...Monday, August 6, 1945, at 8:15 AM, the nuclear bomb 'Little Boy' was dropped on Hiroshima by an American B-29 bomber. The decision to do so has become one of the most controversial topics in scholarly debate. The two major arguments among historians, such as Herbert Feis, Barton Bernstein and Martin Sherwin, are that on the one hand, the atomic bomb was dropped to end the war with Japan and on the other, that the bomb was dropped by the Truman administration to make the Soviet Union more manageable. I am in more agreement with the latter and this essay will argue that the decision to drop the atomic bomb was an American attempt to inhibit Soviet diplomatic ambitions rather than an attempt to bring the war to a quick end. The American decision to drop the atomic bomb on Japan was without doubt influenced by the desire to end the war since that is what it accomplished. Truman assured after the bombs had been dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki that “the dropping of the bombs stopped the war and saved millions of lives.”[1] The dropping of the atomic bombs prevented an American invasion on Japan, the approximate cost for this exceeded $500,000 and more than a million lives would have been lost. Herbert Feis argued that many in the Truman administration believed that a land invasion of Japan would not have been sufficient enough to cause Japan to surrender quickly and unconditionally and thus Truman’s decision to use the atomic bomb was a quick solution to ending the war with Japan...
Words: 853 - Pages: 4
...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...
Words: 3510 - Pages: 15
...as I can see, the atomic bomb has deadened the finest feeling that has sustained mankind for ages. I regard the employment of the atom bomb for the wholesale destruction of men, women and children as the most diabolical use of science.”-Mahatma Gandhi, an Indian anti-war activist; giving his opinion about the United States’s atomic bombs drop on Hiroshima, Japan. The outcomes of World War I had repleted many countries with fears, therefore they tried to avoid wars with each other. However, World War II started and it lasted from 1939-1945. The global war involved two military alliances, which are the Allies and the Axis. The Allies alliances included the Soviet Union, United States, England, and Republic of China. While the Axis alliances...
Words: 1382 - Pages: 6
...destructive nature of the atomic bomb: We have discovered the most terrible bomb in the history of the world. It may be the fire of destruction prophesied in the Euphrates Valley era, after Noah and his fabulous ark. Yet, despite his characterization of the bomb as the fire that would destroy the world, Truman goes on to state: This weapon is to be used against Japan between now and August 10 It seems to be the most terrible thing ever discovered, but it can be made the most useful. How could a Christian man justify using what seemed to be the very power of God against enemy cities with the intent to kill over 100,000 innocent civilians with the power from one atomic bomb (Goldfield, D., Abbot, C., Anderson, V., Argersinger, J., Argersinger,P, Barney, W, Weir, R. ,2010)?” “Truman’s argument for the use of atomic weapons against Japan focused on the fact that the targets were strictly military and no innocent civilians would be harmed: I have told the secretary of war, Mr. Stimson, to use it so that military objectives and soldiers are the target and not women and children. Truman further argues that the U.S., on account of its reputation as a leader of the civilized world, would never bomb a civilian city: Even if the Japs are savages, ruthless, merciless and fanatic, we as the leader of the world for the common welfare cannot drop this terrible bomb on the old capital or the new. Moreover, Truman stated that the U.S. had no moral reprehensibility for using atomic weapons against Japan...
Words: 1317 - Pages: 6
...are to take a side and then write an editorial on Harry S Truman’s decision to order the dropping of the atom bomb. HARRY S TRUMAN & THE DECISION TO ORDER THE DROPPING OF THE ATOMIC BOMB Boom! Boom! Seventy thousands Japanese citizens were perished instantly after the first atomic bomb was dropped in Hiroshima on August 6, 1945. Japanese still refused to surrender to Allied forces. On August 9, 1945, with the dropping of the second atomic bomb in Nagasaki, where eighty thousands people were vaporized, Japanese surrendered unconditionally and the World War II ended (“The Decision to Drop the Bomb” 5-6). But was it a right decision of Harry S Truman to end the war with two atomic bombs? Becoming the president of the United States on April 12, 1945 upon the death of Franklin D. Roosevelt, Harry S Truman faced with a decision of unprecedented gravity in his life: dropping the atomic bombs in Japan to end the World War II. It was just a matter of opinion whether his decision was right or wrong. But at the time the bombs were dropped, most Americans as wells as Allied forces accepted President Truman’s decision and agreed that the atomic bombs were necessary to end the war quickly before the disastrous invasion of the Japanese mainland could occur. But after that, many people started questioning about President Truman’s decision to order the dropping of the atomic bombs. They believed that dropping two atomic bombs to destroy two cities of Japan helped America generally and...
Words: 663 - Pages: 3
...Modern History Conflict in the Pacific 1937-1941 Due: Thursday 28th of August, 2008 Alyce Wearne Task: Evaluate the argument that America was justified in using atomic weapons against Japan in 1945. As one of the most significant and consequential decisions in the history of the world, President Harry Truman’s allowance of atomic weapons towards the end of World War II, of which he himself understood would cause both mass devastation and indignation, is still one of the most controversial and heavily debated topics in today’s society. This was partially due to the adverse underestimation and seemingly ignorant approach the American’s had towards their latest development of mass destruction; almost oblivious to the immense aftermath of physical injury, civilian death and emotional torment it would produce for those involved. This decision, ultimately made by one man, affected not only America and Japan, but the world. Dispute over this was, and continues to be highly generated, the event causing anger and infuriation to millions across the world. This resentment did not just accumulate from the lack of awareness and slaughter of innocent life, but from the graphic images shown in newspapers, the casualties, and the torturous amount of death underwent as a result of the bomb. As a Japanese survivor documented: “The appearance of people was . . . well, they all had skin blackened by burns. . . . They had no hair because their hair was burned, and at a glance you...
Words: 5990 - Pages: 24
...Dropping of the Atomic Bomb When it comes down to President Harry Truman dropping the atomic bomb on Japan, it seems everyone has their own personal view or opinion on rather or not he made the right decision. I’m trying to imagine myself in Truman’s time period and the position that he had to take, and I wonder. What would I have done if I was in his shoes? What would I have done differently? Was President Harry Truman’s decision completely unnecessary? Oddly I would have to say I agree with his decision, and I will explain why. First, let me explain to you what led us to the most drastic decision in history. Responding to the drop in Pearl Harbor. “When you have to deal with a beast you have to treat him as a beast (Understanding the drop of atomic bomb, pg. 1). The US had been fighting a long and massive war since 1941. Four years to be exact, is a long time for any fight. Especially when there’s no sign of either of them giving up. This began to put pressure on both leaders from the American casualties and the Japanese attitudes to end the war quickly as possible. Although Germany had finally giving up and surrendered, the Japanese had not. They were going to fight until they couldn’t fight no more, and that’s what they did. The winning of this war was so crucial and meant so much to them. They were willing to kill themselves in explosive air planes in order to kill them. This is how serious this war was to them. Truman later had American air strikes leave millions of...
Words: 1219 - Pages: 5
...History 1302.03 3/10/17 President Truman’s Moral Dilemma President Truman’s Decision of dropping the Atomic Bomb brought much controversy to the U.S and other countries that were involved in the war, controversy which can be argued to be both good and bad. The U.S was the very first country to develop an atomic bomb, and their focus was to use it and show the world they had it. This action saved and took many lives around the entire world. The question on whether such a powerful attack was necessary to end the war has often been asked. Harry S. Truman became president after Theodore Roosevelt had died of a brain hemorrhage in April 1945. Roosevelt sadly passed away while World War II was still going on. The death...
Words: 1018 - Pages: 5
...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....
Words: 651 - Pages: 3
...Hiroshima: 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...
Words: 1470 - Pages: 6
...racism as a reason that the United States dropped bombs on both Hiroshima and Nagasaki. In a world where America already had a reputation of being racially elite via slavery, through the slaughter of the Chinese in the 1800’s, through the terrorization and segregation of the Native Americans, to ignoring what Hitler was doing to the Jewish people and in the total blind movement of rounding up Japanese Americans and placing them in internment camps, it seems to fit that theory that we dropped the bomb simply because we didn’t like the Japanese people and we wanted to eradicate anyone who was not an American (The Decision to Drop the Bomb). In reality, America, specifically Truman, had no choice but to use extreme measures in order to end the war. A significant factor in prompting Truman to make this decision was that Germany was working on a project very similar to America’s Manhattan Project. (Manhattan Project) and we could not let Germany take this weapon into their hands without inflicting further serious damage. Another large deciding factor was that Truman felt it was a very clear decision based on the facts that Americans and their soldiers were worn out from this war, as well as the fact that the President felt we needed to avoid losing close to 500,000 American lives had we decided to invade Japan. (Beschloss, M. R. 1995) Even though there are many debates in today’s world about whether Truman should have dropped the atomic bomb or if the reason he gave was in fact legitimate...
Words: 924 - Pages: 4
...The Atomic Bomb: A Necessity or a Desire Tanmay Bhanushali Year 10 Historical Paper “Great power imposes the obligation of exercising restraint” Leo Szilard - Hungarian-born Physicist and main scientist to oppose the atomic Bombings This was spoken in an interview titled “President Truman did not Understand”. This was between a US news reporter and Leo Szilard the key figure among the scientists opposing the use of the bomb. The interview was in August 15, 1960. Why was their so fierce Opposition? In what Way did Truman Not Understand? These answers lie in the depths of the controversy about the Atomic Bomb. Introduction The atomic bomb was a topic of major controversy but the main debate was about the necessity of the atomic bomb. Many say that the atomic bomb was dropped because it would save millions of American lives. However at that period the Japanese were also at the point of surrendering. Huge amounts of incendiary bombs were used in large-scale cities against japan. Many of the scientists in the Manhattan Project were disturbed about it. The incendiary bombs reduced much morale from the Japanese army and crippled the will power. However this small cripple made Japan even angrier because these incendiary bombs were used on innocent civilians and not the Japanese army. Many think that it was necessary to use the Atomic Bombs because Japan attacked America first and not the other way around. It is a fact that when Hitler attacked...
Words: 2649 - Pages: 11
...Atomic Bomb Millions of people already dead and thousands more every day. The citizens beg for the conflict to stop but there is no end in sight. A single option seems to be able to end this conflict for good. In World War 2 the United States dropped the Atomic bomb on Japan in order to make them surrender and end the war. The dropping of the atomic bomb was justified in World War 2 because of Japan’s refusal to surrender, it saved U.S. lives and it demonstrated U.S. power. World War 2 was a dark time for all countries involved and especially the United States. Following the war in Europe ending with the death of Adolf Hitler, the war in the Pacific raged on. The United States were fighting with Japan to avenge the bombing of Pearl Harbor which started World War 2. Pearl Harbor was a surprise bombing of a United States naval base by Japan. It killed thousands of people and destroyed large amounts of naval equipment. As the United States fought Germany in Europe, the conflict with Japan was on the backburner. Now with the war in Europe over, Japan is the main enemy. Japan’s military strategy was known to be very unorthodox. With suicide pilots attacking U.S. ships and their relentless mindset made it a daunting task for the U.S. to overcome. In the mainland the U.S. was holding Japanese Americans in internment camps to isolate them from the rest of society in fear they may be giving information to the Japanese. The United States did not see an invasion of Japan as a viable...
Words: 2409 - Pages: 10
...The claim that I will make in my this rebuttal is that if the dropping of the atomic bomb was a good or bad thing to do after the bombing of Pearl Harbor. My reasons of making this claim is that a whole lot more people died in the atomic bomb, 2,335 soldiers and staff approximately died in Pearl Harbor which is a lot of lives, even one life could mean a lot, but in Japan the number of deaths of 90,000–146,000 people in Hiroshima and 39,000-80,000 in Nagasaki which is nothing compared to Pearl Harbor, this is really a big difference. The biases of my opponent which in this case is U.S. ex-president, Truman who gave the order to drop the Atomic Bomb on Japan, I understand it was for the safety of the country and to show the rest of the world that you don’t mess with the U.S. He did that to try to avoid similar things to...
Words: 466 - Pages: 2
...airplane dropped one bomb on Hiroshima and destroyed its usefulness to the enemy. That bomb had more power than 20,000 tons of TNT. It had more than two thousand times the blast power of the British "Grand Slam" which is the largest bomb ever yet used in the history of warfare.” This was vocalized by President Harry Truman in his famous speech where he declared the bombing on mainland Japan and, educated the American people of the capabilities their military had. Developed by a group of American scientists, atomic bombs were dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki on August 6th and 10th 1945 respectively. These are the only two times that these bombs have ever been used to inflict damage on other countries but, physicists estimate that both bombs only used about 1/10th of 1% of their total capacity. From a moral standpoint, dropping the atomic bomb was the right thing to do because it ended up preventing millions of people from being killed by military warfare. Politically, it was also the right thing to do because it strategically helped end the war and, reminded the rest of the world of the supremacy of the United States as a Hegemon and militaristic power. If put in the position of President Truman, after careful analysis, I would choose to only drop one atomic bomb on Hiroshima. First, with the Japanese unwillingness to surrender, the United States was ready to commence with a top-secret mission titled Operation Downfall. This alternative to the nuclear bomb was the only other option...
Words: 1977 - Pages: 8
