Was the Atomic Bomb Justifiable?

Was The Use Of The Atomic Bomb Justifiable?

"The use of this barbarous weapon at Hiroshima and Nagasaki was of no material assistance in our war against Japan. The Japanese were already defeated and ready to surrender..." Admiral William D. Leahy (Alperovitz,The Decision To Use The Atomic Bomb, date of publication unknown) There have been many issues involved with the use of the atomic bomb because of the high cost of lives, and that it was considered to be immoral and unethical. However it has also been considered necessary for the war to have ended, avoiding further casualties on both sides.

The Japanese attacked Pearl Harbour on December 7, 1941, causing casualties of over 3000, which many consider murder, for Japan did not send a formal declaration of war. The Japanese were a formidable force amassing a large number of warships, planes and soldiers who were willing to die for their emperor (who was viewed as a god). The allies were caught by surprise by the attack, and the Pacific was left susceptible to Japanese occupation. On the same day as Pearl Harbour the Japanese invaded Burma, Philippines, New Guinea and other small islands.

The USA retaliated by declaring war on Japan, which lead Germany to declare war on the USA, marking the official entrance of the USA to the war. The push by the allies against Japan lasted 4 years and was accounted for in many battles. The Japanese expansion became to large for it's own good for they did not have the sufficient amount of resources to defend and substation all of their occupied islands, which eventually lead to their downfall.

The tide of war turned when the allies slowly began winning key battles at Coral sea, New Guinea, the Solomon's and Guadalcanal. By 1945 the allies had taken back many Japanese occupied islands such as the Philippines and became victorious in many key sea battles which crippled the Japanese. During the final push to Japan, the USA fought on the Japanese islands of Iwo Jima and Okinawa; with these battles being known as the bloodiest during the Pacific war.These victories brought them closer to Japan and closer to ending the conflict.

The victories however were at the cost of lives, causing the USA over a 300,000 casualties, with Okinawa alone causing 75,000 wounded or killed. The Japanese did not fair any better for they lost over 2 million soldiers during the entire span of the war. The final stages of Pacific theatre saw the bombing of Japanese cities such as Tokyo; killing over 100,000 people, thus showing that morale and ethical issues were already put aside by the U.S. Furthermore there were also ship blockades that prevented resources from getting into Japan so that they would starve, in hope that they would surrender.

There were many military persuasions that eventually lead to President Trueman to use the bomb. With an invasion impending the usage of the bomb was more preferred because of the estimated half a million casualties, that an invasion would cause, which was more casualties then the USA have suffered during the entire pacific war. Furthermore the bombing raids and blockades would have elongated the war and cost the U.S more money, which they would have wanted to avoid due to the fact that they would have already spent billions, to fund their campaigns.

President Truman did not have many options in such short time, it was either to a) continue the bombing raids which would have eventually struck Hiroshima and Nagasaki, b) invade Japan and risk the consequences or c) drop the bomb and end the war. The decision to use the bomb, may have been the most hardest decision Trueman had to make, had he not used the bomb how could he justify the reasons for sending American troops to their death, when they had spent 2 billion on a weaponed that end it all without the cost of American lives. Hence why the bomb was used in order to prevent anymore losses of American lives, cut further costs, to have revenge for Pearl Harbour.

In addition, the allies believed that Japan would never surrender. During the Potsdam conference a declaration was made, where the terms of Japan's surrender were stated and that it would face "prompt and utter destruction" if it did not agree upon this ultimatum. The allies were tough with their terms of surrender, by stating that they would disarm their military and prosecute war criminals. The treaty was also fair because they allowed Japan to recover from the war, by allowing them access to raw materials and to participate in world trade. The Japanese however lived by a code where surrender was not an option. They responded by preparing their people to defend their homeland, by entering a state of total war. Meaning that many were prepared to defend and die for their country, like the way they have been throughout the war by using suicidal tactics (e.g kamikaze attacks). This made negotiations difficult and left the allies with very little options, which is why they used the bomb.

Another factor involved in the use of the bomb was the involvement of the Soviet Union. By the time the Soviet declared their involvement in the Pacific the Japanese were already on the verge of collapse. The Americans knew that Stalin and the Soviet Union would be troublesome allies because of their political standing. The Americans were capitalists and the Soviet Union were communists, the disagreement in political views made way for an uneasy alliance, with a lot of mistrust. The war was seen by many as a way that each nation could spread their political influence. This was seen after the war when Europe was divided in half, with the east being communist and the west capitalist. The USA believed that they could use the bomb to manage the Soviets and hold them at bay because they would fear the destructive power of the bomb.

However some have argued against the use of the bomb because it was at the cost of thousand of lives, men, women and children were killed in Hiroshima and Nagasaki. With many presumably civilians. The death toll of the initial explosion was estimated to be between 90,000-166,000 and 60,000-80,000 in Nagasaki, with many more dying afterwards due to radiation poisoning. This alone is a reason for why the bomb should have never been used because of the damage it caused. Although the USA had no knowledge of the damage or the after affects of radiation poisoning of an untested weapon. The dropping of the the bomb may still be considered an immoral and in humane act of murder to countless lives. It can also be assumed that victims of the A-Bomb could also be called lab rats of a cruel weapon testing. The war had already caused a lot of racial hate towards the Japanese, but the bomb further escalated this. A poll in 1944 showed that 13% of the American public were for the killing of the entire Japanese race, making them no better then the Nazi with the Jews. Just the fact that so many people died, gives a reason for why the bomb should have never been used

Many have argued that the bombing of Hiroshima though cruel may be acceptable because they may have had justifiable reasons, which was to scare Japan and keep true to their declaration of ultimatum. However Nagasaki remains questionable because it would have taken time for the first bomb to be comprehended by Japanese officials. In a memoir written by foreign minister Shigenori Togo stated that the Emperor, "warned [him] that since we could no longer continue the struggle, now that a weapon of this devastating power was used against us, we should not let slip the opportunity [to end the war] by engaging in attempts to gain more favourable conditions."(Shigenori Tojo,Debate over the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, last updated May 11,2013). Thus showing that given a little time the Japanese may have surrendered. More-over the bombing raids and the blockades would have already forced Japan to surrender for they would not survive any longer due to starvation and disease.

Furthermore historians have argued that Japan had been seeking peace for months, prior to the bombing. It was reported that the emperor himself was actively working with his ambassadors to reach out to other nations, in order to bring the war to a peaceful end. The ideology that Japan would never surrender may be considered false because the government was divided and no decision could be agreed upon until it was unanimous. Japan was already a defeated nation; they knew it and that they would have supposedly agreed to any terms as long as their emperor stayed in place. This was revealed in an memorandum which was censored to the public until after the war. The efforts that Japan put into bringing the war to an end justifies why the use of the bomb could have been avoided.

The big question in the equation is, how big of role did the bomb play in the surrender of Japan? Many have accepted that the bomb caused Japan to surrender, but apart from the blockades and the fire bombings, some have argued that the Soviet Unions entry to the conflict played a bigger role. It has been believed that their involvement may have been a greater factor or an equal to the atomic bomb which eventually lead to Japan's surrender. Historians have argued that when the Soviet Union attacked Manchuria on August 8, 1945 around the same time as the dropping of Atomic bomb. That the attack apparently wiped all hope of Japan that the Soviet Union, would help them to find a solution to ending the war. The Soviets entry has also been considered a factor for why the bomb was used by the U.S in the first place, which was in order to intimidate the Soviet Union. However the USA's demonstration of its power did not only scare the world, but it also provided the spark to a dangerous arms race with Russia, which would eventually be known as 'The Cold War'.

Whether someone stands for or against the use of the bomb history cannot be changed. The use of the bomb has thought the world a valuable lesson of what such weapon could do. With the knowledge we possess the only thing countries have done is threaten each other, and no Atomic bombs have been used against other nations to this day. But will our future be different?