Background:
- Famous Scientists (Albert Einstein and Enrico Fermi) escaping Axis controlled areas, informed the US of the German’s plan to use the splitting of an atom to create a bomb.
- US slowly began to develop a design for their own nuclear weapon
- In December 1942, the first controlled nuclear chain reaction occurred, a breakthrough towards the creation of the bomb
- $2 billion was spent in designing and developing the bomb
- The project employed 120,000 Americans, yet only an inner circle of scientists and government officials actually knew about the project
- Vice President Truman wasn’t even informed until becoming the actual President.
- Churchill and FDR agreed to not tell Stalin of the project, and keep it a secret to prevent the axis powers from discovering it
- Successfully kept the information from the Germans and Japanese, but a Russian spy infiltrated the inner circle of scientists.
- Testing for the bomb July 16, 1945, it was successful
For the Bombing:
The bombing of Nagasaki and Hiroshima was justified. This is due to the US having recently been attacked first by Japan. The US did not start the battle, they bombed back in retaliation. Also, before the bomb the US in result gained more and more power over the Japanese until they were able to ask them so surrender. However, the Japanese did not surrender even when we warned them of incoming attacks if they did not cooperate. This may justify the first bomb, however many people would argue that the second bombing was not necessary, especially when you consider how the bomb was rather mysterious, and we didn’t know much information about it. However, the japanese still wouldn’t back down even when we asked again after the first bomb. After a short period of time we were put in a position where we had to bomb them yet again. Finally though, after the two bombs the Japanese did surrender to us. In the end, the US may have had many reasons to not drop the bomb, especially because it was such a new mysterious piece of technology, but the Japanese were warned of the oncoming rain of terror from the sky, and they did not do anything to prevent it, so the bombs had a reason to be dropped.
Against the bombing:
Although the first bombing of Hiroshima may have had justification, it was the second bomb dropped on Nagasaki that removed credibility from America. The dropping of the initial bomb after so little testing seems to be an act of vengeance and fear rather than a strategic decision. The response to America’s warning of the incoming attack sent by Japan was an understandable one. Nothing with such destructive force had ever been created, and to think that America had somehow gotten their hands on such a weapon seemed to be a fear tactic. After the first bomb struck, completely destroying Hiroshima, Japan was only given three days to react, recover, and respond. The next bomb was dropped on Nagasaki. Some credit Japan not surrendering to the belief that Japan was attempting to call America’s bluff, not expecting them to have a second weapon of mass destruction. Keep in mind that with these bombs there were so many unnecessary civilian casualties that could have been avoided. The actual civilians that died probably had no relation to the actual bombing of pearl harbor and because that didn't deserve to be nuked. Personally I feel that this mind set is a stretch for a nation at war. If America was able to drop a city leveling bomb once, what stops them from doing it again and again. What disappoints me is not that we dropped the initial bomb, which is despicable and unforgivable, but that after witnessing the effects of the initial drop, we still dropped the second bomb .
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