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Effects of the atomic bomb on the world
Truman decision to drop atomic bomb
Harry S Truman decision to use the atomic bomb
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The audience I am striving for are historians and students. I think this topic should be very important to them because maybe in the near future our government will have to make a similar decision and we should be educated about rights and also world power. Imagine if you were impacted by the Atomic bomb by America? You can’t, you'd be dead. Admiral William Leahy, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff opposed using the bomb because it killed civilians indiscriminately. He suggested economic blockade and conventional bombing would convince Japan to surrender (Document A). Secretary of War Stimson wanted to warn so they can surrender and keep the emperor. Technically, this whole issue with Japan and America could have been resolved if America waited a little longer for Japan to surrender. My claim is that America should not have bombed Japan because it killed many innocent people and ruined housing for families. In the city of Hiroshima, 135,000 people were injured and of those people 69,000 were pronounced dead. In the city of Nagasaki, 195,000 were injured and 95% were severely burned (Document E). When General Dwight D. Eisenhower, then the Supreme Allied Commander, was …show more content…
Because of logistics, an invasion of Japan could not being for another three months, so the U.S. could have waited to see if Japan would surrender before dropping the atomic bombs. This evidence helps explain that the U.S. should not have dropped the atomic bomb because the most important factor in debating why the alternatives were not pursued was the effect the bombs would have on the Soviet Union, “the bomb reduced the incentives for compromise and even stiffened demands by the time of the Potsdam meeting in July 1945 because the weapon gave the U.S. enhanced
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 revisionists and the orthodox views have different opinions on President Truman’s decision to use the atomic bomb. The revisionists believed that Truman’s decision was wrong and that there could have been alternatives. They say that the bomb was unnecessary and it was only used as a “diplomatic tool” and to show the power of the US to the world....
The war was coming to a victorious conclusion for the Allies. Germany had fallen, and it was only a matter of time until Japan would fall as well. Secretary of War Henry L. Stimson was at the forefront of the American war effort, and saw atomic weaponry as a way out of the most monumental war ever. As discussed in Cabell Phillips’ book, The Truman Presidency: The History of a Triumphant Succession, Stimson was once quoted as saying that the atomic bomb has “more effect on human affairs than the theory of Copernicus and the Law of Gravity” (55). Stimson, a defendant of dropping the bomb on Japan, felt that the world would never be the same. If the world would change after using atomic weapons, could it possibly have changed for the better? One would think not. However, that person might be weary of the biased opinion of White House personnel. He or she should care more for the in depth analytical studies done by experts who know best as to why America should or should not have dropped the atomic bomb. As more and more evidence has been presented to researchers, expert opinion on whether or not the United States should have dropped the two atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki has also changed. More and more researchers seem to feel that the atomic bomb should never have been used (Alperovitz 16). Despite several officials’ claims to enormous death estimations, an invasion of Japan would have cost fewer total lives. In addition, post atomic bomb repercussions that occurred, such as the Arms Race, were far too great a price to pay for the two atomic drops. However, possibly the most compelling argument is that Japan would have surrendered with or without the United States using the atomic bomb. In defiance of top...
The potential use of atomic weapons against the Japanese was appealing to the United States because it was seen as a dramatic and decisive way to end the war (Walker, ). Prior to the decision to use nuclear weapons, Japan and the United States were at odds over the terms by which the Japanese would surrender to the Americans, which did nothing but prolong the military conflict (Walker, ). Japanese leadership had expressed its desire to end the war to third parties, but could no...
In 1945, the United States was facing severe causalities in the war in the Pacific. Over 12,000 soldiers had already lost their lives, including 7,000 Army and Marine soldiers and 5,000 sailors (32). The United States was eager to end the war against Japan, and to prevent more American causalities (92). An invasion of Japan could result in hundreds of thousands killed, wounded and missing soldiers, and there was still no clear path to an unconditional surrender. President Truman sought advice from his cabinet members over how to approach the war in the Pacific. Although there were alternatives to the use of atomic weapons, the evidence, or lack thereof, shows that the bombs were created for the purpose of use in the war against Japan. Both the political members, such as Henry L. Stimson and James F. Byrnes, and military advisors George C. Marshall and George F. Kennan showed little objection to completely wiping out these Japanese cities with atomic weapons (92-97). The alternatives to this tactic included invading Japanese c...
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
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 point 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 once classified documents, we can see that the United States ...
The dropping of the atomic bomb was a major turning point in United Sates history and WW2 specifically, it caused the surrender of Japan and ultimately ended the war which had been going on since 1939 two years prior to U.S. involvement. The dropping of the atomic bomb not only ended the war but lead to a fight over which nation had the most atomic weapons, a terrifying power play between countries. Through the years leading up to the dropping of the atomic bombs in Hiroshima and Nagasaki the United States struggles with preventing the speed of communism and intimidating the Soviet Union. Through WW2 American casualties were also adding up fast. The use of the atomic bombs was a shock strategy the government saw as the most successful was to
The Atomic Age represents the most epic era and composed of diverse controversial issues in the human history. In the late 1945, President Harry Truman informed to drop two atomic bombs on the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. These two bombs quickly yielded the surrender of Japan and the end the World War 2. However, the impact of it led us to debate whether this decision was actually right or so. First off, it would be hard to imagine how Japan would have been surrendered without the atomic bomb. Therefore to save many American lives, President Truman believed that it was his duty to end the war as soon as possible. But the bombs took away innocent lives and killed civilians indiscriminately. “Atomic Age America” written by Martin
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. Admittedly, dropping the atomic bomb was a major factor in Japan's decision to accept the terms laid out in the Potsdam agreement, otherwise known as unconditional surrender. The fact must be pointed out, however, that Japan had already been virtually defeated.
... There were many arguments and factors as to whether Truman decided correctly and whether the United States should have dropped the bombs. There were many disputes supporting the bombing. Some being the Japanese were warned early enough, it shortened the war, and it saved many Americans lives. There are also voluminous quarrels against the United States bombing the Japanese.
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 ...
...ings by saying that it saved millions of Americans, but I came to find out that, that wasn’t so true. While looking through many articles, books, and databases, I realized that before getting this assignment I only knew the things that were shared with me about this subject. I knew what everyone wanted me to know and I never questioned it. I believed that if our country were to bomb someone, they’d have justifiable reasons as to why they did it. This event taught me that just because there are a few myths as to why something happened, you don’t have to agree with them. America is my home, but never will I ever agree that the dropping of Little Boy and Fat Man on the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki were necessary. They could have been avoided and lives could have
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.
Overall, the United States got what they primarily wanted, which was to end the war in a timely fashion. Truman’s team was able to keep him on track to continue to impose a strict goal made by his military officers. Despite the possibility of executing the bomb for the sole desire to intimidate Russia, Truman stuck to his justification. The men in uniform were the ones that convinced him to take immediate action instead of watching the rising threat of Russia The thought of communism as being the world evil began to convince the United States that they were the ones who had the power to stop it. After the bombing, the US began to take on another threat to society.