The Reasons For Dropping Two Atomic Bombs On Japan
The pacific theater of World War II ended with the United States dropping two atomic bombs on Japan. These bombs killed more than 150,000 people instantly, killing more over time with radiation(CNN). While there were obviously military and economic reasons for using these powerful weapons, the use of two shows what the primary reason was. The American Government saw the beginnings of the Cold War and wanted to try and get ahead of the Soviet Union before it even began.
The bombs used on Hiroshima and Nagasaki were researched and created with the Manhattan Project starting in 1940, one year before America entered the war (britannica). This research eventually became part of the war department after the bombing of Pearl Harbor(Britannica). …show more content…
This was the first time that the world had seen anything as destructive as an atomic bomb. The Japanese were warned of “prompt and utter destruction” beforehand, but they had no reason to believe the threat (history). The bomb absolutely devastated the city of Hiroshima. 80,000 were killed instantly, and tens of thousands more were later killed by the radiation left by the bomb (history.com).Paul Tibbets dropped the bomb, nicknamed little boy, at approximately 8:15 A.M., and after it hit, the entire city fell silent (history.com,Avalon). This puzzled many Japanese officials; the government sent in a Japanese officer to inspect what occurred in Hiroshima(avalon). From over 100 miles away, the man and his crew could see the large cloud left from the blast and the burning remains of a city that was perfectly fine less than an hour before (avalon). The Japanese government was still clueless as to what happened at Hiroshima. It wasn’t until the U.S. put out a press release 16 hours later that they knew what happened(avalon). This event put fear into the Japanese. They had just witnessed a destructive force that could potentially destroy the entire world used on their own city. This would surely put an end to almost all motivation to continue
The bombs used on Hiroshima and Nagasaki were researched and created with the Manhattan Project starting in 1940, one year before America entered the war (britannica). This research eventually became part of the war department after the bombing of Pearl Harbor(Britannica). …show more content…
This was the first time that the world had seen anything as destructive as an atomic bomb. The Japanese were warned of “prompt and utter destruction” beforehand, but they had no reason to believe the threat (history). The bomb absolutely devastated the city of Hiroshima. 80,000 were killed instantly, and tens of thousands more were later killed by the radiation left by the bomb (history.com).Paul Tibbets dropped the bomb, nicknamed little boy, at approximately 8:15 A.M., and after it hit, the entire city fell silent (history.com,Avalon). This puzzled many Japanese officials; the government sent in a Japanese officer to inspect what occurred in Hiroshima(avalon). From over 100 miles away, the man and his crew could see the large cloud left from the blast and the burning remains of a city that was perfectly fine less than an hour before (avalon). The Japanese government was still clueless as to what happened at Hiroshima. It wasn’t until the U.S. put out a press release 16 hours later that they knew what happened(avalon). This event put fear into the Japanese. They had just witnessed a destructive force that could potentially destroy the entire world used on their own city. This would surely put an end to almost all motivation to continue