Atomic Bomb Dbq

APUSH DBQ As World War II was coming to an end during 1945, the creation of one of the most destructive weapons known to humanity occurred within the United States. This weapon, known as “the atomic bomb,” was used on the two Japanese cities: Hiroshima and Nagasaki, resulting in a death toll unprecedented by any military weapon used before and an immediate, unconditional surrender. Some historians believe President Truman decided to drop the atomic bomb in order to intimidate the Soviet Union whereas others believe it was a strictly military measure designed to force Japan’s unconditional surrender. In the Report of a Scientific Panel of nuclear physicists, some scientific colleagues believed the atomic bomb was a “purely technical demonstration” to induce surrender. Other scientists believed that the use of the atomic bomb will improve international prospects in that they are more concerned with the prevention of war than with the elimination of this special weapon (Doc G). Thus, the United States dropped the atomic bomb to both force Japan’s unconditional surrender and to intimidate the Soviet Union. One can argue that the dropping of the atomic bomb by the United States was strictly a military measure designed to force Japan’s unconditional surrender. First, as stated in the Memoirs of Secretary of War Henry L. Stimson, Japan was willing to literally “fight to the death” and the war was guaranteed to be prolonged for many months against the Japanese. Many more millions of American casualties were bound to happen and the U.S. wasn’t willing to risk all those lives. Because of this unwillingness to surrender, both Truman and Americans found it strenuous to figure out a way to end the war quicker. Charging into Japan or bombing Japanese cities with regular bombs would take up too much time and the number of casualties would only increase. Therefore, having the decision to use an atomic bomb to blow an entire city up within seconds, Truman undoubtedly ordered