benefits of the atomic bomb in ww2

that probably could've been in joseph Stalin's mind after he declared war on Japan. Direct link to steven.strange12's post Didn't the Japanese want , Posted 3 years ago. If you're behind a web filter, please make sure that the domains *.kastatic.org and *.kasandbox.org are unblocked. Correspondence,International Security16 (Winter 1991/1992): 214-221. At its peak, the Manhattan Project employed 130,000 Americans at thirty-seven facilities across the country. The discussion of available targets included Hiroshima, the largest untouched target not on the 21st Bomber Command priority list. But other targets were under consideration, including Yawata (northern Kyushu), Yokohama, and Tokyo (even though it was practically rubble.) The problem was that the Air Force had a policy of laying waste to Japans cities which created tension with the objective of reserving some urban targets for nuclear destruction. With the goal of having enough fissile material by the first half of 1945 to produce the bombs, Bush was worried that the Germans might get there first. For on-line resources on the first atomic test. Ukraine war latest: Kyiv makes cluster bombs pledge; Wagner fighters As to how the war with Japan would end, he saw it as unpredictable, but speculated that it will take Russian entry into the war, combined with a landing, or imminent threat of a landing, on Japan proper by us, to convince them of the hopelessness of their situation. Lincoln derided Hoovers casualty estimate of 500,000. With Secretary of War Stimson presiding, members of the committee heard reports on a variety of Manhattan Project issues, including the stages of development of the atomic project, problems of secrecy, the possibility of informing the Soviet Union, cooperation with like-minded powers, the military impact of the bomb on Japan, and the problem of undesirable scientists. In his comments on a detonation over Japanese targets, Oppenheimer mentioned that the neutron effect would be dangerous to life for a radius of at least two-thirds of a mile, but did not mention that the radiation could cause prolonged sickness. According to Merkulov, two fissile materials were being produced: element-49 (plutonium), and U-235; the test device was fueled by plutonium. In this memorandum, Norstad reviewed the complex requirements for preparing B-29s and their crew for successful nuclear strikes. 4. The last remark aggravated Navy Minister Yonai who saw it as irresponsible. Direct link to Natalie L's post *What might have happened, Posted 6 years ago. Malloy (2008), 49-50. An all-out defense of Kyushu was planned, with casualty predictions on both sides expected to be very high. Operation Downfall would oversee these invasions and would provide logistical support. Didn't the Japanese want to surrender? Richard Frank sees this as evidence of the uncertainty felt by senior officials about the situation in early August; Forrestal would not have been so audacious to take an action that could ignite a political firestorm if he seriously thought the end of the war was near., Library of Congress Manuscript Division, Papers of W. Averell Harriman, box 181, Chron File Aug 5-9, 1945, Shortly after the Soviets declared war on Japan, in line with commitments made at the Yalta and Potsdam conferences, Ambassador Harriman met with Stalin, with George Kennan keeping the U.S. record of the meeting. Barton J. Bernstein, Introduction to Helen S. Hawkins et al. Debates on Alternatives to First Use and Unconditional Surrender, IV. It potentially saved the lives of Japanese soldiers and civilians. See Bernstein (1995), 142. Receive the OpenMind newsletter with all the latest contents published on our website, Birkbeck College, University of London, London, UK. Brown recounted Byrnes debriefing of the 10 August White House meeting on the Japanese peace offer, an account which differed somewhat from that in the Stimson diary. This set of documents concerns the work of the Uranium Committee of the National Academy of Sciences, an exploratory project that was the lead-up to the actual production effort undertaken by the Manhattan Project. This issue brief, based on the 1998 book Atomic Audit: The Costs and Consequences of U.S. Nuclear Weapons Since 1940, examines how and why key decisions were made, what factors influenced those decisions, and whether alternatives were considered. Private corporations, foremost among them DuPont, helped prepare weapons-grade uranium and other components needed to make the bombs. To log in and use all the features of Khan Academy, please enable JavaScript in your browser. Thus, Groves and others would try to suppress findings about radioactive effects, although that was a losing proposition.[76]. For example, Bernstein cites the entries for 20 and 24 July to argue that American leaders did not view Soviet entry as a substitute for the bomb but that the latter would be so powerful, and the Soviet presence in Manchuria so militarily significant, that there was no need for actual Soviet intervention in the war. For Brown's diary entry of 3 August 9 1945 historians have developed conflicting interpretations (See discussion of document 57). Since the late 60s, what are known as gamma knives have been used all over the world. The killing of workers in the urban-industrial sector was one of the explicit goals of the air campaign against Japanese cities. [25] As evident from the discussion, Stimson strongly disliked de Gaulle whom he regarded as psychopathic. The conversation soon turned to the atomic bomb, with some discussion about plans to inform the Soviets but only after a successful test. The only atomic bombs used in war were dropped by the U.S. on Hiroshima on Aug. 6, 1945, and on Nagasaki three days later. Hasegawa, 105; Alperovitz, 67-72; Forrest Pogue,George C. Marshall: Statesman, 1945-1959(New York: Viking, 1987), 18. Direct link to Kevin Eastman's post The Atomic Bombings were , Posted 3 years ago. that participants in the debate have brought to bear in framing their arguments. Proponents point out that it was Japan who launched an unprovoked attack against the United States to bring Americans into World War II in the first place. Many statisticians had predicted that there would be over 500,000 Allied casualties if there was an invasion of Japan, so Truman decided to end the war with the fewest Allied lives lost, which was by dropping the atomic bomb on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, and then using a false threat to also bomb Tokyo when they didn't have any more to use. The handwritten transcriptions are on the original archival copies. [9], RG 77, Correspondence ("Top Secret") of the Manhattan Engineer District, 1942-1946, file 25M. This summary includes an intercepted account of the destruction of Nagasaki. (Photo from U.S. National Archives, RG 77-BT), Ground view of Nagasaki before and after the bombing; radiuses in increments of 1,000 feet from Ground Zero are shown. Reasons In Favor of the Atomic Bombing of Japan USA TODAY. There were another 8 British and Dutch prisoners of war that were killed during or immediately after the atomic bombs were dropped on Japan. The military minds of these countries put together a plan that was called Operation Downfall. At 10:50 a.m., he met with the leadership at the bomb shelter in his palace. Augusta, Truman learned about the atomic bombing of Hiroshima and announced it twice, first to those in the wardroom (socializing/dining area for commissioned officers), and then to the sailors mess. This diary entry has figured in the argument that Byrnes believed that the atomic bomb gave the United States a significant advantage in negotiations with the Soviet Union. Debates among the Japanese Late July/Early August 1945, IX. [17], Scientists and officers held further discussion of bombing mission requirements, including height of detonation, weather, radiation effects (Oppenheimers memo), plans for possible mission abort, and the various aspects of target selection, including priority cities (a large urban area of more than three miles diameter) and psychological dimension. The bomb, nicknamed `Little Boy', was dropped from the USAAF B29 bomber `Enola Gay' and exploded some 1,800 feet above the city. For emphasis on the shock of the atomic bomb, see also Lawrence Freedman and Saki Dockrill, Hiroshima: A Strategy of Shock, in Saki Dockrill, ed.,From Pearl Harbor to Hiroshima : the Second World War in Asia and the Pacific, 1941-1945(New York, St. Martins Press, 1994), 191-214. Pressure from Secretary of War Stimson had already taken Kyoto off the list of targets for incendiary bombings and he would successfully object to the atomic bombing of that city. However, scientists discovered about that time that a powerful explosion might be possible by splitting an atom. The controversial creation and eventual use of the atomic bomb . Photograph of Albert Einstein and J. Robert Oppenheimer. Library of Congress, Curtis LeMay Papers, Box B-36. Most of the people killed in these two bombs were innocents. [70]. Arguing that continuing the war would reduce the nation to ashes, his words about bearing the unbearable and sadness over wartime losses and suffering prefigured the language that Hirohito would use in his public announcement the next day. At their first meeting after the dropping of the bomb on Hiroshima, Stimson briefed Truman on the scale of the destruction, with Truman recognizing the terrible responsibility that was on his shoulders. FDR's Role in Developing the Atomic Bomb The atomic bombing of Hiroshima on August 6, 1945, has been the subject of numerous books and articles since that time, many by scientists and others who participated in the development of the world's first atomic bombs. Harriman Papers, Library of Congress, box 211, Robert Pickens Meiklejohn World War II Diary At London and Moscow March 10, 1941-February 14, 1946, Volume II (Privately printed, 1980 [Printed from hand-written originals]) (Reproduced with permission), Robert P. Meiklejohn, who worked as Ambassador W. A. Harrimans administrative assistant at the U.S. Embassies in Moscow and London during and after World War II, kept a detailed diary of his experiences and observations. Moreover, the role of an invasion of Japan in U.S. planning remains a matter of debate, with some arguing that the bombings spared many thousands of American lives that otherwise would have been lost in an invasion. Brown, special assistant to Secretary of State James Byrnes. The second cable on 4 August shows that the schedule advanced to late in the evening of 5 August. Thus, he wanted Roosevelts instructions as to whether the project should be vigorously pushed throughout. Unlike the pilot plant proposal described above, Bush described a real production order for the bomb, at an estimated cost of a serious figure: $400 million, which was an optimistic projection given the eventual cost of $1.9 billion.

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