Pro

1
Pros and Cons of Dropping the Atomic bomb on
Hiroshima
2
WWII was a brutal war that targeted many more
civilians than WWIFor example-More than 6
million Jews were killed in Europe-Chinese
civilians were targeted by Japan during
invasions.-The Germans targeted civilians in
London and USSR.-Allies and America targeted
Japanese civilians in Tokyo, Hiroshima and
Nagasaki.The Atomic Bomb was dropped on
Hiroshima August 6,1945 killing approximately
140,000 civilians.
3
Pros-Japan was invading many countries and
needed to be stopped.-Japan showed no sign that
they would stop even after they lost 100,000
people in Tokyo
4
Proskamikaze missions and mass suicides
convinced America that an invasion of Japan would
be very brutal and would result in many deaths.
-America estimated up to 1 million allied
deaths in an invasion of Japan.
5
Pros-Harry Truman thought dropping the atom
bomb would devastate Japan enough to quickly end
the war and avoid American and Allied deaths.
- He also felt it would show the world the
power of the nuclear weapon and keep other
countries from starting wars. -By dropping the
bomb when he did, he also felt it would keep the
USSR from trying to occupy Japan.
6
Cons -Many people feel Japan actually was close
to surrendering.-They would have surrendered if
the Potsdam Declaration had allowed for
conditional surrender-All Japan wanted to do
is protect their emperor.
7
Cons-If the Atomic bomb was dropped, it should
not have been dropped on Hiroshima.-Hiroshima
was full of civilians and had no military
significance.-The recommendation from the
committee had been to target a war plant in a
less populated area.
8
Cons-The bomb had not been properly tested
and American seriously underestimated its
power.-Some people believe the bomb was dropped
just to justify the 2 billion spent on creating
it.
9
SummaryIf the Atomic bomb had never been
dropped, its hard to guess what would have
happened. Either way, many innocent people would
have died.