America Dropped Atomic Bombs on Japan
A flash of blinding light fills the sky.
70,000 civilians living in Hiroshima are killed in an
instant.
In the years to come, 70,000 more will die from radiation
poisoning.
Three days later, a second atomic bomb is dropped on
Nagasaki, annihilating 40,000 men, women, and children.
The United States has detonated the first and only atomic
bombs ever used in a war.
But in doing so, they may have saved millions of lives.
Did the end justify the means? The answer to this question
may make you sick to your stomach and question your morality.
On December 7, 1941, Japanese forces bombed Pearl Harbor.
Planes dove from the sky, slamming into the hulls of U.S. Naval ships.
The Japanese frantically searched the waters for their main
targets, but they were nowhere to be found.
The goal of the attack on Pearl Harbor waste destroys the
United States Pacific Fleet, and the only way to do so was to eliminate its
aircraft carriers.
However, several ships were not docked at the naval base at
the time of the attack as they were out on assignment in the Pacific.
This included the three aircraft carriers that the Japanese
were hoping to destroy.
Over 2,400 Americans lost their lives during the surprise
attack.
From that point on, most of the American population wanted
revenge for the men lost at Pearl Harbor.
In fact, this single moment in history would set in motion
events that would result in the deaths of millions over the course of three and
a half years.
After entering World War II in the Pacific, the United
States was forced to play a deadly game of cat and mouse with Japan.
Their armies hopped from one island to the next, costing men
and resources.
The goal of each side was to control as much of the Pacific
waters as possible.
For the United States, it was a matter of maintaining a
foothold in the region to launch attacks on Japan's main island and end the
war.
For the Japanese, it was a battle to keep control of their
power and force the United States back across the Pacific to their mainland.
There were massive amounts of casualties on both sides.
Civilians that inhabited the islands of the Pacific and East
Asia were caught up in award they had no desire to be in.
Unfortunately, they did not have the power to stop the two
nations from ravaging their homelands.
Neither side would back down, so drastic decisions needed to
be made.
The decision to drop the atomic bombs on Japan started with
the bloodiest conflict in the Pacific, the Battle for Okinawa.
U.S. Forces made their way closer and closer to Japan.
The Japanese knew that if they lost Okinawa, an invasion of
their homeland was imminent.
Each side had everything to lose when the battle started.
The U.S. Codenamed the incursion of Okinawa Operation Iceberg.
On April 1st, 1945, the United States launched the largest amphibious assault in the history of the Pacific Theater.
Boats and amphibious vehicles cruised through the water
loaded with soldiers.
When they reached the shores of the island the ramps lowered
and Marines flooded onto the beaches, they immediately met heavy resistance.
The Imperial Japanese Army already had a stronghold on the
island, and they would not give it up easily.
In fact, the Japanese would rather fight tithe very last man
than surrender this strategic location.
KADENA AIR BASE:
The main objective for U.S. Forces were to take Kadena Air Base, which would then serve as a launching point for Operation Downfall, the name given to the invasion of Japan.
Thousands of Allied ships, planes, and vehicles carried out
attacks across the island, but the Japanese were dug in and ready.
They launched kamikaze counter offensive sand made sure to
strike key targets to slow the Allied advance.
It was a bloodbath for both sides.
The Battle of Okinawa resulted in the highest number of
casualties of any battle in the Pacific.
It’s estimated that somewhere around 160,000military
personnel died while fighting for control of the island.
The United States lost close to 50,000 men while Japan lost
somewhere between 80,000to 115,000 people.
The saddest part is that the biggest loss of life was for
the Okinawans themselves.
Nearly half of the 300,000 people who lived on the island
before the attack died during the battle.
Some were forced to enlist in the Japanese army, while
others were innocent victims caught in the firefights and bombings that took
place across the island.
After months of fighting the United States secured victory
on the island and gained control of the airfield.
However, even once the majority of Japanese forces were
defeated, the Americans still had to contend with guerilla fighters and small
Japanese units sprinkled around the island.
They would hide in the forests and sabotage.
Operations whenever
an opportunity presented itself.
Patrols often found themselves being ambushed out of nowhere
as they let their guard down thinking the enemy threat had been dealt with.
In fact, some Japanese soldiers never received word that the
war had ended and continued fighting for many years after Japan surrendered and
World War II was officially over.
The loss of life and military assets during the Battle of Okinawa gave U.S. Intelligence pauses.
If the Japanese were able to inflict such damage on a small
piece of land hundreds of miles away from their main island, what would it cost
Allied forces if they were to invade Japan itself? The loss of life would be
unimaginable, and it was hypothesized that it would take years to finally
subdue Japanese forces.
If there was another way to force Japan into surrendering, the U.S. Needed to find it quickly. As the Battle of Okinawa raged on in the Pacific, President Franklin D.
Roosevelt died of an
intracerebral hemorrhage in the brain on April12, 1945.
Harry Truman was sworn into office as the next President of
the United States and immediately started making difficult decisions about the war
in the Pacific.
After word reached Truman that Okinawa had been secured at a
great cost, he tasked his advisors with finding a way to force Japan to
surrender.
SOLUTION WITH MINIMAL U.S. Casualties (NO GOOD OPTIONS)
And he wanted it done with minimal U.S. Casualties.
Unfortunately at the time, there was no good option.
It had become clear that Empower Hirohito would not submit
willingly.
In fact, everyone in Japan believed that they would win the
war and were willing to lay down their lives to make sure that happened.
Men, women, and children; military, civilian, and elderly;
all Japanese citizens would rather have died than surrender their country toe
foreign power.
This meant that regardless of what Truman decided to do,
lives would be lost.
The question was: just how many people needed to die in
order for World War II to come to close? Soon after the transition of power
from Roosevelt to Truman, the new president was made aware of a top-secret
weapon that was being developed by scientists in Los Alamos, New Mexico.
It was known as the Manhattan Project—named after the
location of the team’s first office in New York City—and would result in the
world’s first atomic bomb.
After the successful test of the first nuclear bomb ever
created on July 16, 1945, at Alamogordo Bombing Range, Truman believed that the
atomic bomb could be his only way to force Japan into surrendering.
Truman asked a committee of advisors led byte Secretary of
War Henry Stimson to determine if using the atomic bomb on Japan was the best
course of action to end the bloody war.
After seeing the devastating effects of the nuclear
explosion, the committee did not take this task lightly.
Civilian Casualties Would Be Immense:
They knew that if the U.S. Detonated an atomic bomb on Japanese soil, the civilian casualties would be immense.
But it was determined that an invasion of Japan would be
even more costly for both sides.
Most of the committee concluded that the bomb should be
used.
Stimson was a huge advocate that this was the right
decision.
So, under the advisement of the committee, President Harry
Truman issued the Potsdam Declaration on July 26, 1945, which called for the
unconditional surrender of Japan.
Truman warned that if the Japanese Emperor did not comply,
there would be “prompt and utter destruction.
”There was no way that Japanese leaders could have known
what Truman was talking about as they had never seen a nuclear explosion before
or even knew that such a bomb existed.
This is one of the main problems with trying to justify that
using the atomic bomb.
The Potsdam Declaration would have been outrageous to the
Japanese Emperor and his advisors.
They knew that if the United States invaded their island,
they could depend on the masses to fight until the very last person fell.
The Japanese people would not give up their homeland to an
invading enemy and the Japanese leadership was pretty confident that they could
cause enough casualties to the Allied forces that, at the very worst, they
would end up negotiating a truce.
This would allow Japan to make a few demands of their own
such as maintaining control of their country.
However, this was not an option for Allied forces.
They would not negotiate; it was either unconditional
surrender by Japan or nothing.
When Truman did not receive a reply from Emperor Hirohito he
gave the order to drop the bomb.
On August 6, 1945, a Boeing B-29 called Enola Gay took off
from an airfield on Tinian Island.
In its cargo hold was “Little Boy,” the first atomic bomb ever to be used in war. At 8:15 A.M.The Enola Gay spotted Hiroshima.
The crew prepared to drop the bomb and get the hell out of
dodge before it detonated.
The signal was given.
Red lights flashed as the bomb bay doors opened.
Little Boy was dropped 31,000 feet above the city of
Hiroshima.
44 seconds later there was a bright flash the atomic bomb
detonated 1,500 feet before hitting the ground.
Approximately 70,000 people were instantly incinerated by
the blast.
The Japanese finally found out what Truman meant by “prompt
and utter destruction.
”It’s unclear what exactly was being discussed by Japanese leadership immediately after the bomb was dropped, but when no declaration of surrender came three days after Hiroshima was bombed, the U.S. Decided to try again.
On August 9, 1945, a different B-29 named Bockscar carried a
second, larger, atomic bomb named “Fat Man” towards Nagasaki.
The bomb was dropped, and the instant it detonated, 40,000
more Japanese civilian and military personnel were consumed in the fiery blast.
Both Hiroshima and Nagasaki had been wiped off the face of
the planet by the atomic bombs.
Japan was now ready to surrender.
Talks between Japanese leadership and the United States
began, and on September 2, 1945, Japan officially signed documents of surrender
on board the USS Missouri.
The question is: was the use of the atomic bomb justified by
the United States? Was there another way to convince Japan to surrender, or did
tens of thousands of Japanese civilians need to die? We’ll present you with
evidence for both sides of this argument, but you will ultimately have to
decide for yourself.
You may be surprised at which side you choose.
After the atomic bombs were dropped and the United States
occupied Japan, some shocking information was discovered about Japan’s plans
for ending the war.
According to Japanese military officers and soldiers, they knew where the U.S. Invasion was going to land and had already begun preparing to inflict as much damage as possible to their forces.
Their orders were to repel Allied forces fora are long as
possible and inflict casualties by any means necessary.
Most of the Japanese military strategists knew that they
would not be able to stop the invasion.
But it was also known that the island's entire population
would fight until they were all killed.
Surrender was not an option for the Japanese people and they
believed that was better to die fighting than to lose their homeland tithe
invading force.
Knowing this, U.S. Military leaders were convinced that they had made the right decision.
There were over 70 million people who lived on the island,
and it was predicted that everyone from children to grandmas would do their
part to stop the invading Allied forces.
This included makeshift kamikaze runs by civilians using
grenades or other explosives.
The carnage would have been unfathomable.
Therefore, by detonating the atomic bombs, the military concluded that tens of thousands of U.S. Soldiers' lives were saved along with millions of Japanese lives.
WAR IS INHUMANE, WORLD WAR II
Another argument to justify the use of the atomic bomb is
that war itself is inhumane.
The bombs dropped on Japan helped end World War II, and therefore,
it was the right call.
To put it into perspective, in March of 1945, the United
States dropped incendiary bombs on Tokyo.
This caused massive fires to sweep across the city and
consume everything in their path, including civilians.
It is estimated that well over 100,000 people were killed in
the Tokyo bombing.
So, was this any better than dropping an atomic bomb? The
long-term effects of both situations are different.
Over 1 million people lost their homes in the Tokyo bombing,
but those who survived did not need to worry about radiation poisoning and
cancer like the survivors of the atomic bomb blasts.
A home can be rebuilt, but death by radiation cannot be
avoided.
It was also estimated by General MacArthur that even if the
Japanese government was forced to surrender after the invasion, there would
still be countless guerrilla groups that would hide in the forests and
mountains on the island that would need to be dealt with.
They would continuously wreak havoc at U.S. Installations and oppose the new government that would be put in place.
MacArthur concluded it would take a million.
Troops ten years to
deal with the rogue Japanese soldiers.
At that point, the war may have been overrun paper, but the battle would still continue for U.S. Soldiers stationed in Japan.
It’s also important to note that many Japanese people still
thought that they could win the war even after the atomic bombs were dropped.
The Emperor himself needed to declare the war over, or the
people of Japan would keep on fighting.
The atomic bombs forced Japanese leadership to concede and
to tell their citizens that they had lost the war and it was now time for
peace.
This led to several civilian and military groups taking up
arms and revolting against their own government as they believed there should
be no surrender.
But these attempts to overthrow the government were put down
by the Japanese military, and the unconditional surrender commenced.
ARGUMENT THAT HARRY TRUMAN USED
A less strong argument for using the atomic bomb, yet one
that Harry Truman used after he left office, was that Japan started it.
This may sound childish but many Americans wanted revenge
for what the Japanese did at Pearl Harbor.
In 1958, the City Council of Hiroshima passed resolution
condemning Truman for ordering the atomic bomb to be dropped on their city.
Truman responded that he did not blame the council for
condemning what he did, but he claimed the United States had “been shot in the
back,” referencing the attack at Pearl Harbor.
1 BOMB SAVED HUNDREDS OF THOUSANDS OF CIVILIANS
He concluded his letter back to the council that the atomic
bombs saved hundreds of thousands of Americans and Japanese lives.
Therefore, it was justified.
Some historians think that the American people would have
forced Truman to use the atomic bomb even if he had decided not too initially.
As more and more American soldiers died in the war and
information about the successful test of a nuclear bomb in New Mexico got out,
the public would have pressured Truman tousle the new weapon of mass
destruction, or they would be happy to elect someone to office who would.
It’s hotly debated whether demonstrating the capability of
the atomic bomb by dropping it on an uninhabited piece of land for the Japanese
to see would have been enough to cause them to surrender.
Many scientists in Truman's initial committee of advisors
believed that this show of force would indeed have been enough.
However, the military personnel felt differently.
The Japanese people were so invested in the war that merely
demonstrating the atomic bomb’s potential may have been seen as an empty
threat.
Therefore, it was concluded that the bomb must be dropped on
a city that had military significance.
The decision of which cities to bomb did not fall to Truman
but to military leaders.
Both Hiroshima and Nagasaki were chosen because they had
military manufacturing facilities.
However, this does beg the question: why couldn’t the bomb
just have been dropped on a military facility away from any major cities? There
were plenty of Japanese bases that were isolated from civilian populations, so why
couldn’t one of these have been the target? This question has also been debated
over the decades without any clear answer as to why hitting a military base
couldn’t have been tried first.
This brings us to an unsettling idea.
Maybe dropping the atomic bombs on two Japanese cities was
not justified.
The main reason why many believe that dropping the atomic
bombs was unethical is that the.
Military
intentionally targeted civilian populations.
Many believe that the United States used terrorist-like
tactics to force the Japanese government to surrender.
Even current military ethics courses in the United States
make justifying the dropping of the atomic bombs difficult.
When tough decisions need to be made during war and
collateral damage is inevitable, the proportionality of benefit to cost needs Tobe
weighed.
It’s agreed upon by many military officials and historians
today that the destruction of military targets at Hiroshima and Nagasaki was
nowhere near proportionate to the loss of civilian life.
This makes dropping the bombs on these cities an
unjustifiable choice.
SOUTHERN PART OF KYUSHU
For people who think dropping the atomic bomb was necessary
but that a military target should have been chosen, it’s often cited that the
bomb should have been dropped in the southern part of Kyushu.
It was here where Japanese troops were massing to mount a defense against the U.S. Invasion.
Not only would this have been of strategic significance, but
it would have minimized the civilian casualties by targeting an area that was
mostly filled with military personnel.
And although some believe that dropping a demonstration bomb
wouldn’t have resulted in Japan surrendering, not everyone sees it this way.
If the United States had detonated a bomb where high-ranking
Japanese officers could see it, it’s very plausible they would recommend to the
Emperor that peace talks should begin immediately.
Also, if the demonstration didn’t work, the next option
still wouldn’t have to be blowing up a city full of civilians, as they could
have tried dropping the bomb on a military base first.
But the fact that the very first target was a densely
populated city where 70,000 people were obliterated by a single bomb seems like
an extreme first choice when there were other, more justifiable options.
Many historians also believe that if a demonstration atomic
bomb was used, the Emperor of Japan would be willing to enter negotiations.
Although it’s probable the U.S. Would have refused this option as they wanted Japan’s unconditional surrender.
But it has been argued that if the United States had been
willing to negotiate, Japan would have come to the table after an atomic bomb
demonstration.
In fact, even without a demonstration, it’s thought that
most high-ranking officials in the military and government already knew the war
was lost.
NEGOTIATION ROOM
So, it’s not out of the realm of possibility that if the
United States had been willing to let Emperor Hirohito stay in power, Japan
would have surrendered.
This would have all been possible without the mass murder of
over 100,000 civilians by atomic bombs.
But there was another factor that would have almost
certainly led to the surrender of Japan.
It had nothing to do with nuclear explosions or the United
States.
Instead, at the same time the U.S. Was dropping its second atom bomb, the Soviet Union declared war on Japan.
There was no way that Japan could have defeated both the U.S. And Allied forces in the Pacifica’s well as the Soviet Union advancing from the west.
Japan knew this, and it’s very plausible that if the United
States had waited for the Soviet Union to declare war on Japan, they would
never have had to drop the atomic bombs in the first place.
Japan’s plan at the time was to cause enough American losses
that they would be forced to negotiate a settlement.
The average Japanese citizen and soldier might have believed
that Japan could still win the war, but the leadership was not under the same
delusion.
They were just weighing their options and trying to figure
out the best outcome.
However, once the Soviet Union declared war on Japan, it was
only a matter of time before they became overwhelmed on multiple fronts.
As soon as the Soviet Union joined the battle, they steamrolled
their way through Japanese lines in Manchuria and pushed deeper and deeper into
Japanese controlled territories.
Once this happened Japan likely would have sought out a deal
with the United States even if they hadn’t dropped the atomic bombs.
The reason for this is because Japan already knew that if
the Soviets invaded, it would have been a very different type of occupation
than if the United States was in charge.
Japan likely already had information about the way that
occupied territories in Europe were being treated by the Allies versus the
Soviets.
The Soviets did not have the best reputation.
They tended to incorporate territories into the Soviet Union
and brutally strip them of their national identity.
Knowing this, Japan may have seen occupation by the United
States as a better option if they were to surrender.
And since the Soviets were closing in quickly, Japan may have reached out to the U.S. And surrendered even if the atomic bombs hadn’t been dropped.
And if this is the case, then the atomic bombs dropped on
Hiroshima and Nagasaki were not justified at all.
There is no doubt that at the time, the majority of the
American public believed using the atomic bomb was completely justified.
In fact, a Gallup poll that was conducted almost immediately
after the bombs were dropped in 1945 found that 85% of Americans approved of
the decision.
This is a huge amount of support, which may be why Truman
felt pressure to give the order.
It is important to remember that although Truman authorized
the use of atomic weapons, a committee of military personnel made the decision
of where to strike.
In a Pew survey conducted in the last several years, the
sentiment of the American people has changed drastically about the use of atomic
bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
Now only around 50% of U.S. Citizens believe it was justified. There are probably several reasons for this.
For one, many of the people who were alive during World War
II and were impacted by Pearl Harbor are no longer with us.
People who are further removed from such a tragic event tend
to have less emotional investment and, therefore, may think more critically
about a decision that cost the lives of over100, 000 civilians.
We also now know much more about the long-term effects that
nuclear weapons can have on people and the terrible diseases that can result
from radiation poisoning.
Many individuals don’t think anything justifies killing so
many civilians, even during a World War.
This is especially true since there were other options
besides dropping the atomic bombs on heavily populated cities.
UNDEFINEABLE FACTS
There are arguments to be made for both sides of the atomic
bomb debate, but there are a few undeniable facts.
The United States targeted cities with civilians when they
had the option of demonstrating the power of the atomic bomb on uninhabited
land or against strictly military personnel.
The Japanese were also probably willing to sit down for
peace talks even without the bombs being dropped, especially after the Soviet
Union declared war on them.
All that being said, the atomic bombs definitely played a
major role in forcing Japan to surrender and ending World War II.
If the United States had invaded the main island of Japan,
many more people would have died than perished as a result of the atomic bombs.
This does not necessarily justify the use of atomic weapons
on Hiroshima and Nagaski, but it does make you think if it was the best option
in a really bad situation.