four years of war, yet the Japanese military was refusing to give up their fight. American forces occupied Okinawa and Iwo Jima and intensely fire bombed Japanese cities. But Japan had an army of 2 million strong stationed in the home islands guarding against Allied invasion.

If you really think about it, before Japan was defeated in 1945 by the bombings, the proposal of using an Atomic bomb to save lives could have been quite possibly been avoided. There was no reasonable reason to use atomic bombs on civilian cities in a war that was actually already over. The use of the bomb was not a difference in losing or winning the war. America already ruled their seas and skies, they had no navy, or air force. Also their army was losing in China and the Soviets just declared war on them too.

If the United States was not to have used this weapon, an asset, as well as a lot of money, would have been wasted. By using the bomb, President Truman showed the Japanese that the United States and its allies were not going to allow them to run around the Pacific Rim and take over islands. The atomic bomb was obviously the deciding factor in World War II. The second atomic bomb was dropped on Nagasaki on August 8, 1945. Japan announced its surrender six days later and ended the war.

As stated in the article Dropping the Bomb, “The only surrender acceptable to American leaders would be unconditional. The only surrender acceptable to the Japanese would include that they be allowed to keep their emperor.” Before dropping the atomic bomb, had the two countries attempted to agree upon surrender terms it would have been virtually impossible to reach an equally pleasing consensus. Also relayed in the article was that without the dropping of the atomic weapon, new evidence suggests the war would have continued for many more months. Despite the complete inability for the Japanese to make war, they would have kept fighting because of their belief in gaman. According to Sandra Nees, a foreign woman who spent time living in Japan, “This [gaman] is the psycho... ... middle of paper ... ...kelihood of the world engaging in atomic warfare slim to none because it would result in huge loss and destruction on both sides.

On August 14, 1945, Japan surrendered to the United States. In my opinion, that isn’t a reason to keep fighting when you shouldn’t. They received a warning about being bombed by the United States, so they could have surrendered then. The United States figured that an invasion of Japan would cause one million casualties, so they bombed Japan to save lives. There were already 3,500 kamikaze attacks on the United States.

to drop the bomb. The same situation happened with Nagasaki also, except this time Japan failed to respond because their communication lines were destroyed from the first bomb. 5 days after the second bomb on Nagasaki, the Japanese Supreme Court surrendered on September 2, 1945. Works Cited "Many of the scientists who had worked on the bomb said that it should never be used." (abc-clio) "Prolonging the war would have meant a significantly higher cost in Japanese lives than those actually killed in the atomic bombings."

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.

However, it was only weeks away that Japan would of surrendered according to Japanese Military officials. The Atom bomb seemed to have given Americans status and power. Japan was given the chance to surrender unconditionally but the Japanese refused due to the concern for the Emperor. According to the Americans, it was morally right to drop the bombs because it would have ended the war quicker and withdraw its troops. However, according to information leaked to the American press, the Japanese were ready to surrender before the Atom bomb was dropped.

The majority of concern from physicists working on the Manhattan Project was that their involvement might slaughter thousands of Japanese, including many innocent civilians. It is certainly a good thing for the world that Hitler's crowd or Stalin's did not discover this atomic bomb. It seems to be the most terrible thing ever discovered, but it can be made the most useful. “The formulas for refining Uranium and putting together a working bomb ... ... middle of paper ... ... on August 14 1945. “The use of the atomic bomb saved hundreds of thousands-perhaps several millions- of lives, both American and Japanese; that without its use the war would have continued for many months; that no one of good conscience knowing, as Secretary Stimson and the Chiefs of Staffs did, what was probably ahead and what the atomic bomb might accomplish could have made any different decision.