I'm writing a position paper on the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, one side of the argument says that while they caused many casualties, it ended the war swiftly, preventing even more casualties. There were predicted deaths of 10s of millions if the invasion of Japan, rather than the bombings were to have happened. And one historian concludes that for every month the war continued, 250,000 or more would die. At least 129,000 people were killed by the bombings, including Japanese women and children. But despite this Mitsuo Fuchida, the pilot who led the first wave of attack on Pearl Harbor says this to the Enola Gay pilot Paul Tibbets "You did the right thing. You know the Japanese attitude at the time, how fanatic they were, they'd die for the emperor... Every man, woman, and child would have resisted that invasion with sticks and stones if necessary... Can you imagine what slaughter it would be to invade Japan? It would have been terrible. The Japanese people know more about that than the American public will ever know."
I personally, think that while the bombings were horrible, and caused such indiscriminate destruction, they were necessary, and the ugly truth of war is that people die. And though they killed thousands, the bombings saved tens of millions.
Where do you stand?
@PlanesOfOld I hope one day we will learn more of those stories... :(
My great great grandfather couldn't speak preps because he signed the official secrets act, we aren't sure what he did but we think he was involved with the sappers who dug under german positions to plant huge bombs, but we don't know that and the only real reasn think it was what he did, was because he was a coal miner and kept birds during the war, the other option is that he went to Gallipoli in the Lancashire Fusileers either way he died before he could talk about his experience, (sappers were declassified in the 40s) after he came back (he was in h 30s) his hair rapidly went white and he became very quiet and paranoid.@Spikerya Unfortunatly the bloody germas bombed the records office in WW2 and they are still sorting out the awful mess of scrambled burned and torn documents. One day tho we will know.
@PlanesOfOld there's a story from one guy about his grandfather when he got back (WW1) and it was basically the grandfather was so scarred from what he saw over there he swore to never talk about it nor to ever see a single piece of military equipment in his hands again, then took his uniform (still dirty from where he was stationed) and burned it in the fire with the guys grandmother helped tidy up and get him redressed into normal civilian clothes.
Pros and cons to each
@Ihavenorealideawhatiamdoing I also reccomend if you are interested, to watch some interveiws with German Japanese Russian British French and American veterans, its all incredibly interesting and also terrifying to hear the stories they have to say. WW1 is also well worth the research (especially if you look into France and some of the tiny nations involved) Allthough its quite hard to find veteran interveiws for WW1 as the combination of veterans not wanting to relive hell on earth and the fact that the last Veteran died in the early 2000's plays a massive role in what you can learn from videos and biographies.
@Ihavenorealideawhatiamdoing As far as the german people knew they were only places with free housing and healthcare. Its true, they were so brainwashed by the incredibly effective nazi propaganda scheme that they beleived everything was all happy and nice in their country. The german public never knew how bad the war got either, (untill the ultimate Triforce marched into berlin!)
And @Feanor , other thing happening would have made the death count 10s of millions because of the thing happening in Korea and Vietnam
Well, an alternative would have been operation downfall which would have caused a bit more civilian and military casualties than the nuclear bombs. And by a "bit more" I mean a few hundred thousand allied soldiers and a few million Japanese.
The German citizens at the time had camps right next to them @PlanesOfOld , I don't see how they couldn't have known.
@Ihavenorealideawhatiamdoing Thats very true, nobody really knew, and if they did they didnt know that the situation was that bad, i mean if everyone knew surely we (the allies) would have tried to stop the persicution correct?
If they went with Operation Downfall instead of opting for Project Manhattan, it would be costly and crazy.
there is an argument that german citezens at the time didn't know about the camps, I don't believe that, do you @PlanesOfOld ?
@Testin123 Also the nazi treatment of Jews was largely unknown untill we liberated the concentration camps. sure we knew that they were being put in different parts of the main towns and cities well before the war, but we did not fight to save them, as we would not have known they needed to be saved.
@Testin123 Sir you seem to have a very pro american attitude, America did not give 2 sausages about Poland You only joined the war in December 1941 Poland was gone in September 1939 The only reason total war broke out was because of the treaty Britain and France had with poland, We declarde war immidietly but... no no america saves the day kind of thing here. Read lots of sources and dont be bias, that is the only way to look at history.
I beleive it to have been a reasonable desicion, and it wouldnt have been made if it were not to prevent more death.
@RyneKuczy I agree 100% An invasion of Japan would've cost lots more money and men on both sides The atomic bombs saved lives by taking some.
Lol @EliteIndustries1
Pro bomb. I'm doing something similar...
True @MechWARRIOR57 , but if we don't learn from history, what's to stop another war like that?
I don't really care, I mean it already happened. we cant change that....
I agree with both of you @Testin123 @RyneKuczy
They should've been bombed. Nazis killed many along with Japanese and Italian soldiers. Americans fought for the freedom of poland, Europe, and for the jews. Without those 2 atomic bombs, the Axis forces would've be stronger. With them the Axis powers were weakened and lost. Though many civilians died, it ended a vicious and long-lasting war that would've killed more than the bombs could've ever done.
Well, I personally believe that it was necessary. By not dropping the atomic bomb on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, it could have led to extreme casualties for BOTH sides. This is especially because the Japanese may have never surrendered and the war would have lasted longer. That doesn't mean it is justified morally or ethically, but it was needed to end the war quickly.