Why did the atomic bombing take place in japan?

Answer 1

President Truman decided to use this new weapon to make Japan surrender.

The war in the Pacific was hard and the progression islands to islands of the US Army caused a lot of casualties.

Moreover, The Americans conceived that the Japanese soldiers devoted themselves to the Bushido, the code of the Samurais in which surrender in unthinkable. Yet, Japan has continuously sent peace feelers to seek a path to a peaceful resolution knowing that the war is unwinnable. Unconditional surrender, however, was the only settlement acceptable to the Americans.

The US headquarter thought the war could last another ten years costing at least a million American soldiers to invade Japan.

The choice of using the nuclear bomb was motivated by the will to end this war as quickly as possible. It also demonstrated the American military superiority to the Soviet Union, which became after the German surrender, the communist counterpart to the United States.

The first bombing on Hiroshima was not enough to make the Japan Emperor Hiro-Hito to surrender, so Truman decided to use a second bomb on Nagasaki.

Even with the emperor's calling to surrender, some Japanese soldiers decided to flee or even to commit the ritual suicide (Seppuku) rather than to surrender.

As a anectote, a Japanese soldier, Hiroo Onoda, had even stayed on a Philippine island, thinking the war was on during more than 30 years.

Answer 2

To end the war. There were, basically, only three options at the time:

1. Invade Japan. This would've resulted in massive loss of life on both sides. Millions of Japanese civilians would've died, as would hundreds of thousands of Allied soldiers. Obviously that would've been horrible.

2. Blockade Japan. This would've spared the Allies any further losses, but would have caused mass starvation in Japan, killing millions, and would've had to go on for who knows how long.

3. Nuke Japan. This was, obviously, the historical choice, and I do not support it. The bombings only killed around 200,000 people, total - a fraction of the death that the other options would've caused.

Just because it was less deaths than the other options, doesn't justify it. But since it's America, it seems no-one really cares as much, let alone blaming them. 200,000 innocent lives might've been less than millions, but they're lives nontheless, and they deserve a bloody 10-year anniversary, just like 9/11. I don't know why America had to bomb them, war is war, but please, choose the RIGHT people to bomb.

Answer 3

Japan was a powerful empire spread all over the Pacific. In order to defeat them, the US built two atomic bombs to be dropped on them. Also is because Japan had bombed our country, in the bombing of Pearl Harbor. This was sort of our retaliation against them for bombing us.

Answer 4

To save the number of American victim in conventional war with Japan. That is, to persuade Japan to capitulate.

Answer 5

They all died