Why were the cities of Nagasaki and Hiroshima chosen for targets?

Answer 1

The Japanese refused to surrender so Truman thought it was necessary to bomb Hiroshime. After the Japanese still hadn't surrendered, Nagasaki was bombed, forcing Japan to admit defeat because their war effort could not continue to succeed after the attack

Answer 2

There were a number of reasons these two cities made the list of targets for the atomic strikes. They were militarily important, possessed large, densely populated built-up areas, and were located on relatively flat terrain, among other things. And paradoxically, neither city had yet been subjected to heavy bombing; the planners favored relatively undamaged areas so as to enable the effects of the bombs to be more apparent and measurable. Nagasaki was actually second on the list for August 9; bad weather and smoke over the primary target caused the planes to divert to Nagasaki, which was second on the list.

Answer 3

they were chosen because they were cities. but since they weren't super crowded or to close to American troops, it made them the perfect targets. even though they had children women and men that were innocent, it was better than bombing Tokyo or an even more crowded area.

Answer 4

Nagasaki and Hiroshima were port cities. However, Nagasaki wasn't the primary target. Kokura was the primary target but it was obscured by fog thus the bockscar plane commander took off in Nagasaki's direction and dropped the bomb there.

Answer 5

To force the surrender of the Sun Empire of Japan and to bring an end to the World War on the Eastern front. A military target and others were considered but it was understood that if these cities were bombed, the morale and the Japanese government could not continue the war in any case whatsoever and was targeted because it was known that it would bring the unconditional surrender of the Japanese who were willing to fight heavily in their homeland.

It is a hard question to answer and would have been more humane to target the military bases instead of innocent civilians, but it could have not brought the surrender of the Japanese but instead increased there defenses at home and there will to fight offensively. That is a question and answer political thinkers will never know(if bombing a military target would have brought the unconditional surrender).

There are extensive writings of the thinking behind the dropping of the bombs but it is known that even until Truman's death, he questioned himself years after if he had done the right thing because of how devastating it was..(The cause he felt and knew was just but the devastation was just so horrible, he could not help but look back) History states he had no regrets and that he was ready to drop another one but after and throughout his life it was on his mind.

I do believe even if other targets were sought, radiation in the sky still could have harmed innocent civilians depending on the wind, and also more bombs might have needed to been used which could have spread even more radiation to who knows where.

Answer 6

They were part of a list of four cities that had not previously been heavily bombed with incendiaries, these cities were placed on a reserved list to prevent them from being incendiary bombing targets so the effects of the nuclear bomb could be studied.

These cities were Kokura, Hiroshima, Niigata, and Nagasaki.

1. The August 6 mission Hiroshima was primary, Kokura & Nagasaki were secondaries. Primary was bombed.
2. The August 9 mission Kokura was primary, Nagasaki was secondary. Primary was too overcast to locate AP, secondary was bombed.

Answer 7

Those two cities were industrial and Truman thought that bombing them would cripple the Japanese economy.

Answer 8

They were cities that build ships and other kind of material used for war.