Thesis: The factors leading up to the dropping of the atomic bomb was to end the war quickly, prevent Russian expansion into Asia, and to induce surrender upon Japan.
In a quick feat, to try to end the war quicker the Manhattan Project is introduced by the
United States. Many scientists then begin work on nuclear research and later turn into the building of an atomic bomb. The first of two atomic bombs were dropped on August 6, 1945 on
Hiroshima nicknamed “Little Boy” created mass destruction. The factors, leading up to the dropping of the atomic bomb among the many was; to end the war quickly, prevent Russian expansion into Asia, and to induce surrender upon Japan. These atomic bombs although very controversial were needed and President Truman’s order of dropping the bomb was completely justified. The issue of ending the war was a major factor of dropping the atomic bomb.
The ending of the war depended on the atomic bomb and it did end the war much quicker than most people anticipated. Since we used the bomb, we didn’t need to use a land invasion. But if we did use a land invasion, the resource costs would be immense this is because we would need to supply the troops with loads of ammunition, guns, tanks, and trucks. When they were planning the invasion they needed to factor out when to invade. For the reason that if they delayed much after the beginning of November the end of the war would be inevitably delayed back for up to six months. (White House Minutes 6/18/45) Also, if there is a land invasion the
Japanese might fight to the bitter end. A statistic showed that for every 1 American soldier that was killed 22 Japanese were killed. This wasn’t because they were bad fighters, it was cause they were trained to never surrender and fight to their death and honor their country and ultimately their living god: The Emperor. (White House Minutes 6/18/45) Now that we didn’t use a land invasion is because many people in Japan would suffer and the Americans would suffer big time: a supposed 500,000 - 1,000,000 men and resources would be lost. Even though this was true,
General Lincoln thought otherwise, “it is obvious that peace would save lives and resources, but the estimated loss of 500,000 lives due to carrying the war to conclusion under our present plan of campaign is considered to be entirely too high”. (Memorandum for General Hull 6/4/45)
Another issue of the land invasions that the Japanese might be able to get better surrender terms.
Marquis Koichi Kido’s plan was to ask the Soviet Union which maintains neutrality with Japan, to mediate between Japan and the allies. Also, Japan’s minimum peace terms were “security of the Imperial family and vindication of the national policy”, referring to the continuance of the
Emperor system, which Japan believed to be of divine origin. Considering that as long as their
Emperor system can go on and their Imperial Family is safe they are okay with the surrender.
(Marquis Koichi Kido date not stated) There was much disagreement between the scientists about dropping the atomic bomb for instance V. Bush and J.B. Conant think that “by next
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summer this will become a group matter of great military importance, basic knowledge of this matter is widespread and it would be foolhardy to attempt to maintain a security by preserving secrecy”. These men think that the bomb would be very important to the military by the next summer and no one really knows much about the bomb and it would be “foolish” to keep it secret. (Memorandum to the Secretary of War 9/30/44) J.P. Oppenheimer is the lead scientist for the Manhattan
The Atom Bomb 2). The concept of an atomic bomb is not very difficult to understand. When unstable elements such as uranium-235 are bombarded with slow-moving neutrons, the uranium nucleus undergoes fission. Fission splits an atom's nucleus in two, forming two new elements, and releases additional neutrons as well as a considerable amount of energy. The discovery of fission was critical to the creation of the atom bomb. The atomic bomb was created through the idea of the Manhattan Project…
Atomic Disaster A bright light was all the Japanese saw before there death. Some died but most were wounded and died slowly while suffering. Not everyone wanted to keep fighting was it really worth it to drop the atomic bomb knowing women and children would be hurt. The atomic bomb shouldn’t have been dropped. It didn’t only affect the people of that time period, it also effected many generations afterwards. Hiroshima was not only filled with Japanese people, it was also filled with U…
relations 217 Paper #1 Research Question: could have the atomic bombings in Hiroshima and Nagasaki been avoided? The purpose of this research paper is to answer the question could have the atomic bombings in Hiroshima and Nagasaki been avoided? On Monday, August 6, 1945, at 8:15 a.m., the first Atomic Bomb had been codenamed “Little Boy” because it had an explosive force of some 12,500 tons of TNT. “Little Boy” was dropped on Hiroshima by an American B-29 bomber aircraft. The first bomb instantly killed…
December 2013 The Atomic Bomb Secret: A Micro-History By the end of 1945, the Allies won World War II, and were introduced to the atomic bomb after the United States dropped it on Japan in August. At the time, people had mixed opinions about what this bomb would do in terms of international relations, which was an especially important concern, considering that the United Nations was recently formed in order to foster world peace. “International Rivalries and the Atomic Bomb Secret,” an editorial…
Why did the Truman Administration decide to drop the atomic bombs on Japan in 1945? There has been much debate as to why Truman elected to drop the atomic weapons on Hiroshima and Nagasaki in the summer of 1945. Historians have long debated the true purpose to which the atomic bombs were designed to fulfil upon there deployment. The Alperovitz thesis of the 1960 was accepted for many years. The thesis revolved around the idea that the atomic weapons were deployed as diplomatic tools to intimidate…
completely loyal to the emperor Michinomiya Hirohito and would sacrifice their lives for him at a moment’s notice, with ease, most soldiers thought he was a God. The Battle of Okinawa was one of the main battles fought before the dropping of the atomic bomb in which there were many close quarter combat situation, most of the imperial Japanese army were well trained in hand to hand fighting or using their own samurai which 3they carried on them at all times, if a Japanese soldier was hurt or injured…
Morrison US history 2 4/2/2013 An Atomic Mistake On August 6, 1945 the U.S. government, in efforts to spare American lives, chose to illegally drop the devastating atomic bomb on the military oriented city of Hiroshima, Japan. Three days later, after Emperor Hirohito allegedly decided to surrender, President Truman gave the go ahead to drop an additional atomic bomb on the Japanese city of Nagasaki. The earth has never seen such destruction from two individual bombs. These two cities were eliminated…
President Truman's Decision to drop the Atomic Bomb on Hiroshima and Nagasaki During World War II the war in Europe ended after the unconditional German surrender at General Eisenhower's Headquarters in Reims, France, May 7, 1945. "After the unconditional German surrender in Europe the war shifted to Asia and the Pacific. As the war continued against Japan the Allied forces captured islands such as Iwo Jima and Okinaawa close to Japan brought the Japanese homeland within range of naval and air…
Discussion Paper 1 Adam Wilcox On August 6, 1945, the U.S. forced the world to take its first step into the atomic era: without any warning, an American plane dropped a single nuclear bomb on the Japanese city of Hiroshima. About 90,000 people were killed immediately after the bomb hit; another 40,000 were injured, and many of whom died in unfathomable agony from the radiation sickness. Three days later, a second atomic strike on the city of Nagasaki killed some 37,000 people and injured another…
Hiroshima Research Essay: “Was the dropping of the bomb on Japan Justified” It is clear that the atomic bombing of Hiroshima was justified; there are many reasons for this. Prior to the bombing several options had been taken by the Americans to end World War II; however, all of them failed miserably. The actions taken were diplomacy, a naval blockade, conventional bombing and attempted land invasions. The Emperor and his government could not be persuaded to surrender despite the actions, over…
