positioned. They were hoping to take out the Navy and were
almost successful. The aircraft carriers were expected to be in the harbor, but luckily were not. Although the attack may have been a military success in the minds of the Japanese it became a huge mistake in the final analysis. One reason it was a mistake was it caused the U.S. to enter the war.
We were the ultimate cause to Japan losing the war. Secondly it made the Americans angry and determined to destroy the Japanese. Many congressmen volunteered for active duty, asking for a one day respite to cast their vote for war. Also recruiting offices were flooded with young patriots who wanted to help there country out. This attack was just an example of what could have happened if the war had continued. If the war had continued another attack on U.S. soil could have taken place. This could have turned the
6,000 dead American civilians into many more dead civilians.
That number could have kept rising until the war was over.
The war was a horrible thing. It lasted six years and could have lasted longer; with death and destruction increasing every year. Ending such a horrible thing should be reason enough to drop the atomic bomb. The cruelty of the Japanese at such places as Bataan and Nanking was horrible and needed to be stopped. Although the atomic bomb caused much death devastation it indirectly saved lives. America made their power known by frightening other European powers. This bombing has serviced to prohibit future attacks on American soil. The atomic bomb was the best solution the US used. The atomic bomb may have killed thousands, but it saved millions.
World War II was the costliest war in history, in
terms of lives lost. No exact figures exist, but approximately between 15 and 20 million military personnel
were killed. Of these, 292,000 were Americans and 6,000
innocent United States citizens were murdered by our
enemies. The Japanese suicidal fighting strategies greatly effected this number. The Japanese would rather die than surrender. This is demonstrated by the battle of Saipan. At this battle over half of the population of Saipan walked off a cliff instead of surrendering to the United States. This was often very effective. Many times when a Japanese soldier decided to blow himself up instead of surrendering he would kill many Americans with the same blast. Also the kamikaze techniques of the Japanese fighters killed many soldiers. If this war would have continued we could have lost thousands more.
Up to this point we spent 300 billion dollars on war
efforts. Many materials and other objects were damaged. Any estimate on how much money was lost in damages would be useless. This number would have continued to rise if it had not been for the use of the atomic bomb.
How can anyone come to the conclusion that the dropping of the bombs was a travesty, and killed lives that didn’t need to be killed. Japan lost almost two million people during the war, and yes one tenth of the deaths were civilian, and as a result of the bombings. But this was war, and the United States had to make the point that they were on the upper hand in the war, and that any further fighting would only lead to more Japanese and American deaths. And all the Germans got was a mere slap on the wrist, if that, for the horrible events that took place during the holocaust.
How can the Germans deserve no punishment from their victims, yet the Japanese still remember that event as a mistake we made. Clearly the Japanese weren’t listening to what we had to say, so to fully get their attention, the atom bombs were the sole resort.
If the Japanese had aspirations to sign a peace agreement with us, than they should have come out and said it, instead of speaking through Russians to mediate a peace agreement. With this, the Americans had no way of knowing if this was just rumor. And also, the only option for peace was an unconditional surrender, to prevent further war as had come from the first world war. The atom bombs on two memorable Japanese cities was the right thing to do, for both us and Japan.
There was no possible way of convincing Japan into and unconditional surrender. An armistice is one thing, but an agreement to allow the United States to act upon the Japanese as they felt fit wouldn’t’ have been achieved. Any country who sends out marines on planes overloaded with bombs as a thought of ultimate salvation for their country is not going to have their men sign to an unconditional surrender. And as for an invasion, it was out of the question. The whole point of the bombs was to prove once and for all to Japan that they were weak, and the Americans were strong.
In doing so, there would be no point in sending further American troops to fight and die when unnecessary. Also, an invasion could have proved unsuccessful, after all without the home field advantage, the Americans wouldn’t have had enough defenses set up and ready to fir on command. Of the three possible choices, whether invasion, convincing to surrender, or bombing, the bombing of Japan was the best choice, and succeeded in its purpose.
As far as an impact on the present time while the bombing went on, it was a way of nonverbally declaring to the world that the United States was the number one power, and that any future attempt for war against the great nation would be a waste of time. And ultimately the bomb was a window to ending the war short-term and did what it was intended to do. Not one more battle was fought, not one more life was wasted after the surrender of Japan as a result of the bombings. It could have been a few more years of fighting if and invasion would have started. Or a simple “no” for a response after a suggestion for a surrender of Japan by the United States could have sparked further hatred and will to fight. If the current world was to be preserved in peace, the two atom bombs were a great choice.
Putting into consideration the long-term effects of bombing Japan, the United Stated would have been stupid not to have bombed Japan. World War 2 came just 20 years after World War 1 had ended. In this case it has been more than 50 years of peace within the world, with only a few minor conflicts. The bombing then and now proved to the rest of the countries of the world that the United States couldn’t be matched militarily and would be better of as a peacekeeper as it would seem, among the other nations. Any conflict that the US had joined after the second World War was with choice and with intents to make the world a better place. On no other occasion has the United States been threatened by another country or forced to fight. No other country has had any intent to spark up a conflict with the US because they know of the great power of America. There will not be any World War 3 because the United States will not allow such. Any disputes between nations will be solved by the always helpful US, unless anyone would decide to act negatively upon the problem-solver, which won’t happen. The bombings of Japan stopped the possibility of a further globe involved war, and will continue to do so for many years to come. The forming of the United Nations with the United States with a major say on issues, will preserve global peace for many lifetimes.
As of now the term “World War 3” doesn’t exist among historians, and will not. The American bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki ended all of the major wars. Japan had quickly learned to put the bombings behind them and continue to function as a country. With the knowledge that defeat was imminent, Japan surrendered t the US and has continued to be with the United States the most economically stable and technologically advanced countries in the world. History must be learned so that past events must not happen again, and that understanding must come from past events. The bombing of Japan was the only time in which any country has used a weapon of that great of power, and hasn’t been used since. Not on one occasion since then has any situation arisen in which a bombing would settle world affairs. But it was acceptable in that case because the use of the bomb was worth the loss that came from it, and didn’t fail in ending the war against Japan. Stopping a second world war after the first was impossible because a weapon of such quality was never invented yet. But since the infamous day that America first bombed Japan, there has been no world war, there has been no need.
Bibliography
Richardson & Steirman, Inc. The Secret History of World War II. New your: Richard & Steirman, Inc., 1986
Morison, Samuel Eliot. The Two-Ocean War. Boston: Little, Brown and Company, 1963
http://www.WWIIveterans.com/History/HiroshimaNagasaki.net [The Bombing of Two Japan Cities] By: Joasha Smith
Richardson & Steirman(page103)
Richardson & Steirman(page143)
Richardson & Steirman(page32)
Richardson & Steirman(page33)
