Trinity - Was Its Use Justified - Anoop Randhawa

Anoop Randhawa
History 12
Assignment 3.1: TRINITY - Was its use justified?
PROS:
● The bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki easily and quickly brought an end to WWII
○ The Japanese Emperor Hirohito stated that he saw no point in continuing the
war, it would only lead to more destruction
■ He recognized that the enemy possessed too strong and dangerous of
a weapon
■ Thus, he declared Japan’s surrender and even mentioned that Japan
had been defeated
● On August 15, 1945, the Emperor’s statement was
broadcasted throughout Japan
● The number of deaths of Allied troops was significantly reduced
○ Due to these bombings, the Allied forces could put an end to their
island-hopping campaign
■ “Island-hopping” is the practice of skipping heavily fortified islands in
order to take over lightly defended islands that could support the next
advance
● The Japanese always showed strong resistance and caused
many casualties of the Allied troops during this campaign
■ If the Allies had continued this campaign, the number of deaths of
Allied soldiers would have been much greater than the number of
deaths of citizens caused by the two atomic bombings
● The atomic bombings would offer leverage for dealing with Joseph Stalin and the
Soviets
○ By August 1945, relations between the Soviet Union and the United States
were damaged
○ The Potsdam Conference had concluded just four days before the bombing of
Hiroshima
■ This was a meeting between U.S. President Truman, Russian leader
Joseph Stalin, and Winston Churchill
● At this meeting, President Truman wanted Stalin to withdraw
the Soviet forces from Germany and Eastern Europe
○ Truman and his advisors believed that their new weapon, the atomic bomb,
would provide some diplomatic leverage with the Soviets
■ Thus, the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki would be beneficial in
helping to force the Soviets to withdraw their forces
CONS:
● The bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki were unnecessary because there were
alternative options available
○ Negotiations between the U.S. and Japan could have been made
■ One of the reasons the Japanese did not want to surrender was
because they felt this would jeopardize the Emperor’s safety (Emperor
Hirohito)
● However, the U.S. leaders could have negotiated with the
Japanese leaders and clarified that the Emperor would not be
held accountable for the war under the policy of unconditional
surrender
○ This would have assured the Japanese that the
Emperor’s safety would be guaranteed and that the
emperor system would be allowed to continue
● These bombings were immoral and resulted in tens of thousands of innocent people
dying or facing serious injuries
○ The victims of this “mass murder” were mainly civilians
○ This weapon was used by the U.S. knowing that it would kill civilians and
destroy the urban and natural environment
○ On August 6, 1945, Little Boy was dropped and achieved a new order of
destructive power
■ It released the equivalent of 12.5 kilotons of TNT
■ It basically flattened Hiroshima in one blow
● Only 6000 of the city’s 76,000 buildings were left undamaged
● An estimated 100,000 died that first day
● This bomb would have lethal effects on the survivors
○ Many of these effects would not be understood for
years
○ On August 9th, 1945, Fat Man released the equivalent of 22 kilotons of TNT
on Nagasaki
■ This was almost twice the power of Little Boy
■ But, the damage in Nagasaki was limited to some extent due to its
topography
● But, still, about 74,000 people were killed instantly
○ The survivors of Nagasaki and Hiroshima would experience the
consequences of these events for years to come
■ In fact, the survivors formed a new caste in Japan: the Hibakusha
● The people who made up this caste had been scarred by the
fire and radiation
● Sadly, they were discriminated against by countrymen
● By dropping the two atomic bombs, the United States began a nuclear arms race
○ The bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki were a signal to the rest of the
world that the USA considered nuclear weapons to be legitimate weapons of
war
○ These events would cause all nuclear proliferation
■ All other major powers realized they were now vulnerable to attack
and so they began working towards forming a balance of power (i.e.
building their own atomic bombs)
● The bombing of Nagasaki was avoidable
○ After the bombing of Hiroshima, the Japanese were still attempting to
understand the devastation of this attack
■ All of a sudden, the U.S. dropped the second bomb
● The second atomic bombing, on Nagasaki, occurred only three
days after the bombing of Hiroshima
○ This was completely unnecessary
■ The Japanese leaders were still confused about what had just
happened in Hiroshima
● Many leaders did not even believe the first reports of the
incident
○ If the U.S. had just waited a little longer to give the
Japanese adequate time to come to a decision then the
second bombing could have been prevented

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Assignment 3.1: TRINITY - Was its use justified?

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