Introduction

In history's darkest era, a controversial decision arose: Should the US engage in nuclear warfare, a deadly and terrifying new weapon? The answer involved the fateful decision to drop an atomic bomb on Japan. The year was 1945, and the war in the Pacific was winding down.

In addition to hastening Japan's surrender, reducing deaths, and bringing an end to World War II, dropping atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki displayed the US military's strength. The US leveraged resources, influenced events, and exerted authority to fight WWII on two fronts: Europe and the Pacific. The word “powerful” refers to having the ability to control or influence people or things.1 “Plans” of the powerful refer to strategies, actions, or agendas to achieve their goals. The mistakes of the powerful refer to the wrong decisions, activities, or choices made by those in positions of authority, influence, or control, resulting in negative consequences or unintended outcomes. Because the US was on the verge of becoming a superpower, they had important decisions to consider with significant results.

Some historians believe it is debatable whether the plans or the mistakes of the powerful have a more significant effect on human history. This paper argues that the plans of the powerful have a profound and lasting impact on history, exemplified by the US military’s decision to drop nuclear bombs on Japan, ending the war in the Pacific.

Background

Today, the devastating impact of the two atomic bombs dropped on Japan in 1945 still leaves a tangible mark on the nation's history and its people. The loss of life and the countless individuals who were destroyed due to these bombings are reminders of the horrors of war and the destructive power of nuclear weapons. The physical and psychological effects endured by the survivors, known as hibakusha, have extended far beyond the immediate aftermath, shaping their lives and the lives of future generations.

In the tragic aftermath of the atomic bomb explosion in Nagasaki, the city witnessed an immense loss of life, with a staggering number of casualties. The magnitude of the devastation inflicted upon Nagasaki is reflected in its grim statistics, as between 35,000 to 40,000 lives2 were tragically cut short by the destructive power of the bomb.  At Hiroshima, they estimated that out of a pre-raid population of 255,000 people, 66,000 had died, and 69,000 were injured.3

Demonstration of Global Power

Dropping the atomic bombs on the two Japanese cities in 1945 had a significant and long-lasting effect on international relations and the history of warfare. As WWII approached an ending, the United States sought ways to end the war quickly. President Truman had four options: continue the conventional bombing of Japanese cities, initiate a land invasion of Japan, demonstrate the bomb on an unpopulated island, or drop the bomb on an inhabited Japanese city.4 The Manhattan Project assisted in developing the atomic weapon and fulfilling America's plans. The potential catastrophic destruction of the bombs sent a message to the entire world that the US could not only develop such devastating weapons but was prepared to use them.

The nuclear era began with the use of atomic weapons on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. The National Security Archive “published the most comprehensive online collection … of declassified U.S. government documents on the atomic bomb and the end of the war in the Pacific.” The document states: “The nuclear age had truly begun with the first military use of atomic weapons.”5 It’s essential to place the bomb’s power in perspective. The “... bomb had more power than 20,000 tons of T.N.T. It had more than two thousand times the blast power of the British ‘Grand Slam,’ which is the largest bomb ever yet used in the history of warfare.”6 In other words, one atomic bomb had more than all the powerful explosives at the time - combined. Some compared its use to lunacy.7

The immense effect of nuclear weapons opened a new era. After its brief use in Japan, while the world was still shocked by the atomic bomb's power, the madness continued. “The Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Fleet Admiral William D. Leahy, decried the use of the atomic bombs as adopting “an ethical standard common to the barbarians of the Dark Ages, but in October 1947, he reported a military requirement for 400 bombs.”8 It draws attention to a perceived contrast between ethical standards and military bomb demand.

Despite its many earlier fire-bombing campaigns over Japan, the U.S. had initially resisted using atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. In a cold, scientific way, the U.S. wanted to measure the exact impact of this new weapon. “If the new weapon was to be used at all in World War II, it would be against Japan.”9 The decision to drop the bomb in Europe would have had drastically different impacts: affecting relationships among allies, influencing Japan’s decisions in the Pacific, and increasing tension with the Soviet Union. This made the dropping of the bomb on Japan an intentional act pursuant to a plan, and it was also purposeful in ways other than ending the war.

The emergence of “mutually assured destruction,” which relied on the principle of deterrence, forced a shift in strategic thinking among military and political leaders. The idea was that a nuclear attack by one superpower would result in a devastating counterattack, leading to the annihilation of both the attacker and defender. The potential of devastating nuclear conflict made leaders cautious of traditional military confrontations that could escalate out of control.

Reduction of Casualties

The planned dropping of the atomic bombs on Japan had a more significant effect on history because it saved lives overall. Many lives would have been lost during a ground invasion of the Japanese mainland. Contemporary estimates predicted a catastrophic loss of life for the American and Japanese military, along with innocent civilians caught in the crossfire.  The bombings prevented this harrowing scenario, saving countless people from further suffering and death. Some might ask, what if the U.S. had invaded Japan on November 1, 1945?

Multiple famously planned invasions have occurred throughout human history, and all came at a terrible price. One of the most famous invasions during WWII was the D-Day landing. “The accepted estimate is that the Allies suffered 10,000 total casualties on D-Day” with additional heavy losses of both Allied and Axis Powers in the ensuing days.11 This invasion was a turning point in the war, but a terrible price was paid. Other than D-Day, other notable effective invasions throughout history show the cruelty and terrible consequences of invasions.

In a modern model, the invasion of Bakhmut in Ukraine resulted in the loss of countless lives. “The head of the Russian private army Wagner says his force lost more than 20,000 men in the drawn-out battle for Bakhmut.”12 Wars and invasions are cruel; short invasions such as D-Day, which only lasted four days, caused thousands of deaths. It is not hard to imagine the number of casualties if the US invaded Japan.

The weighing up between the hypothetical ground invasion and the actual losses — both immediate and over generations—to the cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki—is controversial. While estimated ground invasions may offer strategic advantages in theory, it is essential to understand that these calculations are based on assumptions that fail to capture the actual human toll of war. When the powerful make plans, they must weigh a series of hypotheticals. The genuine losses—both immediate and long-term—underscore the need for a full appraisal of all the possibilities.

Reports estimate that dropping the atomic bombs on Nagasaki and Hiroshima caused 210,000 deaths. It is undeniable that this number of casualties is terrifying and regrettable. Still, it saved many lives that would have otherwise been killed in the ground invasion of the Japanese mainland: “The U.S. government estimated that invading the Japanese Home Islands would cost five to ten million Japanese lives. … One U.S. government estimate, based upon the fierce Japanese resistance encountered in the island fighting, predicted the war would last another year and a half, and another had the [ultimate] cost of the invasion as 1.7 to 4 million Allied casualties.”13 From a rational point of view, the deliberate decision to drop the bombs outweighs the loss of millions of lives. Nonetheless, it should be noted that these figures are unverifiable.14

Additionally, the effects of radiation exposure on the survivors and their children were devastating. For example, “[f]ive to six years after the bombings, the incidence of leukemia increased noticeably among survivors. After about a decade, survivors began suffering from thyroid, breast, lung, and other cancers at higher-than-normal rates.”15 As time passed, radiation exposure also affected their children and future generations. The effects of radiation exposure on health are still not fully understood, but it is clear that they have long term, dangerous effects. As humans reflect on these tragedies, it is crucial to remember their impacts and long-term consequences for those affected by them.

It is critical to consider not only physical health consequences but also psychological impacts on the hibakusha, the survivors of the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki during World War II. In cases of atomic bomb exposure, it is hard to measure whether the reported health issues of the hibakusha were psychological or radiation-induced. However, several scientists researched the psychological impacts and noted, "[i]n the 1950s, psychiatrists in Hiroshima and Nagasaki reported increased complaints among A-bomb survivors of neurotic symptoms, including general fatigue, amnesia, and lack of concentration as well as other symptoms commonly associated with autonomic nerve imbalance, such as palpitation or a sense of burning or chill.”16 Such psychological traumas should be more widely known, and people should realize the catastrophic impact.

Termination of the War

The planned dropping of the atomic bombs on Japan had far-reaching effects on history; the most significant was that it quickly ended the war in the Pacific. The use of atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki in August 1945 effectively forced Japan into unconditional surrender, resulting in the rapid conclusion of World War II. However, the decision to use atomic bombs remains controversial to this day.

Some stated that it was necessary to end the war quickly to prevent further loss of life. At the same time, others may have doubted that assertion and noted that it violated the use of force and was in contravention of international law. The Laws of Air Warfare state15:

“prohibit aerial bombardment to terrorize the civilian population, destroying private property not of a military character, or injuring Non-combatants. The same Laws provide in Article 24 that aerial bombardment is legitimately only directed at military objectives. The Laws of Air Warfare are not dispositive, but we can recognize the effect of their contents as a logical international law or custom.”16

The U.S. military violated the abovementioned laws, though some infractions are acceptable under special circumstances.

Regardless of the effects that the atomic bomb caused, there is no denying that it ended WWII in the Pacific quickly. The surrender of Japan marked the end of the world war in Asia. Without the deterrence and shock of atomic weapons, history would have changed, and WWII's end would have been very different. It is not an exaggeration that if the US invaded Japan, there would be at least twelve months of constant sacrifices and deaths. However, some sources do question the exact numbers. Despite the deaths and terror of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, the atomic bomb played a crucial role in quickly ending WWII and shaping the path of history.

Some may argue that the mistakes of the powerful have a bigger impact than the plans of the powerful. But this view poses a clear error in logic if it is interpreted from a sequential point of view. Mistakes come from plans, and they should be considered as one of the outcomes of a plan. According to the Oxford Languages, plans could be defined as an intention or decision about what one will do.17 The Cambridge Dictionary defines a mistake as an action, decision, or judgment that produces an unwanted or unintentional result.18 People first need to decide and act before they can define the goodness or badness of the impact caused by those decisions and actions.  The act of making these decisions and actions can be called planning. So, when discussing whether mistakes or plans will have a greater impact on history, there is no disagreement on the answer. The arguments that one might have been trying to prove that a point of view with greater impact is part of another point of view, which makes it meaningless.

Conclusion

Using nuclear bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki was a critical moment in world history, representing the end of a brutal war and setting the stage for the Cold War. The plans of the powerful have a profound and lasting impact on history. The US government’s decision to drop nuclear bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki demonstrated America’s power, ended the war in the Pacific, and quickly saved lives overall. Without the use of atomic weapons, the result of WWII would have been dramatically different, with devastating consequences for both Japan and the Allied forces. The difference between a plan and a mistake is this process of weighing the hypotheticals.

While it’s true that the atomic bombings resulted in a dramatic loss of life in Japan, they served as a warning about future wars and helped shape international relations for decades. The decision to release atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki remains controversial today, but there is no doubt about its profound impact on world history. Dropping the atomic bomb in Japan had a lasting consequence on Japan’s economy, politics, and military. It also inaugurated the start of the atomic era, with global effects that ranged from the Cold War to the massive production of nuclear weapons, the nuclear arms race, and the threat of the use of nuclear weapons in current conflicts.

Endnotes

1 Britannica Dictionary. “Powerful.” Accessed June 29, 2023. www.britannica.com/dictionary/powerful.

2 Carrie Rossenfeld. “The Effect of Atomic Bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki.” Atomic archive.com. (2023). https://www.atomicarchive.com/resources/documents/bombing-survey/section_II.html

3 Alex Wellerstein. “Counting the Dead at Hiroshima and Nagasaki.” Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists. June 2, 2023. https://thebulletin.org/2020/08/counting-the-dead-at-hiroshima-and-nagasaki/.

4 William Burr. “The Atomic Bomb and the End of World War II.” nsarchive.gwu.edu. (n.d.) Retrieved June 21, 2023.

5 Adams. “Ending the War in Japan: Evaluating the Options Available to Truman.” Harry S. Truman. (n.d.)https://www.trumanlibrary.gov/education/lesson-plans/ending-war-japan-evaluating-options-available-truman.

7 Harry S. Truman. “Truman Statement on Hiroshima.” Atomic Heritage Museum. (August 6, 1945). Retrieved June 21, 2023. https://ahf.nuclearmuseum.org/ahf/key-documents/truman-statement-hiroshima

5 Michael Kimmage. Review of Atomic Historiography, by Rosemary B. Mariner and G. Kurt Piehler. Reviews in American History 38, no. 1 (2010): 145–52. http://www.jstor.org/stable/40589759

6 Daniel Ellsberg. “The Doomsday Machine: Confessions of a Nuclear War Planner.” Bloomsbury USA. (2017).

7 Arjun Makhijani. “‘Always’ the Target?: While U.S. Bomb Scientists Were Racing against Germany, Military Planners Were Looking toward the Pacific.” Institute for Energy and Environmental Research. (2023). Accessed June 29, 2023. https://ieer.org/resource/commentary/always-the-target

8 Truman. “Truman Statement on Hiroshima.” Atomic Heritage Museum. (August 6, 1945).

9 Dave Roos. “How Many Were Killed on D-Day?” History.com. (2019). Accessed June 23, 2023. https://www.history.com/news/d-day-casualties-deaths-allies

10 Susie Blann and Joanna Kozlowska. “Head of Russian Private Army Says More than 20,000 Fighters Died in Bakhmut Battle.” PBS. (May 24, 2023).

11 Carol A. Clark. “What If the U.S. Had Invaded Japan on Nov. 1, 1945?” Los Alamos Daily Post. (2019). Accessed June 23, 2023. https://ladailypost.com/what-if-the-u-s-had-invaded-japan-on-nov-1-1945

12 Tony Capaccio. "How many casualties?" American Journalism Review 17, no. 6 (1995): 25. Gale Academic OneFile. Accessed June 28, 2023. https://link.gale.com/apps/doc/A17160991/AONE?u=googlescholar&sid=bookmark-AONE&xid=5e063b55

13 Col. Hamilton Desaussure. “The Laws of Air Warfare: Are There Any?” The International Lawyer 5, no. 3 (1971): 527–48. http://www.jstor.org/stable/40704677

14 Psychological effects – Radiation Effects Research Foundation (RERF). Accessed December 15, 2023. https://www.rerf.or.jp/en/programs/roadmap_e/health_effects-en/late-en/psycholo/.

15 Arthur Selwyn Miller and Martin Feinrider. Nuclear Weapons and Law. (Westport, Connecticut: Greenwood Press, 1984). pg.59.

16 History.com Editors. “Bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki.” The History Website. Accessed April 18, 2023. https://www.history.com/topics/world-war-ii/bombing-of-hiroshima-and-nagasaki

17 Oxford English Dictionary. Accessed December 28, 2023. https://www.oed.com/.

18 Mistake | definition in the Cambridge English Dictionary. Accessed December 28, 2023. https://dictionary.cambridge.org/us/dictionary/english/mistake.

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