Whats the really reason Truman dropped the atomic bmb on Japan?

Question

Should he have used the bombs?

Answer 1

It's a very controversial subject. Critics say Japan was already suing for peace. The other side admits that's true but we wanted -unconditional- surrender, not a negotiated peace. But in the end we allowed them to keep their emperor, which is what they wanted.

The govt. said it would have cost 900,000 US casualties to invade Japan. Critics said this estimate is based on Japan fighting to the life of every last citizen, man, woman and child. In fact an invasion probaby wouldn't have been necessary.

People who support the use of nuclear weapons say Hiroshima was a military target. There was a small base of soldiers there, plus some defense industries, but we didn't bomb just those, we wiped out the entire city. That is 'terror bombing' no matter how you look at it, and a violation of the Geneva Convention. Nagasaki, our next target, was the center of Christianity in Japan.

People have speculated that we really used the bomb to scare Russia, so they wouldn't rush in and take over Japan after the war, and then threaten us and others. I have also heard speculation that after having spent all the money developing the bomb, we -had- to use it for something. Or that it would mark the US as the one great world Superpower and people would fear and respect us after the war.

I have also heard that Truman wasn't told that the bomb would cause fallout that would drift far from the site and kill people for years to come. Perhaps even the experts didn't understand this at the time. They thought that some people would die from the blast, some from radiation, but that would be it.

We started working on the bomb because we'd heard the Nazis were working on it. I can see how important it must have seemed at the time to beat the Nazis to the development of nuclear weapons! By the time the bomb was ready, the Nazis were already out of the war, but after 4 or 5 years of war, I can see that using the bomb to end the war must have looked like a good plan.

I tend to think if it was me I wouldn't have used the bomb. Still, I don't want to second-guess decisions people made before I was born. To be honest, I can't really say that I know for sure what I would have done in Truman's shoes.

Answer 2

The bombs were used to stop a war against a suicidal enemy, the Japanese, who would rather die than surrender. Also, if the bombs weren't used, there would have been an invasion of Japan, called Operation Downfall. The invasion was predeitcted to have ended with about 1 million American deaths and tens of millions of Japanese deaths, because the Japanese citizens were being trained to fight. Most, though, were just given a grenade and told to throw themselves under a truck. The actual deaths were only 200,000 Japanese. That is a lot of people but it is much less than the projected amounts of deaths and no Americans were killed in the process, making it the safest of options for President Truman to ensure that the Japanese surrendered.

Answer 3

The question of dropping or not dropping the bomb was answered by the taking of Okinawa. The Japanese fought with great ferocity, especially knowing that they were doomed to loose the island. As a result, the casualty rate was very high on both sides. In addition, the use of kamikazes was extensive and caused considerable loss of life, along with sinking 39 ships. It was easily realized that the number of kamikazes expended at Okinawa was but a small fraction of those awaiting the force to attack the mainland. A way was needed to end the war without running into them. After the surrender, it was found that somewhere in excess of 10,000 air and sea versions would have been released at one time against the invasion fleet. Some 1,500 would have been torpedoes with a rider directing its movement.

The number of troops needed to invade Japan was far in excess of those in the Pacific theater. That would have required troops from Europe. They had just finished defeating the nazis and were ready to go home. If they were shipped to the Pacific, it was feared that a mutiny would result. That meant that any invasion would be undermanned and that would be fatal to the invaders. A faster way was needed to end the war.

The number of casualties to be inflicted on allied troops by invading Japan was estimated to be 750,000 +; Japanese losses were estimated at 7 million plus. A way to end the war without inflicting these numbers of casualties was needed.

The Japanese were not trying to negotiate a surrender. They were trying to negotiate an armistice wherein there would be no occupation of the sacred islands and they would remain battered but not defeated. That would not be acceptable to anybody in the area as they rebuilt and rearmed.

When you put all of these together, the use of the atomic bomb solved everything. It took two bombs and the threat of many more to come to effect surrender. Remember, even after the second bomb, there was an officer corps who tried to kidnap the emperor to prevent surrender and he was considered to be a god.

If you consider that more people were killed in one night of bombing in Tokyo than died at Hiroshima, you will realize how many lives were actually saved by use of the two nuclear devices.

Answer 4

According to the History Channel Special, knowledge that Germany was sending Japan the means of making an atom bomb. The war ended in Germany, Von Braun came to the US from Germany, helped us create the bomb first. It was a race against time. The public was given the information that it was to shorten the war. At least that is according to the History Channel.

Answer 5

Hello,

Yes with the bushido type code the Japanese were not goimg to give up. Experience taking Japanese territory island by island taught him what was in store for American soldiers.
It is estimated it would have taken 500,000 American lives to take and hold Japan. Japan refused the ultimatem of surrender before and even after the first blast. The second bomb woke them up.

In my opinion he made the right decision and one can say what they like but the truth is it brought the Pacific war to a grinding halt. I do not buy the racial attitude theory. Germany and America were in a race to use that weapon on each other and in conventional bombing Germany got it just as hard as Japan.

Cheers,

Michael Kelly

Answer 6

the jap's woke the sleeping bear. if the humans in the country currently know as The United States Of America would not have used this so called Atomic Bomb the outcome of the war might have been alot different.

Answer 7

Being the new kid on the block, he had no idea of the monumental consequences of his actions. Even tho he was vice-president, he was left in the dark by the FDR administration regarding the development of the weapon.

After the fanatical defense of Iwo, there was no choice but to use the weapon in order to save GI lives. The other reason of beating the Soviets to the victory was another reason. Stalin was poised to attack Japan, but never got the chance.....

Answer 8

Personally, I think he should have. Einstein actually escaped Europe so the Nazis wouldn't capture him and make the H-bomb first. I think Truman knew it was the only way to end the war, and that if he didn't do it, the Germans would, but it was still sad that it killed so many people.

Answer 9

Absolutely.
twice as many would have died if not, even certain high ranking Japanese officials have said so in the years since.

Remember we dropped TWO.

They didn't surrender after the first.
The japanese are proud and fierce warriors, they would have continued fighting to the death and many more civilian lives would have been lost.

Cruel, but that's what war is. Cruel.

Answer 10

supposedly to end the WWII. and probably not, japan was trying to negotiate a peace treaty...all they wanted was for us to leave their emperor alone.