Justification for Using Atomic Bombs on Hiroshima and...

On August 6, 1945 an American B-29 bomber named the Enola Gay dropped an atomic bomb on the Japanese city of Hiroshima. This was the first use of nuclear weapons in the history of human warfare and almost the last. Many people debate whether using nuclear weapons was a moral choice. I believe it was moral. Though many people died from the bomb, the amount of good that came from dropping it greatly outweighs the bad. A large issue thats brought up around the atomic bombings is the amount of people that were killed because of it. The total killed was 70,000 to 80,000 people initially and approximately 90,000 to 140,000 by the end of 1945. Though this number is catastrophic on its own, its relatively small comparatively. For†¦show more content†¦During, and near the end of, the second World War, it was becoming apparent that America and the USSR were emerging as world powers. Because of this and their opposing views on government (America being democratic and the USSR being com munistic) the two went into the Cold War, an arms race where no actual fighting occurred. In order for America to show their power, they used the atomic bombs. Test bombings are good for demonstrating the force of weapons, but actually showing them in action is much more devastating. The United States government wanted to let Russia know what it was up against if they decided to attack. Also, by showing this off we were able to see the effects of radiation and the destruction of the bomb. Had we not known its true potential, America and the USSR may have launched their large stockpiles of nuclear weapons and done much more damage than they were expecting. There have been guesses that if the war had not been ended with the atomic bombs, more people would have actually died. There were approximately 1 million people being killed every month in the world due to the war and if it had not been resolved more and more people would have died, much more than the bombings did. The Potsdam ult imatum was released on July 26 which stated that if Japan did not surrender, they would be destroyed. The Instrument of Surrender was signed on September 2nd, over a month after the Potsdam ultimatum wasShow MoreRelatedOn August 6, 1945, The United States Of America Dropped1173 Words   |  5 Pages On August 6, 1945, the United States of America dropped an atomic bomb on Hiroshima, Japan. For decades, there have been feuds relating to the justification of the bombing. Was the U.S justified? It depends on your vantage point. The United States was justified due to the unprovoked attack and bombing of Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, which occurred three years prior to the bombing of Hiroshima, it was necessary to stop the war because it saved thousands of American lives. Until then, the fight had neverRead MoreWas Bombing Hiroshima and Nagasaki Necessary to End World War 2?1650 Words   |  7 Pagesof an atomic bomb landing over Hiroshima and Nagasaki to finalize the war. To this day there is still controversy that if that atomic bomb was actually necessary to end the war, because of the number of innocent casualties suffered from the Japanese. The aim of this investigation is to answer the question: To what extent was the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki necessary to end the war with Japan? To answer this question, the investigation will need to determine if there was justification for thisRead MoreThe Debate Over The Atomic Bomb On Hiroshima And Nagasaki1383 Words   |  6 Pages The debate over the impact of the atomic bomb on Hiroshima and Nagasaki concerns the ethical, legal and military controversies surrounding the United States atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. This tragedy occurred on two occasions; the 6th and the 9th of August 1945, and signified the conclusion of the Second World War, 1939-1945. There were many questionable motives involved in the event, as such a decision required moral certainty. Proceeding the bombings, the terms of surrender forRead MoreThe Nuclear Attack On Nagasaki1315 Words   |  6 Pagesis explore to what extent, the 1945 nuclear attack on Nagasaki was necessary in ending the Asia - Pacific War; to do this, the military grounds of the nuclear attack on Nagasaki will be examined. In order to analyse this, it is vital to highlight President Truman s official military reasons for using the atomic bomb, why detonating the bomb was preferred to invasion, and why Nagasaki was chosen as a target so soon after the first atomic bomb. With reference to opposing views, it s vital to understandRead MoreThe Atomic Bombing Of Hiroshima And Nagasaki2142 Words   |  9 PagesThe 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 happenedRead MoreThe Justifications Of The Atomic Bombing Of Hiroshima And Nagasaki1616 Words   |  7 PagesThe justifications of the atomic bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki have been continuously debated since the time of occurrence. The variety of approaches towards the topic often times lead to ambiguous conclusions that leave debaters dumbfo unded. Primarily, there are two moral reasonings that analysts of the event utilize: the utilitarian approach and ethical tradition. The utilitarian approach determines the goodness or evil of an action by its consequences (Holt). It has been said that this approachRead MoreShould We Have Dropped The Atomic Bomb?1180 Words   |  5 PagesShould we have dropped the atomic bomb? On August 6, 1945, the United States of America dropped an atomic bomb on Hiroshima, Japan. For decades, there have been feuds relating to the justification of the bombing. Was the U.S justified? It depends on your vantage point. The United States was justified due to the unprovoked attack and bombing of Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, which occurred three years prior to the bombing of Hiroshima, it was necessary to stop the war because it saved thousands of AmericanRead MoreShould The Us Dropped Atomic Bombs On Japan?1183 Words   |  5 PagesShould the US dropped atomic bombs on Japan? By- Daniel Hernandez On August 6, 1945, the United States of America dropped an atomic bomb on Hiroshima, Japan. For decades, there have been feuds relating to the justification of the bombing. Was the U.S justified? It depends on your opinion. The United States was justified due to the unprovoked attack and bombing of Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, which occurred three years prior to the bombing of Hiroshima, it was necessary to stop the war because it savedRead MoreThe Soviet Declaration Of War1352 Words   |  6 Pagesby Michael Gordon, a professor of history at Princeton University in 2005, the source is a revisionist interpretation sixty years after the bomb was dropped: Its purpose is to challenge the notion that nuclear weapons ended the Pacific War, suggesting that the bombs were never expected to end the conflict and that official statements claiming that the bombs had always been capable of doing so were generated after the war had ended. The source is valuable because it centres on alternative reasons Read MoreThe Atomic Bombs On Hiroshima And Nagasaki982 Words   |  4 Pages Upon reviewing Ronald Takai’s Hiroshima, it only makes me wonder what was going through the mind of President Harry Truman when he gave the â€Å"green light† to drop the atomic bomb on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. It has been more than 70 years since that happened and the conclusion of World War II, and yet the legacy remains in our modern day history books and class lectures. But was deploying the atomic bombs on Japan really necessary? What was Truman thinking? And did the end really justify the means