History of the Atom Bomb

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to accept. The invasion of the islands of Japan was already planned when Stimson finally advised the President to use bomb, or bombs, instead. The only question left was when to drop them, and what cities to drop them on. Stimson immediately ruled out the bombing of Kyoto because of the art and cultural importance to the Japanese. He approved the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki which were then bombed on August 6th and August 9th, respectively. Stimson explains war as “the face of war is the face of death; death is an inevitable part of every order that wartime leader gives. The decision to use the atomic bomb was a decision that brought death to over a hundred thousand Japanese” (Stimson, 4). Stimson knew that a weapon that caused such immediate and widespread destruction would change “the face of war” forever.

The bomb had lasting effects on everyone, not only those who were directly influenced by the bombing. Before the use of the bomb, many scientists that helped develop it were afraid of the power and destruction that is was capable of. The scientists that wrote the Franck Report turned out to be correct about the dangers and horrific side effects of the aftermath of the bomb site. Iwao Nakamura was in 5th grade at the time of the bombing of Hiroshima, he says “I was so thirsty and attracted by the sight of people that I left my parents’ side without thinking and approached the tank. But when I got near and was able to see into the tank, I gave an involuntary cry and backed away. What I saw reflected in the blood-stained water were the faces of monsters. They had leaned over the side of the tank and died in that position” (Nakamura, 2). This is just one instance of an innocent civilian boy that will be forever scarred by the dropping of the atomic bomb. Effects of the bombs continued for many decades after, as the radiation from the bombs kept getting people sick and killing them (273). In both Hiroshima and Nagasaki, 200,000 people were killed immediately, and in the following years many more died.

From the point the atomic bomb was developed, it made war more dangerous, more destructive, and added greater risk to every diplomatic and political movement a country made. In the years to come after the use of the atomic bomb, the great affects were realized. The presence of so many bombs made their use impossible, and in many ways, prevented conflicts in Cuba, Vietnam and Korea from turning into global war. It is the most destructive weapon in the course of the human race, and to use one today would have detrimental effects on the world. However, it was developed, used, and no matter how controversial it may have been, it ended the most lethal war in the history of mankind early.

Works Cited

Einstein, Albert. Letter to President Franklin D. Roosevelt. 2 Aug. 1939. MS.

Goff, Richard, Walter Moss, Janice Terry, Jiu-Hwa Upshur, and Michael Schroeder. "Chapter 18." The Twentieth Century and Beyond. Seventh ed. New York: McGraw Hill, 1008. 272-73. Print.

Nakamura, Iwao and Atsuko Tsujioka. “Recollections.” In Sources of Twentieth-Century Global History, edited by James H. Overfield, 456. Boston, MA: Wadsworth, Cengage Learning, 2002.

Stimson, Henry L. “The Decision to Use the Atomic Bomb.” In Sources of Twentieth-Century Global History, edited by James H. Overfield, 456. Boston, MA: Wadsworth, Cengage Learning, 2002.

“The Franck Report.” In Sources of Twentieth-Century Global History, edited by James H. Overfield, 456. Boston, MA: Wadsworth, Cengage Learning,