Some people defend the devastation caused by the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki with the reasoning that the attacks ended the Second World War and prevented more deaths. Is this true?
Many historians and experts say no and that by the time the bomb was ready for use, Japan was ready to surrender. Read the following quotes and make up your own mind.
General Dwight Eisenhower (US military chief during WWII and later US President)
“Japan was at that very moment seeking some way to surrender with minimum loss of face, and it wasn’t necessary to hit them with that awful thing.”
US Secretary of War during WWII Henry Stimson described the atom bomb as the ‘master card’ in US diplomacy towards the Soviet Union.
Fleet Admiral William Daniel Leahy, US President Truman’s chief of staff at the time of the bombing
“It is my opinion that the use of this barbarous weapon at Hiroshima and Nagasaki was of no material assistance in our war against Japan. The Japanese were already defeated and ready to surrender.”
Professor JK Galbraith, official US investigator to Japan in 1945
“The bombs fell after the decision had been taken by the Japanese government to surrender.”
Winston Churchill, UK Prime Minister during WWII
“It would be a mistake to suppose that the fate of Japan was settled by the atomic bomb. Her defeat was certain before the first bomb fell and was brought about by over-whelming maritime power.”
One is forced to conclude that the US wanted to demonstrate its unique military power – its possession of the atomic bomb – in order to gain political and diplomatic advantage over the Soviet Union in the post-war settlement in both Asia and Europe.
By the time the bomb was ready for use, Japan was ready to surrender. As General Dwight Eisenhower said, Japan was at that very moment seeking some way to surrender with minimum loss of face, and ‘it wasn’t necessary to hit them with that awful thing.’ So if Japan was ready to surrender, why were atomic bombs dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki?
A significant factor was the US’s desire to establish its dominance in the region after the war. US planners believed that this required US occupation of Japan, enabling it to establish a permanent military presence and dominate the Pacific region without fear of Japanese resurgence. But Japanese resurgence was no longer the US’s key strategic concern in the post-war world; its main concern was the Soviet Union.
The bomb was used to demonstrate the awesome power of the US in a world where it was the sole possessor of this terrible weapon.
