Harry Truman, the president of the United States at the time of World War II, came to learn that the Manhattan Project had been successful. It is then that he knew he was faced with the toughest decision in his reign, one that would change the world and history forever. The War had gone on for long and Japan had refused to surrender. Four year of war had seen millions of Japanese and American lives lost and tremendous havoc created. Even though America had occupied Iwo Jima and Okinawa and kept detonating fire bombs at the Japanese cities, Japan sill maintained an army of close to 3 million soldiers who were strategically placed at the home islands to guard the central cities against invasion. Truman was not sure about whether or not he should use the atomic bombs on Japan.
President Truman first decided to demand unconditional surrender by Japan immediately. He presented this demand to the Japan leadership. The terms of the demand did not indicate that the result of turning down the offer would be the use of the mass weapons of destructions on Japan. However, Truman indicated that there would be total destruction if Japan refused to surrender unconditionally. However, the president did not specify that it is the atomic bomb that was going to be used. In fact, Japan had no idea about the success of the Manhattan project. The commander of the Japanese military viewed the threats as a bluff and, therefore, rejected the demand by President Truman.
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On 6 th August 1945, Harry Truman gave the go ahead for the atomic bombs to be detonated. In an instant, 70,000 Japanese citizens lost their lives and an additional 100,000 also lost their lives in the consecutive years due to radiation sickness and burns. This was after an atomic bomb was dropped over Hiroshima by a plane called Enola Gay. The Japanese commander still failed to surrender even after this attack. The Soviet Union declared that it was at war with Japan two days after the Hiroshima bombing. The next day, the city of Nagasaki got bombed by another atomic bomb and 80,000 Japanese citizens immediately got vaporized. Six days later, Japan surrendered.
Most critics state that the decision by Truman was barbaric because he did not consider the negative consequences that were going to come in the long-term. Furthermore, the nuclear terror unleashed by the United States marked the start of a new arms race era. Some military analysts also confirm that Japan was not willing to unconditionally surrender but was on its knees begging for some terms to be reached. President Truman, therefore, may have taken the opportunity just to display the military prowess and did not really care about the Japanese surrendering.
Other critics imply that the US had ulterior motives. With the US having stamped its military authority, the Soviet Union is thought to have joined the war against Japan as a show that it is treading lightly. This made Nagasaki and Hiroshima the cities to have been hit first by the Cold War as well as last by World War II. However, when Truman was confronted about it, he stated that his decision was military based. To him, if the war continued, more lives than what was lost during the bombing would have been compromised. Truman stated that the decision to drop the atomic bombs on Japan cut the war short. Before the bombings, over 3500 Kamikaze raids caused immense destruction and caused the loss of lives of many Americans.
When asked to demonstrate how he managed to run the bombing operation, President Truman became reluctant to do so. At the back of his mind, Truman knew that the Japanese may not have surrendered if the test was to succeed. On the other hand, if the test was to fail, the result would be worse for him. The radiation sickness that was going to affect future generations did not bother Truman much. He even went ahead to state that the Hiroshima and Nagasaki bombing was not any different from the fire-bombing of Tokyo and Dresden.
In my opinion, President Truman knew the consequences that came with dropping the nuclear bombs but still went ahead to do it. He achieved his main objective which, according to me, was to show that he had power and that the Japanese were at his mercies. This is even what have him the confidence to demand for unconditional surrender.
The question as to whether the dropping of the atomic bombs was ethical or not has never been resolved until date. However, this remains to be the most destructive war in the history of mankind. It is the only instance when nuclear weapons have been deployed in a war. Furthermore, the success of the Manhattan project demonstrated that nations have the capability to mobilize their resources and come up with dangerous war machinery. It is after the war that the Pandora box got open. The arms race made propelled countries to improve their nuclear capability. However, how were the countries going to use the nuclear power they had? This remains to be a debate even now as more sophisticated nuclear weapons continue being developed.
