Why did the US bomb Hiroshima and Nagasaki?

Answer 1

Bombing Japan with nuclear bombs was seen as the lesser of two evils (so to speak). It is estimated that invading Japan would have cost millions of American lives, and several million Japanese lives. In a sense, the nukes were used to stun the Japanese into a quick surrender.
The choice made by President Truman and America to drop the bombs is a complex one and has been much debated. The fact is that there are many reasons. A number of contributors have said the following:

• The Americans thought that the Japanese were trying to get the upper hand in WWII, so they dropped the bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. The atomic bombs were code-named Fat Man and Little Boy. The Americans also wanted the Allies to have glory and the Axis to have shame.
• The bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki was a warning to the Soviet Union. It said two things:
  • We have atomic weapons (and you don't)
  • We aren't afraid to use them
• Japan would not surrender and President Truman warned Japan that if they did not give up that the U.S. would drop an atomic bomb. They did not surrender and the U.S. dropped the bombs. After that, japan gave in.
• The Americans knew that if they invaded Japan, that the Japanese would fight to the last man, inflicting horrendous casualties on the Allies. The Japanese had always been taught never to surrender and that to die for the emperor was a guarantee to heaven. The allies felt that they could incur over1 Million deaths defeating the Japanese army, and the number of Japanese civilians who would be killed - largely women, children and old men - could exceed one million. The fight for Okinawa, which was the first Japanese island to be invaded, illustrated such concerns. The intelligence available indicated that the use of the bomb was the best way to hopefully force a Japanese surrender, and save countless thousands of lives on both sides. Truman agreed with the intelligence. The bomb was used. It worked as it was hoped it would, as history has overwhelmingly recorded it.
• The US had already secretly 100% committed themselves to the use of chemical weapons during the invasion of Japan if the Japanese resisted it as ferociously as they had on the last several Pacific islands, and there was no reason to think they would not. Use of chemical weapons was already prohibited by the Geneva Convention, and this use would certainly open the US to a possible war crime charge after the war, even as a victor. The atomic bomb was seen as a way to avoid having to do this.
• At that point in the Pacific Theater of WWII, there were two options to end the war for Truman. Either invade mainland Japan and have heavy casualties on both sides, or use the newly developed atomic bomb to shock and demoralize the Japanese into surrender--without Allied casualties.
• It should also be noted that it was, by this time, obvious that the Axis powers would be defeated by one means or another.
• The USSR had become a major player on the world stage. The west and the US in particular,wanted the USSR to know in no uncertain terms that they had the atom bomb. Dropping one bomb on Japan would, in all likelihood, had the desired effect on the Japanese.
• Dropping two convinced the USSR the first was not a fluke and the west had the will to use them.
• The atom bomb was intended to basically crush all hope the enemy would have had of winning the war. The 2 bombs dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki were intended to demonstrate the destructive power available to the allies and upon seeing the results the Japanese realised that nothing they had could compete and it was pointless to continue the war as their entire army and perhaps country would be obliterated. More bombs would have been used until they surrendered, thankfully they caught on after only 2 explosions.
• To end the war with Japan.
• The US and Japan were at war, the US having been attacked by Japan. Japan had refused the US demand to surrender. The US calculated that an invasion of Japan to end the war would result in the death of more than one million Allied service members, and a far larger number of Japanese citizens. Hiroshima was selected as an important military target, relatively undamaged by war, and not likely to cripple the government of Japan (which would have delayed surrender) After seeing the devastation of two cities by one bomb each, Japan surrendered to the Allies.
• To end WWII, by getting the Japanese to surrender.
• The military had a new toy and were anxious to try it out. The added impact that it had, by showing the world that the Americans didn't are about the collateral damage to there enemies as long as the US won, was seen as a an important bit of public relations.

To make Japan think they were going to bomb it more. Then they surrendered.
Dropping of the atom bomb on Hiroshima and Nagasaki?
TheU.S.'s excuse was wanted to end WWII with as few American casualties as possible. they said they probably could have won using conventional fighting methods, it would have ended with more casualties on the American side and arguably the Japanese as well. But Japan had already surrendered as long as they got to keep there emperor. the states also wanted to test there new bombs so 2 billion dollarsdidn't go to waste. The United States spent so much money on them and they knew the war was ending so the States were in a rush to set them off.

So (while the scientists were directly opposed to doing so) Harry Truman said to fire the bomb. they planned it on 2 previously unaffected cities to see the damage it caused. right after the bombs were sent, Harry Truman was quoted saying "This is the greatest event in human history." The Hiroshima bomb killed 135,000 civilians. they knew the damage it had caused and that no one was likely to do anything after that point, they bombed Nagasaki, killing only 64,000 civilians this time. the United States did this more or less to say 'Don't mess with us, look what we have! we will destroy you.' the American schooling has been brought up to glorify this event in history, as 'reparation' for pearl harbour, but this was a mass killing of innocent people.

REVISION: As an American student, born and raised, I would like to point out that my classes NEVER glorified the Nagasaki and Hiroshima bombings. It was always a solemn affair; and all of my classmates were shocked. This is a black mark on America's history, that is for sure. To this day, there are still birth defects from the radiation from the atom bombs dropped in the two cities. We don't use this as a power grab, claiming that we are better than other countries because of our nuclear achievements. I hope that we never, ever in any war use nuclear weapons again. They are simply too dangerous and too effective. They will destroy our planet, and then where will we be?
Japan was fighting with China and the US was on the Japanese side. But the US stopped giving Japan the resources needed for the war. So there was no resources left for Japan to use. As a result, Japan bombed Pearl Harbor, and the US then bombed Hiroshima and Nagasaki as a result.
Harry S. Truman was President of the United States during WW2. At this time, America had already sustained heavy losses in the war and had yet to step on Japanese soil (Okinawa was not yet part of Japan). Japan had already conceded defeat after being pushed out of its occupied territories. However, the general Japanese attitude was that the Americans must be fought to the death of every Japanese citizen. Had Truman not made the decision to drop the bomb on August 8, 1945, millions of American lives most likely would have been lost. The bomb not only showed Japan that America was a serious threat, it also diminished the glory of fighting the enemy to the end, as it was a fruitless battle. While the horrific after effects and the deaths of hundreds of thousands were inexpressibly tragic, the decision can be better understood in light of the perceived threat to Americans.

Another issue that is thought to have been a factor in this decision is that of the desire to test the bomb that took some of America's greatest minds most of WW2 to complete.
To end the war. In a sense it actually saved lives, think about all those who would have died in conventional ways before the Japanese would have surrendered, however the lives taken were indiscriminate of men, women or children.
The US needed to end that war.
It served two purposes: # It ruined Japanese morale # It served as a warning to the leaders of Japan of the power of the US This meant that the war ended much sooner and many Prisoners of War were released. It was debated and still is whether it was necessary
The USA thought that it would be a quick way to end the war (saving lives in the process) and show the world the power of the atomic bomb.
To minimize the casualties by not going to Japans main land.

Answer 2

They usually say 25 towns or more but it is 1285m.