Effects of the atomic bomb Essay Example For Students

Effects of the atomic bomb Essay Nuclear / Particle Physics Effects of the atomic bomb Essays on Hiroshima and Nagasaki Ever since the dawn of time man has found new ways of killing each other. The most destructive way of killing people known to man would have to be the atomic bomb. The reason why the atomic bomb is so destructive is that when it is detonated, it has more than one effect. The effects of the atomic bomb are so great that Nikita Khrushchev said that the survivors would envy the dead (International Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War, 1982). These devastating physical effects come from the atomic bombs blast, the atomic bombs thermal radiation, and the atomic bombs nuclear radiation. The Japanese were not following the Geneva convention in regards to treatment of prisoners of war. Which says that the prisoners are not to be put through torture of the psychological or physical nature. The Japanese did these things anyway, they would decapitate American prisoners, or they would shove bamboo shoots under their fingernails. The American government also wanted revenge for the surprise attack on Pearl Harbor. No warning was given by the Japanese to the Americans and no war was declared until after the incident. The Russian territorial expansion definitely played a factor in the dropping the bomb on Japan. The Soviet Union had already taken Poland and many other countries during the war. The Soviets were helping the Chinese with the war against Japan and later would get railroads in China and Manchuria when Japan completely surrendered, as stated in document D. As said in document E, the Americans did not want the Russians to get involved in the war against Japan. The most obvious reasons would be to prevent the Russians from expanding any more and to keep them out of Japan where they would hamper the peace process and gain even more territory. As president Harry Truman says in his radio address, document H, all of the countries involved were trying to create the atomic bomb to use for their efforts. Fortunately the Americans won the race of discovery. If the Germans had won that race they probably would have used it continuously in Russia and Britain until Hitler got what he wanted which was world domination and the extinguishing of the Jewish and others and the ascent of his superior race of Germans. The dropping of the atomic weapon on Japan was not entirely to halt Soviet expansion although it did play a major role. Bibliography: .