World War II
...o a stop. Nazi regime leaders had been defeated and tried for their crimes. Berlin, Germany’s capital, had been divided into four different sections. Democracy had reestablished a foothold as a world leading power at this point. During World War II, the United States dropped the first atomic bomb on a Japanese city and military base named Hiroshima on August 6, 1945. United States estimates of the number killed or missing was 60,000 to 70,000. Japanese estimates gave a combined total of 240,000. With Japan dealt a psychological blow and in great ruins, it had no other choice but to surrender. Many people claimed that the atomic bombings on Japan were cruel and unjust. Cruel it may have been, but it is a side of war that will never fade away. By not dropping the atomic bombs, many more people would have been killed had we continued island hopping, air strikes, naval battles, and amphibious assaults like on the beaches of Iwo Jima. Shortly after World War II had ended, the United States of America had reconstructed Japan from the rubble that had once been of buildings. America had shown the Japanese how democracy worked, allowing tenant farmers to purchase land. “After years of wartime censorship and thought control, most Japanese appreciated their new freedoms” (Growth 94). Decades later, Japan regained its economic status from World War II, and is now a world economic leader. Most importantly, Japan has now become an ally of the United States. America hit rock bottom in 1929, when the great depression occurred, only to be revived by aiding its European allies in World War II. Not only did America get out of depression, but also improved its relations by proving true an old alliance with its allies. One step at a time America had improved its relations with every country, even the ones it had hurt. The first commitment to create a new organization came in 1941, when United States president Franklin Roosevelt and British Prime Minister Winston Churchill signed the Atlantic Charter, in which they pledged to work toward a more effective system to keep world peace and promote cooperation (Shurts 124). Later, the Atlantic Charter eventually became the United Nations in 1945. According to the United Nations, virtually every territory in the world is a member, whether it is a country, providence, or colony. Unlike the League of Nations, the United Nations is capable of using an international peace keeping force. Peacekeeping is a non-aggressive use of military force to help nati...