Was the Use of the Atomic Bomb on Hiroshima and Nagasaki Truman’s Best Option to End World War Ii

The goal of the investigation is to determine whether the purpose of thermonu top out weapons on the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki by U. S. President Truman was the best alternative to fetch up World War II. The investigation go push through begin by researching other options available to President Truman, which were debated during the fightfare. Then Trumans options will be analysed for limitations, much(prenominal) as real-life practicality, as well as reliability of the solution which presented the options.Some of the issues which will be examined in this investigation are wherefore twain the naval blockade and go along conk outing was not an option and wherefore the nuclear betray was the logical choice over an invasion. Two sources that will be evaluated due to their large amount of usable information and germane(predicate) data are Hiroshima and Nagasaki-Fire from the Sky and an member from the Kemble Kollection found at http//www. mikekemble. com /ww2/downfall. hypertext mark-up language entitled why America Was Right To Drop The Atomic Bombs on Hiroshima Nagasaki, both of which will be analyzed in part C for validity and limitations.Word Count 173 Part B Summary of Evidence The warfare for the United States has gone on for four years familiar tactile sensation was starting to decay. When the European theatre was static seeing bloodshed the sightly civilian could follow a spacious beca enforce the locations of Europe were well k nown to the intermediate American. The Pacific theatre was diverse in this regard civilians had no plan of how or where the war was being fought, it is not a huge force it was a nuisance to the average person. except thats not all, advertisers were marketing natural and wondrous products that would come after the war residualed, along with rationing and the increase death damage that would reach over three ampere-second grand lives before the war was done. With the recent defeat of the Nazis most of the instauration believed that the war was won Japan would easily be shoved aside and the war was now a distant annoyance pr all the sameting soldiers from returning home and holding blanket new items from consumers.Beca single-valued function of the pressuring demands of public opinion, President Truman had to find a steering to end the war, quickly and cleanly, or he would face the end of public patronage. Options such as a great naval siege of the Japanese main(prenominal) islands and continued bombing of Japanese cities were considered useless by American Generals, they plan of it as choking, but not killing. Preparations and planning begun on what would apply been the largest invasion of all time, code named procedure ruination it would be an amphibian invasion of the Japanese islands involving millions of American soldiers and marines.The startle invasion of Operation Downfall was named Operation Olympic and was chosen to arrive on the Confederate ba nk on the island Kyushu. However, a new report on enemy mess strength on the island, specifically the southern edge, indicated that the Japanese were quickly reinforcing the southern side of the island and that troop strength increased from approximately eight gee to over ii hundred and six thousand. The Japanese had figured out what the American armed forces was planning. To make matters worse the Japanese government legitimate civilians to take up arms and to defend to the death.With these dickens issues arriving the estimated death toll arrived at up to a million. With these horrifying odds, the whole goal of Operation Downfall to produce a quick surrender was now sluice in debate, the fighting on the Japanese Islands may last a in truth long time. However with a naval siege or B-29 bombing possibly dragging on for years the invasion was still the alone considered option. However even the land invasion could cause long term issues if Japan wasnt defeated quickly the Sovi et league may also invade setting up even to a greater extent tension.Thankfully for the United States government, the Manhattan project succeeded in producing the worlds first nuclear bomb, and on August 6th 1945 atomic bomb Little son was dropped on Hiroshima. Over eighty thousand people died in the first a few(prenominal) seconds, yet the Japanese still refuse to surrender on American terms. It took a second nuclear bomb, Fat Man, being dropped on Nagasaki before they surrendered. Word Count 517 Part C Evaluation of Sources The two sources of evidence to be critically examined are Hiroshima and Nagasaki-Fire from the Sky by Andrew Langley and The Kemble Kollection by microphone Kemble.Hiroshima and Nagasaki-Fire in the Sky is a story of the events leaders up to and repercussions that followed the dropping of the two nuclear bombs on the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Published in 2006, and written by accomplished historical originator Andrew Langley. One functi on to note about Andrew Langley is that he specializes in writing childrens novels. Although that occurrence doesnt compromise the truth behind the writings, it does thus far indicate that the novel is not as in-depth as other sources could be, instead providing a broad overview of the events.However despite being oriented towards children it does not hold off on the cruel hard facts such as eighty thousand baseless in the blast alone. Although the novel is considered a secondary source it does use real quotes from thoughts of the men dropping the bomb, people involve in reservation the bomb and from the people being bombed, as well as legion(predicate) real pictures. Andrew Langley, using the pictures and the narration makes it very clear that everyone involved with the bomb regretted it a clear twine, which brings onto the topic of limitations.The novel seems more oriented to recrudesce children on the horror of nuclear war, rather than to educate on the reasons why it w as chosen. In fact it does not explore other possibilities that were considered by generals involved and by President Truman himself. The reader would come out of it believing that the only plan was to use the terrible bomb, when in reality it was almost not considered. The second source to be evaluated is the Kemble Kollection, here seed of On a Sailors Grave (No Roses Grow) Mike Kemble writes about a large variety of different aspects to do with World War II.Mike Kemble makes it clear on his main paginate that his articles are ideal for education and referencing. The article of detail interest for this grant is titled U. S. Plans to Invade Japan in World War 2. Why America Was Right to Drop the Atomic Bombs on Hiroshima Nagasaki. In this article Mike Kemble details operation Downfall, Olympic and numerous other options that were considered by President Trumans military advisors and generals at the time, as well as the inevitable result of using the atomic bomb. His site is ve ry prevalent with over 1. 3 million views and all his articles include references to external sites and sources.One affaire to question is who Mike Kemble actually is his site does not mention anything about his credentials or any education he may have. raise research says hes a retired ex-army NCO now working for many Security, part of the Royal British Legion. When it comes to limitations on his work, at that place are very few. Besides some form issues such as poor in-article referencing there really isnt that much to say he covers most aspects of a topic and explains the reasons for the decisions made. One possible limitation for the particular article used is that most of the ources he references in his collection are not first ones however, it is not a huge issue. Word Count 545 Part D Analysis President Truman, like all presidents, was bound by the demands of the public they wanted a quick end to the war for numerous reasons. However that statement alone is not necessa rily the case, an article for a theme written by Admiral William V. Pratt makes it clear that there was another option to invasion and the bomb, a simple navy war of attrition, one with few casualties that will simply last longer a slow and stiff sort of approach.Of course at this point there are clear lines as to who supports what, each branch of military supporting its own particular route to victory. Then theres the bomb itself, today there is still debate as to whether it was the morally sound way of terminal the war. Historian Ralph Raico (a senior scholar of the Mises Institute) argues the what-if scenario. He points to the fact that if the Nazis used an atomic bomb, and the allies still won, then the use of the weapon would be considered a war crime and the Nazis would be hanged not that they werent already.That is undoubtedly true, however an article written by Matthew Seligmann (reader in bill at the University of Northampton, and author of Does Peace Lead to War? ) fo r The Guardian argues the opposite, he states that Japanese controlled grunge was suffering from starvation and that four hundred thousand Asians died each month, gist that the use of the bomb was the morally right thing to do. For the invasion the mental image of casualties is extremely broad, anywhere between a million to two hundred thousand. Of course each number has its own uses especially if the three military branches were each striving to be the one that ended the war.Former army-man and author Mike Kemble argues that Japans population would have been able to survive a navy siege, using its farms and that the bombing could only damage the cities. His main support for this argument is that over half of Japans population was in rural areas and even within cities residents often had gardens for fruit and vegetables, often even wheat. With public support for the war slowly dying, Truman had to find a way to quickly end the war. Both a naval blockade and continued bombing were considered ineffective.The only viable solution besides the atomic bomb is the invasion however with potential for a million casualties and the Soviet heart invading Japan, it would have simply not been fast enough. The end of the war was a question of speed, what would force the Japanese to quit, and what would do it the fastest. The fact that two of Japans cities had to be destroyed is further proof that rug bombing, blockades or endless city combat would not have brought the war to a close. President Trumans best option was to use the two atomic bombs Fat Man, and Little Boy. Word Count 486 Part E ConclusionTiming was key for President Truman all the options presented to him would take too long to end the war and would only bring further complications. The only option he had was to use the two atomic bombs to force the surrender of Japan. Andrew Langleys hold back Hiroshima and Nagasaki Fire from the Sky, because it is directed at the younger audience, it provides an excellen tly summarized view of the events leading up to the droppings of the atomic bombs. Andrew Langley himself is a well experienced author with plenty of publications and the book from which this investigation takes evidence is filled with primary sources.The bias against the bombs is due to the nature the bombs played in the Cold War, not against the use of the bombs themselves. The Kemble Collection, by Mike Kemble goes in-depth at answering the whys of history, not documenting the flow of history itself but looking at the other options of the times. His work provided some of the superior plethora of knowledge on the different options Truman faced, and despite the sources that Kemble uses being broadly speaking secondary, his sources are plenty and well founded, and he makes a point of devising it well referenced for the sake of education.List of SourcesThe Decision to Use the Bomb, support Mice. Net. December 2008.online http//www. bookmice. net/darkchilde/japan/atomic. html Seli gmann, Matthew.The alternatives to bombing Hiroshima were not morally superior. Guardian. Friday 15 August 2008. Guardian News and Media Limited 2009.online www. guardian.co.uk/world/2008/aug/15/nuclear.japan Langley, Andrew. Hiroshima and Nagasaki