Harry Truman: Ending War with Japan with Atomic Bomb - Essay Sample

Harry Truman was aware that he was supposed to make an unprecedented decision. He was the one tasked to end the war with Japan and this required him to use the atomic bomb which was the most dreadful weapon known. Solders and American civilians were exhausted from a prolonged war, and the Japanese were not ready to surrender (Bix, 1996). Japan had a strong army with over two million soldiers that were able to counter American soldiers that had invaded Okinawa from where they were intensively bombing. According to Hasegawa (2006), Truman had to make the most difficult decision on whether or not to bomb Japan using the atomic bomb. The American government gave a warning to Japan and demanded that they unconditionally surrender failure to which they would cause destruction. Though this demand had indicated that America would cause destruction they did not disclose that they had made an atomic bomb. Japanese military rejected this request and therefore on 6th August 1945 an atomic bomb was dropped in Hiroshima and killed over seventy thousand people. Three days later another bomb was dropped on Nagasaki and over eighty thousand people perished (Hein & Selden, 1997).

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Sherwin (2003), argued that the atomic bomb used in Japan was justified as it brought to an end World War II. World War II had two major operations both in the Pacific and European theaters. European theater of war came to an end in early 1945 when Germany was defeated, but on the other hand, the Pacific theatre continued fighting as Japan went on fighting against the United States. Fighting in the Pacific was brutal which made Japan a very tough enemy. It has been argued that this war would have continued for years if America had continued to use land invasions. After the atomic bomb was used in Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Japan's leadership surrendered. The end of World War II justifies the use of the atomic bomb by America as this war had lasted for more than five years killing more than ten million people. This was a positive thing as this brutal war was devastating to many (Hein & Selden, 1997).

Hoyt (2001), provides another reason in favor of the use of the atomic bomb arguing that it saved the lives of several millions of people. It's estimated that about one million American soldiers would have been used to continue with this war. Americans had planned Operation Downfall, which would have seen an invasion on the Japanese mainland in the Pacific Theatre. If this operation was executed it would have become the largest attack in history, where it is estimated that there would have been almost one million American casualties. Due to the number of anticipated deaths and casualties, the development and use of the atomic bomb by Harry Truman prevented the loss of millions of civilians and soldiers.

Another reason to justify the use of the atomic bomb on Japan was that it was a big move to win the war against Japan's surprise attacks at Pearl Harbor. United States was pushed into World War II IN BOTH European and Pacific theatres by Japanese imperial attacks which sank several ships that belonged to America, including the USS Arizona ship that has never been found up to today (Hoyt, 2001). The intention of the numerous attacks on Americans by the Japanese was to give the Japanese control over the southern part of the Pacific. Over two thousand Americans lost their lives and this was shocking to Americans as Japan had not formally declared war officially. Truman was quoted saying that the Japanese started the war and they have been repaid in many folds. This makes many historians find it just for the use of the atomic bomb by America as retaliation for numerous attacks by the Japanese at Pearl Harbor (Sherwin, 2003).

Another reason that many historians feel that the use of the atomic bomb on Japan was justified is that the Japanese were very brutal (Sherwin, 2003). For example, Japanese soldiers used to kill American medics who used to attend to wounded Japanese soldiers. They were also not willing to surrender despite a warning by Americans, America had called for the Japanese to surrender and this was giving them a chance to stop America from using the atomic bomb. It was also worth it for America to use the atomic bomb as they had invested a lot of money to make it, and this was the only way to get the value of the money they had invested (Sherwin, 2003).

There is a group of historians who argue that the use of the atomic bomb on Japan cannot be justified as the use of the atomic bomb is inhuman. This is because the use of any bomb in war is devastating and causes serious damage to property and loss of lives. During World War II firebomb was used in Dresden Germany and almost caused destruction, but the use of toxic radiation on the atomic bomb was immoral. A top-secret memo from Robert Oppenheimer's father of the atomic bomb, who was involved in making this atomic bomb, revealed that the active material in the bomb was very toxic explaining why this radiation caused immediate death to anybody close to the blast. This was very inhuman and this bomb should have never been used (Yamada & Izumi, 2002).

Other historians found it inhuman and unjustified that America used the atomic bomb on Japan. This is because the use of the two atomic bombs caused excessive destruction in both towns. This is considered the most dangerous weapon to be ever used by mankind. Yamada & Izumi (2002), argue that apart from killing hundreds of thousands of people, it also caused massive destruction of property. For example, ninety percent of the two cities were destroyed. To make matters worse, the majority of people who were killed were innocent civilians; this is the majority of women and children (Hein & Selden, 1997).

Conclusion

To conclude the use of the atomic bomb was unnecessary as Japan was on its knees and the American government would have looked for other avenues to end this war. This is because the American government killed many innocent people and the effect of this bomb is long lasting. Several people up to today still suffer from the effects of this bomb (Yamada & Izumi, 2002).

References

Bix, Herbert (1996). Japan's Delayed Surrender: A Reinterpretation. In Hogan, Michael J. (ed.). Hiroshima in History and Memory. New York: Cambridge University Press. pp. 80–115. ISBN 978-0-521-56682-7.

Bodden, Valerie (2007). The Bombing of Hiroshima & Nagasaki. Mankato, Minnesota: The Creative Company. ISBN 978-1-58341-545-0.

Hasegawa, Tsuyoshi (2006). Racing the Enemy: Stalin, Truman, and the Surrender of Japan. Cambridge, Massachusetts: The Belknap Press of Harvard University Press. ISBN 978-0-674-01693-4.

Hein, Laura & Selden, Mark, eds. (1997). Living with the Bomb: American and Japanese Cultural Conflicts in the Nuclear Age. New York: M.E. Sharpe. ISBN 978-1-56324-967-9.

Hoyt, Edwin P. (2001). Japan's War: The Great Pacific Conflict. New York: McGraw-Hill. ISBN 978-0-8154-1118-5. OCLC 12722494.

Sherwin, Martin J. (2003). A World Destroyed: Hiroshima and its Legacies. Stanford, California: Stanford University Press. ISBN 978-0-8047-3957-3. OCLC 52714712.

Yamada, Michiko & Izumi, Shizue (2002). "Psychiatric Sequelae in Atomic Bomb Survivors in Hiroshima and Nagasaki Two Decades After the Explosions". Social Psychiatry and Psychiatric Epidemiology. 37 (9): 409–415. doi:10.1007/s00127-002-0572-5. ISSN 0933-7954. PMID 12242616. S2CID 7257634.