Nagasaki and Hiroshima: Why They Were Bombed (Essay Sample)

NAGASAKI AND HIROSHIMA: WHY THEY WERE BOMBEDByInstitution
Nagasaki and Hiroshima: Why They Were Bombed
Nothing comes to mind so easily when the names of these two Japanese cities are mentioned than the war-ending fury released by the Americans on the Japanese in 1945. The twin atomic bombs dropped on 6th and 9th August in Hiroshima and Nagasaki respectively, marked a new level of the Second World that no other country was willing to enter into. Japan and all other Axis countries surrendered unconditionally and the war came to an end. It is imperative to understand why the Americans chose to bomb these two cities and the important implications that were at stake.
The United States was facing an uphill task of ending the Second World War fast but with little costs and casualties. According to military estimates, the U.S. army was losing 100,000 soldiers for every 1 million Japanese killed (Donohue, 2012). Therefore, defeating Japan through a military conquest alone was going to be very costly, something the then U.S. president Harry Truman thought was out of consideration. After repeated calls for the Japanese to surrender unconditionally went unheard, using nuclear bombing remained the only viable option to bring the war to an end fast by forcing Japan to surrender (Walker, 2016). There were five Japanese cities that were listed for bombing: Hiroshima, Nagasaki, Kyoto, Kokura and Niigata; which were all key military and economic centers. Henry Stimson, the then Secretary of War expunged Kyoto from the list as he had spent his honeymoon there, and understood that the deep connection the Japanese had with the city would create unending resurgence (Donohue, 2012).
Hiroshima and Kokura were finally chosen for several reasons. First, the two cities were large military centers with Hiroshima having a very large soldier population reaching 43,000 (LeMay & Tibbets, 2014). It was also an ideal place to test the destructive effect of the nuclear bomb as it was still intact unlike other cities. Tokyo was not considered for bombing as it has previously been bombed by conventional bombs and would therefore not provide the exact destructive effect of the bomb (Donohue, 2012). It also hosted the leadership of the country who were very important when negotiating for a surrender. Hiroshima was highly populated and a large urban industrial center which was an important army depot. The blast effect would also be increased through the focusing effect caused by the adjacent hills (Donohue, 2012).
The decision to bomb Kokura was made on 7th August to create an indication that the U.S. had many nuclear bombs that it would use until Japan surrenders (LeMay & Tibbets, 2014). The city of Kokura was chosen for the second bombing as it was the home to some of the largest munition factories in Japan, and therefore was a very important military base (Donohue, 2012). The B-29 plane nicknamed ‘Bockscar’ carried the nuclear bomb named ‘Fat Man’ to Kokura, but heavy clouds and smoke coming from fires from nearby Yawata, which experienced a previous firebombing, obscured the vicinity. The difficulty to aim for the right point, the danger of being targeted by Japanese antiaircraft missiles, and reducing fuel volumes forced the B-29 crew to abandon Kokura and head for the nearest alternative point; Nagasaki (LeMay &am...