The deliberation to drop both atomic bombs, after they had been developed, on Japan

resulted in ending the war promptly. The United States had not given consideration for an atomic
bomb until it was brought to the Presidents knowledge through a letter from Albert Einstein.
During the summer of 1939, prior to the war beginning, a group of physicists came together to
consider the appropriate course of actions to address their fears of Germanys development of a
nuclear weapon. Several of these scientist had fled from Germany and the wrath of Hitlers
ruling. It was decided among the group to utilize Albert Einstein's personal connection with
President Roosevelt and his international persona to convince the President the necessity of a
nuclear weapons program which would later come to be known as the Manhattan Project.1
Without this letter, it does not seem as if the United States government would have taken any
actions in pursuing the atomic route. The importance of this letter in persuading the United States
in starting a nuclear program is highly significant. According to Mark Walker on Nazis and the
bomb, From the start of the war until the late fall of 1941, the German "lightning war" had
marched from one victory to another, subjugating most of Europe. During this period, the
Germans needed no wonder weapons.2 Germanys initial success in the war left them
overconfident causing them to fall behind in the race to attain a nuclear weapon. While America
had put in their resources in creating a successful atomic bomb, Germanys officials didnt start
questioning their scientists until it was at the point where any mass production of anything close
to an atomic bomb were out of reach. If the letter that Einstein signed had not reached the
president then it is likely that Germany could have pulled ahead in the nuclear weapons race. If
atomic weaponry had fallen into Hitlers hands, it would have been disastrous for the entire
world. That is why to prevent this, the scientific community took action of getting Einstein
involved. The Americans needed to create an atomic bomb for fear that if they didnt then
Germany surely would and that would have been devastating. The When Germany surrendered
unconditionally to the allies Japan was the only country left fighting. At the Potsdam Conference,
the allied powers came together to discuss, the end of World War II. The Potsdam Proclamation
would reach Japan on July 26, 1945, calling for Japans unconditional surrender. During this
time, President Truman had given the green light for the atomic bombs to be dropped later in
August. If Japan had given any sign of accepting the proclamation, Truman, would have called
off the attack, but by July 28, the Prime Minister publicly announced that they would, ignore the
Potsdam Proclamation and continue to fight.3 It had been warned in the Potsdam Proclamation
that there would be severe consequences and a rain of ruin if Japan did not accept the terms
given. The first bomb was dropped on August 6th on Hiroshima and the second one dropped just
three days later on the city of Nagasaki. Many people have brought up why they dropped two
bombs and why they were dropped in such a short period of time. The first atomic bomb proved
Einstein Revises Theory. Science News-Letter 63.15 (1953): 227. PDF file
Walker, Mark. Nazis and the Bomb. PBS NOVA. N.p., 8 Nov. 2005. Web. 31 May
2016. <http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/military/nazis-and-the-bomb.html>.
3 Goldstein, Donald M., Katherine V. Dillon, and J. Michael Wenger. Rain of Ruin: A
Photographic History of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. (26-28): Prange Enterprise, 1995.
Print.
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it could be done, the second proved it wasnt just a one-time thing.4 It was considered essential
that they drop the second bomb as soon as possible to prove that Hiroshima wasnt an isolated
event and that the US could in fact deliver its rain of ruin that Truman had told of. In Japan
after the first atomic bomb, they refused to believe that it was even possible that America had
succeeded in creating a nuclear bomb at all. They refused to acknowledge the first bomb as even
atomic at all. After the first bomb, it was reported that 71,379 were dead or missing and 68,023
injured. Emperor Hirohito reportedly telling the Lord Keeper, Under the circumstances, we
must bow to the inevitable, No matter what happens to my safety, we must put an end to this war
as speedily as possible so that this tragedy will not be repeated.5 By August 15, Japan had
surrendered and the war was over. If it had not been for the atomic bomb to push Japan to
surrender the United States was planning on a land invasion. The casualties estimated would
range all the way in the 500,000 and was expected to be the bloodiest battle of all67. The
bombs saved thousands of American soldiers. Imagine if Truman had decided to hold back. The
war ends, with yet more massive bloodshed, probably at some point in 1946. Truman at some
point reveals the existence of the bomb, and the president of the United States explains to
thousands of grieving parents and wounded veterans that he did not use it because he thought it
was too horrible to drop on the enemy, even after a sneak attack, a global war, hundreds of
thousands of Americans killed and wounded in two theaters, and years of ghastly firebombing.8
Whichever way it is to be looked at, Truman did save thousands of American and British lives
but at the cost of thousands of Japanese civilian lives. Yet, it seems inevitable to have occurred
though because Japan would never have surrendered itself otherwise. It caused terrible
destruction and devastation to thousands but it was the best course of actions that Truman could
have taken in putting a swift end to this incredibly brutal and vicious war.

Wellerstein, Alex. Why Nagasaki? The Nuclear Secrecy Blog. N.p., 9 Aug. 2013.
Web. 31 May 2016. <http://blog.nuclearsecrecy.com/2013/08/09/why-nagasaki/>.
5 Goldstein, Donald M., Katherine V. Dillon, and J. Michael Wenger. Rain of Ruin (52,
62, 80)
6 Nichols, Thomas M. No Other Choice: Why Truman Dropped the Atomic Bomb on
Japan. National Interest. N.p., 6 Apr. 2015. Web. 5 June 2016.
<http://nationalinterest.org/feature/no-other-choice-why-truman-dropped-theatomic-bomb-japan-13504>.
7 Goldstein, Donald M., Katherine V. Dillon, and J. Michael Wenger. Rain of Ruin (122)
8 Nichols, Thomas M. No Other Choice.
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