Dropping the Atomic Bomb

Essay # 57280

History
History > Asian
History > U.S. World Wars

A look at the debate as to whether it was the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki that brought an end to the war in the Pacific or whether other events ended the war.

1,170 words () | 4 sources | MLA | 2004 United States

Paper Summary:

This paper looks at both sides of the debate regarding the justification of the U.S. nuclear bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. The paper attempts to answer the question of whether of not the U.S. had to drop the bombs, or if there was another way in which they could have defeated Japan. The paper looks at the options that faced President Harry Truman when he decided to use newly developed atomic energy and why he continued to use them even when he had such strong opposition from General Dwight Eisenhower, General Douglas MacArthur, and Chief of Staff Admiral Leahy.

From the Paper:

"On July 16, 1945, the United States of America ushered the world into a new era with the successful detonation of an atomic bomb in New Mexico. That era was the nuclear age. Less than a month later, on August 6, 1945, an atomic bomb was dropped on Hiroshima, Japan; the first use of a nuclear weapon against an enemy nation. There is debate as to whether the bombing of Hiroshima, and the subsequent bombing of Nagasaki on August 9th, brought an end to the war in the Pacific for Imperial Japan. Or, were the events leading up to August 6th enough to deter them from fighting any longer?"