Atomic Bomb: Hiroshima and Nagasaki

“I always go back to Harry Truman: Should we drop an atomic bomb to save 100,000 lives? That’s a hell of a decision to make. Did he make that decision by himself? No, he had advisers.” Lee Lacocca

The act of dropping an atomic bomb ignores all humanist ideals, a mass destruction weapon should be controlled, never used, or either never created. However the worst crimes against humanity have occurred during Second World War, millions of people were killed, genocide and concentration camps, aerial bombing, starvation, and enemy weapons, all those factors were a reason of human deaths, and nevertheless, someone would consider those reasons being at the same level as atomic bombs. On August 6, 1945, an atomic bomb was dropped on the Japanese city of Hiroshima and later another bomb was dropped on the city of Nagasaki by American Air Force. In total around one hundred eighty thousand people were killed by atomic bomb use. It was a tragedy for Japan and Germany, however, it was a tragedy for all humanity as well, since no one thought of using a weapon of such destruction. It might seem that such a weapon, such action could not have any benefits, and however, there are many of them. Second World War was a period of glory and fear, idealist ideas, and a fight for leadership in the world. Total years of war killed around sixty million people, and by the year 1945 enemy nations knew that they have no chance. Japanese soldiers were strong people to fight till the end but by August 1945 they lost belief of winning, there was no hope of defeating the allied nations and that was a reason why kamikaze pilots were committing acts of suicide, according to The Asia Pacific Journal. That year the United States had to make a very important decision, a decision that would save millions of American and allies’ lives by killing thousands of enemies in

The act of dropping an atomic bomb ignores all humanist ideals, a mass destruction weapon should be controlled, never used or either never created. However the worst crimes against humanity have occurred during Second World War, millions of people were killed, genocide and concentration camps, aerial bombing, starvation, and enemy weapons, all those factors were a reason of human deaths, and nevertheless, someone would consider those reasons being at the same level as atomic bombs. On August 6, 1945, an atomic bomb was dropped on the Japanese city of Hiroshima and later another bomb was dropped on the city of Nagasaki by American Air Force. In total around one hundred eighty thousand people were killed by atomic bomb use. It was a tragedy for Japan and Germany, however, it was a tragedy for all humanity as well, since no one thought of using a weapon of such destruction. It might seem that such a weapon, such action could not have any benefits, and however, there are many of them. Second World War was a period of glory and fear, idealist ideas, and a fight for leadership in the world. Total years of war killed around sixty million people, and by the year 1945 enemy nations knew that they have no chance. Japanese soldiers were strong people to fight till the end but by August 1945 they lost belief of winning, there was no hope of defeating the allied nations and that was a reason why kamikaze pilots were committing acts of suicide, according to The Asia Pacific Journal. That year the United States had to make a very important decision, a decision that would save millions of American and allies’ lives by killing thousands of enemies in a short period of time by dropping the atomic bomb, this act was an act of exchange of American lives on Japanese lives, and no one ever has to consider people of one nation better than people of another, however, it was a period of war, a time when death was counted in millions and in order to protect people, one country had to defeat another. America did not have sympathy for Japan and their allies after the Pearl Harbor attack. For Truman, the choice of whether or not to use the atomic bomb was the most difficult decision of his life, it was not the decision of Truman himself, it was a decision of Congress and Truman’s advisers, a decision that changed the history forever.

The first and last atomic bombs ever dropped were used on the first week of August 1945, vaporization of two Japanese cities was an example of the atomic bomb in use. Since WWII, the government set up restrictions and protocols to prevent future use of an atomic bomb, in order to protect society from nuclear war. In one perspective the world has benefited after August 1945, because people learned and understood the consequences of a mass destruction weapon, today people have fear for it and no one thinks about using it again. The dropping of the atomic bomb has been significant in understanding the long-term effects of radiation on the human body. It was important that the bomb is used in order for our society to comprehend the repercussions of nuclear warfare, according to the U.S History government website. There are many arguments about dropping the atomic bomb, ones blame America for that decision, saying that such barbaric acts started the nuclear war acts, however, Germany and Japan started their research on the atomic bomb much earlier than the United States or Russia.

Human nature constructed people the way that one is always seeking for power and dominance on another, this is the reason why all the wars in human history occurred, a reason why the Second World War started, and a reason why weapons became more effective and destructive through time. The nuclear weapon is a weapon of evil as one might consider, however, the time it was used had passed, and no one can change the decisions of people who left this world. The decision of dropping the atomic bomb was made more than seven decades ago and it had its consequences, people learned on the mistakes of the past and the question of dropping the bomb would always remain controversial. The idea of the atomic bomb already existed at that time, it was a matter of time only and if not the US, someone else could drop it, maybe more powerful and destructive. No one refuses that it was a crime, a crime to kill and a crime to sick for power, a crime to consider someone’s life more important than others, however, it was such time, and the crime was made to prevent a worse crime, to prevent more deaths, prevent people from using a nuclear weapon, prevent countries from being involved in wars. The decision that was made by Truman not only saved the lives of American soldiers and prisoners of War, but it also saved all the nations, its people, and future generations.

John Dryden said: “Successful crimes alone are justified.” The crime that was occurred during the war cannot too many people killed, too many families destroyed and too many lives forgotten, however, the use of the atomic bomb saved millions of future lives and it is a fact that has to be considered, no matter what was done, it was done for a better future of the world, a world that we are living in now. 

Works Cited

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