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To What Extent Was Truman Justified After Ww2

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As World War II came to a close in 1945, the Allies were searching for a swift way to bring about its definitive end. Harry Truman decided that the prime way to accomplish this was to drop atomic bombs on two cities of Japan, hoping for a quick surrender. Harry Truman’s actions in order to obtain unconditional surrender from Japan cannot be justified, due to the ethics of the situation. The Allies had decided to accept only “unconditional surrender”, or surrender with no compromises, from the Axis powers in 1943. By May of 1945, Italy and Germany had unconditionally surrendered, but Japan was still fighting the war. At the Potsdam conference from July 17 to August 2, 1945, the Allies gave an ultimatum to Japan, saying to “surrender or be destroyed” (Kennedy, 599). Japan refused to unconditionally surrender, but indicated that they may have been willing to seek conditional surrender. …show more content…

However, unconditional surrender was never made, even after the bombs had been dropped. This is because the Allies accepted Japanese surrender with the condition that “Hirohito...remain on his ancestral throne as nominal emperor” (Kennedy, 599), making the demands for unconditional surrender pointless. The Allies could easily have compromised on the demands before the bombs were dropped, allowing countless lives to be spared. There is also controversy that the dropping of the bombs was not just to end the war. It is argued that some of the motivation for America to drop the bomb on Japan was to intimidate the Soviet Union; that “the atomic bomb could be read as a strong message for the Soviets to tread lightly” and that these bombings “may have been the first shots of the Cold War” (ushistory.org). This being the case would make the bombings worse, as taking the lives of so many harmless individuals should not have occurred just to make a

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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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On August 6, 1945, the U.S. made history with a fatal blow to the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki that ended WWII. To this day there is a controversy on whether the dropping of the atomic bomb, ordered by President Harry S. Truman, was justified or not, but in fact, it was. Thousands of Japanese would perish, but this act would, in turn, saved American lives and end the war. Throughout various battles, the Japanese consistently crossed lines of ethics of warfare, and in an attempt to bring justice and an end to the war Truman put forth a plan to bomb Japan. President Truman warned Japan of the upcoming attack and gave demands, but in the end, the Japanese denied those negotiations which led to the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

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The Japanese military was weak and did not have a good chance of winning the war, but that did not stop them from surrendering. “After the Hiroshima attack, a faction of Japan’s supreme war council favored acceptance of the Potsdam Declaration, but the majority resisted unconditional surrender” (Japan Surrenders). The Japanese wanted to fight until death. The U.S. dropped bombs in Tokyo killing thousands of people and almost destroying the whole city. The U.S. was surprised they did not give up.

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“The Japanese military command rejected the request for unconditional surrender, but there were indications that a conditional surrender was possible” (The Decision to Drop the Bomb). One of the reasons why Truman was leaning towards releasing the bomb was because he wanted the war to come to a speedy end. “…the invasion of Japan could have resulted in the death of twice as many Americans as had already been killed in the European, North African and Pacific theaters”(Forbes. Miller, Henry). Truman wanted the war to come a speedy end not just because of how long it had been going on for but because of how many American lives had been taken.

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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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During the final stage of the world war II, in August 6,1945 the united states dropped automatic bombs on the Japanese cities Hiroshima and Nagasaki. The war in Europe concluded when Nazi Germany signed the instrument of surrender, the Japanese facing this same fate refused to sign and accept the allies demand for the unconditional surrender and the pacific war continued between the United kingdom and china. The U.S warned the Japanese armed forces for unconditional surrender and the Japanese response for this ultimatum was to ignore it. On August 6 an American B-29 bomber dropped an automatic bomb ‘’little boy’’ in Hiroshima, this explosion wiped out 90 percent of the city, killing 80,000 people, after ten hours of the explosion , president

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Although an ultimatum was indeed given to Japan at Potsdam, they were not informed of the weapon of mass destruction the United States possessed. It will never be known for sure, but the knowledge that America had an atomic bomb might have caused the Japanese to surrender once and for all. Even if they did not surrender, the Japanese authorities would have at least had a chance to evacuate their citizens from the cities that were the intended targets. Instead, Truman kept the atomic bomb a secret, so that he could try it out. Also, the bomb could have been dropped in a much less populated city, in an effort to save lives.

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Imagine waking up to pure chaos, including some of the deadliest and most destructive weapons ever produced by mankind, and in the blink of an eye the once city you were so familiar with becomes a flattened wasteland scattered with mutilated bodies. The loud bang of the explosion soon turned into an unsettling silence with short, blood-curling, agonizing screams. This is the reality for citizens of two Japanese cities, Hiroshima and Nagasaki. I don’t agree with Harry Truman’s decision to drop the bomb, and I think it was unethical. In my opinion, I don’t think it was necessary because the Japanese were already about to quit.

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In fact, many authority figures during this time thought it best to keep the emperor in authority. Offering the Japanese a surrender in which they don't need to lose their emperor is the most ideal and would make surrender more likely. The main reason that the soldiers continue to fight is to show their loyalty and dedication to the emperor. With this idea that impacts the chances of Japanese surrender immensely, the need for the atomic bomb is just about zero. Even yet, if the Japanese were still hesitant to surrender, dropping the bomb with no notice isn't reasonable.

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