Title: The Factors in the Decision to Drop the Bomb 1. Military 2. Potsdam 3. Japanese Unconditional Surrender 4. Alternatives
1The Factors in the Decision to Drop the Bomb1.
Military2. Potsdam3. Japanese Unconditional
Surrender4. Alternatives
21. Military USE
- After the battle of Okinawa, Truman sees the
dropping of the bomb as a way to - 1. end the war quickly
- 2. save approximately 1 million US soldiers
32. The Russian Factora. E. Europe b. The
Pacific
4Relations w/ USSR E. Europe
- At Yalta
- USSR will oversee E. Europe, give reparations
from Germany - Gave into Stalins demands A LOT - WHY!?!?!?
- USSR would join in the Pacific
- At Potsdam
- Tensions Rise over E. Europe
- No longer giving into Stalin as much - WHY!?!?!?
- We had the bomb
- WHY USE IT for the RUSSIAN FACTOR?
Churchill, FDR, and Stalin at Yalta
5The Potsdam Conference July 1945
- Truman stated that the US had a powerful and
destructive new weapon, but did not say
specifically that it was a nuclear bomb. - Appeared Stalin did not grasp the significance of
the weapon
6Relations w/ USSR - Japanese
- FDR at Yalta promised Stalin in exchange for USSR
declaration of war against Japan - Japanese territory
- economic rights in Manchuria
- USE BOMB to END WAR BEFORE USSR gets involved!
WHY?
73. Demand for an Unconditional Surrender and
Japanese Response
8The Potsdam Declaration
- July 26, 1945 Japan is given an ultimatum, known
as the Potsdam declaration - Japan must surrender immediately or face prompt
and utter destruction. - Implied that Emperor Hirohito would be removed
from the throne but not clear. - No mention of Soviet entry in the war or the
atomic bomb.
9Excerpt from the Potsdam Declaration
- We call upon the government of Japan to proclaim
now the unconditional surrender of all Japanese
armed forces, and to provide proper and adequate
assurances of their good faith in such action.
The alternative for Japan is prompt and utter
destruction.
10Japans Response
- Japanese premier wanted to accept, could not
convince military leaders who really had the
power - Many feared removal of Emperor from throne and
tried as a war criminal - Hint from Tokyo that government might surrender,
in return that Japan could keep their emperor but
could not be trusted - Officially - Japan refuses to surrender and
announces that it will ignore the Declaration.
11- Do Now Take your seats
- HW
- 1. Read ???
- 2. Quiz 2 classes
- 3. DBQ 3 classes
12Alternatives to dropping the bomb
- Drop the bomb or
- Massive invasion of Japan, costing approximately
1 million Allied casualties - Naval blockade to starve Japan and continued
fire-bombing - Demo of new weapon on deserted or scarcely
populated island to pressure Japan to surrender - Weaken Allied demands for an unconditional
surrender - Simply stop fighting
13Consider this
- "As long as America and England insist on
unconditional surrender our country has no
alternative but to see it through in an all-out
effort for the sake of survival and the honor of
the homeland." - - Japanese prime minister Shigenori Togo in
turning down surrender demand, July 11, 1945.
14In-class notebook
-
- Rank the options for ending the war in terms of 1
best way to end the war to 6 include the
atomic bomb and the alternatives. (You may add a
seventh option, if you see it as the best way to
end the war.)
15Fat man (plutonium)
Little boy (uranium)
16Hiroshima August 6, 1945
- Chosen because
- large size
- "an important army depot
- potential that the bomb would cause greater
destruction because the city was surrounded by
hills - Approximately 140,000 deaths by the end of 1945
- About ½ on the day of the bombing
- Others died from injury or illness due to
radiation - The majority dead were civilians
17Nagasaki August 9, 1945
- Nagasaki was one of the largest sea ports in S.
Japan - Great wartime importance because
- wide-ranging industrial activity ordnance,
ships, military equipment, and other war
materials. - Bombings prior to the Atomic Bomb caused concern
and many civilians left for rural areas - An area about 2.3 miles by 1.9 miles was
destroyed - Approximately 80,000 deaths by the end of 1945
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27In an August 1945 poll, 85 of Americans felt it
was OK to use the atomic bomb.
- When the bombs dropped and news began to
circulate that the invasion would not, after
all, take place, that we would not be obliged to
run up the beaches near Tokyo assault-firing
while being mortared and shelled, for all the
fake manliness of our facades we cried with
relief and joy. We were going to live. We were
going to grow up to adulthood after all. - Paul Fussell, age 21 in 1945