The bombings actually had more meaning than simply ending the war. Each interpretation of the bombings has an obvious link to the interests of the United States. Because of these special interests, the morality and ethics of the bombing is questionable. It is obvious that the United States was the only country who stood to gain anything from the bombings.

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Some may say that we had to end the war so that we could put ourselves in a better position in the world; this position would later enable us to help other countries. Others argue that our actions were selfish, ruthless, and outright destructive. Although there are many opinions on the atomic bombing of Japan, we cannot change history; we can only reflect upon our past actions and strive to be better.

Military Reasons for Bombing

One of the most popular explanations for the bombing was for military reasons, to end the war immediately. Ending the war promptly prevented the need for future invasions, which saved more lives in the long run. Based on previous battles with Japan, the United States knew that more battles would result in a great deal of bloodshed. (Oh, n.d.) The Japanese army was determined to fight us with everything they had, which meant there were a lot of casualties.

End the War Quickly by Forcing Surrender

Shortly before the atomic bombs were dropped, it was obvious that Japan was near defeat but they were not necessarily ready to surrender. There was no question that we would defeat Japan, but the United States wanted to do so more quickly than it was happening. The atomic bomb was more about ending the war as immediately than it was about defeating Japan. (Cooper, 2000)

Keep Russia Out of the War

Russia was eager to join the war in order to help us defeat Japan, but we did not want their help. The United States feared Russian involvement because we did not want Russia to feel entitled to gaining anything, such as territory in Asia, from the imminent defeat. To allow such a territorial gain would surely mean the spread of Communism, which the United States did not want because we considered Russia one of our greatest enemies at the time. One of the main motivations for dropping the bombs was to force Japan to surrender; we knew that this tool was key in getting the Emperor to end the fighting. (Cooper, 2000)

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Political Reasons for Bombing

In addition to military reasons, there were also many political reasons behind the bombing of Japan. The creation and testing of the atomic bomb was a very expensive project, so many government officials felt that the value of the bomb must be demonstrated by using it in the war. (Oh, n.d.) If it was not used, then it would seem like a waste of government funding because its true potential would not be seen. The United States felt that the physical and psychological power of the bomb needed to be demonstrated to the world.

Intimidation Tool 

Not only did we want other countries to know we had a powerful weapon, we wanted them to fear it. Many people suggest that one of the reasons we used the bomb was to intimidate the Russians, which has some truth to it. Soviet Russia was considered an enemy of the United States; the bomb showed them and the rest of the world what we had in our arsenal. One of our greatest fears was that Russia would attempt to expand into Asia. The bomb obviously had political implications on the rest of the world, especially Russia. The United States showed the world that we did not need Russia’s help to defeat Japan and gave us a strong hand for future negotiations. (Oh, n.d.)

Social Reasons for Bombing

There are also social reasons behind the bombings of Japan. At that point in history, the average American disliked Japan and the Japanese people a great deal. These tensions had been building ever since the 19th century and eventually peaked when Japan bombed Pearl Harbor. (Oh, n.d.) The bombing of Japan can be viewed as retaliation; the United States bombed them because of Pearl Harbor and their terrible treatment of American prisoners of war.

POW’s were tortured and killed during this time in history and the American people were outraged. Despite the obvious dislike between the United States and Japan, this social reason alone is not why we bombed Japan. The government insists that the bomb was originally intended for Nazi Germany, but the bomb was not ready prior to their surrender on May 7th. (Oh, n.d.)

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Was it Justified?

Every attempt to justify the bombing of Japan is met with resistance. We can see that the decision to bomb Japan was not based on one reason, but rather a culmination of reasons from different points of view in the United States government. The military, politicians, and the American people each had their own reasons for supporting the bombing at the time. Although each of these reasons together are historically why Japan was bombed, it does not mean that all of them were fair and justified. This piece of our history illustrates America as arrogant and powerful. Although we may not consider arrogance a good trait, at that time it was necessary. The bombing of Japan played a key role in the end of WWII and subsequent history, despite seemingly compromised morals and ethics.

References

Cooper, J. (2000) Truman’s Motivations: Using the Atomic Bomb in the Second World War. Retrieved on August 9, 2011 from http://www.johnwcooper.com/papers/atomicbombtruman.htm

Oh, J. (n.d.) Hiroshima and Nagasaki: The Decision to Drop the Bomb. Retrieved on August 9, 2011 from http://www.umich.edu/~historyj/pages_folder/articles/Hiroshima_and_Nagasaki/pdf

The Manhattan Project was the US Government’s secret military project established in 1942 which aimed to produce the US’ first nuclear weapon. Fears of Nazi Germany creating a nuclear weapon during the Second World War sparked the establishment of the Manhattan Project. The US physicists J. Robert Oppenheimer and Leslie R. Groves headed a team of the finest US scientists, engineers, mathematicians in conjunction with the European scientists Albert Einstein, Enrico Fermi and Leo Sizlard to participate in the Manhatten Project. The Project was divided into three main research and production facilities at Oak Ridge, Hanford and Los Alamos. By the end of the project, the Project conjured a substantial amount of Uranium -235 (a rare isotope of Uranium) to produce the Little Boy and Big Boy atomic weapons.

1. Describe the dropping of the bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Why were these chosen? Give details of the bombs and the physical destruction they caused. (At least a page).

On May 10th 1915, the Target committee at Los Amos led by Robert Oppenheimer decided on which targets that would be suitable to ‘bomb’. They recommended the cities Kyoto, Hiroshima, Yokohama and Kokura. The committee managed to agree that the atomic weapons should not be used on a military target due to the chance of missing them and instead, they decided on a more ‘civilian’ based target.

Hiroshima was eventually chosen due to its large size, civilian population of 225,000 people, military significance and vast hills that surrounded the city that would create a ‘focusing effect’ and thereby, intensify the destructive capacity of the bomb. During the time of the bombing of the city, it was home to the headquarters of the 5th division, housing Field Marhsal Shunkoro Hata’s 2nd General Headquarters. Furthermore, it served as a minor supple and logistics base with could act as a storage area for the assembly of troops, whilst acting as a communication hub. Its ability to produce toxins and chemicals that were used against the Chinese also enticed the committee to choose the city.

The bombing of Hiroshima took place on August 6th, 1945. The Enola Gay, a B-29 Superfortress of the 393d Bombardment Squadron was accompanied accompanied by two other B-29 Superfortresses, one containing instrumentation and the other a photography equipment. The bomb ‘Little Boy’ was released uneventfully at 8:15 (Hiroshima Time). The gun-type fission bomb with 60Kg of uranium-235 took 57 seconds to fall from the aircraft and detonate 600m on top of the city. A blast equivalent to 13 kilotons of TNT ripped the heart out of Hiroshima. The nuclear explosion consisted of five interlinked effects: heat, light, blast, fallout and electromagnetic pulse (EMP)

The immediate aftermath of the bombing would produce a death toll of 70,000 people. By 1950, the figure would climb up to 200,000 people due to the long-term illnesses experienced by victims who were within the vicinity of the bomb blast.

Similarly, the atomic bombing of Nagasaki was chosen due to its military significance. During the war, it was the largest sea port in Southern Japan that bustled with industrial activity, producing ordnance, ships and military equipment. On the morning og August 9, 1945, a US B-29 Superfortress by the name of Bockscar flew out to engage the city of Kokura (Nagasaki at this stage was a secondary target). When a 70% cloud cover was reported over Kokura, the bomber changed course to Nagasaki and at 11:01, dropped the atomic weapon ‘Fat Man’. The 6.4kg plutonium-239 cor was dropped over the city’s industrial valley  and caused a casualty rate of 40,000 – 75,000 people. By the end of 1945, it would increase to 80,000.

“The atomic bomb was more than a weapon of terrible destruction; it was a psychological weapon” US Secretary of War Henry L. Stinson, 1947.

1. What was the immediate reaction of Western media to the dropping of the bombs?

This reaction is based off a BBC news article written a few days after the bombing of Hiroshima.

The Western media seemed to take positive militaristic view on the bombing of Hiroshima. A major component of the sense of ‘accomplishent’ on the droppings of the atomic weapon seemed to be based on America’s achievements on of “harnessing the basic power of the Universe” (Harry S. Trumann) by embracing science as “British and American science has outpaced all German efforts” (Winston Churchill). The Western Media appear to have praised the destruction of Japan that had effectively ended the Second World War and neglected the drastically large loss of life necessary to achieve so, particularly on the civilian population.

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Details of the atomic bomb: the creation 

• The atomic bomb was made possible by new discoveries in nuclear physics, which revealed the immense power encased in radioactive atoms. Here are the facts atomic bomb on the creation of the first atomic bomb and the advances in science and technology made it possible. 
• The atomic bomb is based on artificially induced phenomenon of nuclear fission. The atoms of radioactive elements like uranium or plutonium are bombarded with slow neutrons, which makes them unstable and split into lighter elements, releasing large amounts of energy in the process. Along with the release of energy, more neutrons are released in the process, which then cause fission of atoms, causing a chain reaction. The explosion of the atomic bomb is the activation of this type of reaction uncontrolled fission chain. 
• Nuclear power plants or nuclear reactors are based on the same principle as the atomic bomb. The only difference is that it uses a fission chain reaction controlled for peaceful purposes. 
• The process of nuclear fission was discovered by Otto Hahn and Fritz Strassmann in 1938. The first atomic bomb was created by the United States on a military project, dubbed “Manhattan Project” which involved thousands of scientists, engineers and technicians, working under the direction of Robert Oppenheimer at Los Alamos. 
• Allied forces, led by the U.S., initiated the project to develop the bomb, partly for fear that the Nazi government of Germany was developing one too. On July 16, 1945, the first successful test of an atomic bomb took place in the desert north of Alamogordo, New Mexico. The test was code named ‘Trinity’ and the bomb was a plutonium implosion device, releasing heat and energy equivalent to about 19 kilotons of TNT (trinitrotoluene) explosions! 
• The total estimated cost of the Manhattan Project was $ 20 million. 

Details of the atomic bomb of World War II 

• Neither those who used the atomic bomb for the first time or those in which it has been used, you can never forget that moment in human history. He left a deep scar on the psyche of humanity. Here are the facts atomic bomb, which speak of its use in World War II, leading to it and what were the consequences. 
• In part, stung by the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, the U.S. dropped the atomic bomb, codenamed “Little Boy” on the Japanese city of Hiroshima on August 6, 1945. After that, another atomic bomb, codenamed “Fat Man” was dropped on another Japanese city of Nagasaki on August 9, 1945. In the first four months after the two attacks, about 90,000 to 166,000 people died in Hiroshima, while about 60,000 to 80,000 people died in Nagasaki. Half of deaths in both cities came the same day, a few hours after the attacks. Needless to say, Japan surrendered unconditionally after a few days and the second world war came to an end. 
• What makes an attack with atomic bombs, although it is more deadly than leaves behind radioactive waste, which causes genetic mutations and cancer. Hundreds of people died in the coming years due to cancer and other diseases caused by exposure to radioactive waste in Hiroshima and Nagasaki. 

Details of the atomic bomb: Current status of nuclear weapons 
Since World War II, countries that possess nuclear weapons have increased in number. World is an even more dangerous now than it was in the war years. Within minutes, more than half the world’s population could disappear if a nuclear war is triggered! These facts atomic bomb are a status update of nuclear proliferation in the world. 

• Today eight nations recognize the possession of nuclear weapons. The nuclear club includes U.S., UK, Russia, France, People’s Republic of China, India, Pakistan and North Korea. 
• Today, a nuclear weapon even more lethal form of the hydrogen bomb was developed, which is thousands of times more deadly than an atomic bomb. Classified as a thermonuclear device, a hydrogen bomb uses both the reactions of fission and fusion to unleash hell when detonated. These thermonuclear weapons can cause damage equal to or greater than 50 million tons of TNT explosives! 
• With the development of intercontinental ballistic missiles, delivering the atomic bomb has become easier and more deadly! Many countries have the capability to launch nuclear warheads aimed at places thousands of miles away. 
• In 1966, during the Cold War, to 32,193 nuclear warheads and bombs were built and ready for deployment! 
• Since 1951, the total number of nuclear missiles developed by the U.S. is 67,500. In 1990, the U.S. had a stock pile of 70,000 nuclear warheads and bombs! 
• Today’s News of nuclear weapons shows that many more developing countries are in the process of acquiring the technology to build nuclear weapons. The ongoing international efforts to carry out large-scale voluntary disarmament.

Little boy atomic bomb in question is “The Little Boy” which was launched by the United States Military (U.S.). Little Boy was already prepared on July 31, 1945.

On August 2, Hiroshima is determined as the main target of U.S. military in Japan. The attack it self eventually performed on August 6, 1945, while Japan remains adamant never to surrender to allied forces in World War II.

This atomic bomb dropped from a Boeing B-29 Superfortress named Enola Gay. U.S. bomber piloted by Lt. Col. Paul W. Tibbets.

Dropped from a height of approximately 31,000 feet, the atomic bomb was exploded at 8:15 am Japan time on August 6, 1945. The bomb exploded when it reached an altitude of 550 meters.

Little Boy has a length of three meters wide and 71 centi-meter and weighs approximately 4000 pounds. The explosion of the bomb was equivalent to 15,000 tons of TNT-type explosives.

Bomb in reference to former U.S. President Frank D Roosevelt, being able to make the damage as far as distance of 13 kilometers per side.

Nearly 60 percent of the buildings in Hiroshima reportedly destroyed in the blast. Casualties caused by the bomb blast was originally known to reach 118,661 civilians, but the number is rectified to about 140,000 of the population of Hiroshima which reached 350,000 inhabitants.

Three days later, ie on August 9, 1945, the U.S. dropped the atomic bomb re-named “Fat Man”. This bomb is much larger than the size of Little Boy. Fat Man himself referred to as the former British Prime Minister Winston Churchill. Fat Man weighs 4050 kilograms and dropped into the city of Nagasaki. The level of devastation caused by this very large bomb.

Area approximately 6.7 kilometers of hilly area of ​​ Nagasaki, reportedly destroyed luluhlantak. 74,000 citizens of Nagasaki was reportedly killed by a bomb.

While the survivors have to finish their lifetime because of suffering from deadly diseases because of the radiation caused

Akiko still 20 years old that time. At the events, around 9 AM local time, he was at Bank Hiroshima. Akiko stood 300 metres from the center of the explosion. Akiko was one of the victims that survive miraculously, even though there were more than a hundred of scars that left on his back.

He tells that a lot of people died immediately that time. Their corpses were anywhere on the street. As we can saw that time, all we saw was burnt corpses, and lots of people were bleeding everywhere. It is so creepy.

Fire was slowly spreading to their whole body, from their finger to their whole body. There was a liquid, a light grey liquid, that drips to their hand.

Akiko was shocked to know that fingers and body can burnt and become defect like that. He doesn’t believe that. He really shocked and it is horrible. Akiko was seeing all of that tragedy. It is more terrifying to think how their fingers burnt, hand and fingers were melting. And among them, there were some people that holding their babies.

“They just, they just,.. burn until all out,” he says that with a stammer voice.

Akiko tells, the morning of the tragedy is very hot. Flame heating were everywhere. All the people had a problem when breathing, include Akiko himself. All the air that their breath was hot air.

“Maybe the fire was burning the oxygen, I don’t know. I can’t open my eyes because there are a lot of fog. Not only me, but everybody also feel the same,” says Akiko.

For a couple of years after that incident, Akiko has become traumatic and phobia of fire. “Because all my senses remind me how scary and horrible that fire was,”.

A critical mass requires that a certain weight of fissionable material must be assembled to sustain a chain reaction. When the critical mass is attained, the nucleus of the uranium or plutonium atom is bombarded with tremendous amounts of slow-moving neutrons. Some neutrons are successfully absorbed and split the nucleus. The result is the formation of lighter elements, the emission of more neutrons, and a violent release of energy. As more neutrons are multiplied, more nuclei are split—thus accounting for the term “chain reaction.” This entire reaction takes place in a fraction of a second. The size of the explosion depends upon the efficiency of the chain reaction.

The first atomic bomb explosion was performed near Alamogordo, New Mexico, on July16, 1945, atop a steel tower. The blast was so powerful that the tower disintegrated as a result of vaporization and the sand in an 800-yard radius fused to glass.

Explosions of this type are characterized by a blinding flash of light, a heat wave, a tremendous shock wave, and a huge ball of fire rising rapidly in a mushroom-shaped cloud. The destructive force of this device is caused by three distinct actions:

v     Blast effect – a violent wind first blowing out from the point of explosion and then reversing its direction, creating a vacuum. Most damage is caused by the side effects, such as flying glass and falling walls.

v     Thermal radiation – the “flash” heat caused by absorption of heat energy for a very brief instant. In Japan, persons one and one-half miles from the blast were burned on surfaces facing the blast. Burning is caused by ignition of combustible materials.

v     Ionizing radiation – called radioactivity, and causing the least amount of damage. A transfer of energy is affected whereby the human tissues undergo a biophysical and biochemical change.

Because of their vast power, atomic bombs are graded by the equivalent weight of TNT required to release the same amount of energy. The bomb’s power is expressed in kilotons (thousands of tons).

The fusion, or thermonuclear, bomb was first tested in November, 1952. Because the explosion is created by the fusion reaction of hydrogen isotopes, deuterium and tritium, the weapon is called hydrogen bomb.

A fusion bomb of about 100 kilotons provides the great heat needed to sustain a thermonuclear reaction. The intense heat transforms the deuterium and tritium atoms into atoms of helium—a heavier element than hydrogen. The weight of helium atoms formed is less than the total weight of hydrogen atoms consumed in the fusion reaction. The difference in weight is the mass given off in the form of a violent release of energy. The fusion reaction is not limited like ordinary explosives since heat, not mass, initiates the release of nuclear energy.

Hydrogen and cobalt bombs are many more times as powerful as atomic bombs. Bombs as great as 50 megatons (millions of tons) already have been exploded.

A recent idea is the neutron bomb. It has probably not yet been made. In theory, the N-Bomb will be a fusion explosion like the hydrogen bomb. Unlike the H-bomb, however, the blast will develop into a burst of neutrons instead of a great ball of fire resulting in a radioactive cloud. The neutrons can penetrate solid materials, destroying life but not damaging the buildings.

United States tested the atom bomb at Trinity Site (New Mexico) on July 16, 1945. and after the testing united states finally decided to drop the uranium atom bomb on Hiroshima on August 6, 1945. not only that of Nagasaki was destroyed after an atomic bomb plutonium sentenced on 9 August 1945.

The two bombs killed over 120,000 people in an instant. circumstances which looks like a helter skelter and uninhabited terrain created thereafter.

after years of the 1950s, nuclear energy is used for civilian purposes as generating electricity. Various countries that control the technology began to make use of nuclear energy on a large scale. This is because the efficiency of nuclear power plants (NPP) is quite high, especially with small mass (’fuel’) to generate big energy. And until recently, nuclear energy accounted for 16% of the total electric energy needs of the world which only spread across 30 countries.

if 30 countries are reducing their nuclear experts to help Japan, the nuclear crisis could soon be finished. no more fear of radiation effects. and Japan and around the country was again safe. let’s work together to help Japan. forget the political conflict and other conflicts as this. so that the incident in Nagasaki and Hiroshima not happen again.

The first nuclear explosion bore the code name “Trinity” and served as a test ground for the bombing of Japanese cities Hiroshima and Nagasaki in 1945. The two explosions killed more than 150,000 people and after Nagasaki the nations worlwide agreed never again to resort to atomic bombs as well as destructive force, but as a deterrent, because the demonstration of their power in Japan will never be forgotten.

However, for a nuclear explosion to occurr war is not needed because  since 1945. – 1998., the world has  recorded as much as 2053 nuclear explosions. This is testified by a video attached to the article, with the time chronology and maps. The last nuclear explosion occurred in May 1998., and was the result of Pakistan’s nuclear tests.

If we are not all insane from number of detonated nuclear experiments and failures in the nuclear power plants, the latter in Fukushimi will certainly not finish us nor the Japanese. Surviving was something unthinkable in 1945. but still they managed it so they will survive this crisis for sure.

VIDEO:

Our last dawn was crisp, cold, blue
And the streets flowed with people
As silver death flew overhead.
That perfect fireball sprang
Ripping souls from age old hosts
Engulfing creation in flame.

The scorched earth wrapped around me,
Encasing my blackened bones
Beneath a concrete layer of death.
Here, a whole community
Is the true cost of progress;
Thousands of people turned to ghosts.

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The atomic bomb is a sensitive topic for both Americans and Japanese alike. It was not only an attack to end the fighting but an all out assault on Japan’s way of life. Although some may say that the bombings were essential to the victory of World War II, I believe that only one of the bombs should have been used. The atomic bomb “Little Boy” that was used over Hiroshima had already persuaded the Japanese to surrender, but the bombing on Nagasaki was unneeded to end the war.
First of all, the severity of “Fat Man”, the bomb dropped on Nagasaki, killed between 60,000 and 80,000 innocent Japanese civilians. As Admiral Leahy said “… wars cannot be won by destroying women and children”. The majority of those killed during and after the bombing of Nagasaki were mostly women and children with few Japanese troops stationed in Nagasaki. The use of this second bomb was “an act of war terrorism” (Michael Walzer) from the United States towards the Japanese. The bombing forced the Japanese government to surrender by killing thousands of innocent people with one horrific attack. Some people may argue that it’s better them than our soldiers, but don’t all humans have families, dreams, beliefs? What’s the difference between killing thousands of Japanese civilians and our men? Aren’t those options unfair and unjust?
Furthermore, The Japanese Empire was already getting prepared to surrender to the Allies before the bombing of Nagasaki. The premeditated attack on Nagasaki occurred only 3 days after the destruction of Hiroshima. The people of Japan, including its leaders, were still in a state of confusion over what happened and what should be done.  They had no way of knowing that a second bomb would be dropped and no time to respond to the first nuclear explosion. Due to the shortness of time between the two bombings, some historians have come to the conclusion that the attack on Nagasaki was “certainly unnecessary” and “gratuitous at best and genocidal at worst”. The day before Nagasaki was annihilated, the Emperor of Japan told his Foreign Minister Shigenori Togo that he wanted to “insure a prompt ending of hostilities”. Foreign Minister Shigenori Togo also wrote in his memoir that the Emperor “warned him that since we could no longer continue the struggle…we should not let slip the opportunity to end the war by engaging in attempts to gain more favorable conditions.” This is proof that the Japanese Empire had intentions of surrendering to the Allies even before the bombing of Nagasaki.