The decision to drop the atomic bomb in Hiroshima and Nagasaki put a quick end to the final stages of World War II, as Japan saw the devastating effects it had on itself and its people. It was said that such a decision was not an easy one to make, but many people believed that it had to happen. To come up with a good idea whether it was needed or not, it would help to look at its pros and cons.
List of Pros of Dropping the Atomic Bomb
1. It brought peace.
Although the US was able to achieve superpower status, it kept peace balanced across its allies around the world. Dropping the atomic bomb and having other countries to observe its destructive power stimulated peace talks and negotiations to commence quickly.
2. It saved many lives.
To begin with, the objective the US to drop the bomb was to save hundreds of lives of American soldiers. It was the first country to develop such a devastating weapon, and its focus of using it in Hiroshima and Nagasaki was to show the world that they got such power. Inadvertently, this saved lives across the globe.
3. It helped Japan to avoid being invaded.
If the US did not drop the bomb, Japan would have become a colony of the US. Though the US had been preparing to invade Japan in the first place, the plan changed when the atomic bomb became available. They decided that dropping it was a better option to minimize the number of lives that would have been lost if they had chosen to invade.
4. It coerced all the prisoners of war in Japan to be released.
After the bomb was dropped in Japan’s 2 biggest cities, all American prisoners of war (POWs) were released.
List of Cons of Dropping the Atomic Bomb
1. It caused massive deaths.
Japan had sacrificed tens of thousands of lives just to prove supreme power between the US and the Soviet Union. As for the US and Japan, they were not able to predict the aftermath of the bombing, which led to massive deaths.
2. It brought forth starvation.
Many of the Japanese people reported to have suffered from starvation after the bombing. This is because their country’s army took all of the food resources and reserves that remained after the event. In fact, the mortality rate due to hunger is more than the casualties of the bombing.
3. It cost a huge amount of money.
The US had spent $2 billion for the development of the atomic bomb, and many believed that the dropping of the bomb was just done to justify the expensive project.
4. It did not allow enough time for peace negotiation.
Japan was thought to surrender due to massive side attacks of the US, but the latter did not give enough time to the former to know that the bomb will hit its 2 big cities.
Based on the pros and cons listed above, do you think that dropping the atomic bomb was necessary to settle the war?
Crystal Lombardo is a contributing editor for Vision Launch. Crystal is a seasoned writer and researcher with over 10 years of experience. She has been an editor of three popular blogs that each have had over 500,000 monthly readers.
