Military History: The Choice to Use the Atomic Bomb
“A Look at Military History” is a new bi-weekly feature hosted on You Served, a leading military blog. It takes an unbiased look at the events of the American armed forces dating back through history.
Harry S. Truman assumed the presidency on April 12,1945, upon the death of Franklin D. Roosevelt from a cerebral hemorrhage. These were difficult times. The Second World War had been waging for years, with the United States involvement lasting already over 3 years. Roosevelt had declared that the United States would only accept the unconditional surrender of its enemies as an end to the war.
Truman was left with the task of securing that surrender. Two weeks into his presidency, Truman learned of the Atomic Bomb. He was now faced with the difficult decision of whether to use such a weapon in the hopes of causing a speedy end to the war.
Harry S. Truman weighed several facts as he prepared to make his decision. Truman had fought on the front lines in France in World War I. He knew the life of a soldier; the fear, the pain, the hunger, the cold and especially the death. Truman had relatives fighting on the front lines in the current war and knew the life of the families of soldiers; the fear, the pain, the death. The emotions of the American soldier and th American people weighed heavy on his mind as he also looked and the objective facts.
In February of 1945, Americans suffered 30,000 casualties in the taking of Iwo Jima. The invasion of Okinawa, lasted nearly 12 weeks, beginning April 1, 1945 and ending June 21, 1945. That battle cost 50,000 American casualties. Additionally that battle took the lives of 90,000 Japanese soldiers and 100,000 Japanese civilians. When Germany surrendered unconditionally on May 8, 1945, Truman’s main concern was the surrender of Japan. Of course there were other political concerns, like dealing with Russia, but ending the war with Japan was his primary focus.
As Truman considered his next course of action it became obvious that an attack on the Japanese mainland was necessary. How to attack it was the question. Several plans were under consideration. The first was code named Olympic.This was a landing on Kyushu sometime in October 1945. Estimated American casualties for this invasion were approximately 132,000 Americans, including 40,000 deaths. Once Olympic had been carried out the next phase of the mainland attack, code named Coronet would take place in spring of 1946. This was to be an attack near Tokyo.
Projected casualties for this attack were 90,000 Americans. Following this plan, the war was not expected to end for over a year. The alternative was the Atomic Bomb. The bomb would cause mass destruction, but general thought was that it would bring the war to Japan to a swift end, ultimately saving American lives.
In the summer of 1945, the Allies issued the Potsdam Declaration; an ultimatum to Japan to surrender or suffer “prompt and utter destruction”. Japan did not heed the warning and the decision to use the Atomic Bomb was made.
Toria Stein
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