Preview

Why Was President Truman Necessary For The Invasion Of Japan?

Good Essays
Open Document
Open Document
305 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Why Was President Truman Necessary For The Invasion Of Japan?
President Truman’s primary goal was to quickly bring an end to the war and reduce American casualties in doing so, thus the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki was necessary, yet repercussions still continue to be debated among many scholars today. Due to the importance of the Manhattan Project remaining a secret, President Truman was not informed of the project until after he became president. The atomic bomb was not an infallible plan to force Japan to surrender unconditionally, so the American military continued planning for an invasion in Japan. The proposed plan for the invasion of Japan, called Operation Downfall, would lead to an enormous estimated death toll “about 132,50 casualties...the invasion of Japan would cost about 46,000 Americans

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Good Essays

    Truman, as he saw the attack of okinawa in 1944 witnessed how the Japanese would not surrender, they had to capture all 100,000 Japanese soldiers on the island (peace and war book page 152 by Ben Walsh). This lead to the US dropping almost 2000 tons of incendiary grenade from B 29 planes which ensured the US a victory for Truman. Although the Japanese were losing the pacific war, the fire bombs failed to persuade Japan to surrender which made Harry Truman’s decision to drop the first atomic bomb on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. From the information given to Harry Truman of how the Japanese were not willing to surrender, dropping of the atomic bomb was justified as he did it in order to shorten the agony of war and to save American lives. Based on the choices given, Truman had to take the least costly option which was to use this bomb. Furthermore, the bomb was an approach to end Japanese brutality on the asian countries they have colonized. In retrospect, many historians have criticized him as the Japanese were rumoured to be ready to surrender prior to the use of the Atomic…

    • 1582 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Way more Japanese would have died using this option, than were killed in the two atomic raids. 2. Demonstrate the atomic bomb. By demonstrating the atomic bomb, Truman could have shown the Japanese leaders, including Hirohito, that their nation faced total destruction if they did not surrender immediately. Other scholars pointed out…

    • 415 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    Why Did Truman Choose Ww2

    • 520 Words
    • 3 Pages

    He would have also had to keep mass-producing bullets for the soldiers. On top of that, President Truman would have to keep sending food and supplies to keep the soldiers healthy and ready to fight. By sending the bomb, he managed to save all of those resources instead of spending them all. The last reason is to get revenge for Pearl Harbor. Pearl Harbor occurred December 7, 1941, and this attack led to a morning attack in Hawaii.…

    • 520 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Invading the mainland of Japan would cause more American soldiers’ and Japanese soldiers’ lives. Instead of suffering from losing thousands of hundreds of soldiers, Truman decided to drop the bombs. Nevertheless, Japanese civilians would be implicated if the Allies invaded. According to the Battle of Saipan, “Hirohito sent out an imperial order encouraging the civilians of Saipan to commit suicide” (Wikipedia), and 1000 civilians committed suicide by jumping off the cliff when they actually were promised to have meals and be protected by the US marines. Plus, the longer the war lasts, the more supplies were required. The bombs saved soldiers, time and supplies overall at that time. President Truman was…

    • 753 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    DBQ Atomic Bomb

    • 639 Words
    • 2 Pages

    Although there were attempts at peace, Japan showed no signs of agreement towards a peaceful and unconditional surrender. Japan’s reluctance to stop fighting could have left to months more of fighting and thousands of more deaths. The atomic bomb ensured an enormous display that could quickly end the war. As Cuhrchill proclaimed, “the end of the Japanese war no longer depended upon the pouring in of their armies for the final and perhaps protracted slaughter… this nightmare picture [has] vanished… in its place the vision of the end of the whole war in one or two violent shocks” (Doc E). Churchill summed up the gist of America’s reasoning for implementing the bombs. The United States did not have to depend on the slaughter of millions of people in bloody, messy fights, and , instead, “a speedy end to the Second World War” could be reached with one machine (Doc E). However, once the first bomb was dropped on Hiroshima, the Japanese continued to resist. It wasn’t until a second bomb was dropped that Japan surrendered with a simple stipulation that their emperor remain in his position. This alone proves the military necessity of the bombs. Despite the attack on Hiroshima, Japanese still wished to continue their war. If not for the second bomb, who know how many lives would have been lost.…

    • 639 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    The money that was involved in the creation of the atomic bomb was tremendous. It was massive, if it wasn’t experimented on then it was believed that the Americans would be highly disappointed. After the Japanese attack, President Truman took that as a great opportunity to use the bombing. The outcome was successful because it caused an atrocious amount of deaths in…

    • 537 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    President Truman decided to drop the atomic bomb on Hiroshima because he wanted to end World War II as quickly as possible. “His reasoning was that innumerable allied lives would be saved while delivering all people who were currently under Japanese rule” (Koeller). Of course, President Truman gave Japan a chance to surrender, but they declined, so Truman proceeded with the plan to drop the bomb called "Little Boy". Since World War…

    • 779 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    A key reason for Truman’s decision to drop the Atomic Bomb was the alternative options were not proper solutions. Dropping the bomb wasn’t the only considered option. The main “runner up” was a mass invasion of Japan. This idea was very dangerous. The casualties for the US were projected to be over 1,000,000 soldiers, and 5,000,000 japanese soldiers. One of the other alternatives was the idea of displaying to true power of the atomic weapon to Japan through a test. Such an idea had way too many flaws to be applicable. There was only enough Plutonium and Uranium available to the US for two bombs, (Little Boy, Fat Man). Also this idea was a risk because if the weapon did not detonate, the US would look even weaker to the Japanese. The idea of barricading the Japanese was also a considered solution, using Naval vessels to trap the Japanese in until the US “starved them out”. The fault in this idea was the unreasonable amount of time and resources it would consume. After weighing the options, and thinking it through carefully, President Truman made the correct choice to drop the bomb.…

    • 498 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    If the war continued, an invasion would be needed and such an invasion “… would have cost an estimated million casualties,” (The Decision to Drop the Bomb). It was even believed by President Truman “… that the bombs saved Japanese lives as well,” (The Decision to Drop the Bomb). Even though the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki were responsible for hundreds of thousands of deaths, the quick end to the war they brought saved more lives in the long run than those that were lost in the…

    • 658 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    The reason Truman decided to drop the bomb was because the Japanese were fighting for their country that was the only reason they were on the battlefield, The Americans had to think of something to get them to surrender. Having them drop the Atomic Bomb on their country was the best way to get them to surrender because if the Americans kept on bombing their country then they had no point of fighting because Japanese kept dying all around their country so their only solution was to…

    • 536 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Better Essays

    President Truman was so enraged on all the attacks Japan had caused on the Pacific. So he decided to face one of the most effective decisions of mankind. But, of course that decision President Truman made came with an immense responsibility. Truman and The Atomic Bombs 4 Trying to mark an end to the war on August 6th, 1945, Harry S. Truman made a decision to drop an atomic bomb over the city of Hiroshima, Japan. “Sixteen hours ago an American airplane dropped one bomb on Hiroshima and destroyed its usefulness to the enemy” (Truman, 1945).…

    • 1480 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    For Harry Truman the choice whether to use the bomb or not to use the bomb was one of the most difficult decisions of his life. The American soldiers and civilians were exhausted from four years of war, but still the Japanese military refused to give up there fight. American forces where occupying Okinawa and Iwo Jima and were intensely fire bombing Japanese cities. Japan had an army of 2 million, and they were staying strong. They stationed them selves in the home islands guarding against any invasion. The Allies demanded for immediate surrender, although the demand said that refusal would result in total destruction, there was no mention of any weapon of mass destruction. The Japanese military refused to surrender.…

    • 928 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    When President Harry Truman made the decision to drop the first ever atomic bomb, did he saves lives or did he create a whole new Pandora's box that we would continue to struggle with today? After gathering facts and meeting with our Allies such as the Soviet Union, he believed that dropping the atomic bomb would make the Japanese surrender quickly saving lives in the long run. There were many factors that went into the decision that President Truman made. After the bloody battles of Iwo Jima and Okinawa, American soldiers and the American government realized that the Japanese would fight to the end. They did not believe they were "beaten" but they believed they were luring the American troops to their turf where they could fight a better battle in their rugged terrain.…

    • 995 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Truman and the Atomic Bomb On August 6th, 1945, the atomic bomb, named “Little Boy”, was dropped over Hiroshima, Japan. There were reasons for this act against Japan, one of which having to do with Russia. These included strategic, moral, and political reasons that would benefit the US in the war and ultimately help them win. The US also wanted this to end World War 2.…

    • 578 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    However, the benefit of this program brought not only America year into the future but the entire world with it. The research done to make these bombs possible allowed for multiple advancements in the fields of radiation and cancer. It was these effects that the Japanese's did not understand when examining those affected but the blast. The use of similar radiation is used to cure cancer. The advancements made by the dropping of the bombs would have never been examined due to the simple facts that is would not be considered "humane". The decision that President Truman made may not have been considered humane to most people. However, the decision was not his alone it determined by a committee of advisors who believed it best…

    • 652 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays