“And he alone, in all the world, must say Yes or No to that awesome, ultimate question, ‘Shall we drop the bomb on a living target?’” - President Harry Truman. On September 1st, 1939, Hitler invaded Poland, sparking the beginning of WWII. France and Britain declared war on Germany because of this. There were many countries involved, including the United Kingdom, the Soviet Union, Canada, and the US (Allied Powers), and Germany, Italy, and Japan (Axis Powers). The Axis Powers wanted to conquer other countries and build empires, while the Allied powers wanted to overthrow the Nazi government and drive the Germans back to their territory. In the Axis Powers, Japan was eager to keep their emperor and not be occupied by US forces, so they refused …show more content…
The Japanese did have some time to evacuate, and some did, but not all because people thought it was a false claim, even though they were given multiple warnings. The US wanted to drop these bombs to do the most that they could to save their people. Ultimately, the atomic bombing was the best option for the US because it saved many American lives. The American History Textbook explains President Truman’s decision regarding dropping the bomb. If Truman were to send American troops into Japan as an invasion, there would be “massive casualties of up to 2 million US soldiers if the United States invaded Japan” (615). Because there are a large number of Americans who could die from an invasion, he did not want to put those lives at risk. Truman’s job as president is to take care of his country and do what it takes to save his people. He “believed it was his duty as the American president to use every weapon available to save American lives by avoiding an invasion of Japan in Operation Downfall”. As President, he chose his best option. According to the statistics, around 100,000 - 200,000 total Japanese civilians died from the atomic bombings in Hiroshima and
Truman had thought through the possibilities and had decided that using the bomb would be the most effective and quickest tactic. As a president Truman had a responsibility to protect his country, citizens, and foreign affairs, so deciding on the best method to establish everybody’s needs was difficult. There were many things to worry about: fighting on Iwo Jima and Okinawa, bombing Japan, and building the bomb. His decision was mainly based on how the US citizens felt and the following actions of japan. 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 quicker the war ended, the less casualties Americans would suffer. Second, he sought to justify the money and effort that was put into the Manhattan Project. If he did not use the bomb, people would blame him for the lives lost towards the end of the war because he withheld such a powerful weapon. Third, using the bomb would impress the Soviets, make them more subordinate to American desires, and improve overall relations with them. Fourth, Truman realized he lacked reasons to avoid using the bomb. In the military, diplomatic, and political sense, the bomb was the best route. Morality would be the only issue, but these were not a major preventive. Lastly, Truman claimed the Japanese were like a beast and the only way to deal with them was to treat them like a beast. After the attacks on Pearl Harbor, hatred had been built up against the Japanese. This hate diminished any hesitation Truman may have experienced in his decision to drop the
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
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 on two major Japanese cities, but its use also minimized the Japanese will to continue fighting. These two factors along
The imminent invasion of mainland Japan and the allied casualties that came with it were also a factor in the decision to drop the bomb. If the allied forces had invaded mainland Japan, many lives on both sides would have been lost, probably more than they lost in the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. The tactics that the allies had used up to this point cost hundreds of thousands of lives on both sides. This was when the Japanese only had maybe two or three thousand men on an island; whereas on the mainland millions of people would fight until their death to protect their country. Can you imagine if the Americans invaded mainland Japan, where they had not only soldiers to fight against, but also the citizens of Japan?
Atomic Bomb in World War 2 During World War II the United States government launched a $2 billion project. This project, known as the Manhattan Project, was an effort to produce an atomic bomb. This project was taken on by a group atomic scientists from all over the world.
I don't think they would have waited after the bomb was dropped if they had the option to keep their emperor. I think that if the surrender was offered and it still failed, a single atomic bomb would have been justified in saving the lives of more Americans, but the second atomic bomb being dropped three days after the first one was not justified. The Japanese were barely given any time to react. I think our national perspective on this event has changed slightly since it happened. While we understand that the bombs were dropped in order to save thousands of American lives, we are not encumbered with the fear and prejudice that Americans at the time were, so the image of so many Japanese does not have the same effect on us as it did on Americans at the time, and we are also more able to sympathize more with the Japanese as we have more documents describing their experiences.
When looking at the aftermath of the atomic bomb in both Nagasaki and Hiroshima the devastation it caused is evident. The majority of the population in Japan could have never imagined such a catastrophic event. On August 6, 1945 and August 9, 1945 massive amounts of lives were changed forever when an atomic bomb fell from the sky and created an explosion as bright as the sun. These two bombs were the first and only accounts of nuclear warfare. (“Atomic Bomb is…”) The impact that the two bombs left on the cities of Japan was tremendous. The bombing of Nagasaki and Hiroshima devastated the country through structural damage, long term medical effects, expenses, and the massive loss of life.
Imagine, it's 1939 and you're sitting at home with your family when you hear screaming outside, you open the door to see what is going on and, BANG! your dead. On September 1, 1939 less than one year after the Munich Agreement, Adolf Hitler invaded Poland. His goal was to eliminate all of the Jews. Britain and France promised to help Poland but Britain was too far away for their Air Force to help and France was too afraid to help because they were afraid of the Germans. Poland had very little Navy and Air Force to fight the Germans. Poland was also invaded by the Soviet Union at the same time so their military was too small to fight the Germans and the Soviet Union. The Warsaw was taken over on September 27, and organized resistance was over by October 5(O'Neill 268). This invasion started World War II. France, Russia, England, and the United States formed what was called the Allied forces to fight against the Nazis. Germany joined with Italy and Japan and they were the Axis alliance to fight against the Allied forces (Strahinich 16-17).
Imagine being put in the place of President Truman and having to make the decision to either bomb Hiroshima, or elongate the war, causing enormous amounts of deaths on both sides. "The Japanese military had a million soldiers, 3,000 Kamikaze aircraft, and 5,000 suicide boats available to defend its home islands. Civilians were also being prepared to fight to the death" [Tucker]. These are the lengths that Japan has gone to while attempting to win the war. During the early years of WW2, America wasn't even going to join the war because of negative views towards European conflicts.
On August 6th President Truman and the United States government made the history-altering move dropping an Atomic Bomb on the Japanese city of Hiroshima, only to follow it up 3 days later with a second bomb in Nagasaki. The dropping of these bombs continues to be a controversial and debated action made by United States President Harry Truman. When the bombs were dropped, it was because the United States claimed they believed this was the only way to save lives and end the war swiftly. This is not a very accurate assessment of the situation at hand. Not only did the United States have other possible options, but they had other motives behind why they wanted to drop the bombs.
When the topic of the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagisaki is brought up, many wonder whether or not the United States should have dropped the bomb in the first place. The short answer is, we shouldn’t have. But there are specific reasons as to why that is. And while not everyone agrees with either side, there is a wrong and a right one. It’s easy to make a choice based on just statistics and vague numbers thrown out, however, when you think about the people who suffered as a result of these bombs and the generations still burdened with the side effects of radiation poisoning; if given the choice, would you have dropped the bomb?
Atomic bombing Justification: What led the U.S. to use their atomic bombs? What led to the atomic bomb being deployed was the fact that War World 2 was not going to end and the continuous loss of life. It was a complex decision, which was influenced by various factors. Factors include, the civilians of Japan were already dying to firebombings without any backlash from the U.S. and the desire to end the war quickly. Despite the difficulty of the decision, the United States' attack was deemed justified.
The Atomic Bomb Was an Extreme Measure The decision of the United States to bomb Hiroshima and Nagasaki with atomic bombs is not defendable. The Atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki marked a turning point in human history and ended World War Two, which raised doubts about the usage of nuclear weapons. The atomic bombings caused mass civilian suffering. After the bombing, the immediate death toll from the bombings and the effects such as radiation sickness caused suffering among civilians (“Nippon Times”).
Consider today an intrinsic value of this nation the “American Dream” could be easily surmised in one word…ownership. From land with which one lays claim to a stake in this country. To property that for various points in times throughout history women and the lower class (mostly minorities currently) male and female have been denied the right to own, in the eyes of the governing body, property. At the core is personal ownership, the ability to do, think, feel, and experience life how one desires within the boundaries of the social contract which governs us. Since its infancy America and subsequently Americans have fought, lived, died, and killed for their right to ownership.