Hiroshima And Nagasaki Dbq

On August 6th 1945, the world changed forever. On that fateful day, a nuclear weapon was used against human beings for the first time. Three days later on August 9th 1945, a nuclear weapon was used again in anger, and has not been used since. The dropping of the Atomic bombs on the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki was the final major act of violence in the most destructive war in world history. The Japanese surrendered six days after the bombing of Nagasaki, and the war was finally over. Fast forward 66 years to today, and the argument of should the Atomic bombs have been used still rages on. The purpose of this paper is to add to the argument, and explain why the President Harry Truman was correct in ordering the dropping of Atomic…show more content…
However, war itself is terrible, and death and destruction are a terrible part of war. The United States and Japan had slugged it out for four long years. Hundreds of thousands on both sides had been killed or wounded. All combat war fighters had wounds; if not physical they were mental. Both nations were tired and a bloody invasion that was sure to kill and wound hundreds of thousands of American’s, plus Millions of Japanese, was looming. The enslavement of portions of Asia and Japan, of Communism was looming with the intervention of the Soviets into the war, and President Truman had a weapon that could potentially prevent those events from happening. The Atomic bombs killed hundreds of thousands, but they saved millions. The Atomic bombs destroyed two cities, but they saved a nation from total destruction, and an all out invasion. The Atomic bombs were devastating, but they ended the war and allowed Japan to rebuild as a democratic nation, not a divided nation. One proud Asian nation was already divided between the United States and the Soviet Union, and the bombs ending the war when they did prevented Japan from following the example of Korea. The Atomic bombs saved more lives than they took, they prevented more destruction than they caused, and they helped end the war so Japan could…show more content…
American battle and casualty statistics, 2010, America’s military casualties [on line] http://www.schiele.us/battleInfo.asp 10 April 2011
[ 6 ]. Gerhard L. Weinberg, A World At Arms: A Global History of World War II, 2nd ed., (New York: Cambridge University Press, 2005), 867
[ 7 ]. E. B. Sledge, With the Old Breed: At Peleliu and Okinawa (1981; repr., New York: Presidio, 2010), 312.
[ 8 ]. Ronald H. Spector, Eagle against the sun, (New York, New York: The Free Press, 1985), 502
[ 9 ]. Gerhard L. Weinberg, A World At Arms: A Global History of World War II, 2nd ed., (New York: Cambridge University Press, 2005), 891
[ 10 ]. New World Encyclopedia, 2009 January 29, Operation Downfall [ on line] http://www.newworldencyclopedia.org/entry/Operation_Downfall, 11 April 2011
[ 11 ]. Gerhard L. Weinberg, A World At Arms: A Global History of World War II, 2nd ed., (New York: Cambridge University Press, 2005), 876
[ 12 ]. J. Robert Moskin, Mr. Truman’s War, (New York: Random House Inc. 1996) 259
[ 13 ]. Ibid
[ 14 ]. Herman S. Wolk, Cataclysm; General Hap Arnold and the Defeat of Japan,( Denton Texas: University of North Texas Press) 125
[ 15 ]. Ronald H. Spector, Eagle against the sun, (New York, New York: The Free Press, 1985),