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