Bergamini's Atomic Diplomacy

Following Alperovitz’s revisionist perspective in Atomic Diplomacy: Hiroshima and Potsdam, traditionalist historians, in early 1970, wished to return the histories back to the original arguments on the Japanese surrender. David Bergamini transforming the study in Japan’s Imperial Conspiracy: How Emperor Hirohito led Japan into war against the West, he returns to Butow’s arguments on the surrender. In his history, Bergamini examines the history of Japanese culture in two volumes. Following the study in a similar course that the previous traditional historians, Bergamini supports Butow’s claims while offering new schools of thought on what caused Japan’s capitulation. A native from Tokyo, Bergamini claims that Japan’s military culture and the
In addition, Bergamini returns to several of Butow’s traditional arguments to prove his claims. Agreeing with Butow’s statement that the use of the bomb would leave Japan “practically powerless”, Bergamini writes that the atomic bomb lead to Emperor Hirohito’s decision to surrender. Returning to Butow’s claims Bergamini expands the traditionalist perspective by examining the influence that the atomic bomb had on emperor Hirohito’s decision to terminate the war. Providing evidence to his claims, Bergamini writes that while Hirohito believed that Japan could continue the war until the fall of 1945. He affirms the traditional opinion that the atomic bomb motivated the surrender by quoting Hirohito’s remarks to General MacArthur. Citing Hirohito’s statement that the atomic bomb “gave Japan an excuse to surrender”, the author offers historians with an additional account to consider for what motivated Japan’s surrender. Bergamini’s statements advance the traditionalist view of Japan’s motive to surrender by demonstrating Hirohito’s power in starting the war with the United States. Leaving historians to consider the influence of the emperor, the author shows how the atomic bomb moved Hirohito to