Relations between Japan and the U.S. were anything but good before, during, and after WW2. Tensions were high even before the beginning of WW2. In 1931, Japan was seeking to find raw materials to fuel its growing industries, so it invaded the Chinese providence of Manchuria. By 1937, Japan controlled large parts of China, and war crimes against the Chinese people were common. In 1934, Japan ended cooperation with many of the big powers across the world. Japan was criticized by the U.S. and many other world powers.
Relations only worsened when Japan took control of Indochina, intending to capture oil from rich areas in the East Indies. The U.S. responded to this by placing an embargo (ban or trade on activity with another country) on scrap metal, oil, and aviation fuel going to Japan, and stopped Japanese assets in the U.S. The U.S. commanded Japanese forces to withdraw from areas in China and Indochina. Japan began to plan an attack on Pearl Harbor by April 1941.
On December 7, 1941, Japanese forces bombed the U.S. naval base Pearl Harbor, officially bringing the U.S. into WW2. Japan sunk many ships, destroyed hundreds of planes, and killed thousands of people. Japan’s goal was to weaken the U.S. fleet, and they almost succeeded. The American people were shocked and angered. During the war, the U.S. hopped from Island to Island. The Japanese were good fighters and every fight was more costly and claimed more lives. The last major battle was the fight in Okinawa, it lasted 3 months and took at least 100,00 lives.
President Roosevelt (the president during the war) passed away in on April 12, 1945, and President Truman was now in charge of how to end the war. The president and his advisors thought of invasion but it would be too costly. President Truman had heard of the Manhattan Project, a secret scientific effort to make an atomic bomb. After a successful test of the bomb, Truman issued the Potsdam Declaration and demanded a surrender of the Japanese government, warning them of “prompt and utter destruction.” Eleven days later there was no reply. The President decided to drop the bombs. On August 6, Enola Gay took a route to Japan and dropped a bomb on Hiroshima at 8:15 pm. In the first few minutes, there were about 80,000 deaths, and thousands of others died from radiation sickness. On August 9, we dropped the second bomb on Nagasaki. 39,000 people were killed and 25,000 were injured. Japan then surrendered to the United States.
In my opinion, I think that we were right in dropping the bombs. They attacked us first, killed many people, and damaged lots of our equipment. They also refused to surrender when the war was over. I can see both sides, but I believe we did what we needed to do.
https://www.trumanlibrary.gov/education/presidential-inquiries/decision-drop-atomic-bomb
Q1. Do you think we should have bombed Hiroshima and Nagasaki?
Q2. Do you think President Truman did the right thing?
Replies
I agree with you. If we wouldn't have bomb then they would have attacked us and then we would be in trouble.
The reason we bombed Hiroshima and Nagasaki was reasonable and did solve our problem. In the end it benefited us, it still caused damage to their country. I could see why some people think that maybe it wasn't right for us. But I think it was good for us, and I think we did the right thing.
I agree with you. Both sides had their pros and cons, but in the end, I believe we made the right decision.
I think that the bombing made a lot of damage and hardship for many people living there, but if we hadn't bombed, we would've still been at war. Those wars were very hard on many americans and was difficult to watch loved ones leave. So yes, I do think it was right for us to bomb those places.
I agree with you. The war and the bombing took at lot of lives and caused a lot of suffering and family seperation.
It was the right thing to do because invading would have been more deadly. He did do the right thing because he saved many lives by dropping the bomb and finally got Japan to surrender which they wouldn't have if we didn't.
I think that even though the bombs caused a lot of damage if the US hadn't had dropped the bombs the same damage or more would have been caused because the war would have kept going and more people would have been hurt so I think it was the right thing to do.
I agree with you. The bombs caused lots of destruction but if we had not done it, the war would have continued people would still be getting killed.
Do you think we should have bombed Hiroshima and Nagasaki? If I had to make the decision I would not have done it. Do you think President Truman did the right thing? I think it was what the people wanted so you could say yes.
Do you think we should have bombed Hiroshima and Nagasaki? Yes, I think that if that was the only way to end the war and show that they cannot win then it is reasonable to bomb them. Do you think President Truman did the right thing? I think that most presidents make some mistakes but him deciding to bomb them wasn't one in my opinion.
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