Was the atomic bomb important in world war two?

Question

Was the atomic bomb important in world war two?

Answer 1

Yes, for two reasons: (#1 you might know, #2 you likely don't)

1) Force the Japanese to surrender quickly, avoid a costly

     (in terms of American lives) invasion.

     (Anyone who doubts this, please note that there was even

     a general who tried to break into the sacred palace to

     kill the deified emperor, just to avoid a surrender, and that

     the Tokyo government's vote on surrender was very close.)

2) The USSR was getting ready to invade Japan - rather

     opportunisticly, they declared war on the now-isolated,

     beaten-down islands.  Had the Japanese not been forced

     to quickly surrender to the US, they would have been

     forced to surrender to the USSR, and come under

     Russian influence.  (Imagine a post-war Communist

     Japan?)

Answer 2

Certainly.  The race to produce the bomb, between the Anglo-Americans on the one side (with the Soviets quietly pursuing their own path) and the Germans on the other was a important sideshow.  Moreover, the utility of the bombs in ending the Japanese war prior to the planned "Downfall" invasions certainly saved many thousands of American and Allied lives (estimates of the Allied death toll from the planned invasions from from 100,000 to near half a million).  The use of the atom bombs brought the Pacific war to a screeching halt and, ironically, may have actually significantly reduced the death toll among the Japanese in the war, as well.  Had the invasion gone forward, it's likely Japan would have suffered very high casualties as the Allies fought their way through the Japanese homeland.

Answer 3

Yes.

The Japanese would never have surrendered.

Using the bombs saved millions of Allied and Japanese lives.

Answer 4

Yes,  but there are two differing opinions of weather it should have been used.  but when it comes down to it the war finished months possibly even years earlier because of it

Answer 5

YESSSSSSSSSSSSSSS

Answer 6

It was used to show the world how ruthless and evil the americans can be. Truman was the most despicable person on the face of the earth. So yes, it is what ended the war.

Answer 7

the devoplement of the atomic bomb was ww2....

Answer 8

it ended the nightmare....  is that important>?

Answer 9

Yes, because it virtually ended the war and gave the Allied forces the "victory", but at a high cost to the Japanese at the time. While it did actually help in making Japan the technological/electronic powerhouse it is today, there were so many innocent lives that were taken. It was a very inhumane way of ending the war. In a perfect scenario, only the Japanese soldiers should have been affected by it. I feel this way especially due to the atrocities the Japanese soldiers carried out against the Chinese while they occupied China during the war.

Answer 10

No it came after the war in Europe was already over and the Japanese were about to surrender anyhow.  The dropping of the bomb was meant to scare the Soviets - it had nothing to do with causing a Japanese surrender.  The bombs were no more destructive then the 1000 plane bomb raids over other Japanese cities.  And to anyone with a brain you should be able to figure out that if those raids did not cause a Japanese surrender the a-bombs would not and did cause Japan to surrender in WW2.

What in fact cause the japanese to surrender was the fact the Soviets declared war on them and mauled the Japanese army in Manchuria where in 2 weeks the Soviets killed or caputered most of their tropps and more importantly were poised to invade the nothern most island of the 4 major islands that make up Japan.  Fearing a Soviet occupation of the Japanese home islands brought Japan to the peace table - not the a-bomb.  They saw what ha[[ened in Germany feared that happening to Japan.

Answer 11

VERY important! After all, even after Germany was defeated, Japan was still going strong. The US tried firebombing them at first, but it still didn't weaken them or demoralize them. It was after the atomic bombs were dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki in 1945 that the Japanese finally capitulated.