Why World War II was Tragic but a Learning Experience for the World

During World War II, many tragic events happened and millions of innocent lives were lost. The Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor, the U.S. dropped atomic bombs on Japan in response which entered the U.S. in World War II, and Nazi Germany came to power and started killing Jews and putting them in concentration camps. I chose these three historical events to write about because of the impact that it had on the world when it happened and how it has shaped the world we live in today. 

The Japanese made a surprise attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941. Japan bombed Pearl Harbor because former President Franklin D. Roosevelt moved the U.S. Pacific Fleet from San Diego to Pearl Harbor Honolulu, Hawaii in 1940 to counterbalance the fleet the Japanese had in the Pacific. The Japanese saw this as a threat which is why they later bombed Pearl Harbor. “The attack killed 2,403 service members, wounded 1,178, and sank or destroyed six U.S. ships. They also destroyed 169 U.S Navy and Army Air Corps planes'' (Kiger). This surprise attack is what led the U.S. to get involved in World War II. Before they were staying mutual but once their land was attacked they were ready to go to war. The U.S. was able to make a fast recovery considering what happened and all of the damage the Japanese caused. However, the Japanese never fully recovered. Even though they instigated the conflict they too lost planes and soldiers.  

In response to the surprise attack on Pearl Harbor, the U.S dropped the atomic bombs over the cities of Nagasaki and Hiroshima in Japan. Although the bombs weren’t intended for Japan, this is the only time in history atomic bombs have been used in war. The atomic bombs were originally made for Nazi Germany because Roosevelt heard that they were created atomic weapons. Robert J. Oppenhiphmer was the lead scientist on the project. Very few people knew about it so the government created a code name. The name was the Manhattan Project. During the project, two atomic bombs were created. The first bomb was known as “Little Boy” made out of uranium killed around 140,000 people. The bomb was plane dropped “by parachute at 8:15 in the morning, and it exploded 2,000 feet above Hiroshima in a blast equal to 12-15,000 tons of TNT, destroying five square miles of the city” (History.com Editors). After the bomb was dropped Japan didn’t surrender so three days later the U.S dropped the second atomic bomb nicknamed “Fat Man” which was made out of plutonium on Japan and was dropped over the city of Nagasaki. This bomb was estimated to kill 80,000 people. The total number of deaths estimated to be 214,000 is was made the Japanese surrender on August 15, 1945. 

The rise of Nazi Germany is one of history’s most tragic events. After World War I Germany was destroyed and were in search of a new leader. Adolf Hiter spoke up promising great things for Germany and to help pull them out of depression. However, once he rose to power the complete opposite happened. When he came to power so did the Nazis. As the Nazis took control of Germany they started rounding up Jews and putting them in concentration camps. And they were good at persuading others to have hatred towards jews. In September 1930 “the Nazis won 18.3 percent of the vote and became the second-largest political party in the country” (The Nazi Rise to Power). With the Nazis becoming “the second-largest political party in the country” they had too much power. In March 1933, the first concentration camp opened. During Adolf Hitler’s and his Nazis soldier’s time in power, they established around 23 more concentration camps that had “subcamps” for around 900 camps in total. that Jews were put in. When Jews were placed in concentration camps they were treated in inhumane ways. All of their belongings were taken, they were all forced to wear the same striped clothing, and they had numbers tattooed on their arms, and that was their “name”. While in these camps Jews were forced to do hard work labor in horrible conditions and were barely fed enough to keep them alive. People who were too weak or became too weak to work were killed either by a gas chamber, or a mobile killing unit where they would bring the Jews out to the secluded place and shoot them. 

Pearl Harbor, the U.S. dropped atomic bombs on Japan, and Nazi Germany came to power. Are three major events that happened during World War II. And although all of those are tragic events in history there is something to learn from all of them. Pearl Harbor showed how fast the U.S. can rebound from and surprise attack. The dropped of the atomic bomb shows that the U.S. will do anything to defend its countries honor, and it established how powerful the U.S. is. And Nazi Germany coming to power let us learn that no one should be discriminated against because of their beliefs. So yes those are all horrible events that never should have happened but what is important is that everyone learns from those mistakes so they don’t happen again.