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The Pros And Cons Of Atomic Bombing

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On the morning of August 6, 1945 a US B-29 superfortress bomber aircraft left the island of Tinian and took off to Hiroshima, Japan carrying an atomic bomb called “Little Boy”. When Little Boy exploded it instantly killed 80,000 people. 60,000 more died the following weeks due to nuclear radiation (“Bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki” 1). On August 9, 1954 a US B-29 superfortress bomber aircraft left the island of Tinian and took off to Nagasaki, Japan carrying an atomic bomb called “Fat Man”. When Fat Man exploded it instantly killed 60,000 people. 20,000 more died from nuclear radiation (“Atomic bomb dropped on Nagasaki” 1). Many believe that these bombings were unnecessary since Japan was close to surrendering seeing that they had no allies, …show more content…

Former President Truman believed the bombings were necessary for Japan to surrender. Before the bombings it seemed as though the Japanese army was prepared to fight till death ( Nichols 1). The bombing turned out to be a success and on August 15, 1945 Emperor Hirohito announced Japan’s surrender in a radio broadcast. The surrender agreement or treaty was signed on September 2, 1945 (“Bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki” 1). There were many reasons why former President Truman launched the atomic bomb on Japan. Three key reasons why former President Truman launched the atomic bomb on Japan are because Japan viciously surprised attack Pearl Harbor, he genuinely thought this was the only way to end the war, and he wanted to prevent the lives of more troops from being lost in an ongoing …show more content…

Japan was showing no sign of backing down. Truman wanted to guarantee the surrender of Japan. He also wanted to end the war before the Soviet Union entered Japan because he knew Joseph Stalin was not interested in a peaceful ending ( Nichols 2 ). He knew an invasion like the one in Germany where the Nazi armies were crushed between the U.S. and British forces and the Soviet troops was not going to occur in Japan (Nichols 1). Truman had no choice but to allow the bomb dropping since Japan refused to surrender on July 28, 1945 (“Potsdam and the Final Decision to use the Bomb” 6 ). The first bombing in Hiroshima failed to elicit immediate Japanese surrender even though it caused the most damage and took more lives than Fat Man (“Bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki” 1). During Truman’s speech of informing the American public that the US had dropped an entirely new type of bomb on the Japanese city of Hiroshima, he warned that if Japan still refused to surrender unconditionally they would continue to attack and leave them with equally devastating results (“Potsdam and the Final Decision to use the Bomb” 6). Japan still refused to surrender and the second bombing in Nagasaki occured. This bombing resulted finally in the unconditional surrender that Truman anticipated (“Atomic bomb dropped on Nagasaki” 1). He felt that this surrender would only have result from the atomic bombs. “

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But he had no compelling reason to do so. The bomb provided a promising way to bring about a prompt Japanese surrender without the disadvantages of other alternatives, and in Truman’s mind, its use did not require a lengthy consideration” (Walker pg. 96). After the bombs were dropped on the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, people decided that the bombs were actually required. The people thought that if the bombs weren’t dropped, thousands of American lives would have died while America invaded Japan. The problem with this logic is that many people died in those bombings.

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Name: Course Instructor: Class: Date: Critical Book Review: Prompt and Utter Destruction Introduction Within weeks, word on the US dropping of atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki began to spread that the main reason behind the bombs was to save the lives of Americans (Bernard). It was put that hundreds of thousands of American military causalities were saved through the bombings.

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During harry S. Truman's presidency he was faced with one of the most world altering decisions in the war against japan. The use of atomic weapons would set an example of the united states of america’s military strength,power and knowledge of a very destructive technology. It was necessary for president Truman to drop the atomic bomb on the cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki for these reasons. American soilders were tired from the four years of fighting and a surrender from Japan was not in sight.. In (Doc L) it says the bomb saved more lives than killed people in the end, President Truman needed to retaliate for their attack on Pearl Harbor and the bomb would just end the war more quicker.

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"There was a very strong possibility that the Japanese government might choose to resist until the very end"(Doc B). The argument for dropping the atomic bomb is strong because Truman knew that the war was going to cost and last way more if he didn't just use the bombs to end the war with them. This shows that he had all the right to just stop this madness and end the war quickly, easily, and fast. He knew that Japan wasn't going to surrender most likey so he was sick of his troops dying for no

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Justification of the Atomic Bomb Did Truman have enough justified reasons in dropping the Atomic bomb to end the war? On April 12 President Roosevelt died, vice president Truman had to take office and was suddenly forced to gain total victory over Japan. He had two options, the first one was to invade Japan with the planned Operation Downfall, he found out about his second option 12 days after he became president, after this weapon was explained in detail Truman immediately began to see the diplomatic implications of the bomb. To end the war the Atomic Bomb over Japan was totally necessary. “In conclusion, I would like to explain why Japanese soldiers do not surrender.

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The dropping of the bombs were necessary and fair due to the refusal of the Japanese to surrender, the millions of lives saved by a quick end to the war, and the warnings given to the Japanese. To begin, the Japanese soldiers have it ingrained in their brains that it is dishonorable to surrender. The author of Drop the Bomb as agreed by saying that “the Japanese have demonstrated a willingness to fight to the death”. During the war there were many times for the Japanese to surrender, but it was never done. With this in mind, they would have continued to drag out the war, which shows that dropping the bombs sped up the war which lessened the casualties.

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This bomb saved many more lives including Japanese, and American. His decision to let this happen ended inhumane fighting all around the world, and saved countless lives. Desperate times call for desperate measures, and in this situation when a war is involved there is no time to linger, but instead come up with a plan that is beneficial. Japan should have been expecting a surrender sooner or later because this was war and they had to expect it. In an extremely reliable source it is stated, “ Nonetheless, I also believe that President Harry Truman’s decision to use the atomic bombs against Japan almost certainly saved lives.”

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By dropping the atomic bomb it ended the war and saved Americans lives. In document J the estimated total casualty of Japanese people was estimated to be 199,000 people that is to the estimated 1 million American casualties if we kept fighting until the Japanese surrendered. Also, in document I it says “His (Truman’s) advisors had warned him to expect massive casualties if the United States invaded Japan.” Truman didn’t do it out of revenge he did it out of protection for American lives. In document A it says “It was their (committee of top men) recommendation that the bomb be used against the enemy as soon as it could be done.”

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A second atomic bomb was dropped on the city of Nagasaki three days later. This bomb was called "Fat Man". The atomic bombs are said to have killed 70,000 people instantly and around 100,000 more people died from radiation sickness and burns. (ushistory.org)

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World War Two was drawing to a close in Germany, but still going relatively strong in the Pacific, and Truman was given a choice; he could use the expensive bomb manufactured in the Manhattan Project or he could choose to find some other method of quickly ending the war. Although it still remains a highly controversial issue, Truman’s decision to drop the atomic bomb upon Japan was ultimately the most logical choice he could make in that situation. The only way to truly win a war is to so demoralize the enemy that they lose their will to continue fighting as was best demonstrated by Sherman’s march to the Atlantic in which he destroyed the south so that the people would no longer want to fight. If the United States wanted to win the war, it was necessary to make sure that the Japanese had absolutely no more will with which to carry on the war. Also the ultimate goal of the United States during the war was to force an unconditional surrender from Japan,

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Japan was very close to collapsing and they knew that if they didn’t make this agreement they would have to fight till the death, which is exactly what they did, Japan chose not to surrender. People also believe that Truman was justified to use the bomb because people believe that if he didn’t Japan would have used theirs and then we would have been hurting. Japan was very close to discovering this weapon and would have been very quick to use it. All of this was simply a race and the survival of the

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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.

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However, the Japanese were committed to fight to the bitter end of the war and see it all the way through, regardless of the fact that the United States demanded unconditional surrender from the small country of islands. This further emphasizes that since the Japanese were not simply going to give up, Truman came to the conclusion that in order to save millions of lives, he had to take thousands. President Truman decided to drop the atomic bomb on Japan to warn the world about the new found power of the United States, force an unconditional surrender of the Japanese, and save millions of lives. With the controversy over whether or not Truman should have dropped the bomb, some consider the decision irrational and unnecessary.

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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.

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Victor the Titan In Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein, an inquisitive scientist challenges nature by creating a new species. Through the use of organic resources and natural philosophy, Victor Frankenstein constructs a human-like being. Mirroring the scientist, Prometheus curiously strives to improve the human population by seeking knowledge and enlightenment. Both heros, one tragic and the other romantic, experience growth and endurance throughout their journeys. A modern version of Prometheus, Frankenstein aspires to create life but must suffer the consequences.

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