THE DECISION TO DROP THE ATOMIC BOMB [14.e.9]

The twin atomic attacks on Hiroshima and Nagasaki (6 & 9 August 1945) ushered in the nuclear age. Historian Gar Alperovitz launched serious debate when he alleged that the US dropped the bomb to send a message to the Russians warning them to stay out of east Asia. If Alperovitz is correct, the atomic attacks served no military purpose. Some of Alperovitz's evidence is listed below:

1. US strategic bombing survey reports all indicate that Japan was a defeated nation. Production was down 75% from its 1939 level, and the Japanese merchant marine was down 90% of its prewar strength.
2. Japanese garrisons in the Pacific were cut-off and isolated.
3. The Japanese air force and navy ceased to exist.
4. Japanese ministers were trying to surrender, but bureaucratic interference prevented the US from taking advantage of Japanese peace feelers.

OK, what options did US policy makers have?

1. Continue to bomb and blockade the Japanese home islands.
2. Give assurances that the Japanese emperor would not be tried as a war criminal, thus inducing the Japanese to surrender.
3. Invade the Japanese home islands (operation OLYMPIC) slated for November 1945.
4. Demonstrate the power of the bomb to a Japanese delegation on a remote Pacific island.
5. Let the Russians invade Japanese-held territory in China, thus bringing about a rapid conclusion to the war.
6. Drop the bomb on a military target in Japan.

What were Trumans advisors telling him to do?

Against use of the bomb:

General Hap Arnold	Chief of Staff, U.S. Army Air Forces
Admiral William Leahy	Roosevelt's and Truman's military advisor
General Dwight D. Eisenhower	Supreme Commander, Allief Forces in Europe
Admiral Ernest King	Commander of the United States Fleet (rankiningest officer in navy)
Leo Szilard	atomic scientist, Manhattan Project

Approved use of the bomb:

Henry Byrnes	Secretary of State
General Leslie Groves	military head of the Manhattan Project
Curtis LeMay	Commander, XX and XXI Bomber Commands, Pacific Theater
James Conant	President, MIT
Vannevar Bush	President, Harvard
Robert Oppenheimer and Edward Teller	Atomic scientists, Manhattan Project. They believed bomb should be used in combat, but disagreed on the exact conditions of use.
Henry Stimson	Secretary of War. He may have opposed use of bomb, but after the war he refused to disagree with Interim Committee's decision

Why did the Truman choose option #6 above?

1. The US did not welcome Soviet involvement in the Pacific theater peace settlement. A demonstration of US willingness to use the bomb would make the Russians take US demands seriously.