Known as the deadliest war in all of history, World War II was trademarked by destruction, blood, gore, and violence. In an unyielding turn of events this total war between the Allies (United States, France, Britain, etc.) and the Axis (Germany, Italy, Japan), resulted in millions of lost lives and an unprecedented rate of destruction. President Harry S. Truman did not err in deciding to drop the atomic bomb, as he waited for the situation out, partaking in the fight against fascism and world domination. However, as more and more lives were lost the only practical manner of ending the war was with the dropping of the atomic bomb.
To understand the depth of the situation and the reasoning behind dropping the atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, one must further analyze the pre-war situation of The United States and the world as a whole. The U.S. had learned from its mistakes during World War I and had decided to remain neutral at first (Mack). They enacted and employed isolationist policies to wait for the situation out and not partake in any form of partisanship. Essentially by giving time to the situation, the United States hoped to keep its nose out of the fighting so as to focus on their internal affairs first and keep from loss of life and monetary assets. The United States was going through a time of economic depression before WWII and its main focus before entering the war was to rebuild its economy. Being faced with the increasing popularity of fascism, a totalitarian form of government, in Nazi Germany with the National Socialist Party in charge, the United States began to slowly involve itself into the war (Openstax). By employing cash and carry laws, and such other enactments the United States was slowly but surely involving itself in the fighting (Mack). At the same time, fascism was growing in popularity in Germany, Japan was building its strength and modernizing and in the midst of this found common ideology with Germany. They signed the Anti-Comintern Pact which “pledges mutual assistance in defending themselves against Russia,” which led the United States to feel uncomfortable in their state of neutralism and isolationism (Openstax p.791).
As the United States began to partake in the battles and fighting, the war was well underway. The fighting was growing incessantly with more and more casualties occurring on both sides. Then the U.S. was struck in awe as Japan had attacked Pearl Harbor, in a surprise attack on December 7,1941. This riled the sense of urgency in the war and a sense of nationalism in the country. Although the Axis forces were originally winning in the fight, the tide began to turn in favor of the Allies with the “Battle of Midway” (American naval victory against the Japanese) and the “Battle of Stalingrad” (Russians v. Germans) (HistoryNet). According to Compton, at this point even though Japan was essentially defeated at this point, the Japanese continued a fight of valor and with a vivid dream of victory. The fighting and warfare escalated with the loss of lives increasing day by day. The United States, and specifically President Truman had a choice to make at that point: to keep fighting or to end it all with the atomic bomb. And so, they continued fighting, with thousands of lives lost on both ends. According to the Potsdam Declaration, The United States, Great Britain, and China took a decision to present Japan with an ultimatum on July 26, 1945, which was intended to end all fighting and unnecessary loss of life. The Potsdam Declaration stated that “There must be eliminated for all time the authority and influence of those who have deceived and misled the people of Japan into embarking on world conquest, for we insist that a new order of peace, security, and justice will be impossible until irresponsible militarism is driven from the world. Until such a new order is established and until there is convincing proof that Japan's war-making power is destroyed, points in Japanese territory to be designated by the Allies shall be occupied to secure the achievement of the basic objectives we are here setting forth.” This was designed to peacefully agree to terms as Japan was clearly losing at this point and save “the Japanese People from utter destruction” (Press Release). The Japanese leaders, however, refused the Potsdam Declaration.
After attempting to wait out the situation, partaking in the conflict, and attempting to eventually end the conflict peacefully, the United States was given no choice but to take drastic measures against Japan. After all such desperate times call for desperate measures. After the Potsdam Declaration was dismissed by the Japanese, President Truman initiated the atomic bomb attack on Hiroshima and Nagasaki on Aug 6, 1945, and Aug 9, 1945, respectively (Openstax). This furthermore caused the immediate surrender of the Japanese forces on August 15, 1945, which was the intended result of the bombing. According to a letter written by President Truman as a reflection, he states that “Dropping the bombs ended the war, saved lives, and gave the free nations a chance to face the facts.” Statistically speaking in the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki 125,000 people were killed, but it did end all fighting, whereas two B-29 raids alone from the U.S. killed 225,000 people (Compton). Accordingly, with Compton’s opinion and statistics, the use of the atomic bomb saved hundreds of thousands of lives – both Japanese and American. And even though it may seem like an inhumane option, all warfare is considered inhumane. This was viewed in the eyes of many as a necessitated action as it was the most practical end to the fighting and there were rumors of Nazi Germany developing such bombs for themselves as well (Press Release). The United States was the only ally with enough resources to develop it in case and still be able to have enough resources to mobilize in war, due to the fact that most of the fighting didn’t occur on U.S. soil and the immense capabilities of the U.S. factory and infrastructure. And although it turned the U.S. into a bully in the eyes of the world and caused an immense backlash, the Japanese situation necessitated such actions in reciprocation to prevent any further and excessive loss of life and an end to the total war.