Was The Use Of The Atomic Bomb Justified Essay

On August 6th and 9th of 1945 the United States dropped Atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. This remains the only time nuclear weapons have been used in warfare in history. Dropping the Atomic bombs on Japan was not justified because the bomb started a nuclear arms race, it was excessive, and and could have unseen repercussions beside radiation.

When the pilot of the Enola Gay pushed the button to drop the Atomic bomb on Hiroshima, he did something that could never be undone. He demonstrated the type of military power the United States held. When the rest of the world saw the destruction at Hiroshima, it knew it must create its own Atomic weapons. This lead to the biggest arms race in history, which is also known as the Cold War. The Soviet Union saw how much damage the weapon could do, it decided it needed as many Atomic weapons as possible. This prompted the United States to try and one up the USSR. As a result of this, there are now enough Atomic weapons in these two countries alone that could bring the world into an apoplectic state if ever used.

Another reason the use of Atomic bombs was not justified is that they just were not necessary. Japan was surrounded by enemies and already close to surrendering.

In Germany, Hitler was able to gain such widespread support because of the collapse of the country. This was caused by the reparations from World War One. The people of Germany wanted a way to gain their pride back and Hitler offered that. The Atomic bombs were a lot worse than the reparations. It would have been easy for someone to gain the support for a revenge attack for Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Japan is not a country that surrenders easily, and by dropping the Atomic bombs the United States rubbed ‘salt’ in an injury that was already painful. This insult to injury still causes tension and resentment between the United States and Japan