The American Justification for the Use of the Atomic BombOn August 6, 1945, the United States of America dropped the world's first atomic bomb on the city of Hiroshima in Japan. Two days later, a second bomb was dropped on the city of Nagasaki. These two bombs were the most devastating weapons ever seen, and their effects on humans and property were clearly terrifying. About 110,000 people were killed; most of them were innocent civilians who had been living in the wrong place at the wrong time. Although the use of this weapon was an atrocity for both the Japanese and humanity in general, the world was at war. No matter what ulterior motives there may have been, the fact remains that the bomb was a rightly necessary measure to bring an early end to the aggressive war instigated by Japan. Japan would never have surrendered unconditionally, as decreed in the Potsdam Ultimatum. Invading the Japanese islands was out of the question due to the fierce defense that would be mounted and the enormous number of casualties it would entail. The bomb forced the Japanese militarists to surrender and gave the “peace party” the additional credibility it needed to quickly end the war. The use of the bomb also kept Russia out of the war, preventing the problems that had occurred in post-war Germany and later Korea. When all factors are taken into consideration, the use of the atomic bomb actually saved more lives, both Japanese and American, than were needed. "were in the making. It was to be the largest operation of the war (Skates, 1994, P. 4), involving up to 39 divi...... middle of paper ......y measure, to put quickly put an end to the aggressive war that Japan had started. Although Japan refused to surrender to the unconditional surrender as outlined in the Potsdam Declaration, the invasion was out of the question due to the enormous number of casualties it would have caused necessary to shock the Japanese militarists and give weight to the arguments of those who wanted to surrender. The bomb also kept Russia out of the war, preventing post-war complications such as those that had occurred in Europe, and later in Korea. When all factors are taken into account, the bomb saved more lives on both sides of the war than it served. The positive implications outweighed the negative ones. The decision to drop the bomb, however morally difficult, made the best of an extremely unattractive situation.