Please consider the following themes in your essay: causes of the war, us strategy for winning the war; us reasoning and justification, if any, for dropping the bomb on Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
Introduction:
The United States is essentially an insular nation thinking only of its domestic affairs when it comes to the crunch. This is essentially due to the fact that the nation views intervention in war with a considerable amount of scepticism and this has happened in the past especially with World War I and II. The US went to war in the Pacific for a number of reasons however the real sticking point was the attack on Pearl Harbour which truly galvanised and jerked the US out of its consciousness and lethargy.
Causes of the war:
As already indicated, the main reason for the US going to war was the attack on Pearl Harbour which practically crippled all the US Pacific Fleet. However the US recovered pretty quickly from that initial setback and in the ensuing Battle of Midway almost destroyed the Japanese carrier fleet which was pretty much ailing anyway.
Strategy:
The US strategy on winning the war focused on many issues and these included the following: A two pronged attack on the Japanese fleet and the islands and countries which the enemy had occupied in the initial surge which had practically decimated the British Empire in the Far East. However this strategy met with some problems especially regarding the way the attacks were made which were not always focused and there was also the personal egos of some of the generals like Douglas McArthur to consider. Essentially the strategy was determined by the unconditional surrender of the Japanese which seemed never to come but which was the prime motivation behind the US goal.
Reasoning and justification:
The atom bomb remains a contentious issues in the hearts and minds of every American person in this day and age as questions are still asked if this was the morally correct decision to take in the circumstances. Still the Japanese did not want to surrender under any circumstances so one could say that the US had no real option but to end the war quickly with a body blow which would shock the Japanese consciousness into total oblivion. The result was a human disaster of epic proportions which had never been seen anywhere and the moral implications of killing unarmed civilians once again came to the fore. However as already stated, the issue was principally the fact that the Japanese refused to surrender so the US was left with no other choise but to end the war in one fell swoop.
Conclusion:
The atom bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki are definitely defining moments in the history of the United States and the war on Japan. The US had already lost tens of thousands of its fighting forces in a costly and grossly violent land campaign so it was in no mood to continue suffering further losses. The moral justification of dropping the bomb remains questionable but still at the end of the day it was probably the only thing to do to bring Japan to its knees.
Works Cited:
Bagby, Wesley Marvin America's International Relations Since World War I. London, Oxford University Press. ISBN 0195123891. OCLC 38574200. (1999), Print
Bix, Herbert "Japan's Delayed Surrender: A Reinterpretation". In Hogan, Michael J.. Hiroshima in History and Memory. London, Cambridge University Press. ISBN 0-521-56682-7. (1996). Print
