Over the last sixty-five years, there has been much debate over whether the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki was justified or not. Many people argue that “the allies demand for unconditional surrender was too harsh,” (Takaki 208) but in reality the United States was only looking to end WWII as quickly as possible. As much debate as there was, the final decision had to be made by President Harry Truman. For months the world waited eagerly for the decision that would change everyone’s lives. Truman’s plan to drop the atomic bombs over Japan was absolutely justified. Every president’s main concern during wartime is to save lives and end the war as soon as possible. The United States had already put in billions of dollars into this technology, and they knew there was a really good chance that it could prevent future wars.
Most people are aware that WWII was one of the most detrimental wars in history. Although it was extremely destructive, it gave the United States international control. Even though the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki is mainly thought of as between Japan and the US, there were many other nations involved in WWII. Throughout 1931, the Japanese were invading Japan and taking over Manchuria in order to gain raw materials for its war effort. In 1939, Europeans were fighting back against Adolf Hitler. On September 1, 1939, two days after Germany invaded Poland, Britain and France declared war on Germany because of an alliance treaty they had signed with Poland. Although the United States did not join into the conflict immediately, President Roosevelt was very aware that the United States could not stand firm against war. President Roosevelt’s ideas on neutrality were clear when he said, “This nation will remain a neutral nation, but I cannot ask that every American remain neutral in thought as well.” (Franklin D. Roosevelt) On December 7, 1941 hundreds of Japanese fighter planes attacked the American naval base at Pearl Harbor, thus ending the United States’ neutrality. The allies of WWII consisted of Great Britain, France, Soviet Union, The United States, China, Canada, Poland, Australia, New Zeeland, South Africa, The Netherlands, Czechoslovakia, Belgium, Denmark, and Norway. Unlike the allies of WWII, the axis consisted of hardly any nations. The few nations in the axis were Germany, Italy, and Japan. After the Allies and the axis were distinguished, the war was called the battle against the world for axis power.
While the nuclear bomb was being developed, a code name for it had to be put in place. The government called it the Manhattan Project. In 1938, two scientists named Otto Hahn and Fritz Strassman discovered fission within Uranium. These findings led scientists named Enrico Fermi and Leo Szilard to advance in their comprehension of nuclear chain reactions. There were tons of people throughout America that were terrified of Adolf Hitler discovering how to create an atomic bomb, but the United States government was willing to do anything to keep this project a secret. By 1945, the Manhattan Project became an enormous mission. There were approximately 40,000 laboratories and about 200,000 people working vigorously to finish this development. Albert Einstein, Enrico Fermi, Richard Feynman, J. Robert Openheimer and countless more brilliant scientists all aspired to find a way to harness nuclear energy into a bomb. On July 16, 1945, the first detonation of a nuclear device test was conducted. The United States Army performed the test in the Jornada Del Muerto desert about 35 miles southeast of Socorro, New Mexico. Just like the Manhattan project, the atomic weapons needed to be kept a secret. The code name for this test was Trinity. The victory of the Trinity test guided the scientists to assemble two more atomic bombs. In 1945, the newly assembled bombs were called the little boy and the fat man. The little boy weighed a massive amount of 9,000 pounds. This bomb was released by the b-29 bomber Enola Gay.