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The Pros And Cons Of The Atomic Bomb

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Directly after the first atomic bomb test, Robert Oppenhiemer quotes from Hindu scripture, “Now I am become Death, the Destroyer of Worlds”, the dropping of the atomic bomb was a devastating ending of the Second World War. To this day, there is still controversy surrounding the topic on whether the United States should have used a nuclear weapon, but studies are showing that the atomic bomb’s benefits far outweighed its damage. Japan had fallen behind in the 1800’s technologically, but new conquests in China helped increase nationalism, leading to a more aggressive Imperial Japan. After the surprise attacks on Pearl Harbor in December of 1941 by the Japanese, the United States was thrust into the world’s largest conflict ever. Throughout the …show more content…

The opportunity to drop the bomb came in the summer of 1945, when the US had taken all of the surrounding islands to the Japanese mainland. Two bombs were dropped on two separate cities: Hiroshima, and Nagasaki. The blasts instantly killed an estimated 120,000 people, with another 95,000 dying from the radiation spread by the bombs. While the dropping of the atomic bombs on Japan took many thousands of innocent civilians lives, the United States still made the right decision, as the dropping of the bomb gave the United States a leg up in the inevitable Cold War against the USSR. and the amount of lives saved by quickly ending the war exceeded the amount taken by the …show more content…

Comments left by readers of the US History Magazine, American Heritage, basically say that the Japanese Islands were also very difficult to attack, as Japan still had millions of troops still stationed there, leaving no choice but to attack from the air. The Japanese army left no point of vulnerability for the US to take advantage of, and any land invasion would surely be stopped, as Japan had around 12 divisions defending the island. The first atomic bomb did not force surrender from Japan, but the second, combined with Russia planning to invade, forced Japan’s hand. The decision to drop the bomb was made quickly, as any land lost to Russia in Japan or China would never be returned to the countries. These comments from others give useful reasons on why the US Military dropped the atomic bombs: to end the war quickly before Russia gained a strategic advantage on the Islands of Japan before the long anticipated Cold War. Following this, the amount of lives that would have been lost if the Soviets had invaded the Japanese Islands would have far exceeded the death toll from the bombings, as Russian tactics were not focused on saving lives, but to take positions at all costs. The

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If the bombs had not been dropped, anywhere from 500,000 to 2,000,000 more people would have been killed on both the American and Japanese sides (Doc C-1). A fact that often

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ATOMIC BOMB: HIROSHIMA AND NAGASAKI The end of world war II brought the extensive discussion to the world. On August 6, 1945, the first atomic bomb was dropped by an American B29 bomber over the Japanese city of Hiroshima. Three days later a second B-29 dropped the second atomic bomb over Nagasaki. On August 15, Japan's emperor announced Japan's unconditional surrender, which led to the end of the war. After several years, doubt about the use of these atomic bombs has appeared, and the debate about if the dropping of the atomic bomb was the right and necessary decision.

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On August 6,1945 Hiroshima and Nagasaki were attacked by atomic bombs that were dropped by the U.S Military. Over 200,000 people were killed. The United States used the bomb to end the war with Japan, which began in 1941 when Japan launched an unprovoked attack on Pearl Harbor. Many people believe that dropping the atomic bombs was the right thing to do because if they did not use it, there would be four more years of fighting and hundreds of thousands more US soldiers would have died because the Japanese refused to surrender.

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It was a calm August morning in the year 1945, and citizens were out living their lives as normal, getting groceries, playing at the park, and walking to work, little did everyone in what was the beautiful town of Hiroshima know, there was an atomic bomb right above their heads. Boom. Simultaneously 70,000 innocent lives were lost. 30,000 more lives were taken later on due to the atomic bomb. Hiroshima and Nagasaki were the two Japanese cities that the United dropped the Atomic Bomb on in 1945 to try & bring an end to World War 2.

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On August 6, 1945 the United States dropped an Atomic bomb called the Little Boy on Hiroshima in Japan. A few days later the united states dropped another atomic bomb called the Fat man on the city of Nagasaki. The dropping of an atomic bomb in Hiroshima and Nagasaki ended the wars quickly, as Japan saw the devastating effects it had on their people and country. The decision to drop the bomb was a very hard one to agree on but changed lives for others. There are many pros and cons of the atomic bombs.

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Truman stated that he based his decision on military effectiveness not economically. An amphibious assault invasion like the Normandy Landings would have cost an estimated million casualties. President Truman believed that the bombs saved Japanese lives as well. For Truman, dragging out the war was not an option (The Decision to Drop the Bomb.). The blasts on Hiroshima and Nagasaki would cause 166,000 casualties in Hiroshima and 80,000 in Nagasaki.

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The Japanese were already on the verge of surrendering, so there was no point on dropping the bomb. Also, President Truman could have just shown an image or chart of the atomic bomb, rather than actually going through with the plan. These examples illustrate how the atomic bomb will always be a big controversy, but America was right for dropping the

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In addition to the American Casualties, the bomb saved Japanese Lives. Although it is ironic, it is true the Japanese military had planned to used every citizen to

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In 1945 World War 2 was coming to an end, President Truman was faced with a very tough decision on whether or not to drop the atomic bombs on Japan. On August 6 1945 an American B-29 bomber dropped the worlds first atomic bomb on the city of Hiroshima, three days later another B-29 bomber dropped a second bomb on the city of Nagasaki in total the bombs killed well over a hundred thousand people. The use of the atomic bombs were necessary to end the war on Japan, although the bombs killed many people the use of the bombs saved hundreds of thousands of American lives, and eneded Japan’s reign of terror on the world. People believed that with only two atomic bombs ready that it was too risky to use one on a demonstration showing off the power of the bomb.

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The dropping of the atomic bomb gave Japan no choice but to surrender unless they wanted to see the end of their country. Another option that would’ve ultimately led to the end of war in the Pacific, would be to invade Japan. Although this sounds logical, it is not because it would cost many more lives and take more time. “Was it necessary to drop the atomic bomb on Japan?”, taken from The New York Times, states, “The first three options were far from certain to compel a Japanese surrender quickly, however, and each posed serious military, political, and diplomatic

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Starting all the way back to the end of WWI, Germany was furious they had lost the battle. Wanting to feel the glory of winning, they started the next war for revenge for their loss and power over the world. They joined up with Italy and Japan to create the Axis Powers, which connected to Pearl Harbor. Pearl Harbor was one of the many reasons America decided to use the first atomic bombs on Japan, it destroyed the military base and led them to join the war. With two sides to the story, it’s hard to choose which way to lean, but that is why it's important to know that the decision to use the atomic bomb made by the American leaders was neither justified nor unjustified.

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In the twentieth century, the United States dropped two atomic bombs, which were the most powerful weapons at that time, on Japan. It happened on August 6 and August 9, 1945. The atomic bombs killed 226,000 Japanese and ended the war. However, America should not have dropped the atomic bombs for two reasons. First, it was not necessary to drop the bomb to win the war militarily or to get the Japanese to surrender.

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This sent the United States into World War II on December 8, 1945.   On August 6 and 9, 1946, the United States dropped two atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. These bombings were seen as a way for the United States to retaliate against Japan for the attack on Pearl Harbor and to bring an end to the war quickly, as it was believed that a land invasion of Japan would result in high casualties for both sides. The bombings also sparked international debate about the use of nuclear weapons and their long-term effects on human health and the environment. The bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki remain controversial to this day because many people feel Japan would've surrendered in other ways.

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Dropping this bomb caused thousands of innocent lives to be lost and even more so people to be injured but live. As said in the text,” it killed about 160000 people and 80% of the cities buildings…(nagasaki) the death toll there was less but still over 100000”. The problem was America was already kicking a horse that was down. Japan had already been almost defeated and the bomb was just a huge overkill. Even admiral Ernest King argued, “ if we had been willing to wait...

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I already pointed out that a land invasion would of killed more people so another alternative method would of been a demonstration of the bomb or a warning to try to gain a surender. But if that is all the U.S would of done the japanese would of not backed down, because a demonstration or warning dose not show what the bomb can do a countrys civilian

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