Military Reasons For The Use Of The Atomic Bomb
Extrem previuos casualties
Japan showed no signes of surrendering
Difficulty of previous and future missions
Japanese culture values honor, tradition and are very nationalist; in war this translates to being ruthless in the battlefield.
Iwo Jima, feb-march 1945
Guadacanal 1942
Iwo Jima, feb-march 1945
Okinawa, April-May 1945
Operation Downfall (the alternative)
Island hopping was stranning resources, it was tiring for the soldiers and the kamikaze taktics made every battle a massacre, moral was not high.
The operation that would take place if the bomb was not dropped. This operation calculated to be extreamly bloddy, amounting to the deaths of 2-4 million amercian soldiers and 5-10 million japanese deaths. The two part operation would have created a bigger death toll than the atomic bomb had.
Okinawa, April-May 1945
Guadacanal 1942
USA
Small island in the philipins
A culturally important iland at the end of the japanese islands, the place were karate was invented. The Japanese at the time did not fear death and not only soldiers but also women and children would help the Japanese soldiers in the fight.
Japan
7 500 men, 29 ships, and 615 aircrafts
31 000 men, 38 ships, and 683 aircrafts
23 000 Americans and 20 000 Japanese deaths (for comparison 2 500 were killed at D day)
USA: 50 000 deaths
Japan: 100 000 deaths
Japanese soldiers were known for using kamikaze taktics and they got more and more agressive the closer they were pushed back into their country.
The Japanese army leaders did not want to surrender, even after the first atomic bomb dropped they were still divided in half.
They were training civilians as suicide bombers and they argumented that there were still 3 million troops they could use to defend the land.
Every attack on the mainland was unsuccessful in breaking the civilians and army fighting spirit as seen by the burning of the city of Tokyo were the civilians only grew in aggression. And the rail network, the Kuraru Arsenal and the (important) coal ferry between Hokkaido and Hnshu were not dissabled
President Truman's thoughts on the matter
Arguments that he would not bomb (with the atomic bomb) Tokio as that would be a direct attack on the culture of the people there and that it would also be a direct attack on their religion
The ex-president did not feel remorse and assures that he did the right thing
"We shall destroy Japn's capability to make war"
Refering to the bombing of specific places to further weaken Japan's war efforts
"Let there be no mistake about it. I regard the bomb as a military weapon and never had any doubt that it should be used."