Professor Caddell. WWII: The Decision to Drop the Atom Bomb On the morning of July 16th‚ 1945 the first successful detonation of an atomic bomb was recorded at White Sands Missile Range in New Mexico. The explosion from the blast yielded more power than twenty thousand tons of TNT and could be seen at a distance greater than two hundred miles away. (Atomic Bomb-Truman Press Release) Later that month President Truman met with other Allied commanders in Potsdam‚ Germany to negotiate terms that
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There were a series of events that lead to the decision to drop the first atomic bomb on Japan which included: Pearl Harbor‚ Battle of Midway‚ Iwo Jima‚ and Okinawa. The first event that led to the decision to bomb Japan was driven by retribution for the Japanese bomb on Pearl Harbor that killed thousands and destroyed the majority of military resources located in the area. The second event that led to Truman’s ruling was‚ the Battle of Midway‚ this battle signaled that without interference Emperor
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of wood‚ the incendiary bombs burned the city down causing the deaths of around 100‚000 people14. The most well-known raid on the Japanese mainland was the raid on the cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki with the atomic bomb on during August 1945. In the religious community‚ the atomic bombing raids on Japan were heavily criticised. For Example‚ Pope Pius XII said that “every act of war directed to the indiscriminate destruction of whole cities or vast areas with their inhabitants is a crime against
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The dropping of the atomic bombs on Hiroshima (August 6th 1945) and Nagasaki (August 9th 1945) remains among the most controversial events in modern history. At the time‚ the dropping of the atomic bombs was both strategically and morally justified‚ yet today it is a hotly debated topic‚ thought to be excessive or unnecessary. However‚ the dropping of the atomic bombs‚ while an atrocious act‚ was in fact the lesser of two evils. The alternative was to prolong one of the bloodiest conflicts in global
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succeeding in solving how to make such a weapon. Einstein and Enrico Fermi‚ who escaped Fascist Italy agreed that the President must be informed of the dangers of atomic technology in the hands of the Axis powers. Then Einstein wrote a letter to President Roosevelt with his concerns in 1939. This letter helped initiate the U.S. effort to build an atomic bomb to fight the war. But in July 1940‚ the U.S. Army Intelligence
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about the not so friendly Manhattan Project! The reason why it was made is because of Fear of Nazi Germany making nuclear weapons had spread throughout America‚ which triggered the start of the project. The lead scientists who helped developed the atomic bomb were J. Robert Oppenheimer‚ David Bohm‚ Leo Szilard‚ Eugene Wigner‚ Otto Frisch‚ Rudolf Peierls‚ Felix Bloch‚ Niels Bohr‚ Emilio Segre‚ James Franck‚ Enrico Fermi‚ Klaus
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Dropping of the Atomic Bomb “On August 16‚ 1945‚ Enola Gray‚ a U.S. bomber‚ dropped an atomic bomb on Hiroshima‚ Japan‚ and three days later‚ a second atomic bomb destroyed the city of Nagasaki” (Hiroshima and Nagasaki). Many people argue whether or not these bombings were ethical and legal. The U.S. killed innocent people in order to “break the morale” of the Japanese population. The U.S. also broke many of the statements in the “Just War” doctrine. Theses bombings caused many people to face harmful
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ordered the dropping of the atomic bomb‚ scholars and citizens subscribed to the original version of the story: the President acted to avoid the invasion of Japan and lose anywhere from 200‚000 to 500‚000 American lives. Then in 1965‚ Gar Alperovitz published a the book “Atomic Diplomacy: Hiroshima and Potsdam”. He argues that the dropping of the atomic bomb “was not needed to end the war or to save lives” but was a message to the Soviet Union. Fifty years after the atomic bomb was dropped‚ Alperovitz
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Atomic bomb on Japan. On August 1945‚ the U.S had already taken possession outside of the homelands of Japan. The U.S now had to invade Japan directly face to face. Clearly‚ taking this action would result in a bloody bath. For an outsider‚ the Japanese already looked defeated. Their military size was shrinking and it was obvious that they had no chance in coming back to victory. However the imperialist Japan had a different mindset. Their mindset was to fight until the very last man standing. Civilians
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President Truman made the correct decision to drop the atomic bombs on Japan in 1945. There were various events that led to his correct decision starting with Albert Einstein’s letter to President Roosevelt. In his letter‚ Einstein warned President Roosevelt that Germany might develop and use atomic bombs. These bombs were capable of mass destruction because of the energy released by the splitting of atomic nuclei. When a single free neutron strikes the nucleus of an atom of radioactive material
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