The\u00a0atomic bombing of Japan\u00a0at the end of\u00a0World War II\u00a0by the United States is one of the most debated and controversial topics in all of history. Since the bombing in 1945, historians have debated whether or not the United States was justified in using the two atomic bombs to end the war.\u00a0 Some have argued in favor of the use of the bombs for a range of reasons, including: it ended the war, it saved the lives of millions, and it was necessary for the emerging\u00a0Cold War\u00a0with the Soviet Union.\u00a0 Others have argued against the use of the bombs, with evidence such as: it was not needed, it was inhumane and it led to the modern atomic age and threat of nuclear war.\u00a0 Still others argue that perhaps the first bomb used against Hiroshima was justified but that the second used against Nagasaki was not.\u00a0 Read below to learn more specific information about the main reasons against the use of the atomic bombs by the United States.\u00a0 Alternatively, click to read about the\u00a0main reasons in favor of the use of the bombs\u00a0and why some historians believe the United States was justified.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Many historians have argued that the atomic bombing of Japan at the end of World War II was not necessary and unjustified. There have been several key reasons developed to support this position, such as:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
First, some historians argue that the atomic bombing of Japan was not justified because they consider the use of the bombs to be inhumane.\u00a0 In general, bombs of any sort are devastating and can cause widespread damage and death.\u00a0 For example, in World War II, the German city of\u00a0Dresden\u00a0was famously fire-bombed to near total destruction by the Allied nations.\u00a0 However, some historians have argued that the toxic radiation present in atomic bombs made them fundamentally immoral.\u00a0 For example,\u00a0Robert Oppenheimer, who was an American physicist and is sometimes referred to as the \u201cfather of the atomic bomb\u201d for his role in the\u00a0Manhattan Project, comment on the dangers of the atomic bombs in a top secret memo from May of 1945.\u00a0 In the memo he stated \u201cThe active material of the bomb itself is toxic. There is about 10,000,000,000 times as much toxic material initially in the bomb itself as is needed for a single lethal dose.\u201d\u00a0 This level of radiation caused the immediate death of any person close enough to the initial blast, but more importantly it caused severe and painful burns on others that were just outside of the blast radius.\u00a0 Some people have argued that the burns and toxic radiation caused by the atomic blasts were beyond what is acceptable in a war.\u00a0 Therefore, it has been argued that the bombs were inhumane and should not have been used.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Further to the idea that the bombs were inhumane because of the injuries they caused, others have suggested that the United States was unjustified in using the two atomic bombs to end World War II because they caused excessive destruction of both Hiroshima and Nagasaki.\u00a0 On August 6th, 1945, the American B-29 plane, Enola Gay, dropped the atomic bomb Little Boy on the Japanese city of Hiroshima. The bombing instantly killed 70,000 to 80,000 Japanese in the city and tens of thousands more due to radiation exposure. Three days later on August 9th, the United States dropped another atomic bomb, named the Fat Man, on the city of Nagasaki. The bombing of Nagasaki would kill another 40,000 people.\u00a0 The atomic bombs on Japan were the single deadliest weapons in all of human history and remains so still today.\u00a0 Beyond killing many people the atomic bombs also caused massive destruction in both cities.\u00a0 For instance, the atomic bombing of Hiroshima on August 6th, 1945 ended in the destruction of 90% of the city. The initial blast and the resulting fires ravaged the city. It was made worse by the fact that many of the buildings in the city were constructed out of wood and paper.\u00a0 Crew members of the Enola Gay commented after about seeing much of the city on fire as they flew away from the city.\u00a0 Some historians have argued that this widespread destruction of the cities was immoral and therefore the United States was not justified in its use of the atomic bombs.\u00a0 In addition to the destruction of the city, some historians have argued that the two atomic bombs should not have been used because they caused the deaths of largely innocent civilians who lived in the two cities. \u00a0Hiroshima and Nagasaki were not military targets and as such, many innocent children and women were killed from the powerful blast of the bombs.\u00a0 Some people have suggested that the United States should not have used the atomic bombs for this reason and should have instead carried out smaller bombing raids which could more easily target specific military targets.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The next main reason for why the atomic bombing of Japan by the United States was unnecessary and unjustified is that some historians now suggest that Japan was nearly defeated and seeking a way to surrender.\u00a0 This argument holds that since Japan was on the verge of defeat, they could have been forced to give up formally through different means.\u00a0 For example, when the war in the\u00a0Pacific Theater\u00a0began in 1941, with\u00a0Japan\u2019s surprise attack of Pearl Harbor, Japan was at its height of power and controlled large sections of the south Pacific Ocean.\u00a0 However, by the summer of 1945 the United States had successfully pushed back the Japanese with its strategy known as \u2018island-hopping\u2019.\u00a0 This strategy saw the United States forces leapfrog Japanese held island in the South Pacific in order to more quickly advance to Japan\u2019s main home islands.\u00a0 As such, by August of 1945, Japan was essentially limited to its main home islands and no longer had the ability to fight back in a meaningful way.\u00a0 Therefore, some historians have argued that the United States did not have to use the two atomic bombs to force Japan to formally surrender.\u00a0 In fact, some people have suggested that Japan was seeking a way to surrender while making sure Emperor Hirohito would not be removed or harmed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
This idea was strengthened by the fact that not all members of the American military or leadership supported the atomic bombing of Japan.\u00a0 For example,\u00a0Dwight Eisenhower, who was the Supreme Commander of the Allied Expeditionary Forces in Europe during World War II and later became the 32nd President of the United States, famously disagreed with the use of the bombs.\u00a0 The following statement highlights his feelings on the atomic bombing of Japan. \u201cIn 1945, Secretary of War Stimson visited my headquarters in Germany, [and] informed me that our government was preparing to drop an atomic bomb on Japan. I was one of those who felt that there were a number of cogent reasons to question the wisdom of such an act…. During his recitation of the relevant facts, I had been conscious of a feeling of depression and so I voiced to him my grave misgivings, first on the basis of my belief that Japan was already defeated and that dropping the bomb was completely unnecessary, and second because I thought that our country should avoid shocking world opinion by the use of a weapon whose employment was, I thought, no longer mandatory as a measure to save American lives. It was my belief that Japan was, at that very moment, seeking some way to surrender with a minimum loss of ‘face.’ The Secretary was deeply perturbed by my attitude, almost angrily refuting the reasons I gave for my quick conclusions.\u201d\u00a0 This statement shows that not all of the military leadership in the United States supported the use of the two atomic bombs in World War II.\u00a0 As such, some historians have used this to show that the United States was unjustified for using the bombs against Japan because it did not have complete support at the time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Based on the previous two points (Japan was already nearly defeated and the use of the bombs was not totally supported) historians who disagree with the use of the atomic bombs have argued that the United States could have forced Japan to surrender by using several different strategies.\u00a0 First, some have suggested that the United States could have carried out a naval blockade of the island nation and forced the Japanese leadership into surrendering.\u00a0 The blockade would have prevented any resources from entering the country and would have forced Japan into a situation where they did not have enough resources to survive.\u00a0 Therefore, this would have forced them to surrender before they reached a crisis point.\u00a0 Second, some historians have proposed the idea that the United States could have used the atomic bombs in a different way that didn\u2019t directly harm innocent civilians.\u00a0 For example, it has been argued that the United States could have dropped an atomic bomb in an unpopulated area of Japan or in the harbor of a major city as a way of demonstrating the power of the technology without causing mass deaths.\u00a0 Others have suggested that the United States could have sent the Japanese leaders video footage of the atomic tests carried out during the Manhattan Project, such as the Trinity Test.\u00a0 Some have suggested this may not have been effective, but many contend that the Japanese leaders may have surrendered if shown the destruction of the weapon first.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Another argument against the use of the atomic bombs as the end of World War II was that it was immoral for the United States to use two atomic bombs against Japan so quickly together.\u00a0 For example, while some people agree that an atomic bomb may have been necessary to end the war, many argue that two atomic bombs went too far especially considering the time period.\u00a0 The first atomic bomb was used against Japan on August 6th, 1945 on the city of Hiroshima.\u00a0 The United States dropped the second atomic bomb just three days later on August 9th on the city of Nagasaki.\u00a0 Some historians have argued that this was not a long enough period between the two bombings for the Japanese leaders to truly consider surrender.\u00a0 Considering the technology of the time period, the Japanese leaders in Tokyo may not have believed that Hiroshima was truly devastated and may have needed more time to learn of the destruction.\u00a0 Some people have argued that the United states did not wait long enough before using the second bomb and was unjustified.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The next argument against the use of the atomic bombs was that the United States only used it as a way of scaring the Soviet Union. During World War II, the Allied nations of Britain, the United States and the Soviet Union faced off against the Axis nations of Nazi Germany, Italy and Japan.\u00a0 As the European Theater of the war came to an end, the main Allied nations famously met in a series of conferences (Yalta and Potsdam) to decide how to best handle the end of the war and the defeat of Germany.\u00a0 It is at these conferences that a divide or conflict began to emerge between the Soviet Union and the United States.\u00a0 For example, the Potsdam Conference is now viewed as a major event in the Cold War, because it highlighted the divide between Stalin and the other two leaders (Winston Churchill of Britain and Harry S. Truman of the United States). Neither side trusted the other and Joseph Stalin was resentful of the other two\u00a0believing\u00a0that they delayed the\u00a0Normandy Invasion\u00a0and\u00a0Allied invasion of Italy\u00a0during World War II\u00a0to cause the Soviet army to struggle alone against\u00a0Nazi Germany. It was at the Potsdam Conference that Truman made Stalin aware of the American atomic weapons program (Manhattan Project) and that the Americans had developed the world’s first atomic bomb. \u00a0As well, Truman was incredibly suspicious of Stalin and his intentions and Stalin felt a similar way towards Truman. \u00a0In general terms, the seeds of the Cold War were planted at the Potsdam Conference. \u00a0The United States bombed Hiroshima just days after the conference ended and World War II was over in the just a few weeks, while the\u00a0Cold War\u00a0was just beginning.\u00a0 Today, many historians view the bombing of Japan at the end of World War II as a way of the United States signalling\u00a0to the Soviet Union their capabilities.\u00a0 Since a divide was occurring between the two nations, some argue that the United States used the bombing of Japan as a means of warning the Soviet Union against carrying out any sort of conflict.\u00a0 Therefore, some people criticize the use of the atomic bombs by the United States because they killed thousands of Japanese people as a way of scaring the Soviet Union.\u00a0 This strategy, if true, shows that the United States did not need to use the atomic bombs to end the war and was therefore unjustified.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The final argument that people use as evidence against the use of the atomic bombs in World War II, is that they led to the nuclear arms race in the years that followed.\u00a0 At the outset of the\u00a0Cold War, the United States was the only nation in the world to contain atomic weapons, such as those used against Japan in 1945.\u00a0 As such, the Soviet Union was not able to militaristically challenge the United States and worked to develop their own atomic weapons.\u00a0 However, on August 29th, 1949, the Soviet Union performed a test of their first atomic bomb codenamed \u2018First Lighting\u2019.\u00a0 Throughout the rest of the Cold War, the United States and Soviet Union each stockpiled thousands of nuclear weapons.\u00a0 As well, each superpower challenged the other for supremacy and developed more powerful weapons.\u00a0 By the 1950\u2019s each country had developed enough nuclear weapons to destroy the other.\u00a0 This development was an important aspect of the Cold War, as the stockpiles of nuclear weapons acted as a means of defense.\u00a0 Essentially, each nation was deterred from going to war with other, or from escalation tensions, due to the fear of a nuclear war.\u00a0 Historians refer to this idea as Mutual Assured Destruction (M.A.D.) since any escalation to war could result in the total destruction of both countries.\u00a0 Therefore, some people argue that with the atomic bombing of Japan, the United States caused the nuclear arms race among different nations around the world.\u00a0 This has arguably made the world a more dangerous place since some very unstable nations contain nuclear weapons.\u00a0 As such, some historians criticize the United States for using the atomic bombs in 1945.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In conclusion, historians have identified several main reasons against the use of the atomic bombs, but it remains an extremely controversial topic and one of the most debated in all of history.\u00a0 For instance, many continue to argue that the atomic bombing of Japan was completely necessary and that the United States was justified for using the terrifying weapons against an enemy nation that refused to surrender in the face of defeat.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
This article details the main reasons against the atomic bombing of Japan in World War II. It was a highly controversial decision, which historians continue to debate and study.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"iawp_total_views":151,"footnotes":""},"categories":[21,58],"tags":[57,15,114,22],"class_list":["post-3076","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-world-war-ii","category-american-history","tag-american-history","tag-history","tag-japan","tag-world-war-ii"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/crunchlearning.com\/website_ec2cbfb0\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3076","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/crunchlearning.com\/website_ec2cbfb0\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/crunchlearning.com\/website_ec2cbfb0\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/crunchlearning.com\/website_ec2cbfb0\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/crunchlearning.com\/website_ec2cbfb0\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3076"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/crunchlearning.com\/website_ec2cbfb0\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3076\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3079,"href":"https:\/\/crunchlearning.com\/website_ec2cbfb0\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3076\/revisions\/3079"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/crunchlearning.com\/website_ec2cbfb0\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3076"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/crunchlearning.com\/website_ec2cbfb0\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3076"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/crunchlearning.com\/website_ec2cbfb0\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3076"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}