Why did President Truman drop the bomb on Japan?

Question

i need to write at least a page of why he dropped the bomb, what led to his decisions.

no im not asking for you to write it for me i just need to elaborate more. i understand that after we were attacked in december (pearl harbor) and since japan would surrender we dropped the bomb and threaten to drop another bomb and they surrendered. sorry if im wrong but correct me if i am! i am not good at history. help thank you!

Answer 1

Historians speculate. Notice that there were two bombs, and there may have been conflicting motives for Hiroshima and Nagasaki.



Truman maintained that he dropped the bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki because he wanted to end the war quickly. It was estimated that 2 million or more Japanese and American lives would be lost during an invasion (compared to about 400,000 that were actually lost to due to the bombings).



Some insist that Truman's motives were largely racist, and they insist that no bombs would have been dropped on Germany. Of course, Germany surrenedered prior to Los Alamos, so this is a weak argument. Also, Truman wasn't all that racist.



Some say the bombs were meant to end the war before the USSR entered it (three months after the surrender of Germany), and to thus avoid sharing the spoils. Others say that it should be seen primarily as a warning to the Soviets.



Some see it as revenge for Pearl Harbor, but I think the Doolittle raid served that purpose.



The Hiroshima bomb was an experiment; no one knew if it would work. The Nagasaki bomb was fashioned after the one tried and tested at Los Alamos.

Answer 2

Truman understood that after almost four years of intense combat with VERY few prisoners taken by either side (the fighting was that savage) that there would be no limit to Japanese determination to defend the Japanese mainland. The battle of Okinawa helped prove the point- more people died in that fight than were killed by the two atomic bombs. Casualty estimates ran very high for an invasion of Japan- between 2 and 3 million for both sides. The human cost of using the bombs was far lower. Also, he hoped that such devastating destruction would motivate the Japanese leadership to surrender which it did.



It is also true that with the war in Europe over and the deadliest fighting of the Pacific war a recent memory, there was a sense of exhaustion coming over the US population which might affect our ability to conduct a successful invasion.



In my opinion, Truman wanted the war over ASAP. He wanted to minimize American casualties and he was not concerned about material damage nor loss of life in Japan-- for many good reasons including the fact that the Japanese could end their suffering through surrender at any time. Talk about Russian intervention to get the "spoils" is nonsense-- he wanted them in the fight but they had been focused on Hitler until May, 1945, when Germany surrendered.

Answer 3

It was a long time after Pearl Harbor and the US had pushed Japan back from many of the surrounding pacific islands that japan had taken, and Truman was faced with a decision to either drop the bomb or invade japan. The US actually dropped 2 a-bombs before Japan surrendered.

Answer 4

The president of the U.S.A Truman Harry S. Truman was elected after the death of Franklin D. Roosevelt. He wanted a quick and easy finish to the war against Japan, but there were better ways to do it rather than killing millions of innocent civilians. He wanted the war to end before the USSR became involved. If the USSR came to aid the US, they would possibly want some territorial gain after the war ended. Truman wanted to avoid this. But it right to destroy a whole city cause of the territorial expansion. All he cared was showing the distractive power of the Atomic bomb. He thought it was the only way to guarantee to end the war with Japanese unconditional surrender.

Answer 5

You should read this wonderful book if your heart is not too sensitive: The rape of Nankin.



Look at the pictures inserted you will understand why Truman had to drop the A-bomb.



Those people were bloodthirsty and didn't have any desire to surrender. Truman knew it would take hundred of thousand of Americans soldiers to stop this war or even millions. He didn't want anymore American blood to be spilt so he chose the bomb.

Only after seeing the destruction of the bomb the Japanese emperor surrendered (that was a big dishonor or disgrace for him).



There is so much to say..... great topic.

Answer 6

Q1. There were two types of isotopes the scientists of the Manhatten Project could've used for an atomic bomb: uranium-235 and plutonium-239. Both these isotopes were suitable because they were fissile and so could be used for a nuclear fission bomb. Obtaining uranium-235 is difficult as it is only found in 0.7% of uranium, but obtaining plutonium-239 is much easier, as it is a product of the reaction between the uranium-238 isotope and neutrons in a fission reactor. Ultimately, both were used to compare their results and ionizing radiation. While tests of the plutonium-239 bomb were conducted before its use on Nagasaki, the uranium-235 bomb (being harder to assemble) was first used on Hiroshima without a test. Q2. Atomic weapons were still relatively unknown, especially their after effects such as radiation illness, cancer and leukemia. Truman did not care much for the victims of the atomic bombings, and was more interested in studying the effects the atomic bomb had on them. He established the Atomic Bomb Casualty Commission (ABCC) in 1948 for the sole purpose of investigating the effects of radiation on the victims. However, since it was not a provider of medical care, most victims generally mistrusted the ABCC. Q3. If the US reclined from using the A-bomb, there are mixed views on when Japan would surrender. Some historians say that the Soviet invasion of Manchuria in August 1945 was the key reason for Japan's surrender, stating that the capitulation of Japan's entire army in Manchuria (1.27 million men) was the final straw. If true, the use of the A-bomb would've played no part in Japan's surrender on August 15. The American public, who were under the impression that the Japanese would resist to the death, predicted a long campaign (perhaps a year or more) with huge casualties on both sides. Some of the US military generally believed Japan would eventually surrender, with the US Strategic Bombing Survey predicting it would arrive before 1 November 1945 and at the latest 31 December 1945, without the A-bomb, without a US invasion, and possibly even without Soviet intervention in Manchuria. Q4. During wartime, I would imagine they had close to zero respect. Some may still hold that resentment to this day. Q5. The US would do anything to protect their interests in Asia, prevent a Soviet Union expansion and communist influence in the region, and stay ahead of the Soviet Union. The intention of the atomic bomb wasn't to threaten the Soviet Union, but to warn them to stay away from Japan. It was successful, as the Soviets didn't ask for an occupation zone of Japan. Both sides were aware of the impending Cold War and therefore tried to seize as much enemy territory as possible, while converting their occupied regions to their ideology, and attempting to recruit as many ex-Nazi scientists for their space program. I think the answers to questions 1-5 answer why Truman dropped the atom bomb: 1. There was a new destructive weapon that could be used to end the war immediately. 2. There was a golden opportunity to examine the effects of this new weapon before the war ends. 3. If it wasn't used, the war might've dragged on further with more US casualties. 4. The American public would want to see it used, and end the war ASAP. 5. It would intimidate the Soviets and keep them off Japan.

Answer 7

Truman dropped the nuclear weapon on Hiroshima in order to

force the Japanese government and military to surrender. After the second atom bomb was dropped on Nagasaki, Emperor Hirohito told his people that Japan had indeed lost the war, and the surrender was signed on USS Missouri where General MacArthur took part.

Answer 8

First of all, it was two bombs, not one. The Americans dropped one bomb in Hiroshima and then the Japanese did not surreneder. We dropped another one in Nagasaki, then the Japanese reluctantly surrendered. Thank God they didn't know we only had two. Otherwise, they would have continued fighting.



Truman dropped the atom bombs in Japan because they refused to surrender after weeks of conventional bombing. There were two choices, Land invasion vs Atom Bombs. The Land Invasion would will millions of American Troops as well as Japanese troops and civilians. The Atom Bombs were much more humanitarian compared to the land invasion. It did not kill as many Japanese Soldiers and Civilians and it did not kill Any American Soldiers.



EDIT: sorry for the typo in the beginning.

Answer 9

Well im pretty sure we dropped two bombs on them. we dropped the first and it was so devastating that Japan refused to believe it was a man made bomb and insisted that it was some sort of natural disaster. After the second bomb they go the message.

Answer 10

I thought Japan just refused to surrender, even when warned of the impending bombings.

and it was to be a test for nuclear weapons [never before used]

Oh, and they didn't imagine the outcome would be so severe [long term, too]

Answer 11

because they set us up the bomb



pearl harbor