Atomic Bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki

Paper Summary:

This paper discusses the atomic bombings in Hiroshima and Nagasaki in August 1945. It discusses the impact of the bombings from the perspective of the human damage it caused among the Japanese population. The paper then examines the real necessity of a nuclear strike against the war time enemy, Japan, while taking into account the war conditions and the deterioration of the relations between the US and the USSR.

From the Paper:

"Finally, there is also the moral issue to be taken into account. There have been numerous discussions over the moral legitimacy of creating casualties and causing death in order to reach peace. More precisely, the use of nuclear technology does not offer the possibility to make clear distinction between combatant and non combatant forces; also, it cannot control its immediate, as well as long time effects. These arguments came especially following the attacks, when the medical consequences became visible. Indeed, there is no moral argument to justify the use of weapons against possible civilians. The nuclear bomb lacks any precision in targeting solely military targets without causing casualties. Although its use cannot be justified from a moral perspective, it can be seen as a means to put an end to a war that had taken millions of lives up to 1945. The impact the attacks had on Japan determined, or at least influenced, the Emperor's decision to surrender unconditionally. In this way, the death of approximately 200 thousand people can be pragmatically viewed as a price for the survival of possibly other millions of people that would have lost their lives should the war had continued."

Sample of Sources Used:

• Calvocoressi, Peter. World politics since 1945. Budapest: Open Society Institute, 1996.
• Goldschmidt, Bertrand. Le complex atomique: histoire politique de l'energie nucleaire. Paris : Librairie Artheme Fayard, 1980.
• Kissinger, Henry. Diplomacy. London: Simon & Schuster, 1995.
• Newman, Robert P. Truman and the Hiroshima Cult. Michigan State University Press, 1995.
• Thomas, Gordon, and Max Morgan Witts. Enola Gay. New York: Stein and Day Publishers, 1977.

More papers on Atomic Bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki:

• Term Paper # 103267 : "The Bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki"
• Analytical Essay # 86587 : "Hiroshima and Nagasaki: An Analysis of Perspectives"
• Essay # 90899 : "Hiroshima and Nagasaki"

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