History CBA
Alex Keown
5/20/2014
Bombing Japan vs. Invasion
After Germany and Italy had surrendered, the only country left fighting for the axis was the Empire of Japan. The Allies were left with the decision of an invasion the island, or dropping atomic weaponry on industrial cities until they achieved surrender. Dropping atomic bombs on
Japan was the correct decision, and benefited both sides in the end.
There have not been any nuclear attacks since the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
But there have since been 2 major nuclear disasters. In April of 1986, a Soviet nuclear power plant in Chernobyl, Ukraine experienced a nuclear meltdown. Around 100 people died as a result of the initial incident, and experts estimated that the incident will cause around 40,000 cancer related deaths due to radiation in the future. Almost 30 years later the exclusion zone is still 30 km wide and there are signs warning of radiation poisoning and increased risk of cancer.
The alternative to the bombings was known as operation Downfall. Only the beaches
Kyushu and Kanto were suitable for such a large scale amphibious invasion. The Japanese were prepared for the invasion on both beaches which means there would be a lot of soldiers killed on each side. It was estimated that the United states alone would experience one million casualties with around three hundred thousand being deaths as opposed to the 220,000 in the bombings.
Some people think that this would have been a better alternative because the casualties would have mostly soldiers and not the civilians. This planned invasion would have cost the states around 18.6 billion dollars. Bombing Hiroshima and Nagasaki cost around 4 million dollars total.
Hiroshima and Nagasaki were the first nuclear explosions over a populated area. The bombs did not hit the ground before exploding, they were detonated in the air. As a result radiation lingered in the atmosphere above the city. Back then little was known about what
5/20/2014
Bombing Japan vs. Invasion
After Germany and Italy had surrendered, the only country left fighting for the axis was the Empire of Japan. The Allies were left with the decision of an invasion the island, or dropping atomic weaponry on industrial cities until they achieved surrender. Dropping atomic bombs on
Japan was the correct decision, and benefited both sides in the end.
There have not been any nuclear attacks since the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
But there have since been 2 major nuclear disasters. In April of 1986, a Soviet nuclear power plant in Chernobyl, Ukraine experienced a nuclear meltdown. Around 100 people died as a result of the initial incident, and experts estimated that the incident will cause around 40,000 cancer related deaths due to radiation in the future. Almost 30 years later the exclusion zone is still 30 km wide and there are signs warning of radiation poisoning and increased risk of cancer.
The alternative to the bombings was known as operation Downfall. Only the beaches
Kyushu and Kanto were suitable for such a large scale amphibious invasion. The Japanese were prepared for the invasion on both beaches which means there would be a lot of soldiers killed on each side. It was estimated that the United states alone would experience one million casualties with around three hundred thousand being deaths as opposed to the 220,000 in the bombings.
Some people think that this would have been a better alternative because the casualties would have mostly soldiers and not the civilians. This planned invasion would have cost the states around 18.6 billion dollars. Bombing Hiroshima and Nagasaki cost around 4 million dollars total.
Hiroshima and Nagasaki were the first nuclear explosions over a populated area. The bombs did not hit the ground before exploding, they were detonated in the air. As a result radiation lingered in the atmosphere above the city. Back then little was known about what