The Negative Effects of Atomic Bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki - Assignment Example

The Negative Effects of Atomic Bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki The bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki by America has been one of the most controversial events in the world history in the last century. The event has been placed in the top hundred stories of the twentieth century by 1999 news editors (Frank, 2005, p.20). It was on August 6, 1945 that America dropped the first atomic bomb on the Japanese city, Hiroshima which took the lives of 70,000 to 100,000 people (Kagan, 1995, p.17). Even before the shock of the first event sank in, America dropped the second atomic bomb three days later on Nagasaki. The economic disaster that followed along with million of casualties as a result of the bombing forced Japan to eventually surrender resulting in the end of the World War II. During that time, the general feeling among the Americans was that the bombings were necessary to bring a swift ending to the World War II thereby averting the further death of American soldiers. Indeed the American people rejoiced the bombings unabashedly since the common belief was that the bombings could not be avoided (Kagan, 1995, p.17). Political and Economic Impact An event of disaster can be studied using a Social Constructionist Approach where social, political and cultural aspects are taken into consideration. Although the reasons behind why American had taken a decision to drop such disastrous bombs in two of the most economically important cities in Japan are still a matter of debate. The most common view that America wanted to end the war soon to prevent further casualties comprise murky controversies. According to critics, their views are based on three major premises. First, Japan was already in a state of defeat in 1945 and the country’s leaders were well aware of the situation. Second, being aware of Japan’s weakening condition there was complete possibility that its leaders would have agreed to surrender in the summer of the same year. Third, America was fully aware of Japan’s impending decision to surrender because America had been able to decode Japanese diplomatic messages. Critics have come up with several plausible reasons behind America’s decision of the bombings; the most prominent ones emphasizing on Washington’s strategy to scare the Soviet Union who had raged war against Japan in order to establish US dominance afterwards (Frank, 2005, p.20). Keeping in mind the ensuing public debates and decades of scholarly research surrounding the most infamous event in the modern history, it can be stated that Truman’s decision can never be justified in a politically correct manner. The major question that crops up in the context of the bombings is that whether this measure was absolutely necessary to force Japan to surrender thereby ending the war or whether America had had other ulterior reasons. According to the traditional perspective, Truman made the decision in order to bring an instant end to the war resulting in the saving of hundreds of thousands of American lives (Kennedy, 2005, p.140). There are other views that state that it was not so much necessary to end the war since Japan was already on the verge of surrendering, but that the bombings were executed to make Japan surrender unconditionally thus ensuring America’s victory in every possible way. On the other hand, there are so called revisionists who claim that the decision was America’s strategy to hold diplomatic advantage over the Soviet Union rather than protecting American lives. It is believed that Truman wanted to alert the Russians regarding America’s arsenal size that can be used in any armed conflicts (Conlin, 2008, p.726). This view ignores the military ramifications and considers the political explanations regarding why America did not probe alternative measures to end the war. For instance, there were several options open to America like considering the initiatives that Japan was ready to take for peaceful negotiations, modifying the demand for unconditional surrender, or waiting to see whether the Soviet would actually declare war on Japan. Although most scholars adopt a cynical view of the revisionist interpretation, it is nevertheless agreed on common grounds that the bombings were actually not necessary for a rapid ending of the war. In the aftermath of the war, the US Strategic Bombing Survey provided evidence in support of this view by concluding that Japan was ready to surrender before November 1, 1945 without Soviet intervention and without America’s invasion of the Japanese islands (Tannenwald, 2007, p.75). Indeed, Japan was ready to surrender on July 22 albeit with the condition that Japan would retain the emperor institution. However, it was America’s obstinacy regarding unconditional surrender that paved the way for the bombings (A Political Advantage, 2013). An important controversy surrounding the bombings is whether it was necessary to save American lives. In his memoirs, Truman had stated that invasion of the Japanese islands would have caused the death of 500,000 American soldiers, although he sometimes raised this figure to one million. However, research has shown that during the war the number of casualties reported by war military planners was far from Truman’s speculated figure. Considering this, most historians reject Truman’s estimated figure of American casualties that was saved by the bombings. It can therefore be assumed that Truman raised the figure out of guilty conscience so as to justify his decision. It was however clear that alternate solutions could be applied and Truman’s administration was well aware of them (Tannenwald, 2007, pp.76-77). Truman and other American leaders blamed the Japanese for their decision by stating that “Japan’s fanatical leaders” were responsible for the event (Lindee, 2008, p.121). Negative impact of the atomic bombs dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki Social and infrastructural Impact The impact of the atomic bombs of Hiroshima and Nagasaki was disastrous with both cities suffering from similar effects. One may called this unanimously a Black Swan Event where the consequences were extreme and unprecendented. There was severe damage to all manmade structures along with other inanimate objects in both the cities as results of the effects caused by the bombs. The blast of the bombs created pressure waves which is common with normal explosions. There were also uncontrolled fires (primary fires) which was instant outcome caused by the heat emitted from the explosion of the bombs. Then there were the secondary fires which were caused by the direct effects of the explosion like buildings were collapsed, electrical systems were destroyed, stoves were ignited, and so on. Further damage was caused as the primary and secondary fires spread in uncontrolled manner to other structures. The deaths of the people were due to direct and indirect causes of the explosion. For one, there were “flash” burns which were caused by the instant emissions of extreme heat and light from the explosions. Then, of course there were the burns cause by the above mentioned primary and secondary fires. Also, the victims died from “mechanical injuries” caused by getting trapped under collapsed buildings or flying debris, and were succumbed to the pressure waves caused by the blasts. Finally, people died from radiation injuries which were caused by “instantaneous penetrating radiation” from the blasts of the nuclear bombs (Manhattan Engineer District, 1946). A disaster is evaluated by its proneness to vulnerability and not mere exposure to hazard. In these cases the cities were unprepared entirely. The core regions of Hiroshima and Nagasaki which were beneath the surface where the explosions actually took place were totally annihilated. The only manmade structures that were not badly damaged by the blasts were the frames of concrete buildings which were strongly structured. However, the interiors of these buildings were subjected to widespread damage from fire inside the buildings. The structures of the buildings like their doors, windows and partitions which were separate from the concrete frames were charred or blown away. The death toll in these buildings which were closest to the site of the bombings was almost 100 percent. In Hiroshima, fire had spread rapidly causing massive “fire storms” induced by winds that blew towards the fire balls caused by the blasts. This caused the fire to take such massive shape that it totally charred everything in a circular area of 4.4 square miles that were not totally damaged by the blast. Hiroshima was most badly affected by the fire storms caused by the winds because of its entirely flat area which was a little above the sea level. One savior, if it might be said so, was the hilly regions towards the northeastern part of the city. The region has a single hill which is half mile long and 221 feet in height, and the existence of this hill had managed to thwart some of the impacts of the blasts; otherwise the entire city would have been engulfed by the blast. In the areas beyond the central region of the city, most of the constructions were made of wood like wooden workshops amidst the Japanese houses and large industrial plants. Even the houses and most of the industrial buildings were constructed with wood and had tiled roofs. In short, the entire structure of the city was completely vulnerable to widespread fire. In Nagasaki, the impact of the blasts were almost similar to that of Hiroshima although the there were no widely destructive fire storms since Nagasaki was an irregularly shaped city. Both the cities experienced irreparable damage within one mile radius circulating the center of the blast. Every structure was annihilated except certain buttressed solid structures. The city of Hiroshima was virtually wiped out from Japan’s map with more than 25 percent of the city’s occupants subjected to instant deaths from the explosion while a further 25 percent suffered from grievous injuries. Therefore, even without considering the mass destruction of structures and properties in the city, its normal life had been completely shattered. Beyond the one mile radius of the blasts and up to 3 miles in both the cities, almost everything was badly affected. Beyond 3 miles, the damage was comparably manageable although the impact was felt for many more miles. Glass structures were shattered up to 12 miles (Manhattan Engineer District, 1946). In Nagasaki, the apparent view was that a smaller area was totally destroyed by the blast compared to Hiroshima. This is because, there are hills that acted as protective barrier and inhibited the spread of the repercussions of the blast to a wider area. However, on closer inspection there were proofs to demonstrate that the impact of the blast in Nagasaki was even more destructive than in Hiroshima. Complete annihilation as impact of the blasts occurred over an area of almost 3 square miles. The area that was targeted by the American pilots had over 50,000 buildings of which more than a third were utterly shattered or were damaged beyond repair. The destructive impact was even more apparent in the massive structures consisted of steel and the torpedo plant. The pressure from the explosion shifted the steel frames of all buildings that were located within a mile of the explosion. For up to 3 miles radius from the point of the blast, the entire area was completely scorched. The hillsides were also severely burnt up to a radius of 8,000 feet. Further investigative reports claimed that there were no remnants of damaging sustainable radioactivity after the explosions (Manhattan Engineer District, 1946). Environmental Impact The immediate impact of nuclear bombs is perhaps the most severe form of mass killing. People inside concrete structures like buildings who apparently seem to be protected were killed by the heat and pressure effect of the blasts added with buildings collapsing and combustible elements bursting into flames. Also, the rapid rise of the area in the immediate area surrounding the blast resulted in drying up of oxygen which also killed many people. Even the survivors will suffer from ill fate caused by fatal burns, blindness, severe bleeding caused by glass pieces shattered by the blast, and intensive internal injuries. One important fact to be noted here is that in case of a nuclear bomb disaster rescue missions get badly hampered since equipments get destroyed and the staff gets killed by radioactive waves. The impact of the nuclear bombs dropped in Hiroshima and Nagasaki had both short term and long term negative effects on human life. The massive emission of radioactive rays from the blasts either immediately took life or else the survivors felt the impact within a few days. The extent to which a nuclear bomb can affect a city and its inhabitants depends upon when the bomb is detonated in the air or on the ground. In the case of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, it was the former case which means the impact of the blast was even more severe than the latter in which case the blast would have hurled the radioactive debris into the atmosphere. The extent of the damage that is caused by nuclear bombs is determined by the speed and direction of wind. In the case of Hiroshima, there were destructive fire balls since wind was blowing towards the center of the blast. The heavier particles of radioactive elements drop in the area that is closest to the point of blast causing most of the damage, which in case of Hiroshima and Nagasaki was up to one mile radius within which every structure was annihilated and 25 percent of the occupants killed as immediate effect of the blasts. Comparatively finer particles of radioactive elements were hurled over longer distances like up to 3 mile radius of the center of the blast. Further beyond this radius, the remaining very fine particles of radioactive elements mixed with water vapor and fell as radioactive rain. Although death toll as immediate impact of the blast was less beyond the 3 mile radius, the impact of the radioactive rain was also fatal in many cases resulting from “hair loss, bleeding from the mouth and gums, internal bleeding and haemorrhagic diarrhoea, gangrenous ulcers, vomiting, fever, delirium and terminal coma” (The effects of nuclear weapons, n.d.). Even those who had survived due to low exposure were subjected to complications in later period. Pregnant women who were exposed to the radioactive elements either experienced miscarriage or else gave birth to handicapped babies. Injuries that were caused by the radioactive particles were slow to heal and scars remained during entire lifetime. Even the immune system of many people was badly affected. As for long term impacts of nuclear bombs, it is not easy to estimate since onset of cancer cannot be attributed to any specific cause if the intermediate time is long. However, researchers have stated that many survivors who were exposed to the radioactive elements caused by the bombings were affected by cancer, especially thyroid cancer, and liver diseases even twenty years later. Moreover, children who are born to such survivors have greater probability of physical abnormalities and leukemia. It has not been possible to extract exact estimates of long term deaths in Hiroshima and Nagasaki due to paucity of records and shifting of population. However, there has been a rough estimation of “140,000 in Hiroshima and 75,000 in Nagasaki” (The effects of nuclear weapons, n.d; United Nations Science Committee, 2006, p.151). Conclusion The impact of the atomic bombing on the Japanese cities was indeed was disastrous with a loss of around 2 million lives. Both the cities were almost completely destroyed thus shaking the economic roots of the nation. The morality of the action will always be subjected to controversy since the real reason can only be speculated. For instance, if Japan’s surrender was the goal, there was no real need of the second bomb on Nagasaki. The real reason can only be that America wanted to show the Russians their supremacy in the post war global arena. References A political advantage: the reason why USA bombed Japanese cities (August 14, 2013), nuclear-news, retrieved on November 15, 2014 from: http://nuclear-news.net/2013/08/14/a-political-advantage-the-reason-why-usa-bombed-japanese-cities/ Conlin, J. (2008) The American Past: A Survey of American History, Cengage Learning Frank, R.B. (2005) Why Truman Dropped the Bomb. The Weekly Standard, 10(44), 20-24 Kagan, D. (1995) Why American Dropped the Bomb. Commentary, 100(3), 17-23 Kennedy, J.R. (2005) Why Not Freedom!: America’s Revolt Against Big Government, Pelican Publishing Lindee, M.S. (2008) Suffering Made Real: American Science and the Survivors at Hiroshima, Univ. of Chicago Press Manhattan Engineer District (1946), The Atomic Bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, retrieved on November 15, 2014 from: http://www.abomb1.org/hiroshim/hiro_med.html Tannenwald, N. (2007) The Nuclear Taboo: The United States and the Non-Use of Nuclear Weapons Since 1945, Cambridge Univ. Press The effects of nuclear weapons, (n.d.), CNDUK, retrieved on November 15, 2014 from: http://www.cnduk.org/campaigns/global-abolition/effects-of-nuclear-weapons United Nations Science Committee (2006), Effects of Ionizing Radiation, UN Publications Read More