by Timothy Hoarwood

Created on: July 08, 2009   Last Updated: July 09, 2009

The Bombing of Hiroshima

On August 6th, an American B29 bomber dropped the first of two atomic bombs on the Japanese city of Hiroshima, nicknamed "Little Boy". Was this action acceptable or was it a huge, immoral, attack against civilians?

Firstly, it is important to understand that this was not the first attack on civilians in the war. Germany had bombed London for sustained periods of time in an effort to break morale and Britain had incendiary-bombed the German city of Dresden a few months earlier. Whilst the latter was controversial, for many of the same reasons as Hiroshima, the first was not. This was because it was made in the context of 'total war' - countries were embroiled in a massive conflict which could go either way. However, the bombing of Hiroshima occurred at the end of the war. The country it was targeted against was sure to lose, whatever happened. It was more difficult to justify such a huge act of destruction.

However, this does not take into account the Japanese attitude towards surrender. They treated prisoners of war incredibly badly, as they simply could not understand why someone would surrender rather than die for their country. A fanatical culture of death and glory had arisen around the Japanese army. Attempts to take minuscule Japanese islands had led to eventual victory, but with enormous casualty counts.

At Okinawa, March 1945, 66,000 of the 73,000 strong Japanese army died fighting, refusing surrender over insurmountable odds. The US took 72,000 casualties, with 12,000 deaths. The Japanese were also beginning suicidal or 'Kamikaze' air assaults, which involved using manned planes as guided missiles. They could do phenomenal amounts of damage to the American fleet, flying explosive-laden planes into the decks of aircraft carriers. On the Home Islands of Japan, the Japanese army numbered in the millions. Propaganda announcements encouraged every inhabitant of Japan to fight to the death against any invaders. A conventional invasion of Japan would be a pyrrhic victory, claiming untold amounts of lives from every side.

However, there were alternatives to dropping the atomic bomb. A blockade was suggested, as Japan was already beginning to starve - surely this could force a surrender. However, it would be slow and the naval barricade would present a perfect target for kamikazes. Conventional bombing would be extremely slow. Perhaps the most realistic possibility was an atomic test - a demonstration of what America could

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