How Did Truman's Decision To Use Atomic Weapons Dbq

The civilians killed and injured by the atomic blasts at Hiroshima and Nagasaki weren’t soldiers. They were citizens, women and children. The US was more interested in a quick and devastating end to the war than to care for the millions of Japanese lives who were innocent. They had in their hands the weapon that was capable of bringing speed for the Japanese surrender, so they used it. Admiral William Leahy stated, “I was not taught to make wars in that fashion, and that wars cannot be won by destroying women and children.” (Document K: Critics of Trumans Decision to Use Atomic Weapons) He meant by this is we would of easily won without murdering people living in the cities because of their plan and go after the Japanese soldiers.

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United States was scared if they didn’t use the bomb we would have lost, but they couldn't lose because Japan's military were disbursed. In Leathy’s memoir he said “The Japanese were already defeated and ready to surrender because of the effective sea blockade and the successful bombing with conventional weapons… My own feeling was that being the first to use it [the atomic bomb] we adopted an ethical standard common to the barbarians of the Dark Ages.” Japan was hopeless before the first atomic bomb fell because without a navy, the blockaded cities and Japanese dependent for foreign sources and industrial supplies needed to keep fighting they couldn't successfully win the war.

As I stated before; two nuclear bombs on Japan during World War II wasn’t necessary for the defeat of the Japanese. Persons may say that that they had to bomb them because of the attack on Pearl Harbor without warning and Japan was too cocky in the Pacific to surrender, but those bombs killed so many lives that weren't involved and maybe didn't even support it. This cannot be commended. Also with all of the resources’ Japan had been drying up and the threat of Russian invasion it was going to be a defeating battle for Japan.