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8 Far-Reaching Pros and Cons of Dropping the Atomic Bomb

navajocodetalkersadmin on July 28, 2015 - 6:01 pm in Pros and Cons

The bold decision was made in 1945 to drop the very first Atomic bomb on the cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Japan. This monumental event caused massive deaths, destroyed the entire city, but it also successfully ended the second world war. The effects of the atomic bomb dropping spread across the entire world, it showed just how powerful these types of weapons can be and the widespread damage that they can cause. It can be difficult to analyze the decisions that where made so long ago, but we’re going to try to by taking a fair look at both sides of the bomb dropping.

The Pros of Dropping the Atomic Bomb

1. Avoided Invasion
There came a point in the second world war when the United States had to act quickly and effectively to stop the Japanese from causing any further damage to the country. There were essentially two options, invade and take over, or drop the atomic bomb. They chose to drop the bomb, which in retrospect was a better decision for Japan as a nation.

2. Lives Where Saved
During the bombing of Pearl Harbor, hundreds of U.S. Soldiers lost their lives at the hands of the Japanese. All across the war people where losing their lives in record numbers. The United States was the very first country to complete and successfully develop an Atomic bomb, which sent fear into the government and citizens of countries across the world. This fear helped agreements to be met and the war to be ended, thus saving countless lives all around the world.

3. Prisoner’s Where Released
Japan held hundred of POW’s or Prisoners of War from the United States. When the bomb was dropped, they where forced to release these people back to their country, which was an amazing thing because many people did not expect them to come home alive.

4. The End of a War
Overall, the most significant thing to come out of the dropping of the Atomic bomb was the simple fact that it effectively ended a World War that had killed millions of people all over the globe.

The Cons of Dropping the Atomic Bomb

1. The Survivors Suffered
After the Atomic bomb was dropped in Japan, the Japanese military feared that there where more bombs to come. Out of this fear, they took all of the food reserves that they could and left the country, leaving behind millions of people without supplies to live. This caused widespread death because of starvation and sickness in the country.

2. It Might Have Ended Anyways
There where already very strong talks about peace negotiations between Japan and the U.S.. However, after the Pearl Harbor Attacks, the United States felt that they had no other choice but to drop the bomb. They did this without talking to Japan and trying to negotiate peace beforehand.

3. It Was Expensive
Developing the Atomic Bomb was astronomically expensive for the United States. It cost over two billion dollars just to develop! This is why a large majority of people believe that the bombs where only dropped in order to justify the immense spending of this project.

4. Innocent Lives Lost
By far, the biggest con of dropping the Atomic bomb is the sheer fact that thousands of lives where lost. The people that died weren’t soldiers either, they where innocent people, children, elderly. People that where just walking to the bus stop, or eating breakfast. No one could escape, no one saw it coming. On top of everything, the few people that did survive suffered from severe injuries and deformities from the additional radiation of the blast.

Important Facts About Dropping the Atomic Bomb

  • A man named Tsutomu Yamaguchi survived the first blast of the Atomic bomb and made it to Nagasaki to find shelter, right when the other bomb was dropped. He survived both.
  • 165 other people had similar stories and survived both blasts.
  • There were 49 practice bombs dropped, they where called “pumpkin bombs”.
  • Fat Man was the code name for the bomb dropped onto Nagasaki.
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