Marius Lupascu

HIST-1700
Unit 6
Dropping the Bomb
The first bomb dropped on the city of Hiroshima on August 6th 1945, resulted in a death
toll of around 135,000. The second, which hit Nagasaki on August 9th, killed at least 50,000
people. The question if the US was justified in dropping the atomic bombs is one that has been
debated for some time. In my personal opinion, the US was not justified. At the time even
secretary of war Henry Lewis Stimson was not sure the bombs were needed to reduce the need
for an invasion. Japan had no allies; its navy was almost destroyed; its islands were under a
naval blockade; and its cities were undergoing concentrated air attacks.
The US at the time still had many industrial resources to use against Japan, and because
of that it was essentially defeated. Rear Admiral Tocshitane Takata concurred that B-29s were
the greatest single factor in forcing Japans surrender, while Prince Konoye already thought
Japan was defeated on February 14th when he met emperor Hirohito. A combination of bombing
blockading cities that were economically dependent on foreign sources for food and raw
materials, and the threat of Soviet entry in the war, would have been enough. The
recommendations for the use of the bomb show that the military was more interested in its
devastating effect than in preparing the invasion. Therefore, the destruction of hospitals and
schools was acceptable to them. The US was more interested in a quick and easy end to the war.
They had in their hands a weapon that was capable of bringing the war to a swift end, and so
they used it.

After the bloody battles of Iwo Jima and Okinawa, the death toll on both sides was high,
and the countries negative view of one another became almost unbridgeable. Because of this, the
US created unconditional terms of surrender, knowingly going against the Japanese ethic of
honor and against the institute of the emperor, whom most Americans probably wanted dead. The
use of the atomic bomb became a way to avenge Americas fallen soldiers while also keeping the
USSR in check in Europe. The Japanese civilian casualties did not matter in this strategy. Also, it
did not prevent the Cold War, as the USSR was just a few years behind on a-bomb research. At
the time, revenge, geopolitics and an expensive project that could not be allowed to simply rust
away, meant the atomic bomb had to be hastily deployed in the field in order to see its power
and aftermath, though little was known about radiation and its effects.
The price to keep the USSR in check was steep; the use of this weapon did not stop the
USSR from creating the same weapon within four years. If the US had organized a
demonstration, as they had briefly considered, the USSR would still have responded in the same
manner, while Japan could have been spared. Also by postponing the use of the bomb, scientists
would have had time to understand the test results. Civilian casualties of another nation would
have been acceptable to the US. Japan had made clear overtures to peace, but cultural differences
made this nearly impossible. The determination to use an expensive bomb instead of letting it
rust away, the desire to find out how devastating it was and the opportunity to use the bomb as a
strong showcase of US supremacy, made Japan the ideal target. This caused the USSR to feel the
need for such weapons to defend themselves. Also other countries claimed the right of nuclear
weapons to defend their citizens. The tragic bombings became the example of an arms race
instead of peace.

Work Cited:
Foner, Eric. Give Me Liberty!: An American History (Brief Fourth Edition) (Vol. 1), 4th Edition.
W. W. Norton & Company, 20140205. VitalSource Bookshelf Online.
"Was the US Justified in Dropping Atomic Bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki during the
Second World War? You Debate." History Extra. Web. 17 Apr. 2016.
<http://www.historyextra.com/feature/second-world-war/was-us-justified-dropping-atomicbombs-hiroshima-and-nagasaki-during-second>.