“Gentlemen, can I tell you what really worries me? Russia’s influence in Eastern Europe. Rumania, Bulgaria, Yugoslavia, Hungary, Czechoslovakia are all living under a soviet shadow. It will be impossible to persuade Russia to remove their troops from Poland unless she is impressed by American military might. Now, our demonstrating the bomb will make Russia more manageable.”
This shows signs that Russia may also be a key factor as the Russian “dash for China” may have caused a concern to America and by the dropping the bomb it would sway Russia to stop as Truman said, “I’ll hammer on those boys”. Truman now knew that he had a weapon to dominate the post war world and may have used it to show some power “on the American hip” as Stalin appeared to be trying to go and invade Asia so Truman used the bomb as a message to him not to go further.
Most people who believed that America decided to drop the atomic bombs on Japan for military reasons. These reasons were that a quick end to the war meant that no land invasion of Japan would have to take place, which would eliminate costs and most crucially soldier’s lives.
I however, believe that Truman had different reasons for bombing Japan. One of the reasons is that America would take revenge on the Japanese for the bombing of Pearl Harbour and the treatment of American war prisoners. Also I believe that certain members of his party were pressuring Truman, as he felt that he had to justify the expense of the Manhattan Project. Also this bomb would create shockwaves around world as America would have been seen to be stamping her authority and giving a message to the world that America are the largest military power in the world. Also I believe that Truman wanted to give the U.S. an edge in the coming Cold War by showing that he was not afraid to use these weapons of mass destruction and therefore using the bomb as a piece of propaganda to win the support of the American people and have another four years as the President.
At the Potsdam meeting, one can argue that Truman simply wanted to impress Stalin by dropping the atomic bomb. This is simply not the case, as Truman wanted to warn Stalin rather than impress him by telling Stalin that the United States had “produced a bomb of extraordinary power.” He wanted to make Stalin feel weaker than America. However Stalin already had some idea that the U.S. had created or were creating a destructive bomb, as he nonchalantly told Truman ‘to use it wisely’. Truman by dropping the bomb on Japan sent shockwaves through Japan along with the Soviet Union. Truman had sent a reminder of the American military power and a message for the forthcoming cold war.
Another big reason was that the bomb was never tested over ground. So it could have been used for a scientific gamble to measure the effects of the bomb, as they were really unknown. However, for this experiment to take place, America would have to choose a place to drop the bomb, they could not have dropped it on Germany as they had just surrendered and they could not drop it on Russia, as they are allies although their friendship was drifting. So the only place that they could drop it was Japan as they had attacked America before, and America prolonged the war so that she would get the bomb actually ready to use.
Another reason was also that they wanted to destroy fascism and to seek revenge for the embarrassment and humiliation to America for the events of Pearl Harbour.
Also, Truman was looking out for himself as he used the press as a form of propaganda to create animosity in the public by using puns like “Get the Jap and get it over” and “slap the Jap” to create a xenophobia against Japan. I believe this was a clever piece of propaganda because he built up the hatred in the press which would create a less public outcry when the bombs were used, and also help to bring a quick conclusion to the war.
I believe that if the bomb was made quicker it would have been used on Nazi Germany, but when it was it was used it was timed to precision by Truman as the presidential elections were only a few months away.
A diplomatic move in which the Japanese wanted to surrender through the Soviet Union, was clearly ignored by America who continued to insist on an unconditional surrender.
Truman had stated immediately after the bomb that:
“We have used this in order to shorten the agony of war, to save the lives of thousands and thousands of Americans.”
These statements are trying to say that they dropped the bomb for militaristic reasons.
The statement also shows the strength of the American capitalist technology in use. It also shows the personal reasons for Truman in dropping the bomb, which one can say, was clearly to show him self strong to the nation and put him in pole position in the forthcoming elections.
There are many reasons that can be found for utilising the bomb, from the economic reason of the bomb costing so much to the military reasons, which was to stop the war. Also the political pressure put on Truman could be a factor. Also there were personal reasons for Truman, and for revenge on Japan for Pearl Harbour. All these factors and many more could be combined to the reason America dropped the bomb.
So finally I believe there are a many of reasons for the dropping of the war, including spite and ignorance, as America wanted to show there supremacy in the world, by sending a big message to Russia especially, by carrying out the greatest scientific gamble in history.
