Why Did The Japanese Bomb Pearl Harbor History Essay

On the 7th of December, 1941, the Japanese forces made a surprise attack on Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. This action forced the United States of America (USA) into World War 2. The air raid crippled the USA Pacific fleet in Hawaii and within only two hours many of their battleships had sunk.

The bombing on the harbor was intended to drive the USA out of the Pacific because Japan wanted to clear them of their marine and air force base. The USA had not entered the war at the time of the attack and they did not support Great Britain. During 1941, the USA stopped doing business with Japan and retaliation for this action was for the Japanese government to attack the USA. The day after the attack, the USA decided to declare war on Japan. The USA entered the war on the Allies side.

The Japanese did not think of any consequences when they bombed Pearl Harbor. It appeared to be a huge success however, what the Japanese under estimated was what the Americans were able for. By the next day, they had sought permission to join the war. This proved to be disastrous for Japan as years later they were finally stopped when Hiroshima and Nagasaki were bombed by the Americans.

For those of us who weren’t there when this war was on we can not comprehend what the action that took place was like. Many lives were lost in Pearl Harbor (approx. 2400).

After Pearl Harbor, within two weeks the USA had a production for wartime needs going. This included tanks, guns and planes. This action on Pearl Harbor had bought the USA into war.

Why did President Truman order atomic bombs to be dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki?

When Harry S. Truman was the President of the USA, the Allied armies were defeating the war in Germany and they were preparing to destroy Japan. Soon after, the Germans surrendered. Now they only had to destroy Japan.

Truman really had in mind to end the war with the dropping of bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki however, unbeknown to him, the Japanese had begun attempts to negotiate peace, knowing their country had been defeated. The peace settlement was proving to be useless, as it would have affected the Emperor of Japan if this had of occurred.

While Truman was travelling around to other countries he received a message saying that the American scientists had tested their first atomic bomb. Truman then ordered the Americans to drop an atomic bomb on Japan. The atomic bomb was kept in secret.

Truman’s idea for the bomb to be dropped on August 6, 1945 and August 9, 1945 was to end the war. Japan had ignored constant warnings to surrender and the Americans had become tired of war. The bomb seemed to be the only way to end the war.

Truman had been informed that between 25,000 and 46,000 Americans would die if they were to place an invasion on Japan. Nevertheless, these lives were saved because of Americas use of atomic weapons. If the war had of been prolonged a huge number of Japanese lives also would have been lost.

There are many arguments relating to the bombs being dropped, but it is clear to us that many more allied and Japanese lives were saved because of this action. It is clear that this was Truman’s only way out. Truman, along with the rest of America, was sick of war, this is why I, and others, think he ordered this attack. It is true, it seemed the only way out for him.

The Daily Express newspaper headline, published the day after the bomb was dropped on Hiroshima, claims that the “bomb … has changed the world”. In what ways had the world been changed?

The world has been changed in many different and varied ways after the attack on Hiroshima in 1945. Not only human and animal lives were changed, even the environment was altered in some small way. After the attack initiated on Hiroshima by America, peoples minds were changed for ever. Victims from the attack had their whole bodies changed from being normal human bodies to manipulated, burnt, charred human lumps, barely able to make it through life. Even the minds of those that dropped the bomb were changed. People’s lives were changed dramatically, not only those of the countless victims, but of the Americans and, surely, the rest of the world.

The environment was distorted after the attack in numerous ways. The whole landscape was flattened by the blast created from the bomb. There was huge loss of life from the blast alone, but the most deadly killer of all was the radiation that the bomb let loose. A lot of people who entered the area where the bomb erupted were prone to a disease everyone simply called “the mysterious bomb disease.” This disease made the victim feel weak and after a while, purple lumps started to form. This is what was later known as radiation poisoning. This is yet another way the world was affected by the dropping of the bomb on Hiroshima.

However, I think that not all bad has to come out of this terrible attack. I think that now that people can see how terrible the attack was, they will think again about trying to drop another atomic bomb on another country. Also, even if a country did drop another atomic bomb on its enemy, they would be sure of a retaliation attack. Therefore there would be nothing left. In the light of that, I think that the dropping of the bomb changed the world, but it wasn’t all for the bad.

I also think that people could now use the technology used in the bomb for other uses. Clearing unwanted land from a certain place is only one idea. Maybe it could be used in treating water or different chemicals, don’t ask me how, but I am sure that it could be used in one way or another. Humans are now aware of the great dangers of atomic energy and if we worked out how to use it in the ways that I have suggested, we could change the world further still.