...United States of America dropped an atomic bomb on Hiroshima, Japan. For years, there have been feuds relating to the justification of the bombing. Was the U.S justified? 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 never been on United States soil. Innocent men, women and children did not have to worry about being killed on their land until the infamous day: December 7, 1941, the attack of Pearl Harbor. On that day, the Japanese took to the skies with 423 planes, arriving in Pearl Harbor, killing a total of 2,403 and wounding 1178. Hitting 18 U.S ships, it crippled the U.S naval fleet in one day. Little known to the people, the bombing also destroyed 180 fighter jets used in the U.S Air Force. This was an unjustified, barbaric act and dropping the bomb on Hiroshima was justified. The United States was justified in dropping the atomic bomb on Hiroshima due to the unwarned attack on civilians and docked naval ships at Pearl Harbor by the Japanese. For example, the bomb displayed the power the U.S wielded when they dropped it on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. It showed other countries that the United States had weapons, and would use them. This especially threatened the Soviet Union, our current ally, and emerging enemy. The day after the Pearl Harbor bombing, the United...
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...The Bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki: History's Great Miscalculation On August 6, 1945, a new step in technological warfare was taken when the first atomic bomb was dropped on the city of Hiroshima, Japan. The impact of the bomb alone killed at least 66,000 people.1 This was an event that would not soon be forgotten in history. The Americans, who knew the devastating effects of their new weapon, still chose to use it rather than an alternative means to peace. Many people still argue whether or not it was necessary when Japanese surrender was considered to be a matter of time. Historians also dispute whether the campaign was a morally justified objective. This phrase alone brings up many interesting questions. Can killing thousands of innocent people ever be considered "justified"? Considering these circumstances, the dropping of the atomic bomb on Hiroshima and Nagasaki was not militarily or morally justified. In 1939 Franklin Roosevelt, the President of the United States received a verysignificant letter from the famous physicist, Albert Einstein.2 Contained in this letter were details concerning the importance of nuclear research with regards to gaining the upper hand in the war. Roosevelt agreed and approved $6,000 in initial funding. Many scientists began realizing the importance of nuclear fission and in 1940 The National Defense Research Committee was formed. This group's purpose was to oversee research and provide more funding. Many of the world's best physicists...
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...Truman’s Decision - Was the bombing of Hiroshima justified or not? It was on the afternoon of 6th August 1945 that an event was believed to change and save the world forever. Harry Truman had made a life changing decision to drop an atomic bomb named “Little Boy” in Japan’s Hiroshima. The result of this weapon ended up in destroying more than 4 square miles of the city. The company who made the bomb was called Enola Gay. The motive behind the doing of this was to threaten Japan and make them surrender in World War 2. It is a fact that this was the first time in history that a nuclear weapon was used. This event is still one of the most important topics in history. It has been debated by an abundance of historians: Was it justified despite 129,000 innocent citizens died? There isn’t a definite answer to this but there were both sides to the story. Bombing was justified It is widely believed that the bombing was brutal and cruel. However, it was the reason that ended World War 2, and if America did not drop the bomb, the losses of soldiers would be even at a larger number than the amount of people who died in the drop of the bomb. It has also been said to save a lot of American’s lives and soldiers. This statement is backed up by the quotation “Fighting would be fierce and the losses heavy.” that was said by Harry S. Truman in 1955. This quote can tell us that during that time he believed that if the war was still going on, it was very likely that the upcoming invasions...
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...In 1945 the United States of America ended World War II by nuking Japan, which caused a decades-long argument whether or not it was the right decision. In the passages Two Historical Narratives and Document A: Textbook, the ways the Japanese and Americans perceive the bombings are contrasted. By reading the articles, one can see that the decision to drop the atomic bombs on Japan was justified. Proponents against the atomic bombings of Japan debate that to many people died; however, if the bombings did not take place, more innocent lives would have been lost in warfare. To begin, if the bombs were not dropped, countless more Japanese civilians would have died. The text ,Two Historical Narratives, states; “Japanese battle plans that were in...
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...atomic bomb was justified in World War 2 because of Japan’s refusal to surrender, it saved U.S. lives and it demonstrated U.S. power. World War 2 was a dark time for all countries involved and especially the United States. Following the war in Europe ending with the death of Adolf Hitler, the war in the Pacific raged on. The United States were fighting with Japan to avenge the bombing of Pearl Harbor which started World War 2. Pearl Harbor was a surprise bombing of a United States naval base by Japan. It killed thousands of people and destroyed large amounts of naval equipment. As the United States fought Germany in Europe, the conflict with Japan was on the backburner. Now with the war in Europe over, Japan is the main enemy. Japan’s military strategy was known to be very unorthodox. With suicide pilots attacking U.S. ships and their relentless mindset made it a daunting task for the U.S. to overcome. In the mainland the U.S. was holding Japanese Americans in internment camps to isolate them from the rest of society in fear they may be giving information to the Japanese. The United States did not see an invasion of Japan as a viable option so they considered the option of using nuclear weaponry. The first reason for the justification of the atomic bomb was because of Japan’s refusal to surrender. Throughout the war and history, Japan was known to have a very unorthodox military strategy. Their main mentality was to kill or die trying (“War Against”). Japan was taught that...
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...threat, imminent danger, no other alternative and against a greater evil to a community. These are the 4 conditions of supreme emergency that can be used to justify the Hiroshima bombings if it was an act of supreme emergency or just an act of terrorism. A State is the organization which has the monopoly of the use of violence. There are two major forms of this. One is against other states, which we call war. The other is the organized violence against its citizens practiced by almost all States. There is the symbolic kind, the fascist architecture, thought control through propaganda, giant parades and nationalist music. There is also the development of penal and legal institutions which often divides up the population into the free and the imprisoned (Macfarlane 2007). The Hiroshima bombings would come under violence as war, where the U.S. bomber, the Enola Gay, dropped an atomic bomb on Hiroshima, Japan with the acute effects killing 90,000–166,000 people (Rezelman 2000) the reason for the bombings was to end the war the only way they knew could work and after the bombings which was not only Hiroshima the Japanese did surrender where today people would agree that if the bombings didn’t take place many more innocent causalities would have been the outcome. Killing thousands to save millions was a justifiable reason for state violence on Japan, do you...
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...of the atomic bomb. This project, led by Robert Oppenheimer, a theoretical physicist, was code named the Manhattan Project. On August 6th, 1945, the first atomic bomb was dropped on Hiroshima, Japan, by the United States of America. A second bomb was dropped three days by the U.S. later on Nagasaki. Before these devastating events, World War II was drawing to an agonizingly slow close. In the events prior to this bombing, an estimated 2,420,000 Americans and Japanese men were killed. Starting at the unwarranted attack on Pearl Harbour, Japanese soldiers bombed army bases, ships, and anything that would result in the cause of casualties. This was the start of...
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...ATOMIC BOMB Boom! Boom! Seventy thousands Japanese citizens were perished instantly after the first atomic bomb was dropped in Hiroshima on August 6, 1945. Japanese still refused to surrender to Allied forces. On August 9, 1945, with the dropping of the second atomic bomb in Nagasaki, where eighty thousands people were vaporized, Japanese surrendered unconditionally and the World War II ended (“The Decision to Drop the Bomb” 5-6). But was it a right decision of Harry S Truman to end the war with two atomic bombs? Becoming the president of the United States on April 12, 1945 upon the death of Franklin D. Roosevelt, Harry S Truman faced with a decision of unprecedented gravity in his life: dropping the atomic bombs in Japan to end the World War II. It was just a matter of opinion whether his decision was right or wrong. But at the time the bombs were dropped, most Americans as wells as Allied forces accepted President Truman’s decision and agreed that the atomic bombs were necessary to end the war quickly before the disastrous invasion of the Japanese mainland could occur. But after that, many people started questioning about President Truman’s decision to order the dropping of the atomic bombs. They believed that dropping two atomic bombs to destroy two cities of Japan helped America generally and President Truman specifically accomplishing several things. Most obviously, it was a way of Americans to revenge Japanese for the bombing of Pearl Harbor and for the atrocious treatment...
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...ultimate power of nuclear weapons. On August 6th and 9th, 1945 the United States of America dropped two bombs on Japan without any precedent. These weapons of demolition are capable of mass destructions of colossal portions of land and mass killing of people upon detonation. Approaching towards the end of World War 2, the United States of America dropped two bombs named “Little Boy” and “Fat Man” on two Japanese cities named “Hiroshima” and “Nagasaki”. The bombs were dropped at the command of Harry Truman the president of the United States at the time. The purpose for the United States to drop this bomb was to force Japan into an unconditional surrender. “Little Boy” was dropped...
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...Deepali Shinde Professor Kalra Academic Writing 101 19th September 2015. Was United Nations justified in dropping atomic bombs on Japan? World War II also known as The Second World War was a global war that was fought from 1939 to 1945 in Europe and Asia. The Second World War was debatably the most consequential period of the 20th century. World War II led to vital advancements in technology and set the base for post war social changes, that includes the end of colonialism by the Europeans, the civil rights movement in the United States., and the American Women’s Rights Movement in 1950s, in addition to the initiatives for research and exploration of outer space. The prime fighters were the Allied Nations that included Britain (leading combatant) and its Commonwealth nations, USSR (Union of Soviet Socialist Republics and America. The other combatants were the Axis nations that consisted of Fascist Italy, Nazi Germany, Imperial Japan and their allies. The war was won by the Allied forces. One significant consequence of the Second World War was the Cold War between the two superpowers of the world, that is, United States of America and the Soviet Union (USSR). Japan is an island country located in East Asia in the Pacific Ocean. Japan is a leading country when it comes to technological establishments but lacks natural resources, particularly in iron and oil. After the World War I the fascist governments increased their expenditure on military supplies and training. This...
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...immigrating to America. The greatest example of racial suppression was the unjustified internment of Japanese and Japanese Americans during World War II. The forced evacuation and internment of U.S citizen was not justified and changed the lives of people of Japanese descent. Japanese American and Japanese were moved to internment camps racism and social reasons. Throughout the history of the United States of America, there has been evidence of racism. This can be seen through slavery, treatment of Native Americans, and imprisonment of Japanese Americans in internment camps. Racism was a key factor for the Japanese...
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...Japan’s reaction to the atomic bombs, one the other hand, was anything but celebratory. Even after they found out about the horrific events at Hiroshima, the Japanese government censored reports about the atomic bomb, fervently repudiating its occurrence. The Japanese morning newspapers of August 8th revealed nothing more than how a “few enemy planes” had severely damaged Hiroshima with “a wholly new type of bomb” (Hando). Citizens were kept in the dark about the situation and were simply instructed to wear white clothing in case of another attack (Priddy). In addition, the Office of War Information ran off millions of leaflets calling Japan to give up or face nuclear attacks “again and again” until they ended the war at once (1945: Atom bomb hits Nagasaki). Current Japanese polls indicate that they disagree with the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, with only 14% saying it was...
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...false hierarchy. This false hierarchy was shown in Julie Otsuka’s novel When the Emperor was Divine. After the bombing of Pearl Harbour, all Japanese Americans were sent to internment camps because they could potentially be working for the Japanese government. With limited to no help the Japanese Americans were at the mercy of the American government to...
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...Was Truman justified in dropping the A bomb? “What Truman did was try to hold off dealing with the Russians until he was certain that the bomb was going to work” (article 2).That's saying right there that the Atomic Bomb was being used to scared Russian. He still wasn't justified to drop that bomb and kill millions of innocent people. The war was over in the ETO, however there were still problems and fighting over there. The PTO however was still fighting, but America was winning. The problem in the ETO was who was going to control England. France, Britain, and Germany have tried and fails, so it was the US or Russia's time to prove themselves. A compromise was made among the Big 3 that said the western part of Germany was going to be controlled by France, Britain, and the US. The eastern part was going to be controlled by Russia. A reason why the US was winning in the PTO was because of an old Japanese tradition of never surrendering (article 3), this tradition meant victory or honorable death. This was a mistake due to the fact that the people who were...
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...intended to kill man was dropped on Hiroshima, Japan by the United States of America. Three days later, a second atomic bomb was dropped on Nagasaki, Japan, in hopes to force Japan to finally surrender. There is much controversy, even to this day, as to whether to deployment of the first atomic bombs were warranted and absolutely necessary. While the bombings did end the treacherous World War II, they ended up killing over 240,000 people. While Samuel J. Walker, a World War II historian, claims that “The fundamental issue that has divided scholars over a period of nearly four decades is whether the use of the bomb was necessary to achieve victory in the war in the Pacific on terms satisfactory to the United States”, the debate also boils down to other factors, such as the fact that it was part of the total warfare that began in WWII, it was more desirable than invasion, and it actually saved lives but hastily ending the war. Arguments against the bombing of Japan revolve around the inherent morality of the atomic bomb, especially considering Japan’s underdeveloped nuclear advancements and the actual necessity of the Atomic bombs. The two atomic bombs dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki Japan were absolutely necessary despite the immorality because of Japan’s refusal to surrender, the bombs ended up saving more lives than it spent, it was part of total warfare, and it was the most efficient way to force Japan to surrender. Part of the necessity of the atomic bombs was Japan’s refusal...
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