Hiroshima’s Atomic Bombs

Hiroshima’s atomic bombs have dominated the retelling of WWII history for its destruction and marked effects. The atomic bombs of Hiroshima have caused worldwide discussion for years whether US should end the war at the cost of a staggering amount of deaths. Some maintain that it was justified forcing Japan’s surrender in this way for the reason that an overwhelming majority of people of various nationalities had suffered the brunt of damage. On the contrary, others show great sympathy for Hiroshima’s deaths and firmly protest against A-bombs. As Chinese, I observe that it’s a tragedy but a necessary evil.

It is tragic that innocent Japanese civilians had to pay for the aggression and militarism of the imperialists. No other bombing campaign in World War II was as intense in the devastation of civilian lives as that of Hiroshima in 1945. It killed as many as 90,000 people and wiped out of half of the city, giving rise to the harsh after-war conditions. On the one hand, survivors could hardly bear the pain of the sudden deaths of those people to whom they owed great importance. Worse, long years’ aches and diseases have been the widening jaws of despair, which deprives them of hope for a bright future even though they are provided with free medical care through life. On the other hand, left in ruins, Hiroshima consigned itself to the scrapheaps in all aspects. Peace and prosperity could only be seen in the history books. It loses its edge of an economic  magnet for industry with a grave harm of its infrastructure. It would bear pressure for the radiation widespread across the city as the A-bombs fuelled fears about the state of Hiroshima’s environment. It would grapple with the problems of education as the school buildings have collapsed. The atomic bombs posed countless threats to the local people as well as the local government, accounting for the stagnant recovery from the disastrous eradication since then.

However, the course of history made it necessary to bomb the Hiroshima. It can’t be denied that the bombing is the direct cause of Japan’s surrender. At that time, Japan took a negative attitude towards surrender, pinning all its hopes on the Soviet Union’s forces to push Chinese to accept this armistice as an end to the war. But the Soviet Union’s declaration of war put an end to that empty hope. And even that, Japan still hesitated to surrender in a state of controversy that Japanese in the military insisted on continuation of the war while the outside against that. At this vital point, the US dropped the atom down the Hiroshima, which finally ended the war. Although we can’t agree with this method, there was an extreme need to fight against Japanese militarism successfully.

Therefore, the bombing was justified and managed to save a large number of Chinese. Generally, as Chinese, we tend to sympathize with the civilians killed while cheer for the defeat of Japan. This is the crude calculation of war.

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