4/16/13
The Atomic Bombs The Atomic bombs were dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki on August 6th and 9th of 1945 at the closing of World War Two. The two bombs were the only ever nuclear weapons used in war to date. It destroyed many Japanese cities, caused 90,000–166,000 deaths in Hiroshima, and 60,000–80,000 deaths in Nagasaki. About half of the deaths occurred on the first day, the rest from radiation sickness and with other illnesses. Six days after the last bombing Japan surrendered to the allies, which officially ended World War II. President Truman ordered the use of an atomic bomb if Japan didn’t surrender before August 3rd after meeting with Stalin and Churchill in Potsdam. Truman issued the Potsdam Declaration, in which he cautioned Japan to surrender completely or face “prompt and utter destruction” (Boyer 792). Japan refused the offer and so on August 6th; a bomber was sent out, Enola Gay, from the Marianas Island and dropped a uranium bomb on Hiroshima. The bomb was 300,000 degrees so it reduced houses to ashes and vaporized people. On August 8th, US planes dropped leaflets over japan which warned them that another bomb would be coming if Japan didn’t surrender (Boyer 792). Of course, Japan refused the offer again. The next day, August 14, a plutonium bomb was dropped on Nagasaki. That same day Japan surrendered and the war was over (Boyer 792). The bombs ended the war quickly and avoided an expensive invasion of Japan, which most Americans at the time supported. But after a while some opinions started coming up stating how if America had not bombed Hiroshima and Nagasaki that Japan would have surrendered fairly quickly. There were also others that said that the racism towards the Japanese drove the Americans to decide to support dropping the bombs at the time (Boyer 792). Some critics were convinced that if America had dropped the bombs on an island without any people on it that Japan would have surrendered right then and there. There were opinions that President Truman only decided to drop the bombs because he wanted to end the war before Stalin could enter and share postwar occupation of Japan (Boyer 792). Truman’s biggest concern in his decision for dropping the bomb was to shorten the war and save American lives. The atomic bombs did what they were supposed to do in this situation; they ended the deadliest war in history (Boyer 793).
Overall, if the United States had waited a little while longer to drop the bombs after The Potsdam Declaration instead of three days, and if America had kept threatening Japan they would have most likely surrendered. The first bomb may have been necessary if Japan kept refusing to surrender. But the second bomb on Nagasaki was totally unnecessary, after the devastation of losing that