The Pros And Cons Of Atomic Bombing

Every year in August the dropping of the atomic bombs on Hiroshima (August 6, 1945) and Nagasaki (August 9, 1945) remains one of the most arguable events in the modern history. Nevertheless it is actively debated topic whether the bombings were necessary and what effect they had on bringing the war in the Pacific Theatre to an efficient end. Furthermore, what the other options were available to the United States. These very same questions were also argumentative at the time, as the American government struggled with how to use a incredibly powerful new weaponry and what the long-term impact of atomic weaponry might be, not just on the Japanese, but on domestic politics, America’s international relations, and the budding Cold War with the Soviet Union. In this essay I will examine the Americas use of nuclear weaponry against Japan in August 1945 and will argue that it was necessary to use atomic power in order to defeat Japan.

According to the Gallup poll of August 16, 1945, 85 percent of those Americans surveyed approved the atomic bombings, while only 10 percent disapproved and 5 percent had no opinion. Yet most Americans praised the bomb for ending a bloody war. Whether dropping the atomic bomb was necessary has become entangled with the separate issue of anger at Japan`s sneak attack and the brutality of its military, the bombing of Shanghai, the Rape of Nanking and the force prostitution of korean women. For Americans with bitter memories of such events as the Pearl Harbor attack and the Bataan Death March, Hiroshima and Nagasaki were appropriate vengeance for Japan's alleged deceptions and