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Decision to Drop the Atomic Bomb

Lenny Gordon
History 2710-001, Ken C. Hansen
24 July, 2014









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World War II was the most infamous and horrific war with the unthinkable done upon
humans. Millions were sent to the Gulag, starved, or shot by Stalin in the Soviet Union; The
persecution and attempted genocide of the Jews, Gypsies, Slavs, communists, homosexuals,
mentally and physically disabled in the Holocaust by Hitler and the Nazi regime; and the use of
two Atomic Bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. All of which were great catastrophes but was
the decision to drop the atomic bomb one of necessity to end the war or an act of barbarianism?
To properly discuss the decision to drop the atomic bomb there needs to be a discussion of
events that led up to the decision to drop the atomic bomb and there are certain questions that
should be asked. Could World War II have been prevented? Could the dropping of two atomic
bombs on Japan have been prevented? Was World War II a continuation of World War I? Could
Hitlers rise to power have been prevented? Had Germany not invaded Poland, Europe would not
have gone to war. Had Japan not invaded China, the American embargo of Japan would not have
happened, Japan would not have been pushed to attack Pearl Harbor, and if Japan wouldnt have
attacked Pearl Harbor maybe we wouldnt have dropped the atomic bombs on Hiroshima and
Nagasaki. I dont agree with war and I definitely dont agree with dropping the atomic bomb but
I do believe that dropping the atomic bomb not only saved lives by ending World War II but it
also saved lives by exposing what the capability of this awful new weapon was and exposed
what a grave mistake was made by dropping the atomic bomb.
In 1939 United States renounced its trade treaty with Japan. I believe this was the main
reason for the attack on Pearl Harbor as Japan was on a quest for natural resources. The same
year Japan launched its first attack against the city Changsha, China. By 1940 Japan was deep in
war with China and had occupied northern Indochina. The Dutch Government agreed to provide
some oil supplies to Japan from the Dutch East Indies, but negotiations for additional access to
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their resources ended in failure in June 1941. On October 16, 1941, after unsuccessfully arguing
for more time to negotiate, Konoye resigned as prime minister and was replaced by the pro-
military General Hideki Tojo. While Konoye had been working for peace, the Imperial Japanese
Navy (IJN) had developed its war plans. These called for a preemptive strike against the US
Pacific Fleet at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, as well as simultaneous strikes against the Philippines,
Netherlands East Indies, and the British colonies in the region. The goal of this plan was to
eliminate the American threat, allowing Japanese forces to secure the Dutch and British
colonies.
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With negations between Japan and the United States failing due to bad-faith
negotiating by Japan; Japan planned to neutralize the United States Pacific Fleet and the
American military presence in the Philippines. The Japanese Imperial Navy was planning a
surprise attack.
By December 1941 most of Europe, Africa, the Mediterranean, and the Pacific had been
at war for over 2 years. The United States tried being neutral but joining the war seemed
inevitable. Of course most of the world thought the United States would be at war with Germany
first but the United States had been edging towards war with Japan for decades. On the morning
of December 7, 1941 the United States and its citizens would be changed forever. Under the
greatest secrecy, Nagumo took his ships to sea on 26 November 1941, with orders to abort the
mission if he was discovered, or should diplomacy work an unanticipated miracle. Before dawn
on the 7th of December, undiscovered and with diplomatic prospects firmly at an end, the Pearl
Harbor Striking Force was less than three-hundred miles north of Pearl Harbor.
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At 7:55 am,
the Imperial Japanese Navys Pacific fleet attacked the U.S. Pacific fleet docked at Pearl Harbor.
The Japanese managed to destroy nearly 20 American naval vessels, including eight enormous

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Hickman
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Hendrix
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battleships, and almost 200 airplanes. More than 2,000 Americans soldiers and sailors died in the
attack, and over 1,000 were wounded. The barrage lasted for ninety minutes. After news of the
attack spread, the United States was in a state of shock. Two hours after the attack the Empire of
Japan formally declared war on the United States and Great Britain. The Japanese Embassy in
Washington finally decoded the 5000 word document which read, We, the Emperor of Japan,
having acceded to the throne of the unbroken line of emperors which is for ages eternal, with the
divine providence of the heavenly god, hereby proclaim unto our loyal and valorous subjects:
That we, the emperor, have now declared war upon the United States of America and Great
Britain. The officers and men of our army and navy will concentrate their strength in engaging in
battles, the members of our government will endeavor to carry out their assigned duties, our
subjects throughout the empire will employ full strength to perform their respective tasks. Thus
uniting one hundred million hearts and discharging the fullest strength of the nation, we expect
all our subjects to strive to attain the ultimate objective of this expedition.
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This document was
printed on the front page of Japanese newspapers on December 8, 1941, and again on the 8th of
every month until the end of the war.
United States under a state of shock was looking towards their leader for retribution.
President Roosevelt spoke to a joint session of Congress on December 8 and delivered the
famous Infamy Speech where he said, Yesterday, December 7, 1941 a date which will live in
infamy the United States of America was suddenly and deliberately attacked by naval and air
forces of the Empire of Japan No matter how long it may take us to overcome this
premeditated invasion, the American people in their righteous might will win through to absolute
victory. I believe I interpret the will of the Congress and of the people when I assert that we will

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not only defend ourselves to the uttermost, but will make very certain that this form of treachery
shall never endanger us again.
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It wasnt the invasion of Poland, it wasnt the Battle of Britain,
and it wasnt the persecution of the Jews that finally dragged the United States into World War
II, but it was this one single catastrophic event at Pearl Harbor that brought us into World War II.
It should be said that the Empire of Japan attacked other British and American holdings on 7
December, 1941, with near-simultaneous offensives against Southeast Asia and the Central
Pacific. These attacks included landings in Thailand and Malaya, and the Battle of Hong Kong.
On 11 December, 1941, Adolf Hitler made his announcement that Germany and Italy
declared war on the United States at the Reichstag in Berlin saying he had tried to avoid direct
conflict with the United States but under the Tripartite Agreement signed on 27 September,
1940, Germany was obliged to join with Italy to defend its ally Japan. The United States in turn
declared war on Germany as well. On 6 June, 1944, Allied forces invaded Normandy. American
troops landed on Utah Beach and Omaha Beach while the British landed on Sword Beach and
Gold Beach. The Canadians landed on Juno Beach. After intense fighting across Europe the Axis
powers were defeated. Benito Mussolini was assassinated on 28 April, 1945. Adolf Hitler
committed suicide on 30 April, 1945. Hitlers successor Karl Donitz signed Germanys total and
unconditional surrender on 7 May, 1945. The United States had been fighting fronts in Europe,
Africa, and in the Pacific for several years against Germany, Italy, and the Empire of Japan. With
the United States just finishing the war in Europe now the United States could focus their
attention on the war in the Pacific.
As the war in Europe came to an end, the United States could turn its vast military
resources toward an all-out effort against the Empire of Japan. In the spring of 1945, Japans

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empire had been pressed slowly back toward its home islands and the Americans mounted a
furious assault on the heavily fortified island of Okinawa. The three month battle featured some
of the most vicious combat of the entire war, as American troops confront an enemy that would
rather be slaughtered than experience the shame of surrender. Harry Truman was faced with a
difficult decision when it came to how to end the war with Japan. Trumans Dilemma and
Options Leading up to the use of the Atomic Bomb; Invade Japan Invasion would cost the
American nation at least 1,000,000 casualties, killed or wounded in first 90 days, Bombard Japan
with conventional weapons Would take time and the casualties to Japan would be enormous. It
would be mass annihilation, a planned genocide of the Japanese people, Lay siege to Japan
Would take a long time, money, manpower and supplies, Wait for the Soviets Soviets taking
their time to bolster their post war position in the world.
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. I personally think the attack on Pearl
Harbor was in the back of Trumans mind when making the decision as well. American soldiers
and civilians were weary from four years of war, yet the Japanese military held strong and was
refusing to give up their fight. American forces occupied Okinawa and Iwo Jima and were
intensely fire-bombing Japanese cities. Despite losing over well over 20,000 men at Iwo Jima,
over 150,000 men at Burma, and over 100,000 casualties at Okinawa, Japan still had an army of
two million strong stationed in the home islands preparing to guard against an invasion.
When Truman learned of the success of the Manhattan Project it only compounded the
decision on how to end the war with Japan. The U.S. had already been at war for four years and
it was evident Japan was not going to surrender any time soon even though the United States and
Allied forces demanded Japan surrender or face total destruction: Japan refused. The Japanese
culture is very rich and the Japanese are a proud but humble people. Japanese people live by a

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code of ethics named Bushido. This is a way of life and a warrior value system. Bushido literally
means military scholar road. Bushido is a Japanese word for the way of the samurai life and
originates from the samurai moral values, most commonly stressing some combination of
loyalty, mastery of martial arts, and honor unto death. They were indoctrinated from an early
age to revere the Emperor as a living deity, and to see war as an act that could purify the self, the
nation, and ultimately the whole world. Within this framework, the supreme sacrifice of life
itself was regarded as the purest of accomplishments. Do not live in shame as a prisoner. Die,
and leave no ignominious crime behind you.
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These warrior values became formalized into
Japanese feudal law. This is a good reason to believe that Japan was not going to surrender.
With the decision weighing on the President and Im sure the knowledge of the Japanese
value system President Harry Truman had a tough decision to make. President Truman stated in
his diary on July 25, 1945,
We have discovered the most terrible bomb in the history of the world. It may be the fire
destruction prophesied in the Euphrates Valley Era, after Noah and his fabulous Ark.
Anyway we "think" we have found the way to cause a disintegration of the atom. An
experiment in the New Mexico desert was startling - to put it mildly. Thirteen pounds of
the explosive caused the complete disintegration of a steel tower 60 feet high, created a
crater 6 feet deep and 1,200 feet in diameter, knocked over a steel tower 1/2 mile away
and knocked men down 10,000 yards away. The explosion was visible for more than 200
miles and audible for 40 miles and more. This weapon is to be used against Japan
between now and August 10th. I have told the Sec. of War, Mr. Stimson, to use it so that
military objectives and soldiers and sailors are the target and not women and children.
Even if the Japs are savages, ruthless, merciless and fanatic, we as the leader of the world
for the common welfare cannot drop that terrible bomb on the old capital or the new. He
and I are in accord. The target will be a purely military one and we will issue a warning
statement asking the Japs to surrender and save lives. I'm sure they will not do that, but
we will have given them the chance. It is certainly a good thing for the world that Hitler's
crowd or Stalin's did not discover this atomic bomb. It seems to be the most terrible thing
ever discovered, but it can be made the most useful.
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I can only imagine the weight this must have caused Truman in making such an enormous
decision. Would Truman be justified in using the bomb? Would Japan eventually surrender
following an invasion of the Japanese home islands? Would an invasion result in more casualties
or would dropping this new weapon cause fewer casualties on both sides?
It is obvious Truman was left with a difficult decision. The war needed to end and it
needed to end immediately to save lives.
On Aug. 6, 1945, Paul Tibbets, pilot of the B-29 airplane named the Enola Gay, dropped
an atomic bomb over the Japanese city of Hiroshima. Nicknamed "Little Boy," the bomb created
an explosion equivalent to 15,000 tons of TNT, destroying nearly every building within a mile of
ground zero and creating a massive firestorm that eventually engulfed the city
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70,000 Japanese citizens were vaporized instantly. On August 9, 1945, a second atomic bomb,
nicknamed Fat Boy, was dropped on the city of Nagasaki, where 80,000 Japanese people
perished. In the months and years that followed, over 100,000 additional Japanese citizens
perished from burns and radiation sickness directly resulting from the atomic bombs dropped on
Japan. On August 14, 1945, Emperor Hirohito for the only time directly ordered via recorded
radio broadcast to all of Japan, as his last role as commander-in-chief, surrendered to the United
States.
There has been much controversy over the decision to drop the atomic bomb. Some
people think the decision was barbaric; some contest Japan was on the verge of surrendering;
some say the United States was sending a message to the rest of the world (especially the Soviet
Union) to tread lightly as the United States was the dominant world power, but regardless of
what the decision was or the result of Trumans decision to Drop the Atomic bomb and end the
war with Japan, it opened Pandoras box and started a new age of nuclear terror and has led to a

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dangerous arms race. To be fair in writing this paper I should allow the reader to view the
decision from different sides and what kind of writer would I be if I didnt list some
controversies. In January of 1945 it was rumored that the Imperial Japanese Government was
willing to surrender,
MacArthur forwarded to the President a Japanese offer to surrender to which was
exactly what we accepted 7 months later. Had it been accepted when first offered, there would
have been no heavy loss of life on Iwo Jima (over 26,033 Americans killed or wounded,
approximately 21,000 Japanese killed) and Okinawa (over 39,000 U.S. dead and wounded,
109,000 Japanese dead), no fire bombing of Japanese cities by B-29 bombers (it is estimated that
the dropping of 1,700 tons of incendiary explosives on Japanese cities during March 9th-10th
alone killed over 80,000 civilians and destroyed 260,000 buildings), and no use of the atomic
bomb (200,000 killed)
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When Eisenhower was told of the bomb he said: "...the Japanese were ready to surrender
and it wasn't necessary to hit them with that awful thing."
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On August 8, 1945, after the atomic bombing of Hiroshima, Herbert Hoover wrote to
Army and Navy Journal, "The use of the atomic bomb, with its indiscriminate killing of women
and children, revolts my soul."
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The U.S. Strategic Bombing Survey group, assigned by President Truman to study the air
attacks on Japan, produced a report in July of 1946:
"Based on a detailed investigation of all the facts and supported by the testimony of the
surviving Japanese leaders involved, it is the Survey's opinion that certainly prior to 31
December 1945 and in all probability prior to 1 November 1945, Japan would have
surrendered even if the atomic bombs had not been dropped, even if Russia had not
entered the war, and even if no invasion had been planned or contemplated"
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Humanist
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Ibid
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Humanist
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Ibid
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The United States remains the only nation in the world to have used a nuclear weapon on another
nation.
World War II was the deadliest conflict in history. The war had taken a staggering toll in
both military and civilian lives. Over 60 million people lost their lives during the war. By the end
of World War II much of Europe and Asia lay in ruins with parts of Africa in ruins as well.
Combat and bombing had flattened cities and towns, destroyed bridges and railroads, and most
of the countryside was scorched. When the atomic bomb became available in July 1945, it
appeared to be the most promising way to end the war as soon as possible and with less United
States military casualties. Trumans decision to drop the atomic bomb on Hiroshima and
Nagasaki persuaded Emperor Hirohito that the war must end immediately. Combined with the
Soviet Unions entry into the conflict, the atom bombs brought about Japan's surrender within a
few days. The bomb was necessary to accomplish Truman's primary objectives of forcing a
prompt Japanese surrender and saving Japanese and American lives.






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Hirohito. Japan Declares War, 1941: A primary source by Hirohito, Emperor of Japan.
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July, 2014
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Fuller, John. How the Manhattan Project Worked. Howstuffworks.com. Web. 18 July, 2014
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