Historical Turning Point

Superior Essays
A Historical Turning Point

At the end of World War II, civilization experienced a major historical turning point that would lead to much fear and controversy about the morality of our combat related decisions. It sparked more than that though, and even led to the end of WWII as a whole; stunning anyone who saw such devastation. It inspired many to wish for peace, to desire that the mass killings stop. The cause of these events were the nuclear bombing of Japan in Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

The United States was moving inward toward mainland Japan quickly, but the battles grew longer and more bloody each time the forces met. The United States longed for a solution to ending the war quicker with less casualties on the whole between both
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government that it would be the tool they needed to bring the war to a much quicker end. Seeking a Japanese surrender when bombing armed bases and cities, the U.S. prepared to put their destructive works to use. The first atomic bomb, which became known as "Little Boy," was dropped on August 6, 1945 over the Japanese city and military base of Hiroshima at 8:15 a.m. The Japanese had no idea what they had coming for them, but soldiers that were preparing to invade Japan knew that it, their invasion, was not definite. Treachery resulted in the form of 80,000 immediate deaths at the site of the explosion. More would follow in the following months and even years. Meanwhile, back home President Truman was crafting a speech on announcing their, and the world 's, first official use of the atomic bomb. He would go on to deliver it three days later on August 9 over a radio broadcast. This took place just after dropping a second bomb, Fat Man, over Nagasaki. The actual target of this second atomic bomb had been Kokura, Japan, but it had been blocked by cloud cover. Instead it was dropped over Nagasaki, resulting in the instantaneous deaths of 75,000 people, even when it had exploded 1500 feet above the ground by …show more content…
After the dropping of the bombs and the initial blasts, there would be other, equally painful effects on the Japanese people. Several tens of thousands in Japan would die post-explosion due to radiation sickness and other deadly diseases that were caused as a part of intense exposure to heat and radiation. I might mention that one of these deadly diseases that had a terrible impact in this instance, and whose echo is still heard today, was some related cancers. It struck fear, pain, and other suffering into the Japanese people as non-combatants, in addition to the combatants of the war were killed as result of these

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