Atomic Bomb
It is said that there are two views about the use of the atomic bomb, orthodox and revisionist. The orthodox view is one of solely winning the war, while the revisionist view is one of intimidating the Soviet Union. While I do not believe that the atomic bomb was a necessary weapon in this war, I do think it helped the US "kill two birds with one stone". I think it both won the war and scared the USSR in the process.An important argument for the use of the atomic bomb was the distrust of the Soviet Union by the British and eventually the Americans. The British distrust is demonstrated in a memo of a meeting between the US and the UK on July 22,1943 where Winston Churchill states that "it would never do to have Germany or Russia win the race for something that might be used for international blackmail" [Document 12, pg. 42]. Both of these countries were afraid that the USSR might try to expand its influence after the war, and neither of them wanted to see the USSR with atomic power or wanted to lose their advantage in postwar negotiations. The US and UK were right about the USSR's aims at expansion. Concern over Russian expansion was mentioned in Stimson's diary entry on July 23, 1945 where he writes about Russian concerns for
Unfortunately, Radio Tokyo broadcasted that Japan would not surrender and continue to fight on July 28, 1945, and had not responded to the Allies terms for surrender. However, many of these scientists did oppose the use of the second bomb so quickly. This helps reinforce the orthodox idea that the bomb ended the war. On August 9, 1945, "Fat Man" exploded about 1,650 feet above the city of Nagasaki. Many scientists felt that the US was not attacking Japan, but it was defending itself from a country that attacked the US first, at Pearl Harbor. Peace efforts were already underway with Japan and should have received full attention and given a chance before the bombs were dropped. The loss of innocent lives at Hiroshima and Nagasaki is inexcusable. Instantly, 66,000 people were killed and over 69,000 people were injured. But you must remember that Germany, the major atomic threat, surrendered in May 1945. This fact really made the US want to keep the USSR from entering the Pacific and be able to influence the postwar outcome there. influence in the Pacific and present expanding influence in Eastern European countries [Document 73, pg. Many, but not all scientists were against the use of the bomb.
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Acceptance Essays
