- Question
Were the US bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki justified?
Was President Harry Truman justified when he authorised the use of nuclear weapons against Japanese civilians? Did the bombings end the war with fewer deaths than an American invasion of Japan would have resulted in? Or was the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki unimportant to Japanese military leaders when they decided to surrender?
Yes, the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki were justified
This position holds that the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki were justified. It accepts the heavy civilian cost but argues they served the greater good — Truman's reasoning that the bombs ended the war swiftly, sparing the far greater casualties an invasion would have brought.
No, the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki were not justified
This position holds that the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki were not justified. It argues they caused catastrophic civilian harm without actually forcing Japan's surrender — which it credits instead to the Soviet entry into the war — and were of dubious military necessity.