...Why America Dropped the Bomb Ronald Takaki Back Bay Books September 1, 1996 Joseph Marty Professor J. Cosco U.S. History Since 1865 November 27, 2011 Throughout the recent years of history, there has been an intense debate justifying the use of the atomic bomb in Hiroshima as well as Nagasaki a few days after, but many others argue that it was unjust to use such a weapon of massive catastrophe on an almost defeated nation at the time during the end of World War II: Japan. Ronald Takaki, author of the book Hiroshima: Why America Dropped the Bomb was an avid writer in the terms of Asian-America equality and morals based on his own experiences. In this book, he gave many thorough details explaining plausible reasons as to why Truman decided to launch the devastating attack on an already weak Japan. Takaki has used many sources including military reports, personal letters, and self recordings to further expand on this debate based approximately on facts more than moral opinions. When America had already won the war in Europe, there was still one more target left deemed as a threat to society according to the government. That target was Japan. The commander of the Pacific forces at the time was General Douglas Macarthur and he was never consulted about the use of the atomic bomb. Macarthur was only notified two days before the official use of the atomic bomb. The general was very depressed to hear about the use of the bomb because he knew thousands...
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...the Manhattan project and how did it evolve? How was the decision made to drop the bomb on Hiroshima and Nagasaki and how did the bombing end the war? (be specific and complete) Essay – The Manhattan project was central to the United States efforts in constructing a nuclear bomb during the Second World War. Motivated by the fear of an enemy attack from the Nazi’s, the United States was able to develop the world’s most devastating bombs, which would end up killing more than 200,000 Japanese citizens in Hiroshima and Nagasaki. In this way, the Manhattan project essentially grew out of America’s efforts to defend themselves against a potential Nazi attack. Hungarian scientist Leo Szilard, after escaping to America, realized that if the Nazis acquired the works recently conducted on nuclear fission, they might be able to construct a nuclear bomb and dominate the world with its destruction. He then convinced Albert Einstein of the impending Nazi threat and Einstein took the initiative to alert the United States by writing a letter to President Franklin D. Roosevelt. In the letter sent in August 1939, right before the start of the war, Einstein advised that the United States be wary of the threat of nuclear weaponry in the hands of the enemy and that they should begin a weapons building program of their own. A very small committee was established to look into the science and development of a bomb, funded by a mere $6,000. President Franklin D. Roosevelt authorized ten million...
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...Involvement of United States in World War II: Technology Technology always has a great importance in any war. In World War I, Americans introduced tanks and it helped allied power to turn the table and defeat the axis power. By the time of World War II, the world had moved on to heavy artilleries, rockets and missiles from the British rifles and inaccurate machine guns. American military technologies were much developed by the time of World War II. In World War I, soldiers had to face great problem regarding the mobility. So the main focus regarding technology World War II was transportation and technical advancement with high lethality and speed. The technologies produced ranged in complexity from relatively simple small guns and armed vehicles...
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...The significance of the bombs was that they eventually compelled Japanese emperor Hirohito to order his government to surrender in World War II. The weapons had been developed by the Manhattan Project from 1942-45, led by lead scientist Oppenheimer with the critical developments by other scientists like Fermi. After they were successfully tested in May 1945, a number of bombs were produced and shipped to the Pacific theater later in the summer. The decisions to authorize them for military use was made personally by President Harry Truman in late July 1945. Once he authorized their use, working out of all other details passed to the War Department and the military commanders in the Pacific theater. Hiroshima and Nagasaki were bombed on August sixth and ninth because they remained on the list of military targets approved by the War...
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...World war II in Europe had ended. The Japanese had demonstrated extreme dedication to the emperor and his cause, fighting with fierce, fanatical resistance on the Pacific Islands. Demonstrated in Saipan when the Japanese lost over 27,000 soldiers and upon defeat the remaining soldiers had committed suicide by leaping off the cliffs instead of surrendering, also by the willingness of pilots to commit suicide in the kamikaze attacks on allied forces. In addition, upon invading China, the Japanese had gassed and shown barbaric treatment of the Chinese and prisoners of war. Moreover, the Americans had suffered heavy losses during their invasion of the Pacific island, Okinawa, with the bloodiest battle of World War II which they were reluctant to repeat, although they had plans to invade the Japanese Islands in November 1945. James Byrnes, as the United States Secretary of State had convinced military and political personnel that the bomb...
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...The use of the atomic bomb in World War II to this day is greatly disputed to this day along the theological, moral and political implications on the United States as a country. As I researched this topic trying to formulate a decisive opinion I could not help but be in conflict with myself. On the one hand American lives were being lost in the Pacific theater on a large scale and would surely continue to be lost at the hands of the determined Japanese as long as the conflict continued. On the other hand the number of civilian lives and sheer destruction that was inflicted upon the innocent civilian population of Japan is very difficult to come terms with. Where is the line in the sand? Does the end result of victory and national security justify...
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...The United States becomes the first and only nation to use atomic weaponry during wartime when it drops an atomic bomb on the Japanese city of Hiroshima. Though the dropping of the atomic bomb on Japan marked the end of World War II, many historians argue that it also ignited the Cold War. Since 1940, the United States had been working on developing an atomic weapon, after having been warned by Albert Einstein that Nazi Germany was already conducting research into nuclear weapons. By the time the United States conducted the first successful test (an atomic bomb was exploded in the desert in New Mexico in July 1945), Germany had already been defeated. The war against Japan in the Pacific, however, continued to rage. President Harry S. Truman, warned by some of his advisers that any attempt to invade Japan would result in horrific American casualties, ordered that the new weapon be used to bring the war to a speedy end. On August 6, 1945, the American bomber Enola Gay dropped a five-ton bomb over the Japanese city of Hiroshima. A blast equivalent to the power of 15,000 tons of TNT reduced four square miles of the city to ruins and immediately killed 80,000 people. Tens of thousands more died in the following weeks from wounds and radiation poisoning. Three days later, another bomb was dropped on the city of Nagasaki, killing nearly 40,000 more people. A few days later, Japan announced its surrender. In the years since the two atomic bombs were dropped on Japan, a number of historians...
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...World War II entered its sixth year in 1945, with the official end of the European War on May 8. Though the European part of World War II was over, The Pacific War was not. The Allied forces, led by the United States of America and backed by the United Kingdom and Canada, were working on the Development of Substitute Materials in attempt to create the world’s first atomic bombs. The bombs were planned to be used against the Axis powers, specifically the Japanese after their refusal to surrender unconditionally to the Allies in 1945. The Development of Substitute Materials, more widely known as its later codename the Manhattan Project, was created in 1942 and was in effect until 1946- after the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki in August of 1945. The bombings of Hiroshima and...
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...Professor Kalra Academic Writing 101 19th September 2015. Was United Nations justified in dropping atomic bombs on Japan? World War II also known as The Second World War was a global war that was fought from 1939 to 1945 in Europe and Asia. The Second World War was debatably the most consequential period of the 20th century. World War II led to vital advancements in technology and set the base for post war social changes, that includes the end of colonialism by the Europeans, the civil rights movement in the United States., and the American Women’s Rights Movement in 1950s, in addition to the initiatives for research and exploration of outer space. The prime fighters were the Allied Nations that included Britain (leading combatant) and its Commonwealth nations, USSR (Union of Soviet Socialist Republics and America. The other combatants were the Axis nations that consisted of Fascist Italy, Nazi Germany, Imperial Japan and their allies. The war was won by the Allied forces. One significant consequence of the Second World War was the Cold War between the two superpowers of the world, that is, United States of America and the Soviet Union (USSR). Japan is an island country located in East Asia in the Pacific Ocean. Japan is a leading country when it comes to technological establishments but lacks natural resources, particularly in iron and oil. After the World War I the fascist governments increased their expenditure on military supplies and training. This disclosed Germany...
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...History of the A-Bomb In early August 1945 atomic bombs were dropped on the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. These two bombs quickly yielded the surrender of Japan and the end of American involvement in World War II. By 1946 the two bombs caused the death of perhaps as many as 240,000 Japanese citizens1. The popular, or traditional, view that dominated the 1950s and 60s – put forth by President Harry Truman and Secretary of War Henry Stimson – was that the dropping of the bomb was a diplomatic maneuver aimed at intimating and gaining the upper hand in relations with Russia. Today, fifty-four years after the two bombings, with the advantage of historical hindsight and the advantage of new evidence, a third view, free of obscuring bias and passion, can be presented. First, the dropping of the bomb was born out of complex infinite military, domestic and diplomatic pressures and concerns. Second, many potentially viable alternatives to dropping the bombs were not explored by Truman and other men in power, as they probably should have been. Lastly, because these alternatives were never explored, we can only conjecture over whether or not Truman’s decision was a morally just one, and if indeed it was necessary to use atomic energy to win the war. The war in Asia had its roots in the early 1930s. Japan had expansionist aims in Eastern Asia and the Western Pacific, especially in Indochina2. In July of 1940 the United States placed an embargo on materials exported to...
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...eventually built up to the invasion of Manchuria. The events in Manchuria and the ever-constant presence of the Japanese in China, lead to tensions between the two powers. The tension eventually grew into a full-scale war, the Second Sino-Japanese War. Japan kept conquering other nations in the Pacific after Hitler had committed suicide and...
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...Associate Program Material Appendix C World War II and the Atom Bomb Complete the charts in Parts 1 and 2 by providing the requested information. An example is provided in Part 1. Answer the questions in Part 3. Part 1: Western Front | | | | | | |Campaign |Dates |Allied objective |Major turning point |Outcome | |EXAMPLE: |October 1942 to May |Attack Germans from the southern side; |Battle at El Alamein: German forces driven|The American offensive finally drove the Germans from | | |1943 |expose the vulnerability of the Nazi |out of Egypt |Africa, allowing the Allies to move toward Italy | |North Africa | |empire | | | | |1943-1944 |Allies wanted defeat the German occupancy |Battle at Monte Cassion: Allies broke |The Germans and Italians were defeated on the Italian | |Italy | |of Italy...
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...During World War II in August 6, 1945 America dropped worlds first atomic bomb on Hiroshima in Japan. This atomic bomb was given a nickname "Little Boy". On August 9, 1945 three days after the first bomb was dropped United States dropped the second bomb on the Nagasaki. This bomb was given a nickname "Fat Man". Together these two bombs killed over 90,000 people immediately and it demolished the cities. The decision by President Harry S. Truman and his advisors to drop the atomic bomb on the cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki during World War II was a military necessity. The first reason the bombing of Japan was military necessity because four years ago Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor. According to document A bombing of pearl harbor killed 2,400 American .So Americans hated the Japanese, they wanted revenge from Japan. According to document B, on the poster it was written that " stay on the job until every MURDERING JAP is wiped out!". Americans were angry at Japan. They were encouraging other Americans by posting posters to take strong action against Japan. Also, Japanese Kamikaze attacked on United States ships in the Pacific Theater, these were the suicidal attacks on ships....
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...After further review of the script for the upcoming World War II 70th anniversary atomic bomb exhibit, I have come across a few glaring flaws. One concluding point references that the decision to use the atomic bombs was one to “purely to end the war.” In addition, it claims that the targets of Hiroshima and Nagasaki were “two vital military targets”. To cap it off you prevent potential museum goers from attempting to counter these statements by asserting that the arguments are “little more than ideological theories” that can’t be supported by reason or hard evidence. I’m afraid this is simply not true. The decision to use the atomic bombs was much more complex than the simple reasoning of quickly ending the war. Hiroshima and Nagasaki themselves were also not truly vital military targets. In order to avoid having the display become overly simplified, I have outlined some necessary revisions. The decision by former President Harry S. Truman to use the atomic bombs on Japan went far beyond the simple rational of producing a speedy end to the war. Yes, Truman desired a rapid end to the Pacific theater....
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...In his essay, Fussell discusses the necessity of the atom bomb during World War II. Many claim that using the bomb on Japanese civilians was cruel and inhumane while others believe that utilizing such an explosive was the most successful way to prompt the enemy’s surrender. Fussell addresses the debate over the effectiveness of the atom bomb in his piece. Fussell makes several claims as to why the atom bomb was essential in making the Japanese surrender and bringing about peace among the two nations. He supports these claims with several facts about the war throughout his essay and uses quotes from numerous individuals to strengthen his argument. For example, John Kenneth Galbraith argued that the atomic bombs were “unecessary and unjustified” (18) because they only ended the war about “two or three weaks early.” (18) However, Fussell states that bombing Japan aided in saving a multitude of American soldiers would have otherwise died on the...
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