INTRODUCTION
The practice of shock-and-awe is an important part of the United States military practices. To display such spectacular force and power that it will make the opponents want to drop their guns and flee is exactly what was intended from the use of atomic bombs. While the Japanese were the literal militant targets of the bombs, one may argue that the real reason for these attacks was the growing influence of the Soviet Union. The saving of potential lives is just a positive aspect of this show of American power and consequence of the use of atomic diplomacy. Declassified military documents in the 1960s by both the U.S. and British government led to debate by historical revisionists who claimed the government had ulterior motives in the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. A topic that is fiercely debated by scholars is, “was this the best possible thing that the Allied governments could have done in this situation?” The research question, “which theory best explains the reasoning behind the United States dropping atomic bombs on Japan in World War II” analyzes and compares theories both in favor and against the United States using nuclear warfare on the …show more content…
An estimated 60,000 to 70,000 deaths with 140,000 casualties were the result of bombing Hiroshima and Nagasaki. This is compared to the estimated deaths of just American lives that would be killed in the planned Operation Downfall, an Allied invasion into Japan. This totals about 500,000 American deaths, and would likely have killed millions of British, Soviet, and Japanese soldiers as well. (Coffey) As well as deaths of soldiers, morale would be hurt by an invasion which would be prolonged for a significant amount of time. Harry Truman recounts this in his statement following the bombing of Nagasaki saying in a radio address to American
The practice of shock-and-awe is an important part of the United States military practices. To display such spectacular force and power that it will make the opponents want to drop their guns and flee is exactly what was intended from the use of atomic bombs. While the Japanese were the literal militant targets of the bombs, one may argue that the real reason for these attacks was the growing influence of the Soviet Union. The saving of potential lives is just a positive aspect of this show of American power and consequence of the use of atomic diplomacy. Declassified military documents in the 1960s by both the U.S. and British government led to debate by historical revisionists who claimed the government had ulterior motives in the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. A topic that is fiercely debated by scholars is, “was this the best possible thing that the Allied governments could have done in this situation?” The research question, “which theory best explains the reasoning behind the United States dropping atomic bombs on Japan in World War II” analyzes and compares theories both in favor and against the United States using nuclear warfare on the …show more content…
An estimated 60,000 to 70,000 deaths with 140,000 casualties were the result of bombing Hiroshima and Nagasaki. This is compared to the estimated deaths of just American lives that would be killed in the planned Operation Downfall, an Allied invasion into Japan. This totals about 500,000 American deaths, and would likely have killed millions of British, Soviet, and Japanese soldiers as well. (Coffey) As well as deaths of soldiers, morale would be hurt by an invasion which would be prolonged for a significant amount of time. Harry Truman recounts this in his statement following the bombing of Nagasaki saying in a radio address to American