...of the Atomic Bombs in World War II On August 6th, 1945, the first atomic bomb intended to kill man was dropped on Hiroshima, Japan by the United States of America. Three days later, a second atomic bomb was dropped on Nagasaki, Japan, in hopes to force Japan to finally surrender. There is much controversy, even to this day, as to whether to deployment of the first atomic bombs were warranted and absolutely necessary. While the bombings did end the treacherous World War II, they ended up killing over 240,000 people. While Samuel J. Walker, a World War II historian, claims that “The fundamental issue that has divided scholars over a period of nearly four decades is whether the use of the bomb was necessary to achieve victory in the war in the Pacific on terms satisfactory to the United States”, the debate also boils down to other factors, such as the fact that it was part of the total warfare that began in WWII, it was more desirable than invasion, and it actually saved lives but hastily ending the war. Arguments against the bombing of Japan revolve around the inherent morality of the atomic bomb, especially considering Japan’s underdeveloped nuclear advancements and the actual necessity of the Atomic bombs. The two atomic bombs dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki Japan were absolutely necessary despite the immorality because of Japan’s refusal to surrender, the bombs ended up saving more lives than it spent, it was part of total warfare, and it was the most efficient way to force...
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...Necessary? Roberta Messman American Public University History 102 Marc Wenner Was the Bombing of Dresden and Hamburg Necessary? The United States joined World War II on the side of the Allies. It was yet another large destructive war in Europe, and the Allies needed assistance in defeating Germany quickly. The Soviet Union was successful in pushing Germany westward in this battle. As Germany got closer to other fronts, the Allies knew that something needed to be done to aid the Soviet Union in stopping them. The United States and Great Britain felt the air bombings on the German cities of Dresden and Hamburg were the way to cripple Germany. The fire bombs caused much damage to the cities and many lives were lost; however it did put an end to the war sooner and a victory for the Allies. (Ross, 2003) These cities of Dresden and Hamburg had most of Germany’s needed resources and materials needed for their military were made and produced. Some deemed these bombings to be unnecessary and immoral for killing many innocent people. However is also viewed as a necessary part of the war and some had to die to prevent even more deaths. Because of how many lives were lost due to these bombings it is hard to imagine, but it was an action of war that was crucial to take down Germany. The bombings were destructive but extremely successful by taking down these cities stopping them from producing need supplies for the war. The bombings did put the war to an end quickly. (Ross, 2003) Great Britain...
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...Nuclear Weapons: Then and Now Politics, especially on an international level, is a complex and messy subject. One simply has to open up a newspaper or tune into the evening news for evidence. While many problems can be resolved peacefully through negotiations, there are problems in international relations that manage to escalate quickly and result in a war between two or more countries. From revolutionary wars to World Wars, violence has always been part of international relations. However, with recent technological advancements, wars have taken an especially deadly turn. Advanced weaponry has allowed soldiers to become more “efficient” when fighting a battle allowing them to kill many more enemy combatants and innocent bystanders. The most devastating of these newly created weapons are nuclear weapons such as the atomic and hydrogen bombs. These weapons have the capacity to eliminate hundreds of thousands of people, obliterate cities, and possibly end life on earth, as we know it. The most destructive of these weapons was tested by the Soviets in 1961 during the Cold War. The hydrogen bomb that was being tested had a destructive power of approximately 60 megatons. The Soviets formally named the bomb Ivan, but nicknamed it the “King of Bombs.” Originally, Ivan was going to be constructed with a power of 100 megatons, but the Soviets decided it was too risky and dangerous. To put this in perspective, a single megaton can create temperatures that are five times as intense as the...
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...WAR is a human Nature War: is an organized and often prolonged conflict that is carried out by states or non-state actors. It is generally characterized by extreme violence, social disruption, and economic destruction. War should be understood as an actual, intentional and widespread armed conflict between political communities, and therefore is defined as a form of political violence or intervention. The set of techniques used by a group to carry out war is known as warfare. An absence of war is usually called peace. Etymology: The English word war derives from the late Old English (c.1050) words wyrre and werre; the Old North French werre; the Frankish werra; and the Proto-Germanic werso. The denotation of war derives from the Old Saxon werran, Old High German werran, and the German verwirren: “to confuse”, “to perplex”, and “to bring into confusion”.Another posited derivation is from the Ancient Greek barbaros, the Old Persian varhara, and the Sanskrit varvar and barbara. In German, the equivalent is Krieg; the equivalent Spanish, Portuguese, and Italian words for "war" is guerra, derived from the Germanic werra (“fight”, “tumult”).Etymologic legend has it that the Romanic peoples adopted a foreign, Germanic word for "war", to avoid using the Latin bellum, because, when sounded, it tended to merge with the...
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...World Civilization II Long Term Causes of the First World War The First World War was a major battle, a great war that the world had never seen before. It was a time in which lives were lost, economies devastated and politics turned upside down; but what were the causes? There wasn’t just one simple immediate cause of the war, but several long term causes. The roots of the war included mutual defence allies and imperialism, and it was these factors that led to a destructive and fierce war. Long before the war began; countries within the continent of Europe had decided to protect themselves and therefore, signed mutual defence agreements (Kelly). These agreements not only meant that they were protected, but also that they would have to protect their allies if they were attacked. Many of these alliance agreements had been made and signed between 1879 and 1914. For example in 1879, Germany and Austria-Hungary had signed a Dual Alliance to protect them from Russia and in 1881; Austria-Hungary became an ally of Serbia, so that they could protect Serbia from Russia trying to gain control (historyonthenet.com). Other alliances included France and Russia; Britain, France and Belgium, and finally Japan and Britain. In this case it was inevitable that there would be a world war and it all began with Austria-Hungary announcing a war on Serbia. Of course Russia jumped to protect them, which led to the Germans starting a war with Russia and then France and because Germany...
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...situation and were simply instructed to wear white clothing in case of another attack (Priddy). In addition, the Office of War Information ran off millions of leaflets calling Japan to give up or face nuclear attacks “again and again” until they ended the war at once (1945: Atom bomb hits Nagasaki). Current Japanese polls indicate that they disagree with the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, with only 14% saying it was...
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...Origins of the Cold War In the second half of 20th century, one conflict, the Cold War, stands unchallenged as the preeminent organizing principle for U.S. foreign policy. A central question in the historiography of the Cold War is simply, whose fault was it? During World War II, the United States and the Soviet Union were allies against the fascist Axis powers. In the waning years of that always uneasy alliance, greater signs of strain began to show, and soon a complete break would follow. Was this unavoidable? If not, who carries the greater blame for creating this division, which after all, repeatedly threatened nuclear holocaust and created the ideological justification for a series of horrendously destructive interventions into the so-called “Third World.” While there remains a great diversity of opinion regarding these questions, it has become commonplace in many academic discussions to refer to three broad “schools” of thought regarding the origins of the Cold War: “orthodox” explanations, “revisionism,” and “post-revisionism.” Of course, this categorization is not nearly as “neat and tidy” as one might be inclined to believe; it tends to mask the depth and diversity of the efforts of many historians. What follows will be a discussion of these three main perspectives, an evaluation of their arguments, and thoughts regarding the future of the field of Cold War historiography. For the first ten to twenty years after the end of World War II, the “orthodox” view...
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...dropped on Japan during World War II is still one of the most catastrophic events in history. This bomb obliterated the cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki and it is a major controversy of World War II. It remains a controversy because it questions the moral issue of killing innocent civilians to get the Japanese military to surrender the war. One British philosopher, AC Grayling, argues that the nuclear bombing of Japan was a moral crime because there is never a justifiable reason to attack civilians. The atomic bombing of Japan was unethical because it killed civilians, was a disproportionate attack for just conduct of war, and was a violation of human rights. It is immoral that United States targeted Japanese civilians with the atomic bomb to cripple the morale of the military. United States knew the bombs would kill hundreds of thousands of innocent civilians in Hiroshima and Nagasaki, but they still annihilated the cities to attain Japan’s unconditional surrender in World War II. It was disregard for the moral right and AC Grayling states, Deliberately bombing cities and towns to kill and terrorize civilians, not all of whom are engaged in manufacturing arms or aiding their country’s military, and many of whom were children and elderly folk - and at the same time destroying the culture and necessities of the people contravenes every moral and humanitarian principle debated in connection with the just conduct of war. (245-246) The focus of war should be defeating the...
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...Quote, 4144). Such is the case in point of World War II. The strategy of two world powers (Germany and Japan) willed their dominance on other countries, will be greatly tested over the course of time in the 1940’s. “Life has its ups and downs, for many people it is an ongoing battle: a conflict of values, a battle of beliefs, a struggle of wills, and a war of nerves. God never promise to go with us through every conflict” (Hindson, Ed (2003), Courageous Faith: Life Lessons From Old Testament Heroes, pg. 77). (A) Japan Man and his greed to possess material things he deems of importance, lead to Japan’s downfall. Japan’s Emperor Hirohito (posthumously known as Emperor Showa, 1926-1989), principles objective leading up to the despicable assault on the United States were: (1) To develop dominance, and become the leading country of a so-called, “Greater East Asia Co-Prosperity sphere (August, 1940). (2) Economic reasons, Japan required East Asia raw material and land for its growing population. (3) Disagreement with United States imposed embargo on supplying oil and steel. (4) Adopting an oppressive imperialism government of other Asian countries. (5) Signing of the Tripartite Pact (known as the Berlin Pact) in 1940, with Germany, Italy and many eastern countries joining later. With all these factors mixed in the minds of emperor Hirohito and his regime, and the defeat of western world power Russia (Russo-Japanese War, 1904-1905). One is a sense...
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... IRINA POPOVA-NOWAK HISTORY 105 NOVEMBER 11, 2012 During the time of The Great Depression it was no one to blame. There was so much truth to this generalization but the reality of it all was much more complicated. This was the era were women’s movement came about and the progressives sought out to spread many ideas throughout the world with the best intentions in mind. The Americans economy could have really used a reboost during this time. None of the Presidents had no clues of how to fix the things that was at stake. The Women’s Right Movement and the Stock Market Crash. The women right movement was started to show that women were indeed part of nation move to reform our country. Women right to vote was the most important issue. Women no longer stayed home they worked and was being educated as well as involved in politics. Between 1890 and 1913 two groups were founded to highlight women suffrage push for reform which included women right to vote. They achieved the right to vote in 1920. Issues such as ‘’equal pay’’ the glass ceiling and political involvement are still being fought for. The Stock Market Crash internal weakness in the American economy and European economy. The major event took place during 1929 to 1933 there were over 9,000 banks closed and business investments were down to half. World War II the U.S. moved from being a neutral party to being a world super power. Economically the gross product...
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...World War I and World War II were both destructive conflicts that had hundreds of thousands of casualties. For Australia, the First World War was the costliest conflict in its history, followed by the Second World War. [g] Although Australia had no need to join the First World War and wasn’t directly affected, Britain was our “mother-country” and Australia was still a part of the British Empire. Because of this, Australia was pressured into joining the war and fight for our allies. [d] Unfortunately, the country was not experienced with way of war and was vulnerable towards other forces. Roughly 4,000 men were captured, 60,000 killed and 150,000 injured on the Western Front. [a] The prisoners of war from Australia in World War I was an uncommon sight with only approximately 4,082 prisoners compared to the thousands from World War II. Together, the Germans and the Ottoman Turks managed to capture them from the Middle East (Gallipoli, Sinai-Palestine and Mesopotamia) and Europe. [b] For the first time, Australians understood the true meaning of being a prisoner...
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...After reading about the present in Module 10, World History, I’ve learned a lot about the struggles we’re going to have to face in the future. I think one of the greatest challenges ahead for the 21st century is focusing back on morality. In the past few decades, the United States, and the world, have started to disregard all forms of morality. I think the reason for this is societies. People are starting to believe more and more of what other people say, instead of the listening to the truth. I believe in the end, that’s what going to be the thing that hurts the world the most. If we leave morality out of all our decisions, the end result is going to be extremely destructive. Without morality, how can you determine what the right or wrong...
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...Have you ever wondered how a war was fought? What causes all the casualties and destruction? World War II used a large variety of means of destructions among numerous countries that partook in the global feud. By the end of the war, it ended up being the most destructive war in history. It's not so hard to understand why because of all the methods and weapons that tore up the environment. You can't have a war without people…. And guns. The infantrymen were equipped for battle with rifles, some with armor piercing rounds that would tear through what regular projectiles could not. Rifles were fitted with bayonets.They were long, sharp knifelike shanks attached to the underneath of the end of the barrel. Soldier used them to impale enemies at close range. Much of the rifles used in World War II were originally used in WWI as well. Other firearms included, smgs, pistols, and even in some cases flame trooper kits. These flame troopers used large flamethrowers that spewed flames and fried anything in its wake. Also the infantry had hand held explosives along with mines. Mines could have...
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...War is a state of armed conflict between societies. It is generally characterized by extreme collective aggression, destruction, and usually high mortality. The set of techniques and actions used to conduct war is known as warfare. An absence of war is usually called "peace". Total war is warfare that is not restricted to purely legitimate military targets, and can result in massive civilian or other non-combatant casualties. While some scholars see war as a universal and ancestral aspect of human nature, others argue that it is only a result of specific socio-cultural or ecological circumstances. In 2013 war resulted in 31,000 deaths down from 72,000 deaths in 1990. The deadliest war in history, in terms of the cumulative number of deaths since its start, is the Second World War, with 60–85 million deaths, followed by the Mongol conquests which was greater than 41 million. Proportionally speaking, the most destructive war in modern history is the War of the Triple Alliance, which took the lives of over 60% of Paraguay's population, according to Steven Pinker. In 2003, Richard Smalley identified war as the sixth biggest problem facing humanity for the next fifty years. War usually results in significant deterioration of infrastructure and the ecosystem, a decrease in social spending, famine, large-scale emigration from the war zone, and often the mistreatment of prisoners of war or civilians. Another byproduct of some wars is the prevalence of propaganda by some or all parties...
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...Research Paper The Evolution of Explosives SC 413, Hazards and Chemistry of Explosives to First Responders The destructive power of explosives has been felt and documented in history as very powerful, but the impact, development and change that it took during the 20th Century will echo in eternity. Many important events like the civil war, the movement of peoples from Europe, and the development of nuclear power led to the intense development of explosives by countries. Most were for the purpose of defense, others for industry, mining and development of technology. These explosive devices were mostly created by acts of war in pursuit of better defense weapons. The Civil war in the United States led to the development of many explosive devices. George and Gabriel Rains two Confederate soldiers had the ability to create explosive devices in the civil war. One such device was a black iron cast which resembled a lump of coal. Since it resembled a lump of coal Confederate soldiers would drop this object in a ships coal load. Once it was shoveled into the boiler the explosive device would react with the heat from the boiler causing an explosion. George and Gabriel Rains became known as the “Bomb Brothers” for their expertise in developing explosive devices and gun powder. Gabriel Rains developed what was to be the South’s first torpedo which could be used in land or water. The torpedo...
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