Reasons for the use of the A bomb Flashcards
(5 cards)
Intro
110,000 of the 400,000 total US deaths in WWII occurred in the Pacific.
ensured the unconditional surrender the USA had pursued since the Casablanca Conference, especially after PH
Domestic political pressures
However, historians such as Alperovitz & Pike argue that geopolitical motives that outweighed the military justifications.
Ultimately, the A-bomb was detonated for a confluence of strategic, political, and ideological reasons.
Save US lives
despite being clerly defeated…Asada: “Japanese leaders had failed to translate defeat into surrender.” they kept defending territory with increased resistance, resulting in US death toll…
McCullough: “The nearer victory became, the heavier the price in blood.”
82 day Battle of Okinawa (Apr–June 1945):
US: 12,500 dead,
Japan: 94,136 dead
a testament to the “unyielding qualities of Japanese soldiers” (Pike)
combined with 6,821 US deaths at Iwo Jima
Pike: “These two actions cost 22% of all US war dead in the PW, after japan..had already been defeated.”
Gen. Anami: “Would it not be wondrous for this whole nation to be destroyed like a beautiful flower?” exemplary of japanese militarys ‘fanatical death cult’, and belief in self-sacrifice rooted in bushido values
Operation Downfall (Nov 1, 1945): Invasion plan
loss of life “too appalling to imagine” (Pike),
Stimson estimate: 1.7–4.0 million casualties; 400–800k deaths.
Japan’s ‘Ketsu-go’ plan: 3.1 million troops, 28 million conscripted civilians—many instructed to become “human mines” (Pike).
Pike: Bomb “prevented any exploration of the US government’s scenario of wholesale slaughter.
Truman: Bomb used to “shorten the agony of the war.”
Secure an unconditional surrender
saving face
had been goal entire war and was pursued greatly after Casablanca Conference (1943):
94% of Americans wanted Emperor Hirohito removed—seen as a “symbol of Japan’s fanatical military clique” (McCullough) which could only be achieved through unconditional surrender, given Hirohitos godlike status.
Asada: A-bomb was “the only event that could have shocked the Japanese leaders to make an [unconditional surrender].”
Sakomizo: Japan was “overwhelmed by America’s scientific prowess.” deflecting blame from the military
Hirohito’s surrender broadcast: “The enemy has begun to employ a new and most cruel bomb… taking the toll of many lives.”
Bomb gave a culturally acceptable path to surrender without dishonour (fit within Bushido code).
Domestic Political Pressures
Truman pressured to follow in Roosevelts footsteps and aggressive action desired by public
$2 billion invested in Manhattan Project ($35B today).
Truman: Project was the “greatest scientific gamble in history.”
McCullough: Not using the bomb would have been “so drastic a break with the history of the project… as to have been inconceivable.”
85% of Americans supported use of the bomb post-Hiroshima, still reeling from Pearl Harbour and Bataan Death March
Truman faced re-election pressure and failure to use the bomb and end war would have been political suicide: As McCullough notes, had Operation Downfall proceeded and it become known “a weapon [that] could end the war was available but had not been used”, Truman would have been unable to “answer to the American people”.
Containing Soviet Ambition
strategically used to contain soviet ambitions.
Alperovitz: “Japan’s leaders had wanted to surrender anyway and likely would have done so before the American invasion” rendering the bomb unnecessary as a means of ending the war
Alperovitz postulates Bomb used to “greatly impress the Soviets and make them more tractable in the postwar period.” deterring spread of communism
Truman: The bomb showed “we don’t hesitate to use the big stuff.”
Pike: Bomb was “a cynical ploy to prevent Soviet military occupation.”
Potsdam Conference (JAug 1945): USSR invited to join war by invading Japan through Manchuria although fear of soviet communisms spread into asia
Truman: “Had we known what the Bomb would do, we would never have wanted Russia to be in the war against Japan”.”
Hence, dropping the A-bomb
ensured that the Soviet’s would not reach far enough into Japan to be able to claim credit for its
defeat
Alperovitz: The bomb allowed the US to “shape Japan in [its] own image,” free from communist influence.
