The ‘better’ choice, if you can call it that, was to drop the atomic bomb because is caused fewer deaths than invading the Japanese main land. It is very unfortunate that many Japanese citizens died in order for the Japanese government to surrender, but it was done with a greater good in mind. The greater good that was done here was saving lives, the atomic bombs caused over a quarter million deaths while an invasion would have amounted to over one million Japanese and American lives. The dropping of the Atomic Bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki was necessary because it saved more lives then the bombs took, and it also brought a more needed end to a bloody and costly
Was the dropping of the atomic bombs on Japan justifiable? In the May of 1945, Germany surrendered to the Allies and WW2 was coming to an end. However by August, Japan was still fighting, so the USA asked Japan to stop fighting or face ‘Total destruction’. Japan did not surrender, and on the 6th August USA dropped an atomic bomb on Hiroshima, a Japanese City, killing 150,000. On August 9th, three days later, Japan still hadn’t said they surrendered and the USA dropped another atomic bomb on Nagasaki, killing 50,000.
The project was headed by Major Leslie R. It became known as “The Manhattan Project”. It was kept top secret against almost everyone and the military soldiers. After six months of bombing the Japanese we dropped the bomb Know as “Little Boy” and was dropped on Hiroshima on August 6, 1945. We then doped another bomb Called “Fat Man”, and was dropped over Nagasaki. I do agree of dropping the bomb because it did save a lot of lives.
Because of the slight opposition and Truman’s advisers being eager to use the bombs, I think the decision to drop the bomb was made far easier and the full ramifications not taken as seriously as they should have been. There are many pros and cons of whether or not the United States should have dropped the atomic bomb. The truth is the dropping of the Atomic Bomb ended the war quickly. It saved many American/Allied lives,
Even if Truman had decided to use the bomb, there was no reason to bomb Hiroshima. Hiroshima had limited military value and was mostly civilians, outnumbering the soldiers six to one. Over 200,000 men, women and children died because of the bomb, most of the casualties being women, children and old men. Although President Truman said the use of the atomic bomb was also used to reduce casualties on the Japanese side, if he cared so much about Japanese casualties, he could have just changed the unconditional surrender to make it easier for the Japanese to
The attack didn’t make sense to Americans because they knew that Japan believed that the U.S. was stronger, but to the Japanese, Adkison 5 the Pearl Harbor attack probably seemed like their best option at the time. Not only would the attack diminish the American defenses on the West Coast, but it would force the U.S. into a twofront war, one in the Pacific and the other in Europe. Logically, a nation whose military is split between two fronts would be weaker than if its military only needed to worry about fighting on one front. Maybe Japan thought that between its alliance within the Axis powers and the U.S. fighting on two fronts, there was a distinct chance at victory and moving up in the world as a powerful nation. A surprise attack on the fleet could weaken Americans and give the Japanese the power that they craved.
Even scientists who worked on building the bomb were opposed to its use. Crimes of humanity are usually murder, extermination, enslavement, deportation, and other inhumane acts committed against any civilian. The dropping of the Atomic bomb killed thousands of people and scarred all the people who survived permanently. Seven scientist, who had helped build the bomb, submitted a report to the Interim Committee, which advised the President, saying “If the United Sates were to be the first to release this new means of indiscriminate destruction upon mankind, she would sacrifice public support throughout the world, precipitate the race for armaments, and prejudice the possibility of reaching and international agreement on the future control of such weapons” (John Toland, ibid, p. 762). The scientists are the ones that know best about the bomb, they were the ones that built and designed it.
The United States actions are seen by many as inhumane and hypocritical. As a nation we strive to “keep the peace” among other countries, yet we targeted a city full of innocence. Some historians believe that the U.S. wanted to prove its superiority to other countries involved in the war. Supporters of the bombing argue in a “future tense”, stating that the use of the bomb was justified in order to save millions of lives from a planned invasion on Japan. Those who oppose the bombing, including many U.S military leaders and former president Herbert Hoover, agree that it was simply a terrorist act against
Many believe that the bombings were justified because it is said too have prevented millions of deaths that would have occurred due to an allied invasion of Japan. While others talk about how it ended WW2 and brought supposedly justice and glory too Americans and it’s nation. They have failed too realize that all of this is temporary and can or should be acceptable of the damage and facts that show more bad than good was done over history. The united States at the time states that they saved on resources which is true because dropping the atomic bombs they were fire bombing cities in Japan using up tons of fuel,planes,and bombs achieving the same effect as the atomic bomb and killing just as many
Truman’s decision saved the lives of millions Americans, millions of Japanese people, and aided in restraining the Soviet Union. The use of nuclear weapons was what ultimately put an end to World War II. Some say the bombings were the last attacks of World War II, but the first attacks in the Cold War. Overall, Truman’s decision to use nuclear weapons was the correct one. Works Cited "51g.