Why America Dropped The Atomic Bomb

After World War II, the whole world was waiting to see what would happen next, especially when it came to the new weapon being developed, The Atomic Bomb. This uncertain time was called The Cold War. This war was very different than the common picture of a war, close range battle, with trench warfare and heavy fire. The Cold War was fought over great distances, and according to the New Oxford American Dictionary, the Cold War was “A state of political hostility between countries characterized by threats, propaganda, and other measures short of open warfare” (Cold War). Following suit of other large nations, America overly publicized their atomic bomb, inflated the numbers of actual working bombs, and threatened to use the bomb again, in an effort to bluff Japan into surrender.
During The Atomic Bomb’s build
America chose Japan as the location of impact, and more specifically Hiroshima. Hiroshima was chosen as the city to be destroyed by The Atomic Bomb, because as President Truman said ““Hiroshima before the war was the seventh largest city in Japan, with a population of over 340,00, and was the principle administrative and commercial center of the southwestern part of the country” (Harry 6). However, before dropping the bomb, President Truman told that Japanese that “They may expect a rain of ruin from the air, the like which has never been seen on this earth” (Beevor 699). Japan quickly surrendered after this, “At noon on 15 August Japanese radio stations broadcast the Emperor’s message, calling on all his forces to surrender because the war situation had evolved ‘not necessarily to Japan’s advantage’ “ (Beevor 750). The interesting aspect of this, is that Japan did not surrender once they lost too many troops and could no longer fight. They surrendered once the threat of another atomic bomb, one that is uncertain that America actually had, would be