World War II was a devastating time in history. The war lasted from 1921 until 1945. During this time, Hitler executed many Jewish peoples, as well as purging the people he viewed as a threat or whom he believed to be going against his wishes. However, many American citizens do not comprehend that the United States also committed many cruel, unjust acts in this time period. Many peoples' doubts of their country are subdued by the simple fact that it is their country that has committed the crime. Under the guise of patriotism, citizens excuse this immorality of the act, whereas the same act committed by another country is inexcusable.
When Japan, Germany's ally in World War II, refused to surrender without the United States' complying with their terms, President Truman decided to use the deadly atomic bombs. On August 6, 1945, an American B-29 bomber dropped the first atomic bomb on the city of Hiroshima. The United States should not have dropped atomic bombs on Japan as this is immoral and this act is inexcusable, despite many counter-arguments.
William D. Leahy once said, "It is my opinion that the use of this barbarous weapon at Hiroshima and Nagasaki was of no material assistance in our war against Japan." Many innocent civilians were killed, including women and children. These people were killed, despite the lack of an ethical military reason. The Japanese government repeatedly announced that in the instance that the United States would invade, which was a considered alternative, all of their civilians would fight to the death, including the women and children.
The military began training and arming their civilians to fight. President Roosevelt decided it would be a much better alternative to drop the atomic bombs, having estimated that 150,000 to 2,000,000 civilians, including women and children, would have died in the case of an invasion. However, this estimate was drawn from an irrelevant scenario and therefore, this reasoning is not accurate. The bombs killed women, men, and children, including both military personnel and civilians. Although the city produced military items and housed soldiers, it was not a "purely military target," as President Truman had assured. There were six civilians in the city for every one soldier. As a result of the bombings, 80,000 people were killed instantly, as well as many people suffering injuries, and countless others dying later from radiation sickness.
Roughly 85% of those killed either instantaneously or from effects relating to the bombs were civilians. Since the bombing had little to no military relevance, this act cannot be considered moral in the sense of warfare. As George Wald said, "Dropping those atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki was a war crime."
It was William D. Leahy's belief that "The Japanese were already defeated and ready to surrender because of the effective sea blockade and the successful bombing with conventional weapons." The Japanese were ready to surrender. However, they were stringent about their wish to have specific conditions. Their terms included that their emperor remain in authority and be allowed to retain his title; the military be allowed to continue to rule their government; and for there to be no occupation of Japan by American troops.
However, the United States did not accept these terms, despite however reasonable they seem to be. Instead, the United States chose to bomb Japan, later agreeing to similar terms after Japan had been defeated. These new terms, agreed upon on August 14, were that the emperor be allowed to retain his title and authority. The United States agreed, under the condition that the emperor accepts the orders of the top Allied commander in the pacific, at the time General Douglas MacArthur. Although the Japanese did not want to surrender unconditionally, the United States was making progress with these negotiations, in a much more moral, traditional use of tactics than those represented through the dropping of the atomic bombs. These terms were reasonable and from a military perspective, as well as the perspective of the average civilian, the dropping of the bombs in Japan was unnecessary. These bombs should not have been dropped.
When speaking of his meeting with Oppenheimer to discuss the atomic bombs, Szilard said "I told Oppenheimer that I thought it would be a very serious mistake to use the bomb against the cities of Japan. Oppenheimer didn't share my view." " Well," said Oppenheimer, "don't you think that if we tell the Russians what we intend to do and then use the bomb in Japan, the Russians will understand it?" "They'll understand it only too well,'"Szilard replied. The bomb was not only used to destroy the Japanese, but it was also considered an effective way to scare the Soviet Union. Roosevelt was wary of invading Japan alone. He wants help with Stalin, whom he believes will go after Germany in order to receive more land through the USSR influence extension.
In general terms, the dropping of the atomic bombs was also used to deter The USSR from causing any trouble in the future. George C. Marshall, the U.S. Army Chief of Staff, remarked, "The gallantry and aggressive fighting spirit of the Russian soldiers command the American army's admiration." The United States began to view the Soviet Union and Stalin's increasing power as a threat. The United States used the bomb dropping in Japan to scare the Soviet Union. They believed that is was acceptable to bomb the Japanese and use their suffering as an "example" for other countries as to not to go to war as well. This lacks the reason necessary to make dropping the bombs on Japan excusable or even explainable in the least.
World War II caused people to believe that it was acceptable to kill civilians if it weakened the enemy. The war violated basic human rights on an immensely new, large scale. The effects of these immoral bombings had no military acceptability, but they foreshadow our future and make us aware of their power. How will the world deal with the increase in the usability of nuclear weapons? What will be their effect on wars of the future? If there were ever to be another instance in which a bomb was to be dropped on a city of civilians, it would cause great debate and most likely be considered a war crime.
However, more often than not people are willing to accept their country's actions as the correct course of action, despite how unjust the chosen action may be. However, maybe the memory of the bombings in Japan has successfully made countries wary of warfare using nuclear weapons, as an unintentional positive consequence of the war. "What has kept the world safe from the bomb since 1945 has not been deterrence, in the sense of fear of specific weapons, so much as it's been memory. The memory of what happened at Hiroshima. (John Hersey)"
