As the second World War was drawing to a close in the Pacific theater, the United States ultimately decided to use its new weapon that they have been developing in the top-secret Manhattan Project, the atomic bomb, on Japan on August 6th, 1945. The United States, including Truman and top military officials such as Secretary of War Stimson, opted to use the weapon for a variety of reasons including drawing the war to a quick end. While the U.S. ultimately used nuclear weapons on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, other options were available for the top government and military officials to consider. After seventy years of the U.S. using these nuclear weapons, much debate still exists on whether the use of the atomic bombs was the correct decision, especially
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casualties, other motives also helped Truman to reach the decision to use the bomb. One of these reasons include impressing the Soviets and minimizing their authority over peace-war talks (Donohue, n.d.). As the war’s end was on the horizon, the U.S. considered the Soviets as an “important strategic consideration, especially with their military control over most of Eastern Europe” (Donohue, n.d.). According to some historians, one of the reasons to drop the bombs may have been contributed to use it as an intimidation tactic against the USSR to display the type of weapons that the U.S. now has (Kaiser, 2016). Furthermore, the Soviets were about to declare war on Japan on August 9th. Some consideration to the Soviets entering the war might have influenced the bomb being dropped because the U.S. wanted to reduce the role the USSR had in postwar peace settlement negotiations, such as talks of the Soviets being promised several concessions including Hokkaido, the Kuril, and Sakhalin Islands from the Yalta Agreement earlier that February (Herkin, 2015; Giangreco, 2015). Access to these islands would give the Soviets easier access to the Pacific Ocean, which would expand their influence in Asia. If possible, Truman would want to avoid their increased influence in the Asia theater. While not the sole reason, this issue did weigh on Truman’s mind when still considering the use of the nuclear weapons against
casualties, other motives also helped Truman to reach the decision to use the bomb. One of these reasons include impressing the Soviets and minimizing their authority over peace-war talks (Donohue, n.d.). As the war’s end was on the horizon, the U.S. considered the Soviets as an “important strategic consideration, especially with their military control over most of Eastern Europe” (Donohue, n.d.). According to some historians, one of the reasons to drop the bombs may have been contributed to use it as an intimidation tactic against the USSR to display the type of weapons that the U.S. now has (Kaiser, 2016). Furthermore, the Soviets were about to declare war on Japan on August 9th. Some consideration to the Soviets entering the war might have influenced the bomb being dropped because the U.S. wanted to reduce the role the USSR had in postwar peace settlement negotiations, such as talks of the Soviets being promised several concessions including Hokkaido, the Kuril, and Sakhalin Islands from the Yalta Agreement earlier that February (Herkin, 2015; Giangreco, 2015). Access to these islands would give the Soviets easier access to the Pacific Ocean, which would expand their influence in Asia. If possible, Truman would want to avoid their increased influence in the Asia theater. While not the sole reason, this issue did weigh on Truman’s mind when still considering the use of the nuclear weapons against