Whenever somebody says that the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki ended WWII, I start to ask myself…Well, HOW did it end the war? It’s not like we know what would have happened if we HADN’T bombed those cities, right?…And we never will. Why? Because we really don’t know what would have happened if America had not decided to bomb Hiroshima and Nagasaki. But why would they? There are many reasons. Here, I will discuss the first:

The war with Japan in general caused many Americans [and others] to feel hatred toward the Japanese. Even though they would later be allies in the Cold War, America and Japan were far from even considering friendship with each other. Or were they…toward the end of the war, Japan had sent coded messages to ambassadors in other countries that they were thinking of surrender. Because of the “kill or die” following of the Japanese, Japan had lost much of it’s population in the war. In fact, Americans thought that a full-scale invasion would be necessary because the Japanese would never surrender, not even until the last [wo]man was left standing.

Many people know of the horrible treatment in Japanese prison camps, but the Americans were also somewhat cruel. When a public opinion poll was taken, a large amount of Americans thought that Japan to cease existing as a country after the war, and many thought that every Japanese person should be annihilated. Was this any better? Maybe and maybe not, but the large public bias and hatred towards Japanese may have caused Truman to not only consider but actually bomb both cities.

Come back soon for more reasons and a summary of the events leading up to, during, and after the bombings. Also, I will have a timeline for you, but only at the very end!