The Atomic Bomb & The Nuclear Age

Atomic Bomb: My Q’s Describe three factors that may have influenced Truman’s decision to drop the bomb. How did the atomic bomb change the nature of war? How did the Soviet’s development of the bomb change the balance of power in the world? Why did a nuclear arms race develop between the Soviets and the Americans?

The War Against Japan American involvement in WWII began with the Japanese bombing of the American naval fleet in Pearl Harbor. Even though the United States military was devoting themselves wholeheartedly into defeating the Japanese, American troops only gradually started to see positive results in the Pacific. After losing over 40,000 American soldiers, the United States captured two important islands off the coast of Japan called Iwo Jima and Okinawa in 1945.

The Devoted Enemy Despite the recent victories, the Americans in 1945 did not feel confident that the Japanese would surrender anytime soon. The military leaders of Japan thought that surrender was not an option and wanted to fight until the very end. With an army of 6 million and five thousand kamikazes—suicidal pilots who would use their planes to destroy American ships—the Japanese still was a formidable foe up until the late summer of 1945.

A Huge Decision After the death of FDR in office, his vice president Harry Truman became president and had the responsibility of finishing WWII. In mid-July of 1945, the first successful test explosion of the atomic bomb occurred and gave Truman an easy way to get out of the war. Considering the fact that hundreds of thousands of American soldiers would likely die in the event of an invasion of Japan and the fact that the Japanese were not surrendering convinced Truman to go ahead with the atomic bombing of Japan.

Dropping The Bomb Truman, in a meeting with Soviet Prime Minister Josef Stalin, gave the Potsdam Declaration to Japan. This Declaration advised Japan to surrender or they would face “prompt and utter destruction.” The Japanese ignored the Potsdam Declaration. Therefore, on August 6, 1941 Truman ordered the bomber plane Enola Gay to drop off an atomic bomb on the town of Hiroshima. Japan still did not surrender, provoking Truman to order the bombing of Nagasaki. Together, the two bombings killed nearly 200,000 Japanese and wiped out entire cities.

The Japanese Surrender Fearing more atomic bombings, the Japanese finally surrendered on August 14th. Some historians believe that one of the primary reasons Truman ordered the bombing of Japan was because he did not want the Communist Soviets to get involved in the effort against Japan. Truman’s Secretary of State actually said that the bomb would “make Russia more manageable.”

Entering the Nuclear Age Never before had a country possessed what America had at the end of WWII: a weapon of mass destruction that intimidated almost the entire world and making entire armies obsolete. Because of the use of this weapon, American not only gained “superpower” status, but it also had started the Nuclear Age. The Nuclear Age was essentially the time period following WWII in which nuclear and atomic power were considered the “next best thing” in developing energy. For four years after the war, America was the only country who had “the bomb” and therefore feared by everyone, including Communist Russia.

Soviets Get The Bomb Soviet Russia finally developed its own Atomic Bomb by 1949, establishing the Soviet Union as the world’s second “superpower.” With the Soviets development of their own bomb, it shifted the balance of power in the world; at the top of the world was the Soviets and Americans. Everyone else was inferior because they did not have the bomb Eventually, an obsession with nuclear bombs swept over both America and the Soviet Union and they each tried to develop more bombs than each other. This nuclear arms race was not only reckless, but it threatened world peace and was one of the main reasons for the upcoming Cold War.