Debate over the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki
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The
Fat Man mushroom cloud resulting from the
nuclear explosion over
Nagasaki rises 18 km (11 mi, 60,000 ft) into the air from the
hypocenter.
The
debate over the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki concerns the United States’
atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki on 6 August and 9 August 1945, thus ending the
Second World War (1939–45). The role of the bombings in achieving the
Surrender of Japan (2 September 1945) and the United States’
ethical justification for them remains the subject of
scholarly and popular debate. In April 2005, in an overview of recent historiography about this matter, J. Samuel Walker wrote that “the controversy over the use of the bomb seems certain to continue”, noting that “the fundamental issue that has divided scholars over a period of nearly four decades is whether the use of the bomb was necessary to achieve victory in the war in the Pacific on terms satisfactory to the United States”.
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