Proposal Of The Atomic Bomb America example essay topic

Many began their normal routine, as a flash brighter than a thousand suns illuminated the sky. At eight fifteen on August 6th, an American bird flew thousands of feet above the land, planting an egg which would affect the world's history forever. The wind changed directions several times, as the intensity of the explosion increased; leaving everything that lay in its way, crushed and burned by the deadly radiation which lingered through the stagnant air. Heat rays reached thousands of degrees, as the land was transformed to a pile of rubble in a matter of minutes.

America repeated their methods of mass destruction three days later, plowing through yet another city. Not until years later did the scope of these events come to light. Months before America executed their attack on Japan there was a meeting between the Secretary of War, Henry L. Stimson, and President Truman. Their discussions on April 25th, 1945 dealt more with the long-range political meaning, rather than the actual military use of the bomb. This was the first time President Truman had been told of the atomic bomb, for it had been kept a secret up until this point. Stimson reported to the President that within four months they would in all probability have completed the worst weapon ever known in human history, a bomb which would destroy a whole city within minutes.

He proceeded to explain how they shared the development with the United Kingdom, but controlled the resources at that time, and no other nation would be able to reach their position for several years. Nevertheless it would be impossible to hold that position forever, for many scientists in various countries knew pieces of the discovery and process needed to create the bomb, but they did not retain enough of the full process to actually recreate it. However with time, Stimson was sure that a much easier and cheaper method of production would be discovered, and as a result the future would allow nations to construct such a weapon secretively, and attack suddenly, allowing weaker nations to conquered much stronger ones in a short amount of time". 'The world in its present state of moral advancement compared with its technical development would be eventually at the mercy of such a weapon. In other words, modern civilization might be completely destroyed. ' " (Ayers) With that said, he continued to explain how a weapon of this magnitude would change the climate of the world's politics.

It would take great lengths to control it, keep it under wraps, and assure it did not fall into the wrong hands. This placed America with a moral responsibility as to whether such information should be shared with other nations, and if so what terms should follow. Stimson pointed out that with proper use, America would have the opportunity create a pattern of world peace. Stimson later wrote in his book, that up until that point he had never heard the President or any other government official suggest the development of an atomic weapon. Before the proposal of the atomic bomb America had other methods of attack planned out, which would have eventually led to the end of the war. These plans were put on the back burner, when the bomb was mentioned, but were never completely abandoned.

The atomic bomb was presented as a 'peace maker,' however it's apparent that America had ulterior motives. They had several underlying reasons for wanting to drop the bomb. In July of 1945 Japan had gone as far as to make peace proposals to the Soviet government, in hopes that Russia would help to negotiate peace. Russia failed to mention Japan's proposals during the Potsdam conference with the United States and Britain.

Nonetheless, these proposals were not taken seriously. Mainly because there were no signs of Japan giving in to the request for an unconditional surrender, and had they decided to continue fighting they still had a strong military force. Japan's reasons for not surrendering were based on the fact they did not want to lose their empire. Their military was still viewed as a threat, even though they were asking for peace, and the United States' army remained larger. The United States' decision to use the bomb was based mainly on the mental state of Japan; they did not feel they would surrender unless enormous amounts of severe damage were to be inflicted upon them. In the beginning America was planning on doing this through 'conventional' forms of sea and air attacks.

When the idea of the bomb was brought up, they realized they would be able to do this quickly, putting Japan into shock, and therefore causing their surrender. .".. The atomic bomb was more than a weapon of terrible destruction; it was a psychological weapon. In March 1945 our Air Force had launched its first great incendiary raid on the Tokyo area. In this raid more damage was done and more casualties were inflicted than was the case at Hiroshima... ' it was not one atomic bomb, or two, which brought surrender; it was the experience of what an atomic bomb will actually do to a community, plus the threat of many more, that was effective. '.

.. ". (Powell, 151) The United States' attack on Tokyo proved to be more detrimental than the bombing of Hiroshima, and Nagasaki. Had they truly been looking to destroy Japan, America would have stuck with their original forms of attack, but it is apparent they were looking for more.

Japan was aware they were losing the war, but still unwilling to give up their emperor, and therefore would not agree to an unconditional surrender. They would have likely surrendered as soon as June of 1945 had they been assured their empire would remain intact. The United States had contemplated this in order to avoid prolonging the war, but changed their mind quickly after reevaluating the Soviet ambitions in Eastern Europe and Northeast Asia. "President Harry S. Truman seemed inclined to give assurances on the emperor, then pulled back. He did so out of concern with Soviet behavior and with increasingly firm knowledge that the United States would soon have atomic weapons available. Coming to believe that the bomb would be decisive and anxious to keep the Soviet Union out of Manchuria, he dropped modification of unconditional surrender; moreover, he sought to prevent a Soviet declaration of war against Japan by encouraging China not to yield to Soviet demands beyond those granted at Yalta".

(Hamby) Truman prevented a Japanese surrender before the bomb could be demonstrated to the world, and especially to the Soviet Union. America wanted to remain a super-power and create peace through fear; most importantly allowing peace within their nation rather than the world. After the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki both Japan and America agreed to a conditional surrender, allowing the emperor to remain in power; proving that Japan would have more than likely surrendered without the use of the atomic bomb. With full knowledge that Russia was planning to enter the war against Japan, America dropped the bomb, denying them of this opportunity. America wanted to be seen as a strongest nation in the world, and would go to any means to prove it. Their reason for building the bomb initially was to beat Germany in the process.

Their reason for using the bomb was to end the war, proving them to be the heroes, and no one else. America attack two days before the start of the Soviet offense. Had America not dropped the bomb they would have seen Soviet armies engage a major portion of Japanese land forces in battle, overrun Manchuria, and take many prisoners. ."..

[The view that it was purely coincidental that the first bomb was dropped two days before the Soviet offensive was due to start]... explains Mr. Stimson's statement, 'It was vital that a sufficient effort be quickly obtained with the few we had,' as referring to the universal and praiseworthy desire to finish the war as soon as possible... The difficulty about this view is that it makes the timing of the dropping a supreme diplomatic blunder". (Powell, 160) It was assumed that the dropping of the bombs two days before the Soviets planned attack would have great significance, and it did. The timing of America's attack was completely intentional; crediting them with the end of the war. Whether or not the atomic bomb was actually needed in order for America to win the war is still under debate, but it is an undeniable fact that America gained power from these events.

Their overall plan was to remain a super-power and show the world where they stood, and in that case they succeeded. Whether the atomic bomb helped to create world peace is left up to each individual to decide. America managed to shock the world with their new invention, beating all competition in the race, and winning the war.

Bibliography

Ayers. June 2, 2002.
Hamby, Alonzo. "The Decision to Use the Atomic Bomb". June 2, 2002.
web Hiroshima 1945.
Editorial. Commonwealth August 18, 1995 vs.
122 n 14 p 4 (2). Fiche Coll: 80 F 0037. McCollum, Sean. Destroyer of worlds. Scholastic Update, March 21, 1997 vs.
129 n 12 p 18 (3). Powell, Daniel. Ideas in Conflict. Illinois: Scott, Foresman and Company, 1967.