In 1939 a war started that would change the world forever, World War Two. The allies were battling the axis powers ardently and viscously. On December 7, 1941, Pearl Harbor, a U.S. naval base, was attacked by the Japanese, outraging the U.S. and emotionally scarring many Americans. This event then caused the U.S. to enter World War two, on side of the allies. In the west, Britain was fighting Germany, and in the pacific it was the United States versus Japan; both sides determined to come out on top with the most power. The axis powers were eventually defeated. On August 6, 1945 an atomic bomb, the first of its kind, was dropped on Hiroshima, devastating the city. When surrender wasn’t given from Japan, another bomb was dropped a few days later on Nagasaki. These two devastating blows on Japan lead to surrender. WWII lasted between 1939 and 1945; however, its effects lingered due in part to the United States decision to drop an atomic bomb on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. The United State’s decision to drop an atomic bomb influenced and continues to influence multiple parts of modern society such as weapon usage, U.S. relations with other countries, and the emotions of the people of the world.
World War Two was predominately a struggle of power between two forces. On one side were the allies, including: United States, Britain, France, USSR, Australia, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, China, Denmark, Greece, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Poland, South Africa, and Yugoslavia. On the other side are the Axis Powers: Germany, Italy, Japan, Hungary, Romania, and Bulgaria. When the United States entered the war, after the attack of Pearl Harbor, they went straight to battling Japan in the pacific. Japan was on a winning streak at first but then the United States gained momentum and the tables turned. The United States needed to end the war, causality rates begun rising and rising. There was a clear need for the United States to end the conflict and end the war.
Research was conducted through a project named “The Manhattan Project” for a new, powerful, weapon that would facilitate in the United States ending the war. The Manhattan Project, which remained in extreme secrecy, was made up of approximately 200,000 people including some of the greatest scientists of all time, such as Albert Einstein. Once the bomb was developed in 1945, the following decisions were tough. First off, did United States want to be the first country to introduce an atomic weapon, the most powerful weapon of its time? Henry Stimson recognized the weapon as “the most terrible weapon in human history” noting that “modern civilization may be completely destroyed” in his memorandum with the president. However Truman wanted and needed to end the war. Continuation of the war meant only more U.S lives lost. The U.S had to determine a target. As Henry Stimson said in his diary on May 14, “I call it a Royal Flush and we mustn’t be a fool about the way we play it.” There was no time for error in planning the usage of the atomic bombs. Clearly it would be Japan, but what city? There are multiple factors that come into play such as has the city been previously bombed? If not, that was a possible target. How large is the city? What is the weather like and when is the soonest possible denotation date? The United States would have to come up with three possible targets between Tokyo and Nagasaki. Multiple cities were taken into consideration such as Tokyo Bay, Kawasaki, Nagoya, Yokohoma, etc.; however, through extensive studies performed by Dr.Lansburg of the Manhattan project, Hiroshima was decided to be the primary target. It was the largest, untouched city, and weather in that area allowed for detonation to take place in august. The second city decided was Nagasaki.
The United States had everything set up to end the war; The U.S. knew how much power was in their hands. There was time between the decision to drop the bombs and actual detonation, and in this time, Japan was