A flash of blinding light fills the sky. 70,000 civilians living in Hiroshima are killed
in an instant. In the years to come, 70,000 more will die
from radiation poisoning. Three days later, a second atomic bomb is
dropped on Nagaski, annihilating 40,000 men, women, and children. The United States has detonated the first
and only atomic bombs ever used in a war. But in doing so, they may have saved millions
of lives. Did the end justify the means? The answer to this question may make you sick
to your stomach and question your morality. On December 7, 1941, Japanese forces bombed
Pearl Harbor. Planes dove from the sky, slamming into the
hulls of U.S. Naval ships. The Japanese frantically searched the waters
for their main targets, but they were nowhere to be found. The goal of the attack on Pearl Harbor was
to destroy the United States Pacific Fleet, and the only way to do so was to eliminate
its aircraft carriers. However, several ships were not docked at
the naval base at the time of the attack as they were out on assignment in the Pacific. This included the three aircraft carriers
that the Japanese were hoping to destroy. Over 2,400 Americans lost their lives during
the surprise attack. From that point on, most of the American population
wanted revenge for the men lost at Pearl Harbor. In fact, this single moment in history would
set in motion events that would result in the deaths of millions over the course of
three and a half years. After entering World War II in the Pacific,
the United States was forced to play a deadly game of cat and mouse with Japan. Their armies hopped from one island to the
next, costing men and resources. The goal of each side was to control as much
of the Pacific waters as possible. For the United States, it was a matter of
maintaining a foothold in the region to launch attacks on Japan's main island and end the
war. For the Japanese, it was a battle to keep
control of their power and force the United States back across the Pacific to their mainland. There were massive amounts of casualties on
both sides. Civilians that inhabited the islands of the
Pacific and East Asia were caught up in a war they had no desire to be in. Unfortunately, they did not have the power
to stop the two nations from ravaging their homelands. Neither side would back down, so drastic decisions
needed to be made. The decision to drop the atomic bombs on Japan
started with the most bloody conflict in the Pacific, the Battle for Okinawa. U.S. forces made their way closer and closer
to Japan. The Japanese knew that if they lost Okinawa,
an invasion of their homeland was imminent. Each side had everything to lose when the
battle started. The U.S. codenamed the incursion of Okinawa
Operation Iceberg. On April 1st, 1945, the United States launched
the largest amphibious assault in the history of the Pacific Theater. Boats and amphibious vehicles cruised through
the water loaded with soldiers. When they reached the shores of the island
the ramps lowered and Marines flooded onto the beaches, They immediately met heavy resistance. The Imperial Japanese Army already had a stronghold
on the island, and they would not give it up easily. In fact, the Japanese would rather fight to
the very last man than surrender this strategic location. The main objective for U.S. forces was to
take Kadena Air Base, which would then serve as a launching point for Operation Downfall,
the name given to the invasion of Japan. Thousands of Allied ships, planes, and vehicles
carried out attacks across the island, but the Japanese were dug in and ready. They launched kamikaze counter offensives
and made sure to strike key targets to slow the Allied advance. It was a bloodbath for both sides. The Battle of Okinawa resulted in the highest
number of casualties of any battle in the Pacific. It’s estimated that somewhere around 160,000
military personnel died while fighting for control of the island. The United States lost close to 50,000 men
while Japan lost somewhere between 80,000 to 115,000 people. The saddest part is that the biggest loss
of life was for the Okinawans themselves. Nearly half of the 300,000 people who lived
on the island before the attack died during the battle. Some were forced to enlist in the Japanese
army, while others were innocent victims caught in the firefights and bombings that took place
across the island. After months of fighting the United States
secured victory on the island and gained control of the airfield. However, even once the majority of Japanese
forces were defeated, the Americans still had to contend with guerilla fighters and
small Japanese units sprinkled around the island. They would hide in the forests and sabotage
U.S. operations whenever an opportunity presented itself. Patrols often found themselves being ambushed
out of nowhere as they let their guard down thinking the enemy threat had been dealt with. In fact, some Japanese soldiers never received
word that the war had ended and continued fighting for many years after Japan surrendered
and World War II was officially over. The loss of life and military assets during
the Battle of Okinawa gave U.S. intelligence pause. If the Japanese were able to inflict such
damage on a small piece of land hundreds of miles away from their main island, what would
it cost Allied forces if they were to invade Japan itself? The loss of life would be unimaginable, and
it was hypothesized that it would take years to finally subdue Japanese forces. If there was another way to force Japan into
surrendering, the U.S. needed to find it quickly. As the Battle of Okinawa raged on in the Pacific,
President Franklin D. Roosevelt died of an intracerebral hemorrhage in the brain on April
12, 1945. Harry Truman was sworn into office as the
next President of the United States and immediately started making difficult decisions about the
war in the Pacific. After word reached Truman that Okinawa had
been secured at a great cost, he tasked his advisors with finding a way to force Japan
to surrender. And he wanted it done with minimal U.S. casualties. Unfortunately at the time, there was no good
option. It had become clear that Emporer Hirohito
would not submit willingly. In fact, everyone in Japan believed that they
would win the war and were willing to lay down their lives to make sure that happened. Men, women, and children; military, civilian,
and elderly; all Japanese citizens would rather have died than surrender their country to
a foreign power. This meant that regardless of what Truman
decided to do, lives would be lost. The question was: just how many people needed
to die in order for World War II to come to a close? Soon after the transition of power from Roosevelt
to Truman, the new president was made aware of a top-secret weapon that was being developed
by scientists in Los Alamos, New Mexico. It was known as the Manhattan Project—named
after the location of the team’s first office in New York City—and would result in the
world’s first atomic bomb. After the successful test of the first nuclear
bomb ever created on July 16, 1945, at Alamogordo Bombing Range, Truman believed that the atomic
bomb could be his only way to force Japan into surrendering. Truman asked a committee of advisors led by
the Secretary of War Henry Stimson to determine if using the atomic bomb on Japan was the
best course of action to end the bloody war. After seeing the devastating effects of the
nuclear explosion, the committee did not take this task lightly. They knew that if the U.S. detonated an atomic
bomb on Japanese soil, the civilian casualties would be immense. But it was determined that an invasion of
Japan would be even more costly for both sides. Most of the committee concluded that the bomb
should be used. Stimson was a huge advocate that this was
the right decision. So, under the advisement of the committee,
President Harry Truman issued the Potsdam Declaration on July 26, 1945, which called
for the unconditional surrender of Japan. Truman warned that if the Japanese Emperor
did not comply, there would be “prompt and utter destruction.” There was no way that Japanese leaders could
have known what Truman was talking about as they had never seen a nuclear explosion before
or even knew that such a bomb existed. This is one of the main problems with trying
to justify that using the atomic bomb. The Potsdam Declaration would have been outrageous
to the Japanese Emperor and his advisors. They knew that if the United States invaded
their island, they could depend on the masses to fight until the very last person fell. The Japanese people would not give up their
homeland to an invading enemy and the Japanese leadership was pretty confident that they
could cause enough casualties to the Allied forces that, at the very worst, they would
end up negotiating a truce. This would allow Japan to make a few demands
of their own such as maintaining control of their country. However, this was not an option for Allied
forces. They would not negotiate; it was either unconditional
surrender by Japan or nothing. When Truman did not receive a reply from Emperor
Hirohito he gave the order to drop the bomb. On August 6, 1945, a Boeing B-29 called Enola
Gay took off from an airfield on Tinian Island. In its cargo hold was “Little Boy,” the
first atomic bomb ever to be used in war. At 8:15 A.M. the Enola Gay spotted Hiroshima. The crew prepared to drop the bomb and get
the hell out of dodge before it detonated. The signal was given. Red lights flashed as the bomb bay doors opened. Little Boy was dropped 31,000 feet above the
city of Hiroshima. 44 seconds later there was a bright flash
as the atomic bomb detonated 1,500 feet before hitting the ground. Approximately 70,000 people were instantly
incinerated by the blast. The Japanese finally found out what Truman
meant by “prompt and utter destruction.” It’s unclear what exactly was being discussed
by Japanese leadership immediately after the bomb was dropped, but when no declaration
of surrender came three days after Hiroshima was bombed, the U.S. decided to try again. On August 9, 1945, a different B-29 named
Bockscar carried a second, larger, atomic bomb named “Fat Man” towards Nagaski. The bomb was dropped, and the instant it detonated,
40,000 more Japanese civilian and military personnel were consumed in the fiery blast. Both Hiroshima and Nagasaki had been wiped
off the face of the planet by the atomic bombs. Japan was now ready to surrender. Talks between Japanese leadership and the
United States began, and on September 2, 1945, Japan officially signed documents of surrender
on board the USS Missouri. The question is: was the use of the atomic
bomb justified by the United States? Was there another way to convince Japan to
surrender, or did tens of thousands of Japanese civilians need to die? We’ll present you with evidence for both
sides of this argument, but you will ultimately have to decide for yourself. You may be surprised at which side you choose. After the atomic bombs were dropped and the
United States occupied Japan, some shocking information was discovered about Japan’s
plans for ending the war. According to Japanese military officers and
soldiers, they knew where the U.S. invasion was going to land and had already begun preparing
to inflict as much damage as possible to their forces. Their orders were to repel Allied forces for
as long as possible and inflict casualties by any means necessary. Most of the Japanese military strategists
knew that they would not be able to stop the invasion. But it was also known that the island's entire
population would fight until they were all killed. Surrender was not an option for the Japanese
people and they believed that was better to die fighting than to lose their homeland to
the invading force. Knowing this, U.S. military leaders were convinced
that they had made the right decision. There were over 70 million people who lived
on the island, and it was predicted that everyone from children to grandmas would do their part
to stop the invading Allied forces. This included makeshift kamikaze runs by civilians
using grenades or other explosives. The carnage would have been unfathomable. Therefore, by detonating the atomic bombs,
the military concluded that tens of thousands of U.S. soldiers' lives were saved along with
millions of Japanese lives. Another argument to justify the use of the
atomic bomb is that war itself is inhumane. The bombs dropped on Japan helped end World
War II, and therefore, it was the right call. To put it into perspective, in March of 1945,
the United States dropped incendiary bombs on Tokyo. This caused massive fires to sweep across
the city and consume everything in their path, including civilians. It is estimated that well over 100,000 people
were killed in the Tokyo bombing. So, was this any better than dropping an atomic
bomb? The long-term effects of both situations are
different. Over 1 million people lost their homes in
the Tokyo bombing, but those who survived did not need to worry about radiation poisoning
and cancer like the survivors of the atomic bomb blasts. A home can be rebuilt, but death by radiation
cannot be avoided. It was also estimated by General MacArthur
that even if the Japanese government was forced to surrender after the invasion, there would
still be countless guerrilla groups that would hide in the forests and mountains on the island
that would need to be dealt with. They would continuously wreak havoc at U.S.
installations and oppose the new government that would be put in place. MacArthur concluded it would take a million
U.S. troops ten years to deal with the rogue Japanese soldiers. At that point, the war may have been over
on paper, but the battle would still continue for U.S. soldiers stationed in Japan. It’s also important to note that many Japanese
people still thought that they could win the war even after the atomic bombs were dropped. The Emperor himself needed to declare the
war over, or the people of Japan would keep on fighting. The atomic bombs forced Japanese leadership
to concede and to tell their citizens that they had lost the war and it was now time
for peace. This led to several civilian and military
groups taking up arms and revolting against their own government as they believed there
should be no surrender. But these attempts to overthrow the government
were put down by the Japanese military, and the unconditional surrender commenced. A less strong argument for using the atomic
bomb, yet one that Harry Truman used after he left office, was that Japan started it. This may sound childish but many Americans
wanted revenge for what the Japanese did at Pearl Harbor. In 1958, the City Council of Hiroshima passed
a resolution condemning Truman for ordering the atomic bomb to be dropped on their city. Truman responded that he did not blame the
council for condemning what he did, but he claimed the United States had “been shot
in the back,” referencing the attack at Pearl Harbor. He concluded his letter back to the council
that the atomic bombs saved hundreds of thousands of Americans and Japanese lives. Therefore, it was justified. Some historians think that the American people
would have forced Truman to use the atomic bomb even if he had decided not to initially. As more and more American soldiers died in
the war and information about the successful test of a nuclear bomb in New Mexico got out,
the public would have pressured Truman to use the new weapon of mass destruction, or
they would be happy to elect someone to office who would. It’s hotly debated whether demonstrating
the capability of the atomic bomb by dropping it on an uninhabited piece of land for the
Japanese to see would have been enough to cause them to surrender. Many scientists in Truman's initial committee
of advisors believed that this show of force would indeed have been enough. However, the military personnel felt differently. The Japanese people were so invested in the
war that merely demonstrating the atomic bomb's potential may have been seen as an empty threat. Therefore, it was concluded that the bomb
must be dropped on a city that had military significance. The decision of which cities to bomb did not
fall to Truman but to military leaders. Both Hiroshima and Nagasaki were chosen because
they had military manufacturing facilities. However, this does beg the question: why couldn’t
the bomb just have been dropped on a military facility away from any major cities? There were plenty of Japanese bases that were
isolated from civilian populations, so why couldn’t one of these have been the target? This question has also been debated over the
decades without any clear answer as to why hitting a military base couldn’t have been
tried first. This brings us to an unsettling idea. Maybe dropping the atomic bombs on two Japanese
cities was not justified. The main reason why many believe that dropping
the atomic bombs was unethical is that the U.S. military intentionally targeted civilian
populations. Many believe that the United States used terrorist-like
tactics to force the Japanese government to surrender. Even current military ethics courses in the
United States make justifying the dropping of the atomic bombs difficult. When tough decisions need to be made during
war and collateral damage is inevitable, the proportionality of benefit to cost needs to
be weighed. It’s agreed upon by many military officials
and historians today that the destruction of military targets at Hiroshima and Nagasaki
was nowhere near proportionate to the loss of civilian life. This makes dropping the bombs on these cities
an unjustifiable choice. For people who think dropping the atomic bomb
was necessary but that a military target should have been chosen, it’s often cited that
the bomb should have been dropped in the southern part of Kyushu. It was here where Japanese troops were massing
to mount a defense against the U.S. invasion. Not only would this have been of strategic
significance, but it would have minimized the civilian casualties by targeting an area
that was mostly filled with military personnel. And although some believe that dropping a
demonstration bomb wouldn’t have resulted in Japan surrendering, not everyone sees it
this way. If the United States had detonated a bomb
where high-ranking Japanese officers could see it, it’s very plausible they would recommend
to the Emperor that peace talks should begin immediately. Also, if the demonstration didn’t work,
the next option still wouldn’t have to be blowing up a city full of civilians, as they
could have tried dropping the bomb on a military base first. But the fact that the very first target was
a densely populated city where 70,000 people were obliterated by a single bomb seems like
an extreme first choice when there were other, more justifiable options. Many historians also believe that if a demonstration
atomic bomb was used, the Emperor of Japan would be willing to enter negotiations. Although it’s probable the U.S. would have
refused this option as they wanted Japan's unconditional surrender. But it has been argued that if the United
States had been willing to negotiate, Japan would have come to the table after an atomic
bomb demonstration. In fact, even without a demonstration, it’s
thought that most high-ranking officials in the military and government already knew the
war was lost. So, it’s not out of the realm of possibility
that if the United States had been willing to let Emperor Hirohito stay in power, Japan
would have surrendered. This would have all been possible without
the mass murder of over 100,000 civilians by atomic bombs. But there was another factor that would have
almost certainly led to the surrender of Japan. It had nothing to do with nuclear explosions
or the United States. Instead, at the same time the U.S. was dropping
its second atom bomb, the Soviet Union declared war on Japan. There was no way that Japan could have defeated
both the U.S. and Allied forces in the Pacific as well as the Soviet Union advancing from
the west. Japan knew this, and it’s very plausible
that if the United States had waited for the Soviet Union to declare war on Japan, they
would never have had to drop the atomic bombs in the first place. Japan’s plan at the time was to cause enough
American losses that they would be forced to negotiate a settlement. The average Japanese citizen and soldier might
have believed that Japan could still win the war, but the leadership was not under the
same delusion. They were just weighing their options and
trying to figure out the best outcome. However, once the Soviet Union declared war
on Japan, it was only a matter of time before they became overwhelmed on multiple fronts. As soon as the Soviet Union joined the battle,
they steamrolled their way through Japanese lines in Manchuria and pushed deeper and deeper
into Japanese controlled territories. Once this happened Japan likely would have
sought out a deal with the United States even if they hadn’t dropped the atomic bombs. The reason for this is because Japan already
knew that if the Soviets invaded, it would have been a very different type of occupation
than if the United States was in charge. Japan likely already had information about
the way that occupied territories in Europe were being treated by the Allies versus the
Soviets. The Soviets did not have the best reputation. They tended to incorporate territories into
the Soviet Union and brutally strip them of their national identity. Knowing this, Japan may have seen occupation
by the United States as a better option if they were to surrender. And since the Soviets were closing in quickly,
Japan may have reached out to the U.S. and surrendered even if the atomic bombs hadn’t
been dropped. And if this is the case, then the atomic bombs
dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki were not justified at all. There is no doubt that at the time, the majority
of the American public believed using the atomic bomb was completely justified. In fact, a Gallup poll that was conducted
almost immediately after the bombs were dropped in 1945 found that 85% of Americans approved
of the decision. This is a huge amount of support, which may
be why Truman felt pressure to give the order. It is important to remember that although
Truman authorized the use of atomic weapons, a committee of military personnel made the
decision of where to strike. In a Pew survey conducted in the last several
years, the sentiment of the American people has changed drastically about the use of atomic
bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Now only around 50% of U.S. citizens believe
it was justified. There are probably several reasons for this. For one, many of the people who were alive
during World War II and were impacted by Pearl Harbor are no longer with us. People who are further removed from such a
tragic event tend to have less emotional investment and, therefore, may think more critically
about a decision that cost the lives of over 100,000 civilians. We also now know much more about the long-term
effects that nuclear weapons can have on people and the terrible diseases that can result
from radiation poisoning. Many individuals don’t think anything justifies
killing so many civilians, even during a World War. This is especially true since there were other
options besides dropping the atomic bombs on heavily populated cities. There are arguments to be made for both sides
of the atomic bomb debate, but there are a few undeniable facts. The United States targeted cities with civilians
when they had the option of demonstrating the power of the atomic bomb on uninhabited
land or against strictly military personnel. The Japanese were also probably willing to
sit down for peace talks even without the bombs being dropped, especially after the
Soviet Union declared war on them. All that being said, the atomic bombs definitely
played a major role in forcing Japan to surrender and ending World War II. If the United States had invaded the main
island of Japan, many more people would have died than perished as a result of the atomic
bombs. This does not necessarily justify the use
of atomic weapons on Hiroshima and Nagaski, but it does make you think if it was the best
option in a really bad situation. Now watch “What Was It Like to Be a Kamikaze
Pilot?” Or check out “What If There Was A Nuclear
War Between the US and Russia?”
