“It wasn’t necessary to hit them with that awful thing” – Dwight Eisenhower Discuss this quote in relation to historian’s views on the United States decision to drop the atomic bombs on Japan. On August 6th and August 9th 1945, atomic weapons were used as weapons for the first and only time in human history. President Truman’s decision to drop the atomic bombs on Japan has since created some of the most controversial debates in history. Historians have been divided since that day, as to whether or not it was necessary to drop the atomic bombs, and what the real reasons for dropping them were. In fact, the debates behind using the atomic bombs against Japan began even before the decision was made.
The historians who support Truman, sometimes called the traditionalists, agree that Japan had been defeated but argue that Japan was not ready to surrender and was, in fact, preparing for one last great battle that would have cost millions of lives. Popular opinion tends to side with the revisionists, but I will argue that Truman made the right decision, not only for the United States but also for Japan; in fact, the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki saved Japan. Revisionists argue that the atomic bomb was dropped on Hiroshima after Japan’s armed forces and over sixty of its major cities had been already been destroyed. Moreover, historians such as Howard Zinn argue that Truman knew that the Japanese were trying to surrender but that he ignored them because he wanted to use the Bomb (23). Gar Alperovitz, another revisionist, says that Truman’s main purpose in dropping the bombs was to demonstrate its power in order to intimidate the Russians (127).
(2) Why did it happen? The atomic bombings of the cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki in Japan were conducted by the United States during the final stages of World War II in 1945. The two events are the only use of nuclear weapons in war to date. Following a firebombing campaign that destroyed many Japanese cities, the Allies prepared for a costly invasion of Japan. The war in Europe ended when Nazi Germany signed its instrument
The dropping of the atomic bombs on World War II on the city of Hiroshima and Nagasaki was a very important part of World War II. The atomic bomb ended the war between America and Japan. This was just one of the important events during the battle in World War II. The Battle at Pearl Harbor, where the Japanese attacked U.S. soil was also why the americans bombed Nagasaki and Hiroshima. Some believe that the United States was correct in dropping these bombs on Japan because of the attack on Pearl Harbor while others believe that it was very wrong to dropped the bomb.
The atomic bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki killed millions of people, left families with nothing, and leveled cities. The war would have gone on for a couple more years if we had not dropped the bombs and sent troops to Japan instead. The atomic bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki was justified. This is one of the pros for the atomic bombing on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. One of the pros for dropping the atom bombs is that the Japanese would have not surrendered.
The decision to drop the bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki had many influential factors effecting the decision. There certainly was the possibility of success for an invasion, but the decision not to invade far outweighed the decision to invade. Conventional bombing and Blockade were considered in the effort to force Japan into surrender. But, the fact that the Japanese military were controlling the Government and were in a state of mind of absolute refusal to surrender, meant that this was not a reasonable option. Political factors were greatly influential of Truman’s final decision to drop the bomb and the threat of Russian military who were soon to advance in the region had its impact.
However, if violence was absolutely necessary, the United States should have continued bombing Japan with conventional bombs and proceeded to invade Japan. The conventional bombing runs were just as deadly as atomic bombs as firebombing of Tokyo decimated the city, killed at least two hundred thousand lives. However, the most important reason why conventional bombing was a better
Even after the surrender of Nazi Germany on May 8th, the war against Japan continued. The United States threatened to destroy Japan in the Potsdam declaration, but this threat was ignored by the Japanese. This prompted the use of the atom bomb. The first atom bomb was dropped on Heroshima on August 6. Three days later, another atom bomb was dropped on Nagasaki.
In Return, The USA attacked Japan. When they saw that Japan wasn’t surrendering no matter what, it decided to use the most deadly weapon in the world for the first time; the atomic bomb. On 6th of August 1945, the world entered the nuclear age when USA dropped a single atomic bomb on the crowded city of Hiroshima, Japan. The Japanese soldiers still refused to surrender so the second atomic bomb was dropped on the city of Nagasaki at the date of 9th August 1945. Atomic Bomb dropped on Hiroshima When The USA attacked Japan in return, they bombarded Japan.
An invasion of Japan could have caused tens of thousands of Allied casualties, while the bombs could be carried over and dropped by planes. Since Japan is an island nation, in order to invade it, the Allies would have to storm the beaches. When troops are all running in the same direction from one point, like from the beaches onto the land, they are basically running into the line of fire with no protection. In regards to a diplomatic solution to end the war, Arthur Compton, the co-creator of the atomic bomb said that “Though the possibility of a demonstration that would [end that war and] not destroy human lives was attractive, no one could suggest a way in which it could be made so convincing that it would be likely to stop the war.” (Alperovitz