A ‘food for thought question’  Why would the American President Harry Truman decide to drop the atomic bomb on Hiroshima and Nagasaki?  Try to explain his reasoning by looking at the PROs and CONs of this argument.

The Pros & Cons Pros Cons  WWII could be over almost immediately.  The US/Allies would emerge victorious.  The US and her allies could emerge as the lead superpowers in the world – as they were the only nations with the atomic weapon.  No more American soldiers would die.  This weapon was untested in battle – the Americans had a vague idea but weren’t 100% sure what this bomb could do.  Was this move ethical – shouldn’t the Americans fight honourably & continue island hopping?  Wasn’t the use of a bomb “fighting dirty?”

Truman’s Dilemma  Only he could make it – as the US President is Commander of all the American armed forces.  The weight of this decision would have been tremendous.

Where’s Hiroshima & Nagasaki?

 On February 3, 1945, Japan's long-time enemy the Soviet Union agreed in principle to enter the Pacific conflict. Its declaration of war did not occur until August 8, which was 3 months to the day from the end of the war in Europe so fulfilling the USSR's obligation to the other Allies.  In a devastating blow to Japan, the US attacked two cities with nuclear weapons; this technology was a well-kept secret (even from USSR) until August 6, when Hiroshima was destroyed with a single atomic bomb and on August 9, Nagasaki was also destroyed by a second bomb.  More than 200,000 people died as a direct result of these two bombings.

Little Boy  The Little Boy explosion was equal to about 18,000 tons of TNT. Nearly 70,000 men, women, & children flashed out of existence, & nearly 70,000 others were injured. Radiation killed many more over the next half- dozen years. The total death toll in Hiroshima was estimated at 140,000.

The Enola Gay = Little Boy = Hiroshima

Fat Man  Three days after the bombing that Walker witnessed, another bomb, nicknamed Fat Man, was exploded over Nagasaki. Though it missed its target by more than a mile, the bomb managed to destroy half the city. Nearly 40,000 died instantly, & more than 25,000 were injured. By the end of the year, radiation poisoning had pushed the death toll up to 70,000.

Bockscar = Fat Man = Nagasaki

Some thoughts on the issue  Asked whether the bombings could be justified, whether they shortened the war or saved lives in the long run, an eyewitness replied, “I don't know. I guess there would have been more people die in an invasion, but not all in one place. It is hard to say that it should have been bombed.” After a moment's continued reflection, she added, “We would not have given up, I think, if not for the bombing.” She explains that each home had bamboo spears standing inside its front door in case of American invasion. Everyone, children included, had strict instructions from the government not to surrender if Americans came. “We were each to kill one & then ourselves.”

 In fact, historians say, some of Japan's leaders had wanted to end the war in the spring of 1945, but military leaders trained to preserve pride & honour at all costs held out.  US leaders believed Japan's eventual surrender was inevitable, but the number of lives lost would have been huge. Delanson Crist - son of Ray Crist, who worked on the Manhattan Project to develop the atom bomb - said that was a chief concern of the project's scientists.  “One of the reasons for dropping the bomb on Japan was the saving of so many lives, Japanese & Americans,” he said. “After Germany surrendered, the Allies were ready to go after the Japanese in their homeland. They were expecting hundreds & hundreds of thousands of deaths. It's a kind of terrible math: hundreds of thousands of casualties, versus many more hundreds of thousands of casualties. The bomb was dropped & that stopped everything. The Japanese ended up in peace negotiations.”

Japan Surrenders  In Japan, August 14 is considered to be the day that the Pacific War ended. However, Imperial Japan actually surrendered on August 15 & this day became known in the English-speaking countries as “V-J Day” (Victory in Japan).  The order to surrender was not immediately sent to Japanese forces in Manchuria, who continued to fight the Soviets until August 19. Small-scale combat continued to occur throughout the Pacific, in some cases for many years.

A 3 rd bombing?  Having received detailed reports & photographs from Hiroshima, Truman did not want to use a third atomic bomb solely for the purpose of deposing Hirohito.  He told his cabinet the thought of killing another 100,000 people - many of them children - was too horrible.

 The formal Instrument of Surrender was signed on September 2, 1945, on the battleship USS Missouri in Tokyo Bay. The surrender was accepted by General Douglas MacArthur as Supreme Allied Commander, with representatives of each Allied nation, from a Japanese delegation led by Mamoru Shigemitsu.

Atomic controversy  The dropping of the atomic bomb was one of the most controversial issues of the 20 th century & the aftermath of the bombing brought about the ‘Cold War’ between the United States & the former Soviet Union.  Some feel the US should have dropped the atomic bomb to save American lives, while others feel that it was an unfair move by the United States against Japan.