Use of Nuclear Weapons in Japan
Trent McFaddon
Background Info
On August, 6, 1945 the United States made a decision that would change the way the world thought about war forever. We dropped the first ever nuclear bomb on Hiroshima, Japan, immediately killing 80,000 people on impact. then just two days later the US dropped another one on Nagasaki, killing around 40,000 people. we believed that is was the only decision to end the war and the best option to prevent more American, and Japanese lives from being lost
Perspective of the United States
At this point in the war the United States was tired of fighting and losing American lives. Japan was obviously the underdog in terms of soldiers, ammo, and supplies, but they refused to give up. The US felt they had no choice but to drop the bombs on the cities so that we could officially end the war. Yes, many innocent lives would be lost, but that was a risk that Harry S. Truman was willing to make to not only end the war once and for all, but to send a message to the rest of the world that we are a force to be reckoned with.
Perspective of Japan
The Japanese were warned that the US would drop a weapon of mass destruction on one of there cities, but they merely thought they were bluffing. They even thought that the United States didn't even have and nuclear weapons! But sadly they were wrong and the force came down on them. After the first bomb was sent down the US asked Japan if they officially surrendered, but they refused. in retaliation they dropped a second bomb on the city of Nagasaki only two days later. After that, Japan knew that this war could not be won, and they surrendered. Japan went through some tough times in the years following the attacks, but some feel that it was their own fault for not listening to America's warning.
Media Bias
Between the years of 1945 and 1952, the US media censored out the horrors of what really happened in Japan. This masking of the reality of the situation was because the United Sates wanted the public to approve of the decision to drop the bomb and to prevent domestic violence from the people that did not support the action. Due to the San Francisco Peace Treaty, in 1952 the media released what actually happened. the response from the public was that they knew that the reason they didn't show what really happened because of the threat of violence from the Homeland
Criticism #1 (Historical)
In today's age, if we were to use a nuclear weapon on another country, we would definitely see repercussions for it. back then nuclear weapons were new and unheard of and for us to be the first people to use them, So whoever uses the bomb first would be known as the most dominate military in the world. Today, if they were used again, if would essentially be the start of WWlll
Criticism #2 (Cultural)
Back in the 1940's, people were more accepting towards death in wars and death in general. We had recently finished through WWI which was the bloodiest battle since the Civil War. so the public was used to there being death in the world. Dropping the atomic bomb was just another war tactic that the public was used to.