Hiroshima Bombing Nagasaki

Hiroshima was such an ideal target for American bombing. According to the book, this was because the city was considered an important place for establishing a military command center. Another reason was that it was a place where communication would be coordinated from. It was the perfect city for militaries to station their operations in.

Intense moral justification was needed in order to make the decision to drop the bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki however, President Truman was ultimately the man who made the final decision to launch ‘Little Boy’ and destroy Hiroshima, Nagasaki and their civilians, thus forcing an end to the war. Although there were many alternatives presented to President Truman, it is unknown as to whether they would have actually succeeded in ending the war or producing less casualties. Truman made the decision to drop these bombs in the heat of war but his justification of having a military target appeared extremely unrealistic, as both cities were full of innocent civilians. The morality of the bombs have been debated over the years, however the publication of the actual damage to civilian life caused a strong voice opposed to the usage in the 60 years following the action.

Dropping the bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki was justified under the information they had at the time. When criticizing the actions of the Truman administration one needs to consider the effect of knowledge in hindsight. Truman was working under the knowledge that dropping the nuclear bombs would bring a short and fast victory to the Pacific front of the Second World War. As the war had already ended in Europe by this time, leaders were looking to end the campaign in the Pacific as quickly as possible. From a cost benefit perspective dropping the bombs on Japan meant that very few American lives were lost, and the cost of building the bombs compared to the cost of a minimum six month continuation of fighting.Additionally, there was no testing

The United States made the right decision to bomb the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. President Truman, felt that is was evident that the other alternatives where the Allied forces thought of invading Japan could have led to a lot of casualties on their part (Roark 685). Another reason can be because it is the same Japan that agitated America to join the Second World War, which it had initially avoided, by bombing the Pearl Harbor (Riggs 3). Apparently, this grudge was carried forward.

During World War II Americans dropped atomic bombs over the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki killing nearly 200,000 people. This resulted in Japans surrender in World War II. J. Samuel Walker analyzes this historical event in his book Prompt and Utter Destruction: Truman and the Use of Atomic Bombs. Over the past 70 years’ extensive research has been conducted and there is an understanding that Truman’s decision to drop the atomic bombs is inconclusive. It is impossible to determine that the use of the bomb was the quickest way to end the war. An analysis of President Truman’s decision to drop the atomic bomb reveals one challenge: was the decision to destroy Hiroshima and Nagasaki a show of good judgment.

Hiroshima and Nagasaki altered the course of world events by starting the Cold War, ushering advancements in technology, and by influencing cultures worldwide. Occurring on August 6 and August 9 in 1945, the bombing of the cities set of a series of events that would forever change history. The United States and the Soviet Union emerged from the war as superpowers with seemingly limitless power. Their ideologies, however, contrasted greatly, and the once allied nations would turn against each other, setting the entire world into a period of uncertainty. The atomic bomb, alone, would influence countless decisions, technologies, and policies in the following years and strike fear and awe into many around the world.

This however, was clearly not the case. The second bomb, named “Fat Man”, was dropped on August ninth at 11:02 AM. It exploded 1,650 feet above ground. The force it exploded with was equal to 22,000 tons of TNT. The bombing of Nagasaki would add another 70,000 deaths to the total count. Another 140,000 would die from after effects in later years.1 At noon on August 15, 1945, the Emperor of Japan announced to Japan’s cease of resistance via radio broadcast. The formal agreement was signed on the United States main battleship on September 2 in Tokyo Bay. Japan had tried many times to surrender before the bombs had been dropped, however the United States turned down these offers of surrender because it was not unconditional surrender, as stated in the Potsdam Declaration.5

On August 8th 1945 the first atomic weapon, a fission bomb, was dropped on the city of Hiroshima in an attempt to force the Japanese to surrender in World War II (Bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, 2009). This event exposed the danger of nuclear energy. This massive explosion demolished 90 percent of the city and immediately killed 80,000 people. This was only the beginning though, tens of thousands of innocent people died due to the aftermath of radiation exposure for another generation (Rosenberg, n.d). This day marks one of the most controversial in history. While some argue that Truman’s decision to drop the bomb was in America’s best interest, others question the ethics of dropping the most destructive weapon in the history of war on a city filled with innocent civilians (Pavlik 1995).

On August 6, 1945, the world’s first atomic bomb was dropped on Hiroshima, Japan. Three days later, on August 9, a second bomb was dropped on Nagasaki. The bombing devastated the entire country of Japan. A week after the second bombing, the Emperor of Japan, Hirohito, announced Japan’s surrender in World War 2.

On August 6, 1945, the American plane “Enola Gay” dropped the first atomic bomb on the Japanese city of Hiroshima. The bomb caused mass destruction and wiped out over 96% of the city. However, even after the disastrous bombing, Japan refused to surrender, so two days later, the second American atomic bomb was dropped on the Japanese city Nagasaki. Afraid of even more of the powerful bombings, the Japanese agreed to surrender on August 14,1945 (Race for the

The horrific atom bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Japan on August 6th and 9th of 1945 brought about several reactions in the United States. Starting with the controversial events leading up to the atomic with the Potsdam Proclamation, many Americans began to wonder whether the total destruction of these two cities were necessary. However, immediate American responses and reactions to the bombs were contrary to what they became later on. Americans slowly stopped being ignorant of what had happened in Japan and began to question the actions of their government; although, this questioning of such events was popular at first, they slowly accelerated to stronger beliefs today. Finally, the atomic bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki in 1945 has had major effects on America from the day of the bombing to present day United States

On August 6, 1945 an American B-29 bomber successfully deployed and activated the first ever weaponized atom bomb over its target, Hiroshima. Upon detonation the bomb instantly killed around 70,000 Japanese also destroying ninety percent of the city. Three days later a second American B-29 bomber dropped another atom bomb over the city of Nagasaki killing an estimated 40,000 more people. The Japanese Emperor announced Japan’s unconditional surrender on August 15, 1945. The atomic bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki was tragic, however, it was necessary to dissuade Japan from continuing war efforts and to accept unconditional surrender offered by the United States.

The atomic bombing of Japan was an unjustified decision that many considered was inhumane. Through the use of atomic bombs, many innocents were harmed in one way or another. Berger described the atomic bombing of Hiroshima as "a terrorist act" and that it was "evil". While Berger 's argument was extreme, the U.S. still remains unjustified because they did not know exactly how much damage the bomb would actually cause. Bombing Japan, the U.S. harmed thousands of civilians and displayed the effectiveness of the atomic bomb despite having other options to end the war.

Through the efforts of the “Manhattan Project” and the scientists within it, several nuclear bombs were created. Two of which, “Little Boy” and “Fat Man,” ended up being dropped on Japan. “Little Boy,” the only uranium bomb created was dropped on Hiroshima on August 6, 1945 (Batchelder 99-105). “Fat Man,” the second nuclear bomb ever used in warfare, detonated above Nagasaki on August 11, 1945 (Batchelder 95-105). The leaders of the United States, decided that dropping the newly developed atomic bombs on Japan was the smartest action they could take at the time, given the current situation that the United States and the world was in. Dropping the bombs on Japan was mainly motivated by the belief that human lives could be saved. A massive invasion of the Japanese mainland was the only other option if no bombs were going to be dropped. The fact that the Japanese main army of approximately two million had never before been defeated on top of the Japanese terrain which was much better suited for guerrilla warfare than the mechanical ways of the U.S. put estimated American deaths alone well over the deaths at Hiroshima and Nagasaki combined (Batchelder 114-118).

On August 6, 1945, during World War II an American B-29 bomber dropped the world’s first deployed atomic bomb over the Japanese city of Hiroshima. Three days later, a second B-29 dropped another A-bomb on Nagasaki, killing an estimated 40,000 people. Japan’s Emperor