Americans why in ww2 did you drop a nuclear bomb on Japan and not Germany?

Question

Japan bombed your military base which isn't that bad. Germany were much more Heavily into the war invading everything they could, killing many more people.
i wonder if it was more of a Racist thing having the Japanese look more different to Americans than the Germans in general?

Answer 1

You're acting like it was OUR generation that made those decisions, and it appears you're playing the "race card" trying to stir up a hornet's nest for the sake of your own personal enjoyment.

Even though my MOTHER wasn't even born during WW2, I'm being held accountable for dropping the nukes, owning slaves, and stealing land from the Indians.

Whether or not I agree with the political policies then, or the political policies now, why must you incite anger with blatantly unfair accusations?

Please have the courtesy of growing up and taking into account all the facts before you walk in blaming ME for what you perceive as racism on the part of my fore-fathers.

Answer 2

Everyone has pretty much said it. the bombs were not ready when the European Axis was still fighting the war (Croatia was actually the last European Axis nation to surrender), and as John P put it, not even those two atomic bombs convinced the Japanese to surrender, it was the threat of a Soviet Invasion of the Home Islands that finally did the trick.
Sure Japan brought the United States into the war, but had been at war with China since 1937, and attacked England and The Netherlands at the same time that they attacked the United States!
I'm sure that there were more German, Italian, Croatian, Hungarian, Finnish, Romanian, and Slovakian-Americans fighting in the war than Japanese Americans, but it was more of a culture clash than racism in the conflict. Western soldiers would surrender to preserve their lives when a situation looked hopeless, but the Japanese had no such idea of self preservation (look at today's insurgents).
So no, dropping the bomb was not racist at all.

Answer 3

First of all, most if not all the decision-makers in this are now dead, so you are asking a question which cannot be answered from this side of the grave.

However, the nuclear bomb was not tested until July of 1945, fully two months after the collapse of Nazi Germany. It was dropped on Japan primarily to preclude the need to invade the Japanese home islands.

The Battle of Okinawa was costly to both sides--producing thousands of American casualties and even heavier civilian and military casualties on the Japanese side. Conventional bombing had heavily damaged Japan--only 3 percent of the damage done in bombing was attributable to nuclear bombs.

The decision was made to use the atomic bomb primarily to end the war without having to invade the islands of Kyushu and Honshu, which would have been necessary to achieve a land victory. Most historians--including many Japanese--agree that the nuclear bombs saved far more lives than they claimed.

Nuclear bombs were not ready in time to be used against Germany, and were not needed in any case, as a combined allied invasion defeated this enemy.

Answer 4

The war in Germany was nearly complete. The German army was surrendering by the droves. Expected US casaulties for continueing the war were estimated to be very small. There ws also a known fact at this point that the cold war was begining and that Germany would need to be an ally to NATO in order to prevent socialism from sweep further west into Europe.

The war in the Pasific was completly different, the war had no clear end in sight. Every island and beach head was a brutal battle and the Japaness never surrenedered and woudl fight to the last man. Allied Intellegance discovered large networks of tunnel systems on main land Japan and an invasion would make D-Day look like a cozy little picknic. The presedent determined that the cost of life for an advance, the continued bombing of military targets that resulted in civilian deaths, and the war in general would be so costly to all sides that only a nuclear bomb would brake Japan's will to fight. The US was wrong, it had to take two bombs to break the will of Japan.

Answer 5

It has been said many time over, but here it goes:

Germany surrendered in May, 1945. The Trinity test, of the first atomic device, was in July, 1945. The invasion of Japan was scheduled for November, 1945. Fearing the massive causalties (search for Tarawa, Pelileu, Iwo Jima, Okinawa) American planners wanted a Japanese surrender before an invasion was needed. The atomic bombs did the job.

BTW. If the Normandy invasion had failed, atomic weapons would have been used on Germany.

Please pick a history book and read it before making statements about racism.

Answer 6

Well first off, what everybody said Germany was almost defeated when the bomb was created but, japan was going to try and fight off the invasion on mainland. Truman warned japan they had a bomb that would cause major destruction but Japan's military thought he was bluffing so they dropped the first one. But the japanese military generals still wanted the war to go on, so the second one was dropped. They were actually going to bomb kyoto but decided not to because of all the ancient and historical things that they have their. Also there were allied POWs in Hiroshima so they killed their own men also. Even after the second bomb the japanese military were still willing to fight but emperor Hirohito saw what destruction and casualties it has caused and was about russia because they had declared war on japan, so he decided to surrender. Yeah I think the bombing was wrong but I also believe it was necessary. Think about it, If U.S. invaded japan their have been more casualties on the japanese civilians & soldiers and plus Russia was ready to invade japan also. Yeah Germany wasn't bombed but have you seen what Germany looked like at the end of the war? That's what would have happened to Japan if invaded. I feel bad for those that were in the bombings because they had nothing to do with war, and I feel bad for all the men, women and children who were caught in and because they didn't deserve it. After the war, America put Japan under a protection umbrella so Japan can grow their economy back up and become one of the biggest economic countries in the world today. i just hope nobody have to relive the world war again. I'm half Okinawan, my mom and I argue about this issue all the time.

Answer 7

About your question...

"Japan bombed your military base which isn't that bad." - That is unless you are in the military, in which case its kinda sucky.

Here is the reality, Japan attacked the United States without forewarnng or provocation. Sow the wind, reap the whirlwind.

The bomb was not ready in time for Germany. Believe me, it would have been dropped there if Germany had not already surrendered. MacArthur estimated 250,000 Americans would die in an invasion of the Japanese home islands.

This may be difficult for you to grasp, but the A-bombs actually saved lives.

Answer 8

The 1st successful test of an Atomic Bomb took place in July 1945, nearly two and a half months after Germany had surrendered. The War in Europe was over by the time the bombs were prepared for use.

Answer 9

Germany's cities were already in ruin by the time the bomb was tested. What good would it have done to stir the rubble? We only had two of the things ready. Blowing up a few more Germans would have been rather pointless.

Ask any GI who was scheduled for operations Olympic and Coronet what they thought about the bomb. It wasn't racist. It was good military sense. Probably a million American lives, and probably two or three times that Japanese lives were saved by not invading.

Answer 10

You are very immature with your question:

"Japan bombed your military base which isn't that bad."

Beside the undeclared surprise attack on the US, you seem have forgotten the invasion of China, Korea, Indochina, Burma, many Pacific Island, North Borneo, the Philippines, the hundreds of thousands of dead, wounded civilian and military from these countries, the many hundreds of thousands taken prisoner and used as slaves with no regard for the regulations of the Geneva convention.

Because the Bomb was not developed by the time GERMANY surrendered.

The bomb was dropped on Japan to save an estimated 5 million casualties that the Allies would have suffered by invading the Japanese home Islands.
The Japanese were offered conditions for surrender but refused to accept them.

Perhaps you should do more research before asking ignorant questions.

Answer 11

By the time of the unconditional surrender of Germany on May 8, 1945, the Manhattan Project was still MONTHS away from a working weapon.

On July 16, 1945, in the desert north of Alamogordo, New Mexico, the first nuclear test took place, code-named "Trinity," using a device nicknamed "the Gadget."

On August 6, 1945, a uranium-based weapon, "Little Boy", was let loose on the Japanese city of Hiroshima. Three days later, a plutonium-based weapon, "Fat Man", was dropped onto the city of Nagasaki.

NOW as to the person who said that GERMANS were NOT detained... German and Italian citizens, permanent residents, and American citizens of those respective ancestries (and American citizen family members) were removed from (among other places) the West and East Coast and relocated or interned, and roughly one-third of the US was declared an exclusionary zone.

My Mother was RAISED in a camp in TEXAS... her father was a US Citizen of German ancestory.