What were the short-term and long-term consequences of using atomic bombs?
“Were”? Then I presume you refer to past use rather than to potential future use. My information is limited to what little research I’ve done. I’m way too young to know first hand. My grandfather fought in WWII. But, that being said, here’s what I believe. Immediate consequences: Brought Imperial Japan to its senses. They, both the government and the people, honestly believed that they could win WWII. In fact, we’d destroyed their Navy, we beat them in every land conflict in which we engaged them, and we knocked them out of the sky. No matter what they threw at us, we clobbered them. With no military left to speak of, their final defense was to be the people of Japan were we to invade. They wouldn’t have given up until they were all dead. Short term consequences: The use of “the bomb” saved hundreds of thousands of Allied lives. It also saved the lives of most of the people of Japan by forcing their government to admit defeat. Long term consequences: It showed the world the terrible de
