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The Pros And Cons Of Justifying The Bombing Of Hiroshima

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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. The Japanese …show more content…

Japan knew that the US would only settle for an unconditional surrender, so they decided the best course of action would be to not surrender at all. The government also knew that most of the army as well as civilians would have been completely against the idea of surrendering and would have kept fighting even with orders to stop as long as possible. This is in part because of their culture but also because they knew that the US would have wanted the execution of their emperor and that was absolutely not an option as they saw him almost as a divine power. The Japanese also proved extremely resistant in wartime situations by not surrendering. There would be multiple battles that they would fight until the …show more content…

government also concluded that the dropping of the atomic bombs would in turn save millions of future lives, but at the cost of innocent civilian lives. The U.S. knew that the Japanese were almost completely against the idea of an unconditional surrender and would fight at literally any cost. If they had decided to invade mainland Japan millions of lives would have been lost over a span of many years. They knew this because in earlier battles even for small islands hundreds of miles of the cost they fought hard and until the very last man, even going as far as to give official orders not to surrender or be punished, they could only imagine what it would be like on mainland Japan. They would likely also be fighting against civilians as they would take over cities because of how dedicated as a whole country they were to win the war. Truman and the government decided that it would be worth the sacrifice of around 200,000 people to save millions of future

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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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The U.S. should have been patient and thought of what the effects of their actions would be and not acted on it. Document C illustrates how Japan at the time was already deciding to surrender due to the influence of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Knowing how much damage it had done they were open to giving up to not have more things happen to them. Also, Document D discussed how using different tactics could have been acted upon. Frank stated “You see what sort of weapon we had but did not use”, this explains how one can give a warning, a statement but nothing was given a chance or an explanation.

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When America had dropped the atomic bomb, Japan was in a very weakened state. The navy and air force were destroyed, the land had been surrounded by other armies, and the supplies had been cut off (David M., 421). By these observations, it can be concluded that Japan was in a position much weaker than the had been at the start of the war and recognition of defeat could be seen. This defeat, however, was not declared by Japan and they continued to decline to surrender. Their decline to surrender ultimately led the need of the atomic bombs.

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By the time Truman had to make his decision Japan’s military resources were eliminated (Blum 2). Not only were there naval ships and planes destroyed, but also, there “lifeline to oil was severed” (Blum 2). Additionally, the amount of firebombing taking place left Japan defenseless (Blum 2). The man in charge of air attacks, General Curtis Lemay even went as far to say that “there was nothing left of japanese cities but “garbage can targets”(Blum 2). All of these circumstances lead up to what would have been the surrendering of Japan before the bombs were dropped.

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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.

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Japan was weakening, “The food situation gradually becoming worse and worse…” Stated in source H. America had many industrial resources to use against Japan and so Japan had essentially been defeated. Japan pushed only for the sake of their countries honour as the shame of unconditional surrender goes against their code of honour. Furthermore a warning was given to Japan with America promising to drop the atomic bomb, however there was no evidence and so it could have easily been deemed a bluff. An American nuclear scientist stated, “A demonstration of the bomb best be made… Japan could then be asked to surrender.” This source seems somewhat reliable as it is from one of the American scientists and they would know the strength of the bomb.

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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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The U.S. gave Japan many chances to surrender and they never backed down. The Potsdam declaration was one of the many times when Japan didn't want to surrender and on July 26th, 1945, the U.S., Great Britain, and China made the choice to give them the unconditional surrender or they would be devastated. According to Trumanlibraryinstitue, the declaration said something along the lines of “We call upon the government of Japan to proclaim now the unconditional surrender of all Japanese armed forces, & to provide proper & adequate assurances of their good faith in such action”. Potsdam goes here). Still with this warning there was no surrender made.

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We had given the Japanese plenty of opportunities to surrender and they didn 't. We had warned them that if they didn 't surrender there would be utter mass destruction placed upon them. They chose to ignore it and brush it off. Japan still didn 't surrender after the first bomb was dropped, the emperor of Japan stepped in and gave the final decision of surrendering only after the second one was dropped. This war would’ve gone on for who knows how

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They were so desperate that they were sending kamikaze to U.S. ships in the Pacific (Doc. C). This action showed America just how desperate the Japanese truly were, meaning that they were already winning the war (Doc. C). According to the Air Force Strategy Bombing Survey, “certainly prior to 31 December 1945, and in all probability prior to 1 November 1945 (well before the date of the [proposed] invasion) Japan would have surrendered even if the atomic bombs had not been dropped” (Doc. K). This means that the Survey agreed that the war would have ended even without the bombing. Furthermore, Dwight Eisenhower stated, “I was one of those who felt that there were a number of cogent reasons to question the wisdom of such an act.... first on the basis of my belief that Japan was already defeated and that dropping the bomb was completely unnecessary, and second because I thought that our country should avoid shocking world opinion by the use of a weapon whose employment was, I thought, no longer mandatory as a measure to save American lives.

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The atomic bomb dropping was the last resort for the Americans during the brutal pacific front warfare. Fighting the war on the pacific homefront was different than in Europe because the terrain was different, the weather was vastly different, and the jungles were booby-trapped. The Americans tried the strategy of island hopping, the goal was to take over the islands one by one, and work closer to the mainland. They also wanted to establish bases on those islands and be closer to the enemy. The Japanese had the bushido mentality; death before dishonor.

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They feared unconditional defeat because in Japanese society it was a disgrace to surrender. Hearing this, the U.S. responded with dropping a second bomb on Nagasaki, killing even more people. Emperor Hirohito made the decision to surrender ultimately saving his country

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Japan had to accept unconditional surrender; if they disagreed with that request, America would drop the bomb. What made the Japanese surrender was the retention of their emperor; anything else couldn’t have forced a Japanese surrender, including the attack of the atomic bomb. As Japan's Prime Minister Suzuki spelled out on June 9, 1945. “Should the Emperor system be abolished, they [the Japanese people] would lose all reason for existence…. [and have] no choice but to go on fighting to the last man” (Butow).

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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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