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Summary: The Decision To Drop The Atomic Bomb

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On August 31st, 1939 Germany invaded Poland, France and Great Britain responded by declaring war on Germany on September 3rd. This was considered the official start of the deadliest war in human history called, World War II with fatalities up to 50 million according to the authors, John Graham Royde Smith and Thomas A. Hughes (“World War II” Britannica.com, April 26, 2018). Meanwhile Japan was already at war with China two years earlier. The war consisted of two sides known as the Axis alliance which was formed by Germany, Italy, and Japan. While on the other side was the Allies also known as the United Nations. They were consisted of France, Great Britain, and the Soviet Union, and The United States. The United States did not officially join …show more content…
(page 3)” stood out to me as a summary as to why Truman had at that time chose to drop the bombs. The war at that point had already taken lives on both sides causing millions of deaths and large amounts of destruction on both ally and enemy sides. On July 26, 1945 United States President Harry S. Truman and James F. Byrnes along with Stalin and Molotov, Clement Attlee and Ernest Bevin issued a document known as the Potsdam Declaration which called for the unconditional surrender of japan (Smith, Hughes, “World War II”). This option was given to the Japanese but Japan refused to surrender and this forced Truman to look at his other options. Taking into consideration the amount of deaths being so high at that point and the Soviets continued expansion of communism, Truman chose to approve of the atomic bombings on japan. This choice saved not only Americans but many ally and Japanese lives from further sacrificing themselves for the war. It was the fastest way to end the six year long brutal war. This also served as warning to nations like the Soviets to not attempt to continue to cause conflict and put an end to it all. Obviously, it had worked, not only did the bombings play a part in the surrender of japan it also lowered

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