In this essay, I will be describing the reasons as to why the United States used the atom bomb on Hiroshima. I will also be assessing whether they were right or wrong in doing so. I will speak on both sides of this argument and expressing my own opinion in this essay. Reasons Why the U.S. Dropped the Atom Bomb One reason as to why the United States dropped the atom bomb on Hiroshima was because it would have saved American lives and ended the war with Japan very quickly. There are a lot of opinions about this reason, but it seems to be the most popular one to believe when it comes down to it. Another reason is that the United States wanted to show Russia that we had just as much power as they did. Due to the relations of Russia and the United …show more content…
States it soon became and competition as to see who had the most powerful bomb. More reasons begin to state that it was purely a political point and that the President Truman was particularly racist towards the Japanese.
It was said that the Japanese would have fought to the very end and wouldn’t have given up, so that is part of the many reasons as to why Truman dropped the bomb on Hiroshima. Validation of those Reasons At this point in the war with Japan, making the decision to drop the first bomb was a very difficult decision for Truman. “American soldiers and civilians were weary from four years of war, yet the Japanese military was refusing to give up their fight.” (History, 2016) At that time, Japan, had about 2 million soldiers on the home islands, despite all the firebombing the United States was doing to other Japanese cities. Japan obviously, was not going to surrender easily for the U.S. They were going to fight to the death. Japan wasn’t going to be as easy to defeat as it was to defeat the Nazi’s. “The Japanese invasion…was likely to cost a half-million Allied and Japanese lives” (Nichols, 2016) Then on August 6 and August 9 of 1945 Truman had two bombs drop on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. August 8 is when the Soviet Union declared war on Japan, then on August 14, 1945, the Japanese finally
surrendered. A lot of critics have said that the decision that Truman made to drop the bombs was a “barbaric act that brought negative long-term consequences to the United States.” ( (History, 2016) It is also said that the bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki were the first shots of the Cold War and that it was a strong message to the Soviets to tread lightly towards the U.S. The opinion that Truman singled out Japan because he was racist but soon debunked. In the mid-90s there was no evidence in Truman’s papers that Japan was singled out. “The Americans specifically tried to seek out military targets rather than simply to butcher the Japanese.” (Nichols, 2016) Conclusion In conclusion to this paper, Truman had to make one of the hardest decisions he probably would ever make in his life. He ultimately made the decision to drop the bombs on a country, where their tradition is to fight to the death and would never surrender. There will always be opinions about this certain point in our Nation’s history, but none will change what has happened from then on. In the end, losing lives is completely unnecessary.
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
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 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
While many thought that the decision to drop the bomb was an inhumane choice by President Truman, it is, by far, the most practical of the decisions made by the American side. The main alternative that would have been used, if the United States had not of dropped the atomic bomb, would have been a full on invasion of Japan by the American forces. An example of this can be seen in the article “Atomic Bombing of Japan,” when the author states “Furthermore, proponents note, the main alternative to use of the atomic bomb being considered at the time was a mass invasion of the Japanese home islands. They contend that such an invasion would have been very costly in terms of U.S.
This essay will explain through logic reasoning and give detailed reasons as to why the United States did not make the right choice. One of the most argued topics today, the end of World War II and the dropping of the atomic bombs, still rings in the American ear. Recent studies by historians have argued that the United States really did not make the right choice when they chose to drop the atomic bombs on Nagasaki and Hiroshima. Also with the release of classified documents, we can see that the United States could have made the choice to use other alternatives besides the use of the atomic weapon.... ... middle of paper ...
If they do not now accept our terms they may expect a rain of ruin from the air, the like of which has never been seen on this earth.” (Truman).The justification of the bombs was the fact that the bomb was only in retaliation to a hostile nation and there refusal to cooperate with the American government. Japan was attacking with no fear they were unwavering because there military mind set was to never surrender because it was a sign of weakness it was against their nature. And so was the United States we were not going to give up though we were not gaining anything from this war only loosing we had the same sort of national mindset that we could to surrender for the fear of being preserved as week. So with the rejection of surrender the United States dropped the bomb in order to stop a more brutal war and to protect the United States from having to drop out of the
...ople and would fight to protect every inch of their homeland until there were no Japanese left. The logic of Truman and many Americans was to swiftly end the war while the means to do it were available, and this was one of the main driving forces behind the decision to drop the bomb.
The atomic bomb is the subject of much controversy. Since its first detonation in 1945, the entire world has heard the aftershocks of that blast. Issues concerning Nuclear Weapons sparked the Cold War. We also have the atomic bomb to thank for our relative peace in this time due to the fear of Mutually Assured Destruction (MAD). 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.
...d not surrender quickly and the war will drag into a long-drawn-out time. It will force and lead to Truman’s alternative: invade Japan. This would not only increases the resources used, but also more importantly pushes the death count up by an extensive amount of number. The Japanese still had over 4 million troops and 4,800 kamikaze pilots for suicide bombings and missions. In addition, these figures show that the invasion will cost more lives than just dropping the atomic bombs. In addition, 1,700,000 – 4,000,000 American casualties, including 500,000 fatalities, and 5,000,000 – 10,000,000 fatalities were estimated to take the US to conquer the whole of Japan (Frank 1999). This is incredibly higher than the casualties caused by the two atomic bombs: 200,000.
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 ...
...pare the second bomb. Only later, when evidence was found on plutonium based bomb that they had decided to surrender, without the second bomb it’s believed that they would have fought on. When the atomic bomb was dropped, it actually impressed the Soviets who were needed as an important strategic consideration. Another reason to drop the atomic bomb was to show Americas might and authority over other countries.
Dropping the bomb wasn't the right decision to make, because many people lost their lives and it wasn't right to make that move. On December 7, 1941 the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor and on December 8, 1941 the president of the United States asked the congress to declare war on Japan. That’s what made the United States enter the war. When they attacked at that day, the Japanese destroyed 5 battle ships and another 19 ships. The United States kept fighting with Japan until 1945 and many Americans lost their lives while fighting for the different islands. The military leaders in America knew that this fighting will be for a long time and there will be more death, so they start striking them with long-range B-29 bombs. They even stroked on the Japanese main land in Tokyo March 1945. The president Truman was informed from the physicist J. Robert Oppenheimer and other scientists that the atomic bomb was ready to be use.
Following Germany’s surrender to the Allied powers on May 7, 1945, Americans were hoping that Japan would surrender as well. However, after the Yalta Conference and promising the USSR many conditions if they helped America beat the Japanese, the Americans knew that they had to bring the Japanese to surrender before the Russians joined the war in two or three months. Then on July 16, 1945, the first atomic bomb, a weapon that could guarantee Japanese surrender, became a reality when it was tested in the New Mexico deserts successfully, was revealed publically to Russia and Britain at the Potsdam Conference, and was used publicly just one month later on August 6 and 9 on the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Although some would argue
In consideration, Japan was given many opportunities to surrender and they refused even when the war was practically over and meaningless, as a result, the bombs were their decision and consequence. For instance the United States offered a surrender so the war could be over but shown here they refuse, “It was to spare the Japanese people from utter destruction that the ultimatum of July 26 was issued at Potsdam. They promptly rejected that ultimatum.” This clearly shows how far and extended the war would of gone if the United States did not drop the atomic bomb and even then it took two bombs for the Japanese to come to reality and stop fighting. Without the bombs the time duration of war would have been long and bloody. Overall, the amount of lives and endless supplies for war would have been way more compared to the fast solution of dropping the bombs. Because of Japans fierce fighting, the bombs were the most reasonable and necessary option at this