Bombing Of Japan
By Dakota Stump
August 6, 1945, during World War II, an American B-29 bomber dropped the world's first atomic bomb on Hiroshima, Japan. The explosion killed 80,000 people immediately, and thousands of more people were killed after the explosion from radiation exposure. Three days later another bomb was dropped on Nagasaki, killing around 40,000 people. Japan's Emperor Hirohito surrendered in a radio address on August 15, 1945.
Before outbreak of World War II, American scientists were concerned with nuclear weapon research conducted in Nazi Germany. In 1940, the U.S. government started funding its own atomic weapons development program, codenamed "The Manhattan Project".
By the time the first successful test of the bomb happened, the Allied powers had already defeated Germany in Europe. Japan, however, decided to not surrender, and fight till the end. Harry Turman was sworn in as persident on April 12, 1945, and had to make the decision of dropping the bomb. Instead on going through with an invasion over japan, which would result in U.S. casualties up to 1 million, he chose to use the atomic bomb of hopes on bringing the war to a quick end. On August 15, 1945, Emperor Hirohtio announced his country's surrender in a radio broadcast.
World War II: Nuclear Bombings of Japan
One of the biggest criticism back right before the first bomb was dropped was that it wasn't right to use these types of weapons on other countries. Germany already surrendered, but Japan still wouldn't. Harry Truman had to make the decision of dropping these bombs on Japan. If the U.S. did not use these weapons against Japan, there would have been another estimated 2 years of fighting, and 80,000 to 100,000 U.S. estimated casualties. People thought it was wrong to use the bombs against Japan, when other people liked the fact of having something like the atomic bomb to end the war quick.
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