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Pros And Cons Of Hiroshima Bombing

2137 Words9 Pages

The 1941 Bombing of Hiroshima has sparked global debate since the time of the event. The devastating bombing caused Japan’s unconditional surrender thus bringing World War 2 to a complete end. The dropping of the bomb was an extremely controversial situation as many citizens had different perspectives and opinions when it came to the decision. Two individuals with majorly insightful perspectives were Harry S. Truman, who was in favour of the bombing and the then President of the United States of America and Leo Szilard, who was opposed to the bombing and a German Physicist that created the atomic bomb. Truman, as the new president of the US, learned of the bomb after it had already been constructed. He was not as informed as other citizens …show more content…

Each country had different advantages when trying to achieve this. Russia had a larger population and resources and America had the atomic bomb. When ending the war, America wanted to be both recognised for their work and show Russia that they had more advanced technology. This rivalry sparked in the early 1900’s as Russia was promoting communism and the US did not want their government changing due to other government styles changing throughout the world. A large majority of Americans held a grudge against Russia since, as they wanted to maintain their position as the most knowledgeable and powerful country. Russia had also only recently won The Battle of Stalingrad, a battle between Russia and Germany as Russia fought to get the land back that they had lost. This battle continued on to Russia invading and taking control of Germany in April 1945 which effectively ended the war in Europe. Therefore, when deciding between asking the other allies, including Russia, for help or dropping the atomic bomb, Truman and his close advisors did not want to involve Russia. This is because they were afraid that if Russia got involved the other countries would believe them to be the strongest country that led the war to a close as they had already liberated so many countries in East Europe. Ernest Joseph King, a Commander in Chief and Chief of Naval Operations during World War II said when in a meeting prior to the Potsdam Conference that the soviets were “not indispensable” and “we should not beg them to come in.” Ernest was alike many members of the military that held power when he said that he did not think Russia should be involved and therefore, the people surrounding Truman were cornering him to drop the bomb. Truman doubted the US military could beat Japan if they went head to head on a land battle. Russia had also stated at the Potsdam

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Roosevelt, at Yalta, asked Stalin for support in the war in the pacific, but Truman condemned this decision and decided to carry on his plan on bombing with this new weapons Hiroshima, so he could keep the entire price for his country. There were odds between the two presidents and the Prime Minister of the UK; they didn’t accept the ideas from the others, especially Truman and Stalin. They didn’t stand each other, and the debate held in Potsdam wasn’t heading anywhere, the Cold War was inevitable, but the real game changer was the nuclear weapon. Without these nuclear weapons, the Cold War wouldn’t have been as scary as it was. So I believe that Hiroshima caused the Cold War, but it was not the only issue that contributed to this worldwide

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