Hiroshima: End of WWII
World War Two was brought to an abrupt end with the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. This was the first use of atomic weaponry and effectively ended the war. Without a soldiers experience, it is hard to understand why the bombing helped trigger peace. It is easy to make judgements from an outsider's perspective and condemn such actions. But what other solutions were available?Paul Fussell writes about the Hiroshima bombing as being the only way to end the war and that due to his experience in the war he is able to see this. The Japanese military were in no way considering surrender as they prepared for a defence and the civilians ignored the warnings to evacuate. The bomb was not designed nor dropped t
I agree with Fussell's account and argument, as I don't see how else the war could have ended. Peace was only achieved after Hiroshima was bombed and may not have occurred otherwise. This sort of dedication was only broken with the use of atomic weapons and resulted in peace. It is the soldiers whom fought in the war that understand this and consequently understand why such force was required. The Japanese military was trained to fight to the death and to victory. Glenn Gray is criticised for implying that American soldiers were ashamed when Hiroshima was hit. The bomb was effective was the underlining factor as to why the Japanese finally surrendered. In this case, an unprecedented show of military force was used to end a war that killed more men than any other war before it. It is hard to expect soldiers to appear merciful of the enemy and carry a humanitarian standpoint. Fussell goes on the write that those who have forgotten the reality of what happened during the war or simply missed out on the experience do not have a valid or concise opinion, (pp 378). Soldiers who fought in the war and had had a first hand experience, know what the fighting was like. When more accurately, they were excited and happy as this had meant the end of the war, (pp 379).
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