Truman's Decision To Drop The Nuclear Bombs On Japan

1523 Words7 Pages
The year is 1947 and the war in the Pacific has finally come to an end. An invasion by the United States, with assistance from the Soviet Union, successfully defeated the Japanese Empire. When the ally troops were completely transported back to their home countries from Japan, the population of the island was zero. 36 million Japanese people were killed, including every civilian man, woman, and child, in the two yearlong invasion. Fast forward 60 years from this day and the existence of Japanese culture can only be found in history books. Thankfully, due to the decision to drop the nuclear bombs on Japan, this did not happen. The war ended without Operation Downfall being put in to effect and millions of innocent lives were spared. The nuclear…show more content…
With the war in Europe over ,the allies, mainly the United States, found themselves still fighting in the pacific. Truman knew that he needed to end the war with the Japanese Empire as soon as possible. With all eyes on him, Truman made a choice and stuck by it because he knew it would lead to the best outcome for everyone. He decided to drop the nuclear bombs on Japan. The choice to use the bombs was not the number one option the U.S. government had. They initially offered Japan terms of surrender that the Empire did not accept. Caroline Kitchener, a writer from the Atlantic magazine, explains that, “‘The Japanese were given a fair warning, and were offered the terms which they finally accepted, well in advance of the dropping of the bomb. [The] bomb caused them to accept the previously offered terms.’” Kitchener uses a direct quote from Truman himself in her arguments. This proves President Truman wanted to seek other options instead of killing innocent people. When the Japanese refused to surrender “…Truman and his advisers made the only decision they could have made, and in the context of World War II, it wasn’t really much of a decision at all” (Nichols). The use of the bomb was not intended to just end the war, but actually save lives over a longer period of time. One of the biggest factors weighing in on the decision was the fact that this war was indeed the deadliest conflict in human history. Tom Nichols argues that “…one more Allied death would have been worth not dropping the bomb”, especially after “…six years of the worst fighting in the human race.” Obviously, nobody wanted the war to be extended any longer than it had already been. If Truman had not used the bombs to end the war with Japan, the only option left would be
Open Document