Even though dropping the atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki killed thousands of Japanese citizens in a matter of seconds, it was still justified. On December 7, 1941, Japan bombed Pearl Harbor, a naval base on one of the Hawaiian Islands, thus plunging the US into the biggest war the world had ever seen. President Harry S. Truman decided to use the atomic bombs to save American lives by not invading Japan. American soldiers were able to return to their wives and children since they did not have to fight in the war any longer. The war ended just six days after the bombs were dropped. This shows as terrible as the destruction was, the bombs were indeed the best way to bring the war to an end. The bombings may have killed thousands of people, but they also saved thousands of lives. An American G.I. was prepared to invade Japan but then heard of the atomic bomb being dropped on Hiroshima and said, “It was a sunburst of deliverance” (Document 5). He felt the bombing was going to deliver him back to his home instead of being away from his family for a much longer period of time. Japanese citizens would have also been killed if the US …show more content…
The Nippon Times argued, “This is a crime against God and humanity which strikes at the very basis of moral existence” (Document 4). In addition, One Japanese man described Hiroshima as “No longer a city but a burned-over prairie” (Document 6). These quotes reveal how many in Japan viewed the bombings. It is not hard to see why those from Japan saw the bombings in this way. But one must remember it was Japan that drew the US into the war by bombing Pearl Harbor. Japan also could have surrendered an avoided such strikes. In the end, Japan cannot say it did not have a hand in its cities own
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
WAS IT THE RIGHT CALL? The bombing of Japan against the united states was one of the world's worst historical attacks in history. The united states had dropped two nuclear bombs with the consent of Harry Truman who was the 33rd president of United states. On August 6, 1945, during World War II.
Dropping these bombs on two innocent cities with thousands and thousands innocent people in it who got killed in two seconds? That is not acceptable. There was a war and civilians were dying every day and a lot of soldiers would die if the Americans have had invaded Japan but killing so many people in two seconds and injuring/damaging so many others is just wrong. (pg.
Consequently, over 130,000 Japanese people were killed when the first bomb dropped. On the other hand, this number is insignificant to the amount of Americans the Japanese killed throughout the war and Pearl Harbor. Last, the Japanese citizens were committing suicide. Due to the Japanese honor code when the Americans took over islands or places with Japanese citizens often the citizens would commit suicide by jumping off of cliffs. They did this because they thought it was a better solution then giving into the Americans.
“The dead from that one night’s bombing numbered 80,000 to 100,000- more than later died at Nagasaki and more than half the number who died in Hiroshima (The Atlantic Monthly July 2002: 22.).”It also turned everything to rubble as 7 to 15 square miles of Hiroshima was burnt. But the U.S had only tested the atomic bomb once and they were unknowing of the long term effects. In which they saw it as killing two birds with one stone. Which was ending the PTO war with the Japanese surrender and also putting the newly made atomic bomb to use. Though the U.S might have stopped the war, the bomb caused many casualties and destroyed a part of the Japanese cities.
On the clear mornings of August 6 and 9, 1945, the first atomic bombs were dropped on the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagaski. Gigantic clouds of ominous dark smoke stained the sky, signaling the end of a seemingly incessant war. Americans and Europeans rejoiced throughout the world; many lives were spared from the brutality of continuing the war. Although this was an extremely hard decision to make and the results were devastating, the atomic bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki was a military necessity. To begin, America had already seen how ruthless and cruel the Japanese could be.
Japan had launched an attack on Pearl Harbor that killed about 2,000 American citizens on December 7, 1941. Additionally, the attack had disabled the U.S. Pacific Fleet, which had a non-combatant status at the time. This proved, that Japan not only posed a great threat to the U.S. but also the rest of the Allies. With the attack being both brutal and unexpected, the only reasonable thing to do was to eliminate the possible threat of more casualties. Some may argue that the dropping of the bomb was both unjustified and inhuman, as it killed many innocent Japanese civilians.
According to secondworldwarhistory.com, “The United States casualty count was 416,800 in military casualties and 1,700 in civilian casualties, while Japan’s casualties counted were 2,120,000 in military and 580,00 in civilian during World War 2”. This statistic means that over the course of the time Japan was in the war from “1937-1945” [USHMM.com] less than 10%, equivalent to about 270,000 people, were killed by the bomb. If it were not for the bomb, the war would have been prolonged killing. If you average the statistics provided above, about 267,000 casualties per year accrued on only the Japanese side.
This can be answered by saying that Pearl Harbor was an American military base. So was Hiroshima. The Japanese disregarded the lives of civilians. Also, we had more reasons as to using the bomb. Another justification for the use of the atomic bomb was that it brought a quick end to the war.
As one is in combat in WWII, everything becomes frightening and one relies on their country to make a good decision for the people in service. Fighting for a cause is on one’s mind, but also survival. By the end of WWII, Japan was nearly defeated by the Allies and the Nazi’s still had Jews imprisoned in concentration camps. The United States was determined to stop Japan from expanding and along their fight, the United States the terrifying circumstances that the Jews were experiencing. The actions made in WWII by the United States were positive based on their preparation for war, the atomic bomb, and the defeat of the Nazi’s in Europe.
congress was clear that the Japanese would battle until the very end and chose to utilize atomic bombs to persuade the Japanese to surrender (“The Bombing”). A decision was made to drop a massive bomb that was only tested. President Truman’s decision to authorize the atomic bomb ‘Little Boy’ at Hiroshima. He had had a strong belief that dropping an atomic bomb seemed to be the only way to decrease the number in lives that were being lost in the U.S. Truman defended the nuclear bombings, guaranteeing that shortening the war, possibly sparing a large number of American lives, and vengeance were the fundamental reasons he permitted the bombs to be dropped. (“The Bombing”).
There have been arguments about how Japan couldn 't even deal that much damage to us at that point in the war that make bombing them seem like a wanted thing. All the innocent people that survived the event have lived to tell us their stories.
An estimated 40,000 were instantly killed, and 80,000 people were killed in total. On those days, many lives were lost, but the United States was fully justified in dropping these atomic bombs over Hiroshima and Nagasaki. President Harry Truman’s decision to drop these bombs was justified because the Japanese surrendered, the bomb saved both Japanese and American lives, and the dropping of these bombs were necessary to shorten the war.
During the second World War (1939-1945) two atomic bombs were dropped on the cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki in Japan, it is debatable whether or not these bombs were the appropriate response. I believe that this was the appropriate response because of the horrible crimes the Japanese committed against Americans as well as innocent people during the Rape of Nanking, the bombing of Pearl Harbor, and the Bataan Death march, also, the two bombs were the final factors in ending the war, as well as the atomic bombs were the first bomb of their kind, this put the Americans in a position of undeniable power. Without these bombs, the war would’ve only progressed and left behind more casualties and destruction. The Japanese committed horrible crimes against innocent
Gloria Lopez Mr. Davisson A.P. United States History 30 August 2015 The Hiroshima and Nagasaki Bombing World War II had taken place in Europe and in the Pacific for two years during these two years the United States had managed to remain neutral. It was not until December 8, 1941 that the United States decided to join the Allies in World War II with a simple purpose, to seek revenge for the surprise attack on Pearl Harbor. On August 1945, Japan fell on its knees and was forced to surrender by the United States’ vengeful, secret weapon, the atomic bomb.