In August 1945, the United States changed the world irretrievably. American B-29s dropped two atomic bombs on the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. The rationale behind this, one of the most important events of World War II, is still a subject of heated debate. Several theories focusing on the intimidation of the Soviets and the establishment of the US as a formidable world power are possible motives that are, even now, brought to the table. However, the protection of American lives as well as the refusal of the Japanese nation to surrender are the most credible grounds for the use of the A-bomb to end WWII.
In December of 1941, the American naval base Pearl Harbor suffered a surprise attack. An attack which Americans would not soon forget. The retaliation for this tragic episode was a substantial part of the reasoning behind the use of the Atomic bomb on the Japanese. Moreover, as former President Harry Truman said in a 1945 radio address, "We have used it [the Atomic bomb] against those who attacked us without warning at Pearl Harbor, against those who have starved and beaten and executed American Prisoners of War- (Doc H) However, the Bomb was not only employed to avenge the deaths of thousands of American soldiers, but also to prevent the deaths of "over a million" more. (Doc A) If the US had gone through with a full-scale invasion, according to Secretary of War Henry Stimpson, "the major fighting would not end until the latter part of 1946." (Doc A) British Prime Minister Winston Churchill embodied the motivation of the US government to use the Atomic bomb by describing it as "the end of the whole war in one or two violent shocks a merciful abridgement of the slaughter in the East." (Doc E) This wish to protect, and take vengeance for, American lives fully supports the use of the Atomic bomb.
The Japanese, on the other hand, had no intention of ending the war anytime soon.
