Atomic bomb Essay

Did the USA need to leave off bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki in 1945? On the sixth of August 1945, the US dropped an atomic bomb on the Nipponese city of Hiroshima,1ushering in the nu slip away age. The bomb ca subprogramd the deaths of over 100,000 people,2with the bulk of the destruction pertaining to innocent civilians. 3 days later, the Americans repeated their secondion at Nagasaki. The aim of the US was non, however, to cause complete annihilation of the Japanese, but to seize the wild nationalism within Japan, close world state of contend two. Arguably, this was achieved, with the Emperor Hirohito broadcasting their surrender on the 15th of August.3 still, was the Americans use of nuclear warfare justified in their bid for world cessation? President of the time Harry Truman stated, I never lost any sleep over my conclusiveness (to drop the Atomic bomb), yet, Americans have since been subject to fierce revisionist denialism that there was not an over riding need t o employ such a controversial tactic.By 1945 Japan was in get outs. America had continuously bombed strategic Japanese locations, and implemented a blockade that had dramatic effects on the nations civilians, suggesting that the Japanese were close to surrender without the implantation of the A bomb. Conversely, the US had witnessed the Japaneses determination to pit to the bitter end , rather than surrender, and their ill fortune to respond to the Potsdam declaration clearly illustrated this. Through analyzing the historical context in which this dramatic act of war occurred it is difficult to come to a sound judgment on the requirement of Americas actions. Due to the consequences that would have triggered if the war had continued, i commit that the US did need to drop the bomb on Hiroshima, however, it was not incumbent to drop the following bomb on Nagasaki.With the break out of World struggle two, Hitlers initial victories captured the imagination of the Japanese militari sts, showing what could be achieved through a program of territorial expansionism. Due to the war, changes occurred in Europes colonial powers, which created a power vacuum in South East Asia, and a perfect stage for Japan to expand their influence as Edwin P Hoyt stated Japans emulation at the lowest level was to replace the Europeans and the Americans as the colonial powersestablishing an AsianFederation. This shift in power however was not supported by the US , creating a poisonous relationship between the two nations that would end in catosptrophy. The US implemented harsh economic sanctions, resulting in an ultimatum for Japan. Japan could both give into the pressure from the US and retreat from South East Asia, or , they could advance to take over the resources of Malaya and the oil fields of the Netherlands East Indies, which would indefinitely leading to war with the US. Historian Hugh brogan affirms Roosevelt was coaxd US would enter the waryet refused to fire the firs t shot. The Japanese planned to adopt a dual approach were upon they would enter into negotiations with the US and prepare for war at the same time. The Japanese believed that war might be avoided if the 1L.Morton, Decision to use the Atomic bomb, Foreign Affairs, 1956.US dropped the sanctions in return for their withdrawal from Indochina however, on the 26th of November Cordell Hull made an unacceptable demand, claiming that the Japanese were required to withdraw from not just Indo China, but also China. Japan deemed this unacceptable, and at the Imperial Conference 1st December 1941 a final decision was made to go to war with the US, and orders were made to carry out a surprise attack on the US naval base of Pearl Harbour.On the 7th of December 1941 the Japanese attacked the American fleet at Pearl Harbour, killing 2388 soldiers 9, in the hopes of knocking the United States out of a Pacific war, allowing them to pursue their strategic and imperialistic goals. However, Japans failu re to achieve total victory meant that the Japanese unified a nation against them, which then mobilised its mighty economy into a war machine that eventually get the better of Japan. The importance in understanding the context which resulted in Japan and US warfare is vital in evaluating whether the US need to drop the Atomic bomb. This macrocosm as it is evident that since the emergence of Japan as world power, the US have been present, and determined to minimise the Japaneses influence. This relationship of dominance , whereby the US hands Japan harsh ultimatums is arguably one of the reasons why Japan refused to surrender in 1945, and will be discussed in depth as the bear witness progresses.As the conflict between the US and Japan developed the Japanese initially stunned the United States with their success, ending the period of European colonial find out in Asia within just 6 months, bringing to fruition the Japanese dream of a Greater East Asia Co Prosperity Sphere. The J apanese razed the creed of European and innocence superiority that had been the bastion of European colonialism in Asia, completely reshaping the political dynamics of Asia. However, intoxicated by their success, rather than consolidating their gains, they still searched for wise opportunities. The consort began their enumerateer attack, however, became aware of the determination that defined Japanese militarism, whereby their soldiers were willing to fight to death, rather than surrender.During December and January 1944 and 1945 the Americans regularly bombed the islands of invasion of Iwo Jima, launched 334 B29s on the large(p) Tokyo killing 83000 people in March, and attacked Okinawa, the site of a major military base10. Thus by July 1945, Japan had few ships and planes to defend itself, and was met with leaflets from the US announcing in advance where the next attack would take place, urging people to surrender. Furthermore, the blockade implemented by the allies was severe ly impacting the Japanese, solidifying that pour d possess was inevitable, yet the Allies heard no news of surrender from the Emperor. Consequently the US began to evaluate the implementation of the A bomb as a obligatory method in order to bring the war to a conclusion. President Truman described the Atomic project as the greatest scientific gamble in history and believes his decision to drop it was unquestionably the right decision, bringing the war to a quick.end, and saving the lives of thousands of Allies. Prior to its use, the Potsdam Declaration was released, informing the Japanese that they must surrender unconditionally or face prompt and utter destruction. (Unknown to the Japanese this was a reference to the A-Bomb). The allies hoped that an invasion of Japan could be avoided if the declaration was accepted, however, with the Japanese failure to reply, the count down to the firstuse of an atomic bomb moved onward. On the 6th of August 1945, the Enola Gay was released ove r the city of Hiroshima12, an unprecedented attack resulting in mass scale destruction. President Truman announced following that If Japan does not now accept our terms they may expect a rain of ruin from the air, the like of which has never been seen on this earth. 13However, despite, the destruction of Hiroshima, the American Government received no communications from the Japanese government in Tokyo, resulting in a second bomb launched on Nagasaki.Consequently, on the 14th of August, after failed attempts of safeguarding his position, the Emperor accepted the Allied terms. Hirohito made an official radio broadcast to the nation, stating should we continue to fightit would lead to the total extinction of human civilisation, 14and on the 2nd of September, aboard the Missouri, the main surrender occurred, ending the conflict in the pacific. The atomic bomb, although causing mass scale disaster, finished the cruel and drawn out conflict, however, does that mean that it was necessary, and can be justified?Perhaps the biggest debate which argues that the bomb was not needed was that fact Japan was in fact already defeated. Dennis Wainstock, author of The decision to drop the bomb believes that the blockade, in conjunction with the B29s attack destroyed Japan, widen the realisation of defeat. Rear Admiral Tochitane Takata said The b29s were the greatest single factor in forcing the Japanese to surrender with Lieutenant General Kawabe believing it is my public opinion our loss in the air lost us the war.16 Furthermore, Japan was economically dependant on foreign sources, thus the blockade favoured the conviction that defeat was inevitable as the Japanese population was starving to death. Additionally, there is significant evidence to support the argument that Japan would have surrended without use of the Atomic bomb, had the US been willing to safe guard the position of the Emperor. The Soviet Union received world from high-level Japanese sources confirming this, which, although many deny American knew about, writing table of War Henry Stimson wrote It was known to us that she had gone so far as to make tentative proposals to the soviet Governmentnot considered seriously.However despite the aforementioned evidence suggesting that the Japanese were already defeated, it is arguable that that did not mean that they would surrender.throughout the war that, despite severe loss, they would rather die, than surrender. The invasion of Iwo Jima and Okinawa resulted in severe casualties, yet the Allies heard no talk of negotiations. Joseph C.Grew, who was the former Ambassador to Japan believed, through intimate experience with the Japanese sentiment and psychology over an extensive period18 that regardless of military defeat, it would be highly unlikely that Japan would of their own initiative surrender. Additionally, Historian Barton Bernstein wrote no one who looks at intransigence of the Japanese militarists should have full confidence in any o ther strategy (apart from the A bomb), 19which affirms Trumans decision that it was necessary in order to bring the war to a quick end. Furthermore, The American public was overwhelmingly behind the atomic bombing of Japan, with the bomb receiving an 85% approbation 20rating, proving that within the context of the disaster, it was not considered to be as controversial as it is with the power of hindsight. From analysing the arguments for and against the US decision to drop the A bomb on Hiroshima it is clear that this controversial act of war is not easily declared right or wrong.However, arguably it is harder to argue on the side of the Allies when it comes to determining the necessity of the second bomb on Nagasaki. After the dropping of the first bomb, the Soviets declared war on Japan, which many historians believe would have been more than enough to convince the Japanese to surrender. As John W. Downer affirms in Unconditional surrender at the Smithsonian, most Japanese accoun ts then and since weigh the soviet declaration of war as being at least as shocking as the Hiroshima bombing. Further supported by Historian Gar Alperovitz, who believes that the shock of a soviet declaration of war would force Japan to realise defeat was inevitable and then clarification of surrender terms (assurance of the Emperor) would produce the surrender ahead an invasion took place. However, the US failed to hear a response in the delegated amount of time, and thusly, launched a second bomb on Nagasaki, resulting in the eventual surrender of Japan. When the US made their decision to drop the atomic bomb on Japan, initiating the nuclear arms race, it was inevitable that Trumans decision would be analysed, causing controversy for age to come.There is a plethora of published work that strongly believes that the US decision toemploy the A bomb was a mistake, and was blatantly not necessary as Japan was so weak indicating that surrender was not far off. Additionally, it cannot be forgotten that the victims of the bomb were primarily innocent civilians, thus from a clean-living point of view, the action cannot be justified. However, Japans militaristic attitude throughout the war consistently affirmed the US belief that Japan would never surrender of their own accord, and the A bomb was a necessary action in order to conclude the war. From analysing both sides of the argument i believe that the US did need to drop the first bomb in order to display to Japan that they did not have any other option but to surrender, however, the dropping of the second bomb was definitely not needed. The bombing of Hiroshima, in conjunction with the entry of the Soviet Union was more than enough to force Japan to surrender, and thusly, the bombing of Nagasaki cannot be justified.BibliographyBooks1. A.Pollock, D.McKinlay, J.Cantwell, infringe in the Pacific 1937-195, McGraw Hill Publications, Australia 2003.2. H.Truman, Memoir Year of Decisions, Garden City 19553. H.L.Stimso n, M.Bundy, On Active Service in peace and War, Harper and Brothers, New York 19484. D.Eisenhower, The white house age Mandate for change 1953-1956, Garden City 1963 5. W.D.Leahy, I was there, Whittlesey House, New York 19506. J.C.Grew, Turbulent Era A diplomatic Record of forty years 1904-1945, Hougton Mifflin Company 19527. H.L.Stimson, The decision to use the Atomic Bomb, week 13 reading 8. K.Doak, Nationalism in Modern Japan, Koninklike 2007,9. E.Cannizzaro, The Law of Treaties beyond the Vienna Convention, Oxford 10. E.P.Hoyt, University Press 2011,Japans war The Great Pacific Conflic, Random House 197111. D.D.Wainstock, The Decision to drop the Atomic Bomb, Prager Publishers, 1996 12. G. Alperovitz, The Decision to drop the Bomb, Vintage Books 1996 Articles1. Barton J. Bernstein, A post war myth, 50000 U.S lives saved, Bulliten of Atomic Scientists, vol 3 no.92. John W. Dower, Unconditional Surrender at the Smithsonian, Week 13 Reading 3. L.Morton, Decision to use the Atomic bomb, Foreign Affairs, 1956Website1.The project of the Nuclear Age recreation foundation.org http//www.nuclearfiles.org/menu/library/ correspondence/stimson-henry/corr_stimson_1945-07-31.htm