The Hiroshima Attack On September 6th Failed - 1458 Words

commit itself to a lengthy war. Truman estimated a potential loss of 500,000 lives; he saw the bombs will completely destroy Japan s power to create war...† (Harry S. Truman, 1945) The Hiroshima attack on August 6th failed to be decisive: Japan did not surrender, nor did it seemed pressured by the nuclear attack, according to the U.S. (Harry S. Truman, 1945) Nagasaki was considered vital, because it was a major harbour, a densely populated area and residential to a lucrative trade industry, namely, Mitsubishi manufacturing company’s; increasing the bomb s harmful potential. (Ibiblio.org, 2015) As a city, it was established and was significant as a centre of religious and cultural heritage; indicating that Nagasaki was chosen as a†¦show more content†¦(Hasegawa, 2005) As Hiroshima had not provoked surrender, U.S. politicians doubted that a second attack would be able to end the war - and anticipated that a minimum of a 3rd would be necessary before launching the invasion on November 1. At most, it had been hoped that the war would be shortened by many months. Whereas the bomb s scientific success was praised immediately, the role of the weapon in ending the war was stressed only after Japan had given in. Before this, the U.S war cabinet similarly equated the bomb to previous firebombing campaigns. (Weblog.delacour.net, 20 02) The Soviet declaration of war on Japan exerted even more pressure on Japan, triggering even the emperor to urge the government to just accept the Potsdam Declaration and surrender. Its involvement meant that Japan might be fighting a two-front war as the Soviets had already settled in Japanese-held Manchuria, and had orders to attack Japan s northern and southern isles. This influenced Japan s unconditional surrender as no strategy remained and it may not hope for the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics to mediate for an appropriate peace. On August 15, Japan surrendered unconditionally based on all the Potsdam terms. C. Evaluation of source: Source A - Source B: The Decision to Use the Atomic Bomb by Henry Lewis Stimson Written by Stimson, who was secretary of war in