DEBATE ON DROPPING THE BOMB
By May 1945, the war in Europe was coming to a close with the surrender of Germany. However, in the Pacific, the Japanese would not agree to the United States' surrender terms. Allied leaders planned to meet at The Potsdam Conference to discuss the next steps. Secretly, the United States had been working on creating a new weapon, the atomic bomb. President Truman thought that the atomic bomb would be the way to push the Japanese to surrender and end the war early. This would avoid having to invade mainland Japan thus saving American lives. There were others who thought that a planned land invasion of Japan would spare more lives than using the atomic bomb.
Meanwhile, the people involved in the Manhattan Project were making preparations for the test of the atomic bomb. Truman postponed the Potsdam Conference until the bomb was tested successfully.
There are two opposing arguments involved in the use of the atomic bomb, the "Pro" (For) argument and the "Con" (Against) argument.
Pro:
- The dropping of the atomic bombs will make Japan surrender quickly saving American lives as well as Japanese lives. It was estimated that a land invasion of mainland Japan would cost death tolls anywhere from 100,000 to 2,000,000 American and Japanese lives.
- Fire bombing of Tokyo had killed 100,000 people and Japan was no closer to surrender.
- By mid June, not only Tokyo but five of Japan's largest cities had been fire bombed killing at least 260,000 people between the six cities. Japan still had not surrendered.
- If the United States went through with the land invasion it would take many days to make it to the main islands because Kamikaze pilots and the Japanese Navy would destroy as many of the US ships and planes as they could before the Japanese would retreat.
- Kyushu, an island that was going to be invaded, had twice as much Japanese troops stationed there than predicted which meant more resistance and death.
- Japan had limited places with beaches good enough for an invasion and the beaches that were good were probably heavily fortified which meant more lives lost.
- The Battle of Iwo Jima had 26,000 (6,000 American and 20,000 Japanese) fatalities.
- The Battle of Okinawa had over 12,000 American and 110,000 Japanese soldier fatalities. There were also more than 150,000 civilian fatalities. All together the cost was staggering at over 250,000 lives lost and this was not the mainland.
- Truman needed to stop and stand up to the expanding Soviet Union by showing the United States had the "upper hand." Politically, the United States needed to establish that they were a major world power by the end of the war.
Pro:
- The dropping of the atomic bombs will make Japan surrender quickly saving American lives as well as Japanese lives. It was estimated that a land invasion of mainland Japan would cost death tolls anywhere from 100,000 to 2,000,000 American and Japanese lives.
- Fire bombing of Tokyo had killed 100,000 people and Japan was no closer to surrender.
- By mid June, not only Tokyo but five of Japan's largest cities had been fire bombed killing at least 260,000 people between the six cities. Japan still had not surrendered.
- If the United States went through with the land invasion it would take many days to make it to the main islands because Kamikaze pilots and the Japanese Navy would destroy as many of the US ships and planes as they could before the Japanese would retreat.
- Kyushu, an island that was going to be invaded, had twice as much Japanese troops stationed there than predicted which meant more resistance and death.
- Japan had limited places with beaches good enough for an invasion and the beaches that were good were probably heavily fortified which meant more lives lost.
- The Battle of Iwo Jima had 26,000 (6,000 American and 20,000 Japanese) fatalities.
- The Battle of Okinawa had over 12,000 American and 110,000 Japanese soldier fatalities. There were also more than 150,000 civilian fatalities. All together the cost was staggering at over 250,000 lives lost and this was not the mainland.
- Truman needed to stop and stand up to the expanding Soviet Union by showing the United States had the "upper hand." Politically, the United States needed to establish that they were a major world power by the end of the war.
Con:
- Some military leaders thought that the estimated death toll of a land invasion would be closer to 35,000 to 60,000 lives lost for both sides.
- Instead of dropping the bomb directly on a city, a demonstration over Tokyo Harbor would show the Japanese the power of the atomic bomb and would limit fatalities at the same time.
- The Japanese were close to surrender and an American blockade was blocking off supply lines to Japan.
- If the United States modified the terms of surrender, Japan may surrender without dropping the bomb.
- Conventional bombing would cause as much destruction as the atomic bomb but with no radiation after affects.
- Truman only wanted to use the bomb to get an upper-hand over the Soviet Union.
- Use of the atomic bomb would get other countries interested in creating a similar bomb and this could be used against the United States.
- Instead of dropping the bomb directly on a city, a demonstration over Tokyo Harbor would show the Japanese the power of the atomic bomb and would limit fatalities at the same time.
- The Japanese were close to surrender and an American blockade was blocking off supply lines to Japan.
- If the United States modified the terms of surrender, Japan may surrender without dropping the bomb.
- Conventional bombing would cause as much destruction as the atomic bomb but with no radiation after affects.
- Truman only wanted to use the bomb to get an upper-hand over the Soviet Union.
- Use of the atomic bomb would get other countries interested in creating a similar bomb and this could be used against the United States.
Some people, who believed that dropping the bomb was not necessary, believed that Truman did not think about the moral consequences but only about his political popularity. Others believed Truman gave the signal to drop the bombs because he truly wanted to save American lives and avoid a ground invasion. A ground invasion in Okinawa and Iwo Jima, two smaller outlying islands, had already caused over 276,000 deaths, both military and civilian.
During the Potsdam Conference, Truman met with his advisors in order to make a decision regarding dropping the bomb. Truman gave the order. For better or worse, on August 7, 1945, the Enola Gay dropped the first atomic bomb, Little Boy on Hiroshima. The Japanese did not immediately surrender. So on August 9, 1945, the Bockscar dropped the second atomic bomb, Fat Man on Nagasaki. Even after the second bomb, most of the Japanese military leaders did not initially want to surrender but civilian officials did. Emperor Hirohito of Japan had to step in and urge the military leaders to surrender since he no longer wanted to see innocent Japanese lives lost. The Japanese surrendered on August 14, 1945.
During the Potsdam Conference, Truman met with his advisors in order to make a decision regarding dropping the bomb. Truman gave the order. For better or worse, on August 7, 1945, the Enola Gay dropped the first atomic bomb, Little Boy on Hiroshima. The Japanese did not immediately surrender. So on August 9, 1945, the Bockscar dropped the second atomic bomb, Fat Man on Nagasaki. Even after the second bomb, most of the Japanese military leaders did not initially want to surrender but civilian officials did. Emperor Hirohito of Japan had to step in and urge the military leaders to surrender since he no longer wanted to see innocent Japanese lives lost. The Japanese surrendered on August 14, 1945.
Conclusion
Even though there has been much analysis of Truman's decision in the years that have followed, people are still conflicted about the necessity of the atomic bomb. In my research, I have found that most people don't agree with each other. Yet, I believe that the difficult decision by President Truman had the best outcome of the possible scenarios. I think the power of the atomic bomb is incredible but the destruction it leaves behind is chilling to the bone. The atomic bombs in total caused an estimated 340,000 deaths, less than the totals at Iwo Jima, Okinawa and firebombing of six cities. However, the exact amount of deaths is unknown. I believe that President Truman gave the order to drop the bombs to save more American and Japanese lives. In the end, it's your opinion that matters and there appears to be no real conclusion for the last 65 years.
Original Video created on Xtranormal: