Using the bomb pretty much guaranteed that the U.S. would occupy Japan without the Soviets as well as sending a clear message to the Soviets to go slow and careful in Europe and it’s territories. Also, the billions spent on the bomb project was only to be justified by proving the military worth of the Atom Bomb in actual use. In his diary, President Truman stated that he and the Secretary of War, Mr. Stimson were in agreement on the bombing. The targets were to be purely military to save innocent lives. A warning was to be issued to the Japanese government in the hopes that they would surrender before the bomb fell.
Therefore, the US created unconditional terms of surrender, knowingly going against the Japanese ethic of honour and against the institute of the emperor, whom most Americans probably wanted dead. Consequently, the use of the atomic bomb became a way to avenge America's fallen soldiers while also keeping the USSR in check in Europe. The Japanese civilian casualties did not matter in this strategy. Also, it did not prevent the Cold War, as the USSR was just a few years behind on a-bomb research. At the time, revenge, geopolitics and an expensive project that could not be allowed to simply rust away, meant the atomic bomb had to be hastily deployed “in the field” in order to see its power and aftermath – though little was known about radiation and its effects on humans.
The only real problem that prevented the Japanese from surrendering was the unconditional surrender the Americans demanded. The Japanese thought the emperor to be descended from the sun god and would protect the emperor at any cost. If President Truman had agreed to leave the emperor alone and taken more time to negotiate Japan’s surrender, they probably would have. Instead, after the testing of the first atomic bomb, it was decided after a few days that Japan would be bombed. Even if Truman had decided to use the bomb, there was no reason to bomb Hiroshima.
A. Plan of Investigation Question: “The atomic bombs were necessary to end the Second World War.” To what extent do you agree with this statement?” Thesis: To a very small degree I do believe that the Atomic bomb did help put an end to WWII but to an even greater extent I do believe that the Atomic bomb was not necessary to end of the WWII. Arguments: Japanese Culture American Government Decision Making About Dropping the Atomic Bomb American and Russian Government Battle Japanese Impact of the Atomic Bomb B. Summary of Evidence 1. Japanese Culture • The Japanese people were also developing their own atomic bomb during the time of the United States and Russia.
Without the bombs, the goal of getting the Japanese to surrender may have never been accomplished. This was our ultimate goal as we were still heated after the Japanese actions on Pearl Harbor. Another widely overlooked advantage of dropping the bombs was that it aided the survival of POW’s. Throughout Japan there were camps that held American soldiers under the control of the Japanese. By using these two strategically aimed bombs, we were able to avoid killing our own troops in these camps and by forcing the Japanese to surrender, we got our troops back
I do agree of dropping the bomb because it did save a lot of lives. Franklin Roosevelt was trying to find a way to end the war very fast. Then Truman had to end Roosevelt’s idea of winning the war fast. Truman wasn’t looking for a way to not use the atomic bomb. The United States wanted to end the war fast because we wanted the lowest amount of casualties.
The decision to drop the atomic bomb on Japanese citizens in August, 1945, as a means to bring the long Pacific war to an end could be justified-militarily, politically and morally, by such points as follow suit (The National Security Archive). The goal of waging war is victory with minimum losses on one's own side and, if possible, on the enemy's side. No one disputes the fact that the Japanese military was prepared to fight to the last man to defend the home islands, and indeed had already demonstrated this determination in previous Pacific island campaigns (Sherrow 56). A weapon originally developed to contain a Nazi atomic project was available that would spare Americans hundreds of thousands of causalities in an invasion of Japan, and-not incidentally-save several times more than that among Japanese soldiers and civilians (World War 2 Database). The thousands who have died in the bombings on Hiroshima and Nagasaki were far less than those who would have died in an allied invasion, and their sudden deaths convinced the Japanese military to surrender (The National Security
A strategy was already devised to defeat Japan "without reliance upon the atomic bomb, which had not yet been tested in New Mexico." (Document A) From a report of a Scientific Panel, a moderate consensus was stated that "the opportunity of saving American lives by immediate military use, and believe that such use will improve the international prospects, in that they are more concerned with the prevention of war than with the elimination of this special weapon," helped bring support for the cause to use the bomb to end the war quickly. (Document G) But the United States seemed not to be concerned so much with the defeat of the Japanese which as General H. H. Arnold, Commander of the American Army Air Force stated: "atomic bomb or no atomic bomb, the Japanese were already on the verge of collapse," (Document B), but instead with Soviet involvement in the war. The United States and Britain felt threatened by Russia. They knew that Russia was bitter from their loss of territory and dignity after Japan defeated them in 1904.
He also said that it will be impossible to persuade Russia to remove her troops from Poland and China and the island of Sakhalin unless they are shocked and impressed by American military strength. So in short words, James Byrnes believes that dropping the atomic bombs might make Russia more manageable and force Japan to surrender. If the USA did drop the bombs on japan, it will stop the USSR from advancing too far, plus halted the war quickly so that Stalin’s Soviet Russia did not demand joint occupation of
In World War two there were many battles fought. One of the most controversial issues for the United States was not even a battle though. It was the use of the atomic bomb on two Japanese cities. I believe that the US was right in using the atomic bombs on Japan. The Japanese planned a secret attack on the United States.