Perspectives: The Atomic Bomb And Cold War

On the 8th of December 1941, the United States congress declared war on the empire of japan in response to that country’s surprise attack on Pearl Harbor the prior day. It was formulated an hour after the infamy speech of US President Roosevelt. Following the declaration, Japan’s allies, Germany and Italy, declared war on the United States, bringing the United States fully into World War II. When the Allied forces finally got to the point where an invasion on the Japanese mainland was inevitable, it was decided to use the Atomic weapons due to the fact that Japanese leaders had convinced their people to fight the death against “the foreign invaders”. Faced with the prospect of an invasion that could easily cost millions of lives on both sides, the US decided to drop the big ones and hopefully end the war with relatively few lives lost. They chose to target Hiroshima and Nagasaki because of their strategic importance to the empire. Both were military ports used to supply the armed forces of Japan and were filled with military supplies. So the bombs were dropped to end the war, not in revenge of Pearl

Truman did not have much information about the bomb, however his hatred against the Japanese, as common as the rest of Americans, with the advice of the Head of the military and in charge of the Manhattan project his decision seemed to be too easy. In fact, he gave the order to the military to employ the A-bomb as soon as it stood ready against whichever of five cities already picked out, before the Potsdam Declaration was even issued to Japan (World War II n.d.). Truman’s decision was not the correct one because there were many alternatives that could have been employed. There were arguments for using the bomb and arguments against using the bomb, nonetheless the decision happened so quickly and the American public was in the dark over the developments occurring regarding the development and exercise of the A-bomb. Americans did not learn of the bomb until after it was utilized and hidden broadly from the public for close to an entire year after the war was over (World War II n.d.).

In the passage, “The Decision to Drop the Bomb”, Truman said, “Some military analysts insist that… the bombings were simply unnecessary. The American government was accused of racism on the grounds that such a device would never have been used against white civilians,” (10). Agreeing to the military analysts, that the bombings were unnecessary because Japan didn’t know they were going to use those bombs. America deserved to get rude comments because those bombs were not needed. Truman also stated, “The United States remains the only nation in the world to have used a nuclear weapon on another nation,” (10). This gives a horrible position to America. Other nations think America is the most harmful nation in the world because of these atomic

The dropping of the Atomic Bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki were last resort choices. The atomic bombs, dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, started off in a project titled “The Manhattan Project.” In early 1939 scientists discovered that German physicists had discovered the power of splitting uranium. The fear soon rose that the Germans would attempt to make a bomb capable of unspeakable destruction. After construction of the weapons began president FDR died, and president Harry Truman was sworn into office.

The release of two atomic bombs on Japan in August 1945 helped end World War II. However, it had unintended consequences. It caused the conflict between the United States and the Soviet Union.

Before any of this occurred, in 1930 the United States should have taken action against Japan, but never did. They didn’t like Japan’s attitude towards China and other countries. Again, in 1940, the United States should have done something, but this time not military action. The United States tried to negotiate peace, with Japan, but nothing ever got going (Danforth, 1). Neither side could agree on one thing because they thought of them as “still a country with similar goals” and it ended in a stalemate, causing tensions to run high. This was a dangerous end to talks because Japan was already in the second World War. The United States should have and many people were expecting something to happen, but were completely oblivious to the attack on the morning of December 7, 1941. Several people were convinced that President Roosevelt had been putting pressure on Japan to make an attack on the United States, but evidence suggests otherwise (Vidyalankar, 847-856). When George Washington was president, he declared that the United States would stay out of foreign conflicts, but this was broken before World War II so that had no effect on the president’s decision making. President Roosevelt

World War Two and the Atomic Bomb World War II is one of the most historic points in the history of the world. The war was by far the most devastating in the history of the world. There were many controversial actions during the war, but one of the biggest was the decision by the United States to drop atomic bombs. The atomic bomb should have been used to end the war because it saved more lives than continuing the war. The official bombing order was signed on July 25, 1945, by Thos.

Just to provide historical background information on the issue I am about to address I will first set the scene. On the morning of December 7, 1941, hundreds of Japanese fighter planes attacked the American naval base at Pearl Harbor near Honolulu, Hawaii. The attacked lasted a little over two hours, but it was devastating: The Japanese managed to destroy nearly 20 American naval vessels, including eight enormous battleships, and almost 200 airplanes. More than 2,000 Americans soldiers and sailors died in the attack, and another 1,000 were wounded. The day after the assault, President

There were few men in Washington who understood the role the atomic bomb could play in ending World War II and shaping the peace. Military planning focused on two options, conventional bombing accompanied by a blockade or an invasion of the Japanese home islands. Both options were so problematic politically and militarily that policymakers who were familiar with the Manhattan Project found it difficult to oppose the bomb’s use. There were also few men who knew the role the bomb could play in winning the peace. President Harry S. Truman, Secretary of State James F. Byrnes, and Secretary of War Henry L. Stimson saw the bomb as a way to shape the post-war world in the American

It has been just over seven decades since the destructive atomic bombs were dropped on Japan. These bombs were the first of its kind-weapons of mass destruction. There are many points-of-view or opinions about whether or not the bombs should have been used. As always there are two sides to each story; those who are for a cause and those who are against. In this paper, I will discuss the two opposing points-of-view, as well as my own opinion on which argument I find most compelling.

During World War 2 the U.S helped supply the allies with weapons which is possible because of the Lend Lease Act which let the, U.S, give the Allies equipment and money. The Japanese and the Axis powers knew this and showed hatred towards the U.S and were becoming aggressive towards the U.S. So the Japanese became suspicious of the U.S. Even right before the attack the Japanese were negotiating peace talks but that might of been because they were trying to distract the U.S into not becoming more suspicious of the attack. So on December 7th, 1941 General Yamamoto of the Japanese air force decided a surprise attack on Pearl Harbor. This attack is still known as one of the most brilliant attacks in history and before the Japanese attacked the General knew that even if the attack was successful Japan would still lose in a long-term war.

In 1945, President Truman had to make one of the toughest decisions a president has ever been faced with. This decision, of course, being whether to drop the atomic bombs on Japanese cities, not drop the bombs at all, or do a demonstration by dropping a bomb in the ocean near Tokyo. Truman eventually chose to drop the atomic bombs on both Hiroshima and Nagasaki in August of 1945. This choice to drop the atomic bombs was right because these bombings assisted in slowing the expansion of the Soviet Union, changed the Japanese never-give-up mentality, and prevented the loss of many American and Japanese lives.

As World War II was coming to an end, the United States still had to deal with the country of Japan. The Japanese were culturally known for not surrendering until every useable man was killed. This was extremely dangerous for the United States because they were dealing with people who were willing to waste a great amount of their population in order to not surrender. This was great consequence to the United States who has already lost many in Europe. Knowing that it will be a high death toll if the United States invaded mainland Japan, President Truman decided to go drastic measures to make the War short and efficient. On

However, both knew the devastation that would be brought to their respected countries so no real action ever occurred. The U.S and Soviet Union were locked in a battled labeled “Mutually Assured Destruction” where both sides feared the others ability to use nuclear weapons (Arms Control Today, Joseph Cirincione). Many overlook this fact, but it stands. If the U.S. wouldn’t have used the bombs on Japan then it is very possible the Cold War could have easily become hot for neither factions would have known the bombs true destructive power. In the book Nukes: The Spread of Nuclear Weapons states that, “If the Cold War would have become hot; the whole world would’ve been affected by the radiation from the war.” Many need to take inconsideration that the bombs being dropped on Japan possibly saved close to a billion lives.

The cold war started quickly after World War 2 ended. The soviet Union and U.S. (United States) were close allies, they then turn to enemies. The U.S. ignored the Soviets desire to impose totalitarian rule and wanted to take over the economy/land. Both countries Started fighting over weapons of mass destruction. The race on creating the largest atomic bomb began. The U.S. were wanting to have the largest arsenal to use against enemy countries. Neither country really understood each other so neither country could really agree with each other because their leaders couldn't discuss a treaty without frustration. ​The U.S. dropped the first atomic bomb (20 kilotons, killing 80,000 people) on Hiroshima in 1945, as well as the second atomic bomb (22