As the Second World War was nearing an end, with the surrender of Nazi Germany on May 8, 1945, the United States planned to defeat Japan for the last time. With that, the United States decided to employ the atomic bomb, resulting in millions of lives lost. While the United States had definite reasons for using the bomb on Japan, it had some of its detractors after the end of the war. These reasons included Japan’s perseverance not to surrender, a solution to end the war quickly while having as few casualties in the U.S. military as possible, and these oppositions include being unnecessary, being immoral, and serving as a war crime as well as terrorism.
Earlier, the United States, having learned of Germany’s experiments in developing nuclear fission and its disastrous effects, feared that Germany would construct the atomic bomb first and use it against the rest of the …show more content…
Initially, the bomb was to be used as an aid in this plan, before news of Japan’s surrender arrived. Nevertheless, had the United States let Operation Downfall take place, it would result in “half a million” casualties for the U.S. (Coffey, 1988). In other words, it was against the purpose of the plan. It would have severely affected the United States and not only bring more fatalities to the war, but also prolong the end of the war even further.
With all these reasons put together, Truman opted for the atomic bomb over a military invasion of Japan, seeing it as a means of defeating Japan without bringing casualties to the military as mentioned above, with support from the Allies. The bombing was met with success, as Japan later surrendered to the United States, thus ending the war. However, it opened up to debate about the usefulness of the bomb: was it that necessary to utilize the
Earlier, the United States, having learned of Germany’s experiments in developing nuclear fission and its disastrous effects, feared that Germany would construct the atomic bomb first and use it against the rest of the …show more content…
Initially, the bomb was to be used as an aid in this plan, before news of Japan’s surrender arrived. Nevertheless, had the United States let Operation Downfall take place, it would result in “half a million” casualties for the U.S. (Coffey, 1988). In other words, it was against the purpose of the plan. It would have severely affected the United States and not only bring more fatalities to the war, but also prolong the end of the war even further.
With all these reasons put together, Truman opted for the atomic bomb over a military invasion of Japan, seeing it as a means of defeating Japan without bringing casualties to the military as mentioned above, with support from the Allies. The bombing was met with success, as Japan later surrendered to the United States, thus ending the war. However, it opened up to debate about the usefulness of the bomb: was it that necessary to utilize the