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Atomic Bomb DBQ

The document discusses the debate around President Truman's decision to drop atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki in August 1945. While supporters argue the bombs ended WWII sooner, others believe Japan was already ready to surrender and the attacks killed many innocent civilians without warning. The document argues the US should not have used nuclear weapons against Japan since they were near surrender and could have ended the war without further bloodshed and destruction if warned beforehand.

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Isabella Price-Dubble
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79 views2 pages

Atomic Bomb DBQ

The document discusses the debate around President Truman's decision to drop atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki in August 1945. While supporters argue the bombs ended WWII sooner, others believe Japan was already ready to surrender and the attacks killed many innocent civilians without warning. The document argues the US should not have used nuclear weapons against Japan since they were near surrender and could have ended the war without further bloodshed and destruction if warned beforehand.

Uploaded by

Isabella Price-Dubble
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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It was July 1945, and the nuclear age had just begun.

Though Germany’s reign of terror

in Europe had ended two months earlier, Japan remained ruthless in their attempts to gain control

of the whole Pacific sphere. Not long after the first successful atomic bomb test--known as the

Trinity Test--was conducted, President Harry S. Truman chose to drop two atomic bombs on

Japan, hoping to end World War II in a controversial move. Though Japan had been brutal

through the war, it was near surrender, the attack was without warning, and it was merciless in

the killing of innocent women and children; therefore, the bombs should not have been used.

After years of warfare, Japan was growing tired of fighting. Many casualties had ensued

due to their soldiers’ willingness to die for their country. General H.H. Arnold said in his

memoirs, “[We] had destroyed most of the Japanese industries and… prevented the arrival of

incoming cargoes of critical items, [and] made it impossible for Japan to carry on a large-scale

war.” The Japanese were without the means to continue the war and were on the verge of

surrender. Supporters argue that the Japanese code of honor would have inhibited their surrender;

however if this was true the bombs would not have had an effect either,

“Ever since I have been in touch with this program I have had a feeling that before the

bomb is actually used against Japan that Japan should have some preliminary warning for, say,

two or three days in advance of use” (Bard). Japan may have surrendered without bloodshed and

destruction if only they had been warned. President Truman acknowledged in his August 1945

radio address that “we have used [the bomb] against those who attacked us without warning at

Pearl Harbor…” The US, which Navy Undersecretary Ralph A. Bard described as “a great

humanitarian nation”, would be benefited by showing mercy to the innocent Japanese citizens.
It is believed that a combined 225,000 people died in the bombings of Hiroshima and

Nagasaki. Though Harry L. Stimson speculated that if the mainland had been invaded instead,

“the major fighting would not end until [late] 1946… [and] cost over a million casualties to

American forces alone,” that does not excuse the deaths of unsuspecting women and children.

“...In being the first to use it, we had adopted an ethical standard common to the Barbarians of

the Dark Ages” (Leahy). It was pointless to kill those completely uninvolved in the war. Winston

Churchill claimed that it was “a merciful abridgment of the slaughter in the East,” but it was

anything but merciful to the innocent populations of Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

To conclude, due to Japan’s readiness to surrender, the suddenness of the attack and its

brutality, the United States should not have used the atomic weapons against Japan. Brutal wars

and frequent nuclear threats continue to transpire in the modern era, but no nuclear weapons have

been used due to our knowledge of their horrific effects. If every other war could have concluded

without these bombs, surely World War II could have as well.

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