Our men, or theirs? This is the decision president Harry S. Truman was left with; drop the bomb or continue with an invasion. World War 2 had been dragging on for several years when President Truman decided to drop the first Atomic Bomb over Hiroshima, Japan on August 6, 1945. This devastating weapon brutally murdered 75,000 Japanese civilians in an instant. Although it has been 70 years since the bombs were dropped, there is still question on whether or not the right decision was made. President Truman was wrong to drop the Atomic Bomb because it killed thousands of ignorant civilians and was unnecessary for victory. The conflict between America and Japan began back when Japan invaded China. The United States became extremely frustrated with the situation, and cut off all Japan's supplies. Japan did not take it lightly, for they ended up bombing Pearl Harbor. Once the United States was bombed, we sent out a Doolittle raid, to show the Japanese that we are not weak and can fight back. Once in the war, the United States seemed to be losing terribly. Eventually we came back on top when Germany surrenders on V-E Day, not too long before we took …show more content…
The population of Hiroshima had no idea of the warnings given to the Emperor, while the atomic bomb was not even mentioned in the Memorandum(Stimson, 48). They all knew of the firebombing, but they were completely unaware of the "mass destruction" threats expressed in the letter to their Emperor. Several thought that the bomb was a self scattering cluster of bombs (Hiroshima, 21). Not only were the citizens under informed of the situation, they were killed illegally as well. The law clearly states that targeting civilians is illegal, for it isn't a military target. These civilians were innocent, they did not want war anymore than we did. No one should target innocent people, even with the lives of their own men at
In the brutal and deadly Pacific Theater of World War ll, President Truman had to make a crucial decision on whether or not to drop the atomic bomb on Japan. Some believe that Truman’s actions to drop the atomic bomb were unethical and inhumane; however, Truman was justified in his decision to use the atomic bomb against Japan due to the fact that they are our enemy, saving American lives is the first priority, and the atomic bomb will ultimately prevent Russia from gaining control of Asia.
The United States president, Harry S. Truman declared to drop the bomb on August 6, 1945 for various reasons. The most reluctant reason why President Truman dropped the bombs was to save a numerous amount of American lives (Document 8). This included the people captured by the Japanese and the soldiers who would of fought a massive battle against the Japanese soldiers (Document 5). The estimated lives of the civilians killed in the bombings
On August 5th, 1945 the Enola Gay, a B-29 bomber flew over the Japanese city of Hiroshima and released the most destructive weapon known to mankind. Mere moments later the city was engulfed in a fireball that rose up into the sky. Thousands perished instantly and many more would die from severe exposure to radiation. Two days later a second atomic bomb was dropped on the city of Nagasaki increasing the death toll to 120,000. The decision to drop nuclear weapons on Japan was made by the United States president Harry S. Truman. The decision to use these weapons has sparked controversy over whether or not a justification exists for extinguishing the lives of innocent civilians. For President Truman the decision
The tension between the United States and Japan all began over the differences of China back in the 1930’s. The country of Manchuria, which was then a part of China, was conquered by Japan. Instead of stopping there, Japan wanted more; they wanted all of China. So in 1940, the government of Japan made an alliance with Germany. The following year, the Japanese government took over Indochina.
Many debates have been provoked based on President Truman's decision to drop the atomic bomb on Hiroshima and Nagasaki in 1945. The debate is not solely based on the bomb being dropped, but more on the actual necessity and intention of the bomb being dropped.
The first atomic bomb that Japan was to get a glimpse of was on August 6th, 1945, during World War II in the city of Hiroshima. The explosion annihilated 90 percent of the city; without hesitation killed 80,000 people. More than tens of thousands of people would have eventually died due to radiation exposure. Within three days of the attack, a second B-29 dropped another A-bomb in another location known as Nagasaki, killing an estimation of 40,000 people. Hirohito, Japan’s emperor announced his country’s unequivocal surrender in WWII in a radio address on August 15th, in allude to the calamitous power of “a new and most cruel bomb.” President Truman had to make one of hardest pre arrangements that he had ever faced. Truman based this decision off of the results of to justify the cost of the Manhattan project, in response of
During WW2 Truman, the United States President at the time, was asked to make one the toughest decision in History. Choosing between dropping an atomic bomb or invading are both choices that will result in a lot of deaths. The huge diffrence between the two was who died wether it be the Japanese with the bomb, or the American soldiers with the invasion. Trumans decision was supposed to end the war sooner, hence reducing the amount of agony,deaths, stress or any other negative effects that could result in the continous war. Truman's decision on dropping the Atomic Bomb's was an efficient course of action for the Americans, but was deffinantly not the most educated decision. If I had been placed in Truman's shoes and had to make this
“Truman stated that his decision to drop the bomb was purely military. Truman believed that the bombs saved Japanese lives as well. Prolonging the war was not an option for the President,” (ushistory.org 1). President Truman and the United States government made a fair decision by dropping the atomic bomb on the Japanese citizens in Hiroshima and Nagasaki during 1945. The bomb allowed the United States to appear more powerful and led to them influencing the rest of the world. The dropping of the atomic bomb was also a just response to the previous atrocities committed by Japan to other countries including the United States. In the long run, the bomb saved more lives that would have been lost in the war, since the bombs caused the
One of the most controversial and heavily scrutinized issue of the twentieth century was President Harry S. Truman’s decision to unleash atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki in 1945. The motives behind Truman’s actions are shrouded in controversy as top military officials publicly denounced the use of such a disastrous weapon. There is overwhelming evidence supporting both sides of the decision, as historians are split in opinion. The United States had been using conventional bombing to try to push Japan over the edge to surrender, but with countless Japanese civilians loyal to their country, invading Japan proved to be more problematic than first thought. Harry S. Truman made the ultimate decision of dropping the atomic bomb in hopes that it would end the war, but the amount of casualties caused by it has historians questioning if it was morally right, “The bomb was unfortunate, but it was the only means to bring Japan to a surrender,” historian Sadao Asada states (Bomb 9). Truman’s decision to drop the atomic bomb on Hiroshima and Nagasaki were justifiable because they would ultimately lead to the end of the war and would demonstrate U.S. supremacy.
In my opinion, I do agree with President Harry Truman's decision to drop the bombs. I think it was the best choice, it
During World War II, President Harry S. Truman ordered for an atomic bomb to be dropped on the Japanese city of Hiroshima on August 6th ,1945. The second and last atomic bomb to ever be dropped was in the city of Nagasaki on August 9th, 1945. Many Americans believed dropping the atomic bomb was necessary to end the war in a more timely manner, however, many others believed dropping the atomic bomb was too extreme of a measure to take against Japan. With the creation of the atomic bomb, the United States had a weapon of mass destruction that no one else yet had. Therefore, with the power the atomic bomb possessed, some people believed its use should only be used as a last resort. If Japan would not surrender during this war, then the United States would have a valid and necessary reason in using the power of an atomic bomb. For the other Americans that believed in the immediate drop of the atomic bomb, dropping it would end the war sooner, which would then decrease the amount American soldiers who would be killed during the war. Whether dropping the atomic bomb on Japan was the most ethical decision that President Truman could have ordered is still debated.
A man by the name of Antony Beevor described the decision to be a good one and that President Truman had little to no choice (Attar). Truman’s decision was mainly based on the half a million casualties that the Allies had suffered and that he didn’t want anymore Americans or allies to lose a life in this war. The Japanese couldn’t have surrendered because the Japanese soldiers were taught to fight to the death and to never give up, so the decision to drop the atomic bombs help the war end that wouldn’t have ended if the bombs weren’t dropped. The Japanese army was prepared to accept 28 million civilian deaths and maybe even more just to win the
After invading Pearl Harbor and killing thousands of Americans, Japan thought they were on the path to winning the war. Little did they know that a couple months later, America was going to get them back for what they did. Japan was frustrated that America was in their way of becoming powerful so they tried to weaken America by attacking Pearl Harbor. This did not weaken America but made America even more powerful by America dropping atomic bombs on two cities in Japan.
The decision to drop the bomb on Hiroshima and Nagasaki was the hardest decision for President Truman to make. He had the power right there in his hands to end the war but he would have to unleash the most powerful weapon known to man, at this time. Everyone was very tired of fighting but the Japanese would not give up so Truman decided to drop it. Even though we told Japan that if they did not surrender we would completely demolish some of their cities, they did not listen and they did not surrender. Maybe they did not think about what kind of weapons we would use because
President Truman's decision to drop the atomic bomb on the cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki were the direct cause for the end of World War II in the Pacific. The United States felt it was necessary to drop the atomic bombs on these two cities or it would suffer more casualties. Not only could the lives of many soldiers have been taken, but possibly the lives of many innocent Americans. The United States will always try to avoid the loss of American civilians at all costs, even if that means taking lives of another countries innocent civilians.