Harry S. Truman & The Atomic Bomb

Power point created by Robert Martinez

Primary Content Source: Speaking of History: Vol. II, by Laura Belmonte http://www.danzfamily.com/archives/blogphotos/06/393-tibbets-enola-gay.jpg

In 1939, physicist Albert Einstein warned President Franklin Roosevelt that the Nazis

were capable of producing a weapon that harnessed atomic energy.

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In response, the Roosevelt administration funded small studies of the military potential

of fission chain reactions.

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When the United States entered World War II, these efforts expanded into the Manhattan

Project, a top-secret program employing more than 120,000 people.

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American, British, and Canadian scientists (the Soviets excluded), collaborated in

laboratories in Chicago, Oak Ridge, Tenn., and Los Alamos, New Mexico.

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Their challenges included collecting enough fissionable material to produce a nuclear

explosion and devising a weapon that could be dropped from an airplane.

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On July 16, 1945, scientists at Los Alamos exploded the first atomic bomb (Trinity test.)

At that time, the Allies had defeated Nazi Germany but were locked in fierce combat

against Imperial Japan.

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Earlier in the year, U.S. forces sustained heavy casualties in battles at Iwo Jima and

Okinawa.

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Although the Japanese lost over 110,000 soldiers and 80,000 civilians in these clashes,

they continued to fight.

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U.S. military planners predicted huge losses if American forces invaded the Japanese

home islands.

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News of the atomic bomb’s successful test gave President Harry S. Truman an

alternative.

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On July 25, while he was attending the Potsdam Conference with Soviet and British

prime ministers, Truman issued secret orders to use the bomb if the Japanese failed to

surrender by August 3.

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The Potsdam Declaration warned Japan that it faced “prompt and utter destruction” if it

did not capitulate (end hostilities.) The Japanese rejected the ultimatum.

Hideki Tojo

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In response, Truman ordered the military to use atomic weapons.

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On August 6, the B-29 Enola Gay dropped a uranium bomb on Hiroshima, instantly

killing at least 70,000 people and leveling five square miles.

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On August 9, the United States dropped a plutonium bomb on Nagasaki, and 40,000

people instantly perished.

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On August 14, Japan finally surrendered after receiving assurances that Emperor

Hirohito could retain his throne.

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The decision to use the bomb remains hotly disputed. Critics offer several motives,

including the desire to save American lives, anti-Japanese racism, and intimidation of the

Soviet Union.

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Although we will never know the answer, nuclear weapons undoubtedly changed the

course of modern history.

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“Let there be no mistake about it. I regarded the bomb as a military weapon and never had any doubt that it should be used.”

- President Harry S. Truman

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