http://www.historyextra.com/feature/second-world-war/was-us-justified-dropping-atomic-bombs-hiroshima-and-nagasaki-during-second
DOCUMENT 1: This document supports our thesis. The USA suffered the loss of more than 418,000 lives, the people wanted the war to be over. This document supports our thesis because it says that the bombings was worth it to prevent the “many thousands of American troops [that] would be killed in invading Japan” – Harry S. Truman. Ordering the deployment of the atomic bombs was terrible, but it was justified. https://www.forbes.com/sites/henrymiller/2014/08/05/the-nuking-of-japan-was-a-military-and-moral-imperative/#16568b6c5269
DOCUMENT 2: This document supports our thesis. This document supports our thesis because it is largely in support of the justification of the atomic bombings. The document quotes Allied Military Planners stating that "Operations in this area will be opposed not only by the available organized military forces of the Empire [of Japan], but also by a fanatically hostile population.” Because of the Japanese's style of no surrender, the Planners believed that their would be strong resistance from the unrelenting and persistent Japanese military and even civilians. https://legionmagazine.com/en/2014/09/face-to-face-was-the-dropping-of-the-atomic-bomb-on-japan-justified/
DOCUMENT 3: This document supports our thesis. Truman knew that each Pacific island taken had entailed increasing casualties. The Battle of Okinawa had cost U.S. forces 12,520 killed, 38,916 wounded and 33,096 non-combat injuries, including the highest rate of combat fatigue in any campaign. Estimated civilian casualties were 42,000 to 150,000 dead from battle and suicide. Because of plans to invade japan, the Army Quartermaster General ordered 370,000 Purple Hearts in anticipation of the final campaigns. MacArthur did not weigh the fate of 300,000 Allied PoWs, much less potential enemy civilian casualties, but the Battle of Manila—February 1945 with more than 100,000 Filipinos dead—gave good example to the casualties of urban war which would occur in Japan http://www.pacificwar.org.au/AtomBomb_Japan.html
DOCUMENT 4: This document supports our thesis. Truman stated that, "I realize the tragic significance of the atomic bomb...having found the bomb, we have used it. We have used it against those who attacked us without warning at Pearl Harbor, against those who have starved and beaten and executed American prisoners of war, against those who have abandoned all pretense of obeying international laws of warfare. We have used it in order to shorten the agony of young Americans. We shall continue to use it until we completely destroy Japan's power to make war. Only a Japanese surrender will stop us." This helps us better justify the bombing. http://japanian.com/2009/08/was-the-us-justified-in-dropping-atomic-bombs-on-hiroshima-and-nagasaki/
DOCUMENT 5: This document supports our thesis. This document weighs both sides of the argument equally and fairly. By bringing the war to an end quickly the US saved American lives. It may even have saved Japanese lives, but this depends on how long Japanese forces would have continued fighting once the Americans invaded. Estimates vary widely on how many Americans would have been wounded or killed in an invasion of Japan, but generally, they range from 1.2 to 4 million casualties - of which 250,000 to 1 million would have been fatalities. http://www.nytimes.com/1995/08/06/world/hiroshima-justified-bombings-a-survivor-s-reply.html?pagewanted=all
DOCUMENT 6: This document supports our thesis. A quote from the article is "Simply because the atomic bomb was so terrible, members of the peace faction in the Japanese Government in 1945 were almost pleased that it had been dropped. They could seize upon it as an excuse to surrender. Navy Minister Mitsumasa Yonai called it "a gift from heaven." So is it fair to blame the U.S.?" This helps the thesis because that even after two bombs, a surrender was just barely achieved http://www.cnn.com/2016/05/27/politics/hiroshima-obama-explainer/
DOCUMENT 7: This document supports our thesis. A quote from the article is "At the time, there was a wide consensus in support of the decision to strike among the members of the committee. Stimson was very adamant that the bomb be used." "It would have been hard to justify to the American public why he prolonged the war when this weapon was available." These quotes help develop our thesis that America had to end the war quickly and not prolong it due to the threat of losing more lives. http://nationalinterest.org/feature/no-other-choice-why-truman-dropped-the-atomic-bomb-japan-13504
DOCUMENT 8: This document supports our thesis. This document supports our thesis because it makes the bombing out to be inevitable. A quote from the article is "Truman and his advisers made the only decision they could have made." "Considered in the context of World War II, it wasn’t really much of a decision at all." http://www.al.com/news/birmingham/index.ssf/2015/08/post_278.html
DOCUMENT 9: This document supports our thesis. In the article, a quote that supports our thesis is used. That quote is "That would have been one more bloody invasion," Virgil Mitchell of Birmingham, who served in the Pacific with the U.S. Army Air Forces, said. "The Japanese would have fought to the last man, and the nuclear bomb... did the trick. It ended the war. We had to do it. There might have been 700,000 American boys killed." |
DOCUMENT 1:
DOCUMENT 2
DOCUMENT 3
DOCUMENT 4
DOCUMENT 5
DOCUMENT 6
DOCUMENT 7
DOCUMENT 8
DOCUMENT 9
|