Model Essay Student’s Name Section Number Why the Atomic Bombs Saved Japan. The decision to use nuclear weapons to stop the War in the Pacific by President Harry S. Truman in August, 1945 remains controversial to this day. Most of Truman’s critics, the so-called revisionist historians, argue that Japan wanted to surrender and had already been defeated, making the use of atomic bombs unnecessary. They say the bombs were used mainly to demonstrate America’s power to intimidate the Soviet Union. 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.
Truman made some decisions that ultimately had a huge effect in the build up to the cold war. When plans were made for the division of power after WWII, Truman originally opposed America ganging up against Russia and said he would keep the agreements that were made with them. But Truman wanted to appear decisive and tough and he was not prepared to accept any deal if he could not get the majority of it his way. When Truman went to the Potsdam Conference in July 1945, he went there only to advance American Interest and he believed that the atomic bomb was the way to do this. Though this treat he was able to have his way at the Yalta conference.
, highlighting that he believed without the use of atomic weapons, the Cold War was not an inevitability. Despite the pre-existing tensions between East and West, the use of atomic weaponry amplified the Soviet’s paranoia causing Stalin to authorise ‘a crash Soviet program to catch up’ , signifying the start of the Cold War which would shape the course of the twentieth century. A key significance of the use of atomic weapons in 1945 was the ethical implications that using such weaponry held. As Stalin stated ‘war is barbaric, but using the A-bomb is superbarbarity’ . Stalin’s view is supported by Admiral D Leahy, who in his memoirs writes ‘we had adopted an ethical standard common to the barbarians of the Dark Ages’ This quote holds a substantial amount of weight to my argument due to Admiral D Leahy’s position as Roosevelt and Truman’s chief of staff, it would be expected for a man of such status to hold a view in support of America’s actions.
The entire world changed after the dropping of the atomic bomb on the Japanese islands of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. It created a mass hysteria considering that now the world could be destroyed from the use of these awesome bombs. As the United States gradually slipped into the Cold War with the Soviet Union, people hoped that some ethical codes instilled within us all would prevent the obliteration of the earth by use of atomic bombs. Though the power of the atomic bomb has not been unleashed upon another civilization since Nagasaki, the hope that an ethical code can regulate interactions throughout all regions, states, and nations is erroneous. Blackburn, in his short introduction to ethics through the book “Being Good”, gives seven threats to ethics that denounces the ability to regulate interactions ethically.
In fact, the debates behind using the atomic bombs against Japan began even before the decision was made. Many of the scientists such as Leo Szilard and Dr. James Franck, who made great contributions towards the creation of the bomb, campaigned against its use. President Truman said “We have used it in order to shorten the agony of war, in order to save the lives of thousands and thousands of young Amercicans”. It is completely understandable that President Truman’s aim was always to save the lives as many American people, but was it necessary to do it by dropping the atomic bombs on Japan? And was the reason behind the decision to drop the two atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki purely to ‘save the lives of thousands and thousands of young Americans’?
On similar note, questions have arisen over whether there must have been any hidden agenda or ill intentions by Truman in arriving at such a decision .The fact that Harry Truman defended his decision points to the fact that it was a means to an end (Bernstein, 1998). Besides the negative impacts that the atomic bombing decision by Truman had on Japan and its populace, the decision equally had political implications particularly for the United States of America. This paper evaluates and discusses President Truman’s decision to drop atomic bombs on Japan during the World War II that killed and maimed
Japan was sending peace messages to the USSR. Japan was still confused about whether to surrender, offer peace or fight it out. The times in Japan were getting tough as America had blockaded most of their supplies; they were purely fighting for love for their emperor. There are three main arguments for dropping the bomb. The first reason is very simple; the bomb would keep the USSR out of Asia, or warn the USSR not to build their nuclear weapons.
Timing almost always affects the style of a passage. As in the two passages Hiroshima and Memoirs of a Mendicant Professor, the timing shows how great of an impact it can have on the style of a passage. Both passages talk of the same event, the bombing of Hiroshima, yet the time of which they occurred differed. Choice of detail is one key element in the timing of the two passages. John Hersey tells how “granite gravestones three hundred and eighty yards from the center” (5) were fused and completely destroyed.
The atomic bomb has spelled them out for all men to understand. Other men have spoken them in other times, and of other wars, of other weapons. They have not prevailed. There are some misled by a false sense of human history, who hold that they will not prevail today. It is not for us to believe that.
The Moral Debate: Dropping the Atomic Bomb On the morning of August 6, 1945, the Enola Gay, flew over the city of Hiroshima, Japan and dropped the first atomic bomb ever known to this world. The second bomb was dropped shortly afterwards in Nagasaki, Japan. For the United States government the project was a complete success. But for Japan, there were some devastating effects, such as the death of many people, atomic radiation, and the destruction of two cities. But the Atomic Bomb did end World War II, but it still instigated serious controversies concerning its power and destructive potential.