On August 6 and 9 of 1945, the United States deployed the world’s first atomic bombs on the Japanese cities Hiroshima and Nagasaki. The two bombs, code-named “Little Boy” and “Fat Man,” killed over 100,000 people and thousands more during the following months. The use of the two bombs caused lots of controversy and the topic is still largely debated today. Many argue that the use of the bombs ended the war, but that does not justify the usage of them when other alternatives were available. The United States’ decisions to deploy both bombs on Japanese civilians is not justifiable because of the mass killings of civilians, the bombs’ aftereffects, the Japanese government’s ignorance, and the intentions plus results of the usage of the bombs.
…show more content…
Some of the aftereffects of the bombs’ included the complete destruction of the cities, birth defects, radiation damage, psychological damage, and the destruction of food supplies, among others. The decimated cities left survivors without a place to call their home or a job. It left many people lost and without a family to seek comfort in. Many women who were expecting children unfortunately lost them, and if they did survive, they were most likely born with some type of disability. The radiation damage caused many people to develop body mutations and cancer, such as leukemia that affected thousands of children. (Study of the Atom Bomb Victims Stresses Long-Term Damage). Additionally, the psychological damages affected many of the civilians and many “… [Bore] witness to shared psychological traits that include lingering fears, imbalance and breakdowns” (Study of the Atom Bomb Victims Stresses Long-Term Damage). Furthermore, the cities’ once fertile grounds were no longer able to produce food for the remaining population. This created a demand for food in an already devastated environment where everything was now limited, leaving the survivors in an extremely distressed …show more content…
Many historians believe that the bombs were used to put the United States on a dominant imperialistic position in the world and intimidate other nations when it came to postwar rivalry. Their objective was “…to demonstrate the new weapon of mass destruction to the Soviet Union” (Atomic bomb dropped on Hiroshima). The United States’ decision to use the bomb angered Stalin and he even stated that “They are killing the Japanese and intimidating us” (Hiroshima and the Cold War). This was one of the causes of the Cold War, which starting the nuclear race. This made the world powers develop their own nuclear bombs and after several years, many nations had their own bombs and were ready to use them. It is unfortunate that hundreds of thousands of Japanese lives were lost only as a gateway to start other conflicts and possibly the third world war which will certainly involve nuclear warfare accompanied by the deaths of a plethora of
Some of the aftereffects of the bombs’ included the complete destruction of the cities, birth defects, radiation damage, psychological damage, and the destruction of food supplies, among others. The decimated cities left survivors without a place to call their home or a job. It left many people lost and without a family to seek comfort in. Many women who were expecting children unfortunately lost them, and if they did survive, they were most likely born with some type of disability. The radiation damage caused many people to develop body mutations and cancer, such as leukemia that affected thousands of children. (Study of the Atom Bomb Victims Stresses Long-Term Damage). Additionally, the psychological damages affected many of the civilians and many “… [Bore] witness to shared psychological traits that include lingering fears, imbalance and breakdowns” (Study of the Atom Bomb Victims Stresses Long-Term Damage). Furthermore, the cities’ once fertile grounds were no longer able to produce food for the remaining population. This created a demand for food in an already devastated environment where everything was now limited, leaving the survivors in an extremely distressed …show more content…
Many historians believe that the bombs were used to put the United States on a dominant imperialistic position in the world and intimidate other nations when it came to postwar rivalry. Their objective was “…to demonstrate the new weapon of mass destruction to the Soviet Union” (Atomic bomb dropped on Hiroshima). The United States’ decision to use the bomb angered Stalin and he even stated that “They are killing the Japanese and intimidating us” (Hiroshima and the Cold War). This was one of the causes of the Cold War, which starting the nuclear race. This made the world powers develop their own nuclear bombs and after several years, many nations had their own bombs and were ready to use them. It is unfortunate that hundreds of thousands of Japanese lives were lost only as a gateway to start other conflicts and possibly the third world war which will certainly involve nuclear warfare accompanied by the deaths of a plethora of