Why did they bomb Nagasaki?

Answer 1

A very good question.

Some would say that the Allied forces wanted to ensure a quick and decisive end to WW2.
Others might say it was more along the lines of ensuring that the A-Bomb was an effective weapon. Not just in terms of it's ability to cause destruction, but it's overall effect on the population.

Either way, at the time, there was probably a feeling of desperation. How else can you explain such a horrendous event?

Answer 2

once Truman had approved the use of the atomic bomb and the selection of targets, the timing of when to launch the attacks fell back to the usual decision making process of the army air force. ideally, we wanted to wait a number of days (i forget how many) between the dropping of the hiroshima bomb and the dropping of the nagasaki bomb. however, the original date selected for nagasaki had an unfavorable weather forecast. rather than delay the attack for a day with clear weather, the date was moved up so that the attack could be made before the bad weather set in.

this is pretty much the normal protocol that the army followed in planning air attacks around weather forecasts. i don't think they had the sense of perspective necessary to appreciate the fact that an atomic bomb attack was significantly different than a conventional bombing attack, and that the usual protocol should therefore be suspended to await the japanese reaction to the hiroshima bomb.

it was a terrible oversight, shameful in the ignorance it exposed in our thoughts and planning.

for a full account of the decision, you should read the series of historical essays by davidson and lytle entitled "after the fact: the art of historical detection."

it covers not only this question, but has lots of other interesting analyses of historical events.

Answer 3

"they" wanted to win the war....

It's true we lost the moral high ground after use of the nukes on Japan, but looking at what Truman faced in 1945, i probably would've done the same thing. To compare the moral depravity of state sponsored genocide where the death ovens at Aushwitz/Birkenau were topping out at 2,600 per day or 80,000 killed per month and the aerial bombardment of civilians is looking at different scales.

The "Final Solution" was the policy of only one country during the last century, and it wasn't the U.S. My beef is with the multi-national business cartels that allowed it to happen, the top being IG Farben (now BASF, Bayer, among others).

Not only did they finance Adolf, they supplied him with Zyclon B for use in the death camps. The American side of the company was not tried at Nuremburg, although they were just as culpable, go figure.

The fire bombing of Dresden by the 8th Air Force and RAF Bomber Command, caused the destruction of 15 square kms including 14,000 homes, 72 schools, 22 hospitals, 18 churches, etc. with a conservative estimate of around 30,000 civilians killed. At the time, the Germans used it as propaganda to advocate against following the Geneva conventions and to attack people's perception of the Allies claim to absolute moral superiority. The military claimed the railroad center was a military target, which it was, altho it was up and running a week later. Feb 1945 was only 3 months away from May 1945 (end of the Euopean war), the outcome of the war was not in doubt, so why bomb a 'cultural' medieval city of 600,000?

The firebombing of Dresden and nuclear destruction of Hiroshima and Nagasaki were war crimes, genocide should also include civilian victims of aerial bombardment. Even after saying this, i still don't think the Allies were close to the moral depravity of the Nazis and their wholesale holocaust of the Euopean Jews.

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Answer 4

To end WWII. They said that bombing Nagasaki would end the war and save more lives. They appear to have been premature as the Japanese were about to surrender. Whether they knew that or not is another question. I hope that they did not drop the bomb out of spite - it would have been too cruel.

Answer 5

because allied forces cannot defeat japan fast enough to end the war. resources were running low, war in europe already ended and everbody wants peace. the US's island hopping campaing in the pacific was expensive, time consuming, and required a lot of soldiers. japanese soldiers use guerilla warfare against american troops. the US had a hard time in liberating small islands from japan. so, the US decided to take out japan with one big bang. first, they bombed hiroshima. japan was shocked and are already planning to surrender. but, the samurai within them tells them not to. then nagasaki was bombed as a message that the US is not very patient and wants answers now.

Answer 6

Because they were trying to end the war, and scare the Japanese, which they did, albeit maybe a bit too much. It's hard to say if it was wrong, only because even though millions were killed, millions were later effected by radiation, it led to birth defects, mass destruction the Japanese did bomb Pearl Harbor, which was not as bad, of course, but something had to be done back. (I guess an eye for an eye is valid in warfare!) Truman did not want to drop the bomb, but he felt it was necessary to end the war. I think anyone in his position would have faced a similar dilemma, and so you need to look not just at the ramifications to the Japanese, but what we were trying to prove. (As for the fire bombing of Toyko? THAT was wrong. But I digress.) So there you have it.

Answer 7

All who claim that the Japanese were on the verge of surrender are mistaken. Even after Nagasaki there were elements of the Japanese high command who were willing to continue to oppose the U.S. Only after the Emperor intervened did the surrender go forward

Answer 8

the japanese who were allied with hitler during ww2 refused to surrender after the fall of nazi-germany. So america used the Big Mama on Nagasaki to make the end come quickly.

Answer 9

After Hiroshima was bombed, the Americans offered a surrender in which the emporer would be spared. The Japanese interpreted this as a sign of weakness, since we were not requiring unconditional surrender, and refused.

Answer 10

Because if they didn't they would have had to invade, and although victory was almost certain, tens of thousands of US soldiers would have been killed.

So, typical to the Yanks, they decided it would be much better if tens of millions of civilians died, many of them horrible deaths from radiation poisoning or cancer, because it would cause they Japs to surrender without the loss of any US lives. They must have known that the radiation would cause infertility, stunted growth, deformed children, cancer and poor health for decades afterwards as well, but they did it anyway.