Basically, the three web sites speak about the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. However, in reading the sites in depth, the focus of each one is different from the other.
Apart from that, after reading the site, it leaves the reader with different emotions regarding the decision to drop the bomb at Nagasaki and Hiroshima. The Truman Library contains mostly of the executive decisions that led to the bombing of Nagasaki and Hiroshima. The site mostly presents the conversations and commitments that Truman made that significantly influenced the ending of the World War II.In addition, it also reveals the confidential personal diaries of Truman that contain his meeting with Stalin and other Axis powers who showed support for the release of the bomb.
In the said article, the bombing of Nagasaki and Hiroshima was pressured by the bombing of Pearl Harbor that killed 3,000 youngsters without any declaration of war or warning. From this, it can be inferred that the website’s purpose is to defend the decision of Truman to drop the bombs.As for him, he was adamant in his decision that violent means is necessary to restore peace and to bring justice for the death of the soldiers in the Pearl Harbor bombing. Despite criticisms, Truman stood up for his decision and believed that the dropping of the bomb will spare millions of lives from the hands of the Japanese who were considered cruel at that time. The Avalon Project web site, on the other hand, details the implementation of the plan to drop the bomb at Nagasaki and Hiroshima, the number of casualties, the damages and injuries it has caused, the propaganda, the composition of the bombs, and many others.The web site further describes the propaganda that was opposed by Truman because it amounted to warning the Japanese of the bombing.
For Truman, the warning was not necessary because the Pearl Harbor bombing was committed without prior warning. It also presents the number of casualties and the effects of the bombing. There were millions of recorded casualties and properties damaged. Notably, after the bombing, the Japanese surrendered but negotiated that the surrender would be according to Potsdam Declaration.After reading the site, it can be concluded that the impact of the bombs was so great that both cities are still experiencing the damages caused until today. Finally, the Hiroshima Archive contains extensive information about Nagasaki and Hiroshima before and after the bombing.
The links in the web site lead to various links that explain the components and its effect on both human and environment. Pictures of the effects of the bombing have also been provided.Through further surfing, the viewer would be able to read about the stand of the physicist who was part of the decision to drop the bombs at the two Japanese cities. According to the site, the physicist was not in favor of dropping the bomb and would have opposed it fiercely if given the chance.
In the said conversation, it can be viewed that the components and the possible damage and danger that the bomb can produce were known, and yet, the bombs were still dropped. The web sites can also be differentiated as to the emotions they leave behind.The first site incites eagerness and anger due to the Pearl Harbor bombing. The second maintains neutral emotion, but the casualties would eventually incite pity for the victims. The third obviously incites sympathy for the Japanese for the damage caused in the bombing of Nagasaki and Hiroshima was ten times the damage caused in the Pearl Harbor bombing.
However, despite any emotion created, the decision of Truman, while not right, led to a positive outcome because the Japan surrendered immediately after the bombing and the war finally ended.
