Essay Sample on The Bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki

When the US dropped the Little Boy on Hiroshima, it followed the principles of just warfare and was essential to end the war. Despite that, when the US dropped the Fat Man on Nagasaki, it did not adhere to the principles of just warfare and was inessential to end the war in Japan. To start, the atomic bomb dropped on Hiroshima followed the principles of just warfare due to the fact that America had a righteous cause to go to war with Japan, and America’s last resort to end the war with the alternative being a mainland invasion. After that, the second bomb dropped on Nagasaki did not go along with the principles of just warfare because it took too many lives to be considered proportional. Also, the US rushed the second bombing causing it to not affect Japan’s ultimate surrender. 

Nearing the end of World War II, American scientists developed the world’s first atomic bomb after years of experimenting. With America’s tactic of island hopping to advance closer and closer to Japan, America had 2 choices. First, drop the Atomic bomb on Japan hoping to end the war as fast as possible. Or secondly, have a full island invasion with hopes of taking over Japan. President Truman chose the first option. On July 16, 1945, the world’s first atomic bomb became fully functional. Less than one month later at 8:15, AM August 6, 1945, America dropped the Little Boy on Hiroshima decimating the city. Just 3 days later Americans dropped the second Atomic Bomb, the Fat Man, on Nagasaki at 11:02 AM August 9, 1945, killing almost 40,000 people. Fewer than 5 days later, Japan surrendered ending World War II on August 14, 1945. 

To begin, the first bomb dropped on Hiroshima followed the principles of just warfare since the US had a righteous cause against Japan. During World War II, Japan's tyrannical and evil government assassinated innocent humans for their military advancement. The Japanese government became tyrannical as they started to suppress rebellions and execute rebels, civilian politicians, fearing for their lives, they would surrender more power to the military. For example, in 1932 naval officers in Japan assassinated a prime minister because he came from a political party and not from the military. This clearly proves that Japan’s government became tyrannical, granting the US a just cause to fight against them in the war. After that, Japan attacked America first by bombing Pearl Harbor in the middle of WW 2 forcing America into war out of self-defense. This gave the U.S a just cause to go to war with Japan. The bombing of Pearl Harbor had 2,403 American casualties in total. Japan evidently became a direct threat to the United States. America’s neutrality in the war ended when Japan bombed without warning, forcing America to join the war out of self-defense and to protect them from ever being attacked on American soil during World War II again. In conclusion, America joined the war in a just fashion and had a worthy cause to fight Japan since Japan's tyrannical government assassinated innocent people for their military advancements

Next, the first bomb dropped on Hiroshima obeyed the principles of just warfare due to the fact that America had to drop the Atomic bomb, as it became their last resort and only option. America tried to secure peace with Japan but they denied it and showed no signs of surrender. During a conference with the Japanese emperor, Hirohito, called for a “fight to the bitter end.” Along with that, the 2 battles fought virtually to the last man at Okinawa and Iwo Jima showed that Japan had zero intention to surrender. If Japan had wanted peace they would not have called for a “fight to the bitter end”. In addition to this, the Americans knew a surrender would not have been an option unless every Japanese soldier had died. The alternative for America to secure a surrender, a mainland invasion. Most reports have claimed that a minimum of 280,000 Japanese combat troops would have faced the 380,000 American invaders if a mainland invasion took place. The first atomic bomb killed about 70,000 people. With this number in mind, dropping the atomic bomb prevailed as the best option. The mainland invasion would have taken several hundred thousand lives including civilians and soldiers. Despite that, the atomic bomb lead to an unconditional surrender from Japan, ending the war before a mainland invasion became necessary. Finally, the first bomb dropped on Hiroshima concurs with the principles of just warfare as it saved a countless amount of lives and unquestionably became America’s last resort.

Although the first bombing on Japan matched up with the just principle of proportionality. The second bomb on Nagasaki did not conform with the principles of just warfare as it made the bombings unproportional. To start, the bombing on Hiroshima had about 130,000 casualties in total. Added with the bombing of Nagaski, the number of casualties skyrockets to over 200,000. If a mainland invasion would have taken place, hundreds of thousands of lives would have been lost, but to kill over 200,000 innocent civilians can not be considered just compared to the lives lost in a mainland invasion. Next, the second bomb caused too much destruction to be considered proportional. A testimony from a survivor of the Nagasaki bombing states “I will never forget the hellscape that awaited us. Half burnt bodies lay stiff on the ground, eyeballs gleaming from their sockets. Cattle lay dead along the side of the road, their abdomens grotesquely large and swollen. Thousands of bodies bopped up and down the river, bloated and purplish from soak- ing up the water.” To have 1 bomb to end the war can be considered just and proportional. But to have another bomb dropped cannot be considered just, or proportional to the possible damages and the destruction prior. In summary, the 2nd bomb dropped on Nagaki did not correlate with the principles of just warfare since it took too many lives and caused too much destruction to be considered proportional. 

Further, the second bomb dropped on Nagasaki did not correspond with the principles of just warfare also due to the reason that the rushed second boming had no impact on the Japanese surrender. First, America rushed the second bomb drop and could have been delayed the dropping. The second bomb dropped only 3 days after Hiroshima. Nagasaki followed too closely after the first bomb dropped to influence Japan’s offer of surrender on August 10th. President Truman could have waited a few more days to allow Japan to fully comprehend the destruction that had just occurred in Hiroshima. Instead, he rushed the second atomic bomb causing it to have zero influence on Japan’s surrender. Next, on August 8th, 1945, the Soviet Union officially declared war against Japan, sending more than 1 million Soviet soldiers into the Japanese-occupied Manchuria, China, to fight the 700,000 Japanese soldiers. The closer Stalin and his troops advanced to Japan, the more and more fear Japan gained because being taken over by the Soviet Union became Japan’s worst nightmare. Subsequently, When the Soviet Union attacked so close to Japan’s island, it scared them. The Soviet Union closing in on Japan, along with the bombing on Hiroshima clearly gave Japan enough reason to warrant a surrender, making the second bomb unnecessary. All in all, the second bomb dropped on Nagasaki did not abide by the principles of just warfare because America rushed the second bombing leading to zero impact on the surrender of Japan.