Hiroshima And Nagasaki Dbq Analysis

The atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki happened during World War II. World War II was coming to a close and the Japanese were holding on to what little land they had claimed. Meanwhile allowing their people and the people in the surrounding countries to starve. This is because the Japanese would not have surrendered without the bombings, there would have been more Asian civilian casualties had the war gone on, and finally that the Invasion of Japan would have resulted in more American casualties. The evidence clearly shown through historical documents will justify that the bombings were catastrophic and caused many civilian casualties, but was necessary to end World War II. The first reason that the Atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki were somewhat justified is the the Japanese would not surrender without the bombs being dropped. This is clearly shown by a Japanese slogan in the summer of 1945 that says “The sooner the [the

In the words of past Secretary of War Henry Stimson “But this deliberate, premeditated destruction was our least abhorrent alternative. The destruction of Hiroshima and Nagasaki put an end to the Japanese war. It stopped the fire raids, and the strangling blockade;” (Document 4). Without these bombs being dropped these smaller but more destructive bombings would have caused many more casualties than both of the atomic bombings put together. In Japanese controlled areas there was an estimated twenty five million deaths from 1937 to 1945. If the United States did not drop the atomic bombs and the Soviet entry did cause the Japanese to surrender by October 1st this would have added a minimum of 600,000 Asian deaths to the already high death toll. (Document 11). The atomic bombings may have taken many lives, but they saved many more from dying from wounds, starvation, and