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Why did the us bomb hiroshima/nagasaki
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The World War II caused many unfortunate events. The economic of the world collapsed and many innocent civillians suffered. The Hiroshima and Nagasaki bombings was a horrific event for the Japanese people. It also caused many casualties. The bomb was commissioned by the US military forces. The reason of their bombing was the retaliation of the surprise attack by the Japanese Military Forces on Pearl Harbor. On August 6, 1945, the American air forces dropped the atomic bomb for the first time and annihilated the entire Hiroshima City. Within three days, the second atomic bomb was dropped in Nagasaki City. Accordingly, on August 14, only five days after the bombings, the Japanese military forces surrender without conditions on September 2, 1945. This leads to the exposition of why did the American Military Forces chose Hiroshima and Nagasaki as their ground zero. Firstly, Browne (2016) states that, “Hiroshima was chosen as a target because of it’s military importance. Nagasaki was bombed a few days later. The U.S remains the only country to have used nuclear weapons.” President Harry S. Truman who was on duty at the time ordered a new weapon to be used to bring the war to its end, this is caused by the warnings of some of his advisers to not take the risk of invading Japan. (“Atomic bomb dropped on Hiroshima,” 2017, para. 2) …show more content…
As stated by Trueman (2015), “Nagasaki was not America’s Primary target. This was Kokura. The three potential targets for a second bomb were Kokuro, Kyoto and Niigata. Nagasaki was only added to a list of potential targets when Kyoto was withdrawn (it had been a secondary target for a second bomb) because of its religious associations. The third potential target was Niigata – but this was withdrawn from the list as the distance to it was considered to be too great. Therefore, the Americans were left with just two targets – Kokura and
To fully examine the factors that led to the United States dropping an atomic bomb on the city of Nagasaki, one can look at the event as a result of two major decisions. The first decision concerned the use of newly developed nuclear weapons in lieu of other military techniques to secure a timely Japanese surrender. The second decision was to use several of these weapons instead of only one. Although the Truman administration displayed little hesitation or ambivalence over the decision to use atomic weapons (Walker, 51), it is important to examine what factors contributed to these swift actions. It was believed that dropping an atomic bomb on Nagasaki would resolve a number of problems in a simpler fashion than prolonging the conventional warfare until Japan finally ceded defeat.
First, a defense of the Japanese islands would have been extremely costly for both the Americans and the Japanese because the number of civilians that would be caught in between the two colliding forces on the main island were massive, noting that the cities of Tokyo and Kyoto were prime targets for the allies. Also, what would have made the Japanese Defense Plan more costly was the Japanese soldiers, roughly two million in strength were desperate and fanatic to defend their home at all costs. All of these factors made the atomic bomb the legitimate solution to bringing the Japanese to the table to sign to the terms set forth by the Western allies' Unconditional Surrender.
At that time, the schedule was delayed for fifteen minutes. Bockscar carried the atomic bomb, which was Fat Man. The top target was Kokura, and Nagasaki was the second target for dropping the atomic bomb. The captain who operated Bockscar had orbited for forty-five minutes around Yakushima. Then he decided to go to Kokura.
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
A huge proponent to the use of the atomic bomb on Hiroshima and Nagasaki on August 6 and August 9 of 1945 was President Harry Truman. Although they value the ideas and contributions out in by the committee they choose, the president ultimately has the last say on war time decisions. It just so happens that President Truman wanted to drop the bomb. President Truman believed that Japan's leaders would not surrender to the terms outlined in Potsdam meeting. He saw it fit to drop the bombs and end all doubt.
Hiroshima was a significant military city during the war. It confined two army headquarters and was Japan’s communication center (World War 2 Atomic Bomb 1). Hiroshima was also a huge industrial city and had not been bombed before so it would let Japan see the wrath of the United States (Koeller 1). The planning and actual event of the bombing went great. On August 6, 1945 at 8:15 in the morning the bomb was dropped.
Unlike Hiroshima, Nagasaki has been bombed several times before meaning that the casualty will be much fewer in Nagasaki. Kokura was chosen instead of Nagasaki for this reason, but due to the haze that morning, the plane flew to its second target. Even though, “Fat Man” was much larger than “Little Man” it still did less damage in Nagasaki due its terrain and how the civilians were prepared for bombings already.
On December 7, 1941 Japan launched a surprise attack on a U.S. naval base at Pearl Harbor in Hawaii with the possibility of forcing the U.S. to join World War II. About 2,400 Americans were dead, 21 ships had been sunk, and 188 aircraft were destroyed. On August 6 and 9 of 1945, the U.S. retaliated and dropped two atomic bombs called Fat Man and Little Boy on the Japanese cities of Nagasaki and Hiroshima. The U.S. was not justified in dropping the atomic bombs on Japan because of the locations that were bombed, the terms of the Potsdam Declaration, and the lack of previous bomb testing. Firstly, the bombings were unjustified because of the locations where the bombs were dropped.
For more than four years after the events of Pearl Harbor, Americans sacrificed their lives to the war against the country of Japan. The attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7,1941 achieved complete surprise and success. It was Pearl Harbor that unified American opinion and determination to see the war through on the Japanese who still maintained its position of being an aggressive enemy against Allied Powers. The U.S. fleet was rebuilt with astonishing speed, and its chain of defenses (Sakamoto). At the Potsdam Conference, a conference between the Allied forces to discuss war options, Truman learned of the successful test explosion of the atomic bomb and informed the other Allied leaders, that the atomic bomb was complete and ready. The United States, Britain, and China then issued a statement threatening to destroy Japan unless it surrendered
In 1945 on August 6 and 9 the United States army air force under the orders of President Truman dropped two atomic bombs one on the city of Hiroshima and the other on the city of Nagasaki killing roughly two hundred twenty-six thousand people. The dropping of the atomic bomb was a very controversial event in the United States from the events that lead up to the dropping, the complex decision to dropping the bomb on an actual city, and how the dropping of the bomb helped shaped the way nations fight wars, and how they determine the damage that could be done if they were to use a weapon of mass destruction on civilians.
To date, many survivors of the atomic bombings of developing cancer and die. After the Japanese Emperor 's unconditional surrender still unsigned ( ie surrender : to give up / arise ) , the dropping of a second nuclear weapon over the city of Kokura was prepared. It is said that there should have been no clear command of the U.S. president for the second bombing. In Kokura there was ...
World War II brought up many new technologies for warfare. Advanced on existing developments such as weaponry, ships, vehicles air crafts, navigational devices and medicine are just a few broad examples of developments in warfare during this time in United States and World history. One development, however, changed the entire way of warfare. The Atomic bomb was developed during this time out of fears that the Germans had the same technologies, or at least were working to obtain it. Once the United States had this technological capability of producing atomic weapons, the way of fighting was changed. Two bombs were dropped on Japan in August of 1945, one on the city of Hiroshima and the other on the city of Nagasaki. Afterward, the ear of atomic diplomacy came up in American international relations, which as we have seen today, has led to the development of even stronger, more deadly weaponry and bombs. The bombing of Japan also brings up the still prevalent debate of whether the bombings were justifiable or not. Historians Gar Alperovitz, Robert P. Newman and Barton Bernstein all have written essays expressing their opinions in the matter.
The devastation brought about by the atomic bomb has caused fear among all the people that have realized the potential destructive power of its invention. The atomic bombs dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki on August 6 and 9, 1945 completely obliterated both cities (Lanouette 30). “Little Boy,” the bomb dropped on Hiroshima killed 70,000 people with an additional 66,000 injured (30-39). “Fat Man,” the bomb dropped on Nagasaki also carried its “share of America’s duty” by killing 40,000 people and injuring another 25,000 (30-39). The bombs also killed an estimated 230,000 more people from the after effects of the two explosions (30). The two bombings had opened the world’s eyes to the destructive power that could be unleashed by man.
If one aim was met with the Hiroshima bombing, it was the physical effects, which were able to devastate an entire city. Dropping the atomic bomb was a decision that no man would want to take on. Truman went with all the facts and his gut feeling. There was great loss for Japan, but even some of the Japanese soldiers were happy that the United States dropped the bomb.
Also, many messages between the United States and Japan declared that if the Japanese didn’t surrender, they would face ultimate annihilation (Atomic bomb). Consequently, when the Japanese refused to budge, the United States dropped two atomic bombs, the Little Boy and the Fat Man, on the cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. As a result, the Japanese people faced ultimate plight.