Discussion of Whether Hiroshima and Nagasaki Bombing is Justifiable

The researched I have undergone are four sources, two of which are online articles and the other two historical books on World War Two. My research question is 'To what extent was the US the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki in 1945 necessary to end WW2 if so is it justifiable having regard to the death toll? Over the next two to four months after the bombing, the acute effects of the atomic bombings killed 90,000–146,000 people in Hiroshima and 39,000-80,000 people in Nagasaki ' My hypothesis is that it is indeed justifiable, taking into account that 'Operation Downfall' would be much more costly in terms of money, time and most importantly lives.

My aim is to prove that it is indeed justifiable and the necessary way to end WW2. It is true that the bombings did and still do have a great negative of the people of Japan. However, the death toll would have been much greater if 'Operation Downfall' (the invading of Japan by land).

To put my question into context 'To what extent was the US the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki in 1945 necessary to end WW2 if so is it justifiable having regard to the death toll?' World War Two was coming to an end. The Allies (UK, USA, and a number of other European countries) were winning and on the opposing side, the Axis Powers (Germany, Italy, and Japan) were surely loosing. On December 7th, 1941, Japan had begun advancing their fleet to the central and southwest Pacific, which involved US territory. Japan had intended to destroy the US navy fleet by bombing Pearl Harbor. This did not disable the US navy, but however, resulted in a formal declaration of war between Japan and the United States of America. Germany officially surrendered to the Allies, taking the long and tedious war to an end, and eventually to the Europeans On May 7, 1945. Yet Japan still was conflicting with the USA.

The USA had to find a way to end the war as soon as possible, with as little casualties as possible. The USA had a plan called 'Operation Downfall' where the USA would invade Japan on a land attack which would take extremely long and preliminary studies determined that 280 000 would have died in that invasion. So The Allies in July called upon Japan to make an immediate surrender to them, or the Allies would bring 'prompt and utter destruction' upon them if they refused. Japan ignored them.

The UK and USA agreed on releasing the 'Little Boy' an atomic bomb to destroy one of Japan's most industrial and military stronghold, Hiroshima. On August 6th, 1945 the USA released a 15 kilotonne bomb, which killed a substantial 30% of Hiroshima's population. After the USA asked Japan for under surrender, warning them if they refused, further destruction would come. Japan did not reply. later on August 9th, 1946 The USA dropped another bomb on Nagasaki killing 70 000 people. After the two bombings on August 15th, 1945, Japan surrendered unconditionally, ending World War Two. This, therefore, gives the basis of my research question for what were the reasons for the bombings and were they vital, which I agree that they were.