The Role of the Atomic Bomb on the Ending of the War

The Role of the Atomic Bomb on the Ending of the War

The first Atomic bomb was dropped on the city of Hiroshima on 6th

August 1945 at the end of World War 2.

The blast virtually levelled more than 10 square Km of the city and

killed 100,000 civilians. Three days later another Atom bomb was

dropped on the city of Nagasaki.

The decision to use the Atomic bomb was made by American President

Harry Truman.

I believe in the justification for using the Nuclear weapon was that

it ended the war and saved thousands more American and Japanese lives.

However, some say that the bomb was really dropped to prove to the

Soviet Union how powerful the USA was. This has caused much debate but

the valid intention is unknown. To oppose this, historians have now

obtained evidence that it is possible Japan were on the verge of

surrender, so the Atomic bomb was therefore not necessary.

"We thought we would be able to defeat the Americans

on their first landing attack. But if the Americans launched a

second or third attack, first our food supply would run out,

then our weapons. The Americans could have won without

using atomic bombs."

This source, from an interview with the secretary to the Japanese War

Minister in 1963 confirms that the Atomic bomb was in fact

unnecessary.

The interview took place nearly twenty years after the bomb was

dropped so the overall knowledge and understanding of why the nuclear

weapon was used would have been a great deal more developed and

complex than when the event originally took place.

"My god, what have we done?"

This was the initial reaction of Captain R. Lewis, a pilot of the

Enola Gay after dropping the atomic bomb on Hiroshima. This source is

extremely unreliable because of the aftershock of seeing the effect of

the first Atom bomb on an occupied city. The realisation of what he

had just done would have left the pilot feeling dreadful guilt, shame