ipl-logo

Atomic Bombing Persuasive Essay

1098 Words5 Pages

The nuclear bombings of two Japanese cities, Hiroshima and Nagasaki, was a critical event that would remain in American history for years to come. The United States claimed they used the bombs to end the war quickly in order to save American and Japanese casualties (Kort). President Harry Truman’s decision to use nuclear warfare on Japan remains a controversial topic in American history today. The bombings precipitated catastrophic devastation and high death tolls of innocent Japanese people, along with contamination to their environment, landscape, and long-lasting emotional effects. The deplorable destruction of atomic bombs should be a reminder that massive nuclear arsenal should never be used again. President Truman, along with military planners, made the decision to make a great impact on Japan by using nuclear warfare on two untouched cities. They believed the …show more content…

Seven of eight America’s five-star officers believed the nuclear bombs were not needed because they felt the war had ended when the Soviet Union invaded Manchuria and other Japanese territories. Thus, historians believed the reason the United States dropped the bombs was to intimidate the Soviet Union (Elliott). According to President Truman’s personal chief of staff, William Leahy, the President knew the Soviet Union would end WWII and Japan would surrender: "Japanese were already defeated and ready to surrender.... The use of this barbarous weapon against Hiroshima and Nagasaki was of no material assistance in our war against Japan.... [I]n being the first to use it, we adopted an ethical standard common to the barbarians of the Dark Ages…” (Alperovitz 6). Leahy claimed President Truman knew the Japanese were going to surrender before using the atomic bombs. MacArthur felt the same, as he noted to former President Hoover, the Japanese would have surrendered if they were assured they could keep the emperor of Japan

Show More
Related
162 Words | 1 Pages

There is ample evidence to support the position that the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki were necessary in the surrender of Japan. It is seen that President Harry S. Truman had three reasons to proceed with the bombing. First, he assumed that the bomb would bring an end to the war. Second, Truman believed that the bomb would keep the USSR out of Asia. Lastly, he thought that dropping the bombs would be a way to test America’s new technology and observe the effects footnote 1.

Read More
667 Words | 3 Pages

Evaluate and discuss President Truman's decision to drop the atomic bombs on Japan during World War II, which ultimately killed ten of thousands of Japanese citizens. I researched the different views that people have dealt with this subject. On August 6, 1945, American bomber Colonel Paul Tibbets dropped more than a 9,000-pound uranium-235 bomb known as “Little Boy” on the Japanese city of Hiroshima. Within seconds, the bomb killed 80,000 people, with tens of thousands dying weeks afterwards due to wounds obtained from the blast and radiation poisoning.

Read More
466 Words | 2 Pages

Truman and the Atomic Bomb Harry Truman, the 33rd president of the USA, made the decision to use the first atomic bombs on Japan in an effort to end WWII. After many years of war, Japan and the US both refused to surrender and had they continued to fight, there’s no telling how long the war would have lasted. This was a piece of information that Truman considered whilst making the decision on what his next move was. Eventually he decided to drop the atomic bombs, despite not having a way to accurately estimate the consequences it would have. Truman knew that Japan wouldn’t surrender unless there were consequences to continuing the war, so he put the necessary circumstances in order to push Japan to surrender.

Read More
707 Words | 3 Pages

When the bomb was dropped on Hiroshima no one really knew what the overall outcome would be as this was the first attack of this sort ever used. The eventual reported outcome of loss of life was in excess of 135,000. There were tens of thousands more wounded and a portion of Japan left uninhabitable. Ultimately, the US use of nuclear weapons against Japan was revered to be more as a showing of the US advancements in the Arms Race than it was to bring about a cessation to the war and save US troops from having to continue ground assaults in the Pacific Theatre. This was the justification Truman used to justify his decision to himself, congress and the American people.

Read More
1074 Words | 5 Pages

On August sixth, 1945 president Truman made the critical decision to drop an atomic bomb on Nagasaki, and three days later would also decide to drop a nuke on Hiroshima effectively forcing japan to surrender. Truman's decision was justified at the time because, it was seen as the best option at the time, the Japanese were extremely against surrendering, and it in turn prevented the death of millions. The decision to drop the nuclear bomb was the best option at the time because it would force Japan to surrender the quickest and with the least casualties. On April first, 1945 the U.S. launched the attack on Okinawa, which is an island off of Japan, the main goal was to capture the airbase on the island because of its proximity to Japan.

Read More
852 Words | 4 Pages

In fact, Ralph A. Bard, Undersecretary of the Navy wrote to Secretary of War Stimson in a June 27, 1945 memorandum. “I define this decision as an emotional and reckless decision, Japanese government may be searching for some opportunity which they could use as a medium of surrender” (Bard). In fact, the Japanese government expressed desire to end the war, and would have accepted conditional surrender before the mainland invasion in November. The reason for dropping the bomb was forcing Japan to surrender unconditionally. In America’s opinion, Japan had lost the war; they did not have any capital to negotiate with.

Read More
479 Words | 2 Pages

When people reflect on the events that occurred in WWII, they think of Pearl Harbor and the Holocaust. But people forget one important event, the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. The U.S. was attacked on Pearl Harbor in December 1941 and the U.S. retaliated in their own way, bombing the cities in Japan. Many Americans say that the bombing was necessary, but some also say it wasn’t. Dropping the bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki was very necessary because it saved lives, sped up the war, and prevented future invasions.

Read More
964 Words | 4 Pages

In the Sixties sexism was a widely accepted part of society but not in modern times. Commercials still stereotype women today but not nearly as much as in the Sixties. In the 1960’s Folgers Coffee commercial, the husband’s attitude towards the wife, Papa Eddie’s interaction with the woman, and the woman’s reaction to the men reveal the sexist attitudes of the time period. The husband’s attitude towards the wife gives an example of how women were perceived at the time.

Read More
761 Words | 4 Pages

If ten Japanese soldiers were surrounded by hundred American soldiers, one would guess that Japanese would give up. However, this wasn't the case; Japanese soldiers would fight even if they were out numbered by hundreds and would try to kill as many Americans as possible. They were loyal to the Japanese code and that was to fight until the last breath no matter how lop sided the battle was. The atomic bomb seemed like the only choice Truman had to put and end to this war and save both American and Japanese lives. For Truman, the choice whether or not to use the atomic bomb was the most difficult decision of his life and he was trying to find everything he could to make this action seem like it was for a good cause.

Read More
1115 Words | 5 Pages

A Paradoxical Accomplishment and the Omission of the Soviets The use of atomic weapons by the United States against the Japanese Empire during the Second World War has long been a subject of emotional discourse. Initially, the majority of Americans approved the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki and believed that they were justified acts of warfare, as the bombings ended the war in the Pacific, thereby avoiding a bloody mainland invasion of Japan. Interestingly, decades after President Truman’s decision to drop the two atomic bombs, public opinion has slightly shifted. Some now believe that while the bombs drew the Second World War to a close, Japan’s leaders were willing to surrender to the United States months before and would have done

Read More
149 Words | 1 Pages

I believe President Truman was correct to use the bombs on Japan because there was only one other option, invasion. If the US

Read More
735 Words | 3 Pages

Japan was losing yet they were not willing to surrender so he had to decide the best way to end the war quickly with the least amount of casualties. He decided to drop the atomic bomb and we still talk about this important decision today. Although the atomic bomb caused major destruction in Hiroshima and Nagasaki, President Truman thought it was a military necessity to end world war II and justified by the fact that the bomb forced Japan to surrender, it ended the war quickly, and it saved thousands of lives. First of all, Japan was unwilling to surrender so this meant that the war could have continued for numerous months. They showed no indication of surrender and if the fighting would have continued

Read More
581 Words | 3 Pages

President Truman and his associates believed that if they dropped the bomb they would receive surrender from Japan. Thus, saving millions of American lives, and ending the war. Nevertheless, by saving American lives they would sacrifice thousands of Japanese civilians. They had other idea to have Japan to surrender, but were willing to take the one that would have the most consequences. They were thinking too much about the US instead of creating actually peace within the nations.

Read More
526 Words | 3 Pages

President Truman believed bombing Japan would make them surrender and bring the war to an end. The bomb would weaken Japan and make them stop fighting. The Japanese did not surrender while at war they began to kamikaze which were suicide planes crashing into ships. This was an example of how much the Japanese was willing to do to win the war. Japan would have to realise sooner or later kamikaze was effective but is not the best option because they lose pilots.

Read More
882 Words | 4 Pages

The idea of saving cutting casualties and quickly ending a bloody war in one display of raw power was tantalizing and irresistible. There is no question as to why Truman dropped the atomic bombs. It clearly had little initial ramifications compared to the copious amounts of advantages it offered for the Americans. Had Japan been given the chance to drop two atomic bombs, based on their behaviour throughout the war, they would have dropped them on American cities. However, just because the Japanese would have done the same to the Americans does not make it correct, but ultimately it justifies it.

Read More

More about Atomic Bombing Persuasive Essay

Open Document