Was the USA justified in dropping the atomic bomb Essay Example For Students

Was the USA justified in dropping the atomic bomb Essay s on Hiroshima and Nagasaki? By Tyler Formica Whether or not the Allies needed to drop the two atomic bombs on Japan has been argued about since 1945. Some people agree with the dropping, and some people disagree with the dropping. But the facts that were taken out of the two droppings were unbelievable, and no one had ever seen anything like this so no one anticipated such destruction, but the Americans definitely new what they were going to cause. We will write a custom essay on Was the USA justified in dropping the atomic bomb specifically for you for only $16.38 $13.9/page Order now When they dropped the first bomb on Hiroshima it was not at first realized the carnage and loss of lives it had caused. The first Atomic bomb was dropped on the 6th of August 1945, the one bomb it self cost the United States 2 billion dollars and approximately 130,000 Japanese were killed as a result of first bomb. The second atomic bomb was dropped on Nagasaki, and it was an even bigger, though it only killed approximately 70,000 people. So all up over 200,000 Japanese were killed just from two bombs, but were the United States justified in the dropping of the two atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki? Many reasons were stated from the United States for the dropping of the bomb, though I believe that they did not justify the loss of life caused. Some reasons were that the Allied leaders thought that an invasion of the Japanese mainland would be needed to ensure Japans unconditional surrender. They thought that such an invasion might result in as many as a million Allied casualties, and if an invasion was made, the Japanese were certain to kill thousands of Allied prisoners of war. Also Japan was already defeated and trying to negotiate peace and the intervention of Russia in the war might, alone, have caused the Japanese to surrender. Another Reason was that a demonstration to reveal the power of the bomb could have been tried on an uninhabited Japanese island. Though Allied leaders thought that this would not have impressed the Japanese enough to bring about a total unconditional surrender, which is exactly what the Americans wanted. They also argued that the Japanese would move prisoners of war into target cities if they knew that such attacks were possible. One more reason was that the atomic bombs were weapons, and allied commanders wanted to test the effects of such weapons on a proper target. The use of the bombs could also act as a warning to Russia, who was seen as a potential enemy of America and Western Europe after the war was over. Out of these reasons from the Americans, I believe that there is one that definitely stands out, and that is the one that they wanted to save all their troops, for total utter destruction of other cities. These decisions killed thousands and thousands of harmless women and children. I also believe that one of the main reasons for the dropping of the bombs was revenge, which was built up from when this battle started, and that was the surprise attack on pearl harbour. So much hatred had resulted from the war and the dropping of the two bombs was just finishing off the revenge that they promised to American citizens. On the other hand, I do believe that the two bombs were over exaggerated a little bit because when you look back at some single battles of World War 2, the same amount of people were killed. An example of this was on March 10th 1945 when the Allies air raided Tokyo with B-29s. In one night 89,000 people were killed and 1,000,000 people were made homeless. A second example was the battle of Okinawa, this was the bloodiest battle of World War 2 and approximately 106,000 people were killed, most of them were Japanese. .uc61f2864408aee740ea30bb755aa869c , .uc61f2864408aee740ea30bb755aa869c .postImageUrl , .uc61f2864408aee740ea30bb755aa869c .centered-text-area { min-height: 80px; position: relative; } .uc61f2864408aee740ea30bb755aa869c , .uc61f2864408aee740ea30bb755aa869c:hover , .uc61f2864408aee740ea30bb755aa869c:visited , .uc61f2864408aee740ea30bb755aa869c:active { border:0!important; } .uc61f2864408aee740ea30bb755aa869c .clearfix:after { content: ""; display: table; clear: both; } .uc61f2864408aee740ea30bb755aa869c { display: block; transition: background-color 250ms; webkit-transition: background-color 250ms; width: 100%; opacity: 1; transition: opacity 250ms; webkit-transition: opacity 250ms; background-color: #95A5A6; } .uc61f2864408aee740ea30bb755aa869c:active , .uc61f2864408aee740ea30bb755aa869c:hover { opacity: 1; transition: opacity 250ms; webkit-transition: opacity 250ms; background-color: #2C3E50; } .uc61f2864408aee740ea30bb755aa869c .centered-text-area { width: 100%; position: relative ; } .uc61f2864408aee740ea30bb755aa869c .ctaText { border-bottom: 0 solid #fff; color: #2980B9; font-size: 16px; font-weight: bold; margin: 0; padding: 0; text-decoration: underline; } .uc61f2864408aee740ea30bb755aa869c .postTitle { color: #FFFFFF; font-size: 16px; font-weight: 600; margin: 0; padding: 0; width: 100%; } .uc61f2864408aee740ea30bb755aa869c .ctaButton { background-color: #7F8C8D!important; color: #2980B9; border: none; border-radius: 3px; box-shadow: none; font-size: 14px; font-weight: bold; line-height: 26px; moz-border-radius: 3px; text-align: center; text-decoration: none; text-shadow: none; width: 80px; min-height: 80px; background: url(https://artscolumbia.org/wp-content/plugins/intelly-related-posts/assets/images/simple-arrow.png)no-repeat; position: absolute; right: 0; top: 0; } .uc61f2864408aee740ea30bb755aa869c:hover .ctaButton { background-color: #34495E!important; } .uc61f2864408aee740ea30bb755aa869c .centered-text { display: table; height: 80px; padding-left : 18px; top: 0; } .uc61f2864408aee740ea30bb755aa869c .uc61f2864408aee740ea30bb755aa869c-content { display: table-cell; margin: 0; padding: 0; padding-right: 108px; position: relative; vertical-align: middle; width: 100%; } .uc61f2864408aee740ea30bb755aa869c:after { content: ""; display: block; clear: both; } READ: Chinese Prostitution EssayAlternatives for dropping the bombs were never really looked at. Although one alternative be that Japan be issued a warning about the weapon and offered surrender terms that allowed the taking in of the Emperor. This so called alternative was not so much to stop the droppings of the bombs, but more as something to keep conversation off the point of invasion of Japan. Americans new that if they did invade Japan, it would be an extremely on going task because the Japanese were known for all fighting till their death, and if there emperor was under fire at all, that would infuriate the Japanese even more as it was a huge sign of disrespect. The Japanese by now were at their weakest point .