The Atomic Bomb
Standard: 6.4.12 – J
Primary Source:
A. First Order Document
1. Truman Speech, August 9, 1945
a. http://www.dannen.com/decision/hst-ag09.html
B. Second Order Document
1. Potsdam Declaration: Proclamation Defining Terming for Japanese Surrender Issued, at Potsdam, July 26, 1945
a. http://www.atomicarchive.com/Docs/Hiroshima/Potsdam.shtml
2. White House Press Release on Hiroshima: Statement by the President of the United States
a. http://www.atomicarchive.com/Docs/Hiroshima/PRHiroshima.shtml
C. Third Order Document
1. Truman Diary Entry, July 25, 1945
a. http://www.trumanlibrary.org/whistlestop/study_collections/bomb /large/documents/fulltext.php?fulltextid=15
2. Hiroshima: Who Disagreed with the Atomic Bomb: Leo Szilard
a. Http://www.doug-long.com/quotes.htm
3. Photo Prepared by U.S. Air Intelligence
a. http://www.gwu.edu/~nsarchiv/NSAEBB/NSAEBB162/index.htm
4. 1945: Japanese Response to Potsdam Proclamation: Prime Minister Suzuki
a. http://www.2020hindsight.org/2005/07/28/1945-japanese-response- backgrounder/
Introduction/Background:
The imprecision of bombing and the use of devastating city bombing in Europe eventually swayed United States Pacific theater military leaders to authorize bombing of Japanese mainland cities. Tokyo, Nagoya, Osaka, and Kobe all were decimated by incendiary and other bombs. In all, hundreds of thousands of civilians were killed in these air strikes meant to deter the resolve of the Japanese people. Yet, Japanese resolve stayed strong and the idea of a bloody "house to house" invasion of the Japanese mainland would produce thousands more American and Allied casualties. The Allies in late July 1945 declared at Potsdam that the Japanese must unconditionally surrender.
After Japanese leaders flatly rejected the Potsdam Declaration, President Truman authorized use of the atomic bomb anytime after August 3, 1945. On the clear morning of August 6, the first atomic bomb, nicknamed Little Boy, was dropped on the city of Hiroshima. Leveling over 60 percent of the city, 70,000 residents died instantaneously in a searing flash of heat. Three days later, on August 9, a second bomb, Fat Man, was dropped on Nagasaki. Over 20,000 people died instantly. In the successive weeks, thousands more Japanese died from the after effects of the radiation exposure of the blast.
http://www.trumanlibrary.org/teacher/abomb.htm#discuss
The issue here is can the Atomic Bomb be justified? It has been over sixty years since the introduction and extinction of the use of atomic warfare. The devastation was immense, and nothing like it has ever been implemented since. The documents I chose give insight to the fore coming of the atomic bomb, its use, and its aftermath.
I started with the Truman Speech, August 9, 1945 because it was simple and direct. It tends to spark controversy immediately when Truman refers to Hiroshima as a military base, instead of a civilian city. Also, he continues to speak of bombing war industries and in doing so thousands of civilian lives will be lost. So between his misunderstanding of the city itself and the immense killing of civilians students should began to decide if this was a good plan or a brutal assault on innocent people.
The second order documents I chose help to sway the students to their desired decision. The Potsdam Declaration is a document issuing the unconditional surrender of Japan. I chose this document because it shows that Japan was given an opportunity to surrender before the absolute destruction of its major cities. But the document fails to mention the invention of an atomic bomb. Also, it allows students to think about if this document was reasonable in its demands or dismantling to Japanese way of life.
The second of the second order documents is a statement made by President Truman informing Americans that an atomic bomb has been dropped on Japan. He describes its unbelievable power, refers to Pearl Harbor, the achievement made by its creators, the intentions of the bomb to “completely destroy Japan’s power to make war”, and that a new era in understanding nature’s forces. Truman introduces the atomic bomb as a inventive breakthrough instead of its real nature. Destruction.
For my third order documents I chose to use personal opinions by respected individuals of that time period. People like Dwight Eisenhower, Leo Szilard (first scientist to conceive of how an atomic bomb might be made), President Truman’s diaries, Japanese Prime Minister Suzuki, and a photo of Hiroshima. These personal opinions are views from both sides. Certain individuals like D. Eisenhower and Szilard were actually against the use of the bomb. Truman’s diaries tend to prove his lack of knowledge as to what type of city Hiroshima was which could make for a good argument. The excerpt from the Japanese Prime Minister shows that he was unwilling to surrender at any cost. As for the photo it gives the students a sense of what Hiroshima looked like, what was the U.S. military objective, and its overall destruction from one bomb.
Essential Questions:
The impact of the atomic bomb on Japan: The deaths, immediate injuries, and the long-term effects of radiation.
What possible options to using the atomic bomb could have been considered? ... Could the leaders of the United States have devised a more humane, less devastating manner of demonstrating the power of the atomic bomb?
Was the use of the atomic bomb excessive? ... Should atomic warfare be considered a war crime?
http://lessons.ctaponline.org/~khuffine/
Lesson Plan:
Instructional Objectives
The students will debate the issues concerning the decision to drop the atomic bomb. They will demonstrate their ability to formulate a persuasive argument verbally as well as through a written report outlining their premise.
A handout on the Truman Speech from August 9, 1945 will be handed out. The teacher will read aloud the speech and afterwards ask the class to draw on prior knowledge about the dropping of the atomic bomb. From their prior knowledge the teacher will ask if there is anything contradicting terms or conditions in Truman’s speech given that day. Then by a show of hands the students agree or disagree with the actual bombing.
Following this the teacher will divide the class into four separate groups. The teacher will instruct the members of each group to choose a leader, a recorder, and a panel of four presenters. Instruct the students that each group will be responsible for presenting a persuasive argument to the class. Each of the presenters will prepare a five minute presentation stating their portion of the topic. Each group will also prepare a counterpoint to another groups' position. The roles need to be rotated so that the leader and the recorder present a portion of the counterpoint. Their goal is to convince the class that their position is the best choice; as an ethical decision and from a military perspective. Two groups will be for and two will be against the bombing. Group one and two will be given the Potsdam Declaration. Group one will be pro dropping the bomb and group two against dropping the bomb. Using the declaration they are to formulate an argument based on their given stance. The same task will go for groups three and four except they will be given the White House Press Release on Hiroshima article.
After formulating an argument for their opinion the students will be expected to come up with furthering evidence to support their claim. The teacher will provide examples of what kind of articles are expected and will better support the groups argument.
After formulating a supportive argument on the pro/cons of dropping the bomb the groups will partake in a debate. Each group will present their position on the ethical decisions surrounding the choice to drop atomic bombs on Japan. During the debate another group will play devils advocate and will counter their arguments. The first presenter should introduce the premise of their group. The next two presenters (or three depending on class size) will present the main points and the last presenter will conclude their opinion. After each position is presented by one of the four presenters, the other group will take their turn countering their position.
http://lessons.ctaponline.org/~khuffine/
Truman Speech, August 9, 1945 (excerpt)
In a radio speech to the nation on August 9, 1945, President Truman called Hiroshima "a military base." It seems likely, considering his July 25 diary entry, that he was not aware that Hiroshima was a city. Otherwise, he was being untruthful about the nature of the target.
Truman delivered his speech from the White House at 10 P.M. Washington time on August 9, 1945. By this time, a second atomic bomb already had destroyed the city of Nagasaki. Because of the great length of the speech, most of which dealt with Germany, only the relevant paragraph is quoted here.
The world will note that the first atomic bomb was dropped on Hiroshima, a military base. That was because we wished in this first attack to avoid, insofar as possible, the killing of civilians. But that attack is only a warning of things to come. If Japan does not surrender, bombs will have to be dropped on her war industries and, unfortunately, thousands of civilian lives will be lost. I urge Japanese civilians to leave industrial cities immediately, and save themselves from destruction.
Source: Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: Harry S. Truman, Containing the Public Messages, Speeches and Statements of the President April 12 to December 31, 1945 (Washington D.C.: United States Government Printing Office, 1961) page 212. The full text also was published in the New York Times, August 10, 1945, page 12.
Statement on the Bombing of Hiroshima
By: Harry S. Truman, President of the United States of America
Date: August 7, 1945
Statement by the President of the United States on the Bombing of Hiroshima
Sixteen hours ago an American airplane dropped one bomb on ____________ and destroyed its usefulness to the enemy. That bomb had more power than 20,000 tons of T.N.T. It had more bomb power than two thousand times the blast power of the British "Grand Slam" which is the largest bomb ever yet used in the history of warfare.
The Japanese began the war from the air at Pearl Harbor. They have been repaid many fold. And the end is not yet. With this bomb we have now added a new and revolutionary increase in destruction to supplement the growing power of our armed forces. In their present form these bombs are now in production and even more powerful forms are in development.
It is an atomic bomb. It is a harnessing of the basic power of the universe. The force from which the sun draws its power has been loosed against those who brought war to the Far East.
Before 1939, it was the accepted belief of scientists that it was theoretically possible to release atomic energy. But no one knew any practical method of doing it. By 1942, however, we knew that the Germans were working feverishly to find a way to add atomic energy to the other engines of war with which they hoped to enslave the world. But they failed. We may be grateful to Providence that the Germans got the V-1Õs and V-2Õs late and in limited quantities and even more grateful that they did not get the atomic bomb at all.
The battle of the laboratories held fateful risks for us as well as the battles of the air, land and sea, and we have now won the battle of the laboratories as we have won the other battles.
Beginning in 1940, before Pearl Harbor, scientific knowledge useful in war was pooled between the United States and Great Britain, and many priceless helps to our victories have come from that arrangement. Under that general policy the research on the atomic bomb was begun. With American and British scientists working together we entered the race of discovery against the Germans.
The United States had available the large number of scientists of distinction in the many needed areas of knowledge. It had the tremendous industrial and financial resources necessary for the project and they could be devoted to it without undue impairment of other vital war work. In the United States the laboratory work and the production plants, on which a substantial start had already been made, would be out of reach of enemy bombing, while at that time Britain was exposed to constant air attack and was still threatened with the possibility of invasion. For these reasons Prime Minister Churchill and President Roosevelt agreed that it was wise to carry on the project here. We now have two great plants and many lesser works devoted to the production of atomic power. Employment during peak construction numbered 125,000 and over 65,000 individuals are even now engaged in operating the plants. Many have worked there for two and a half years. Few know what they have been producing. They see great quantities of material going in and they see nothing coming out of these plants, for the physical size of the explosive charge is exceedingly small. We have spent two billion dollars on the greatest scientific gamble in history -- and won.
But the greatest marvel is not the size of the enterprise, its secrecy, nor its cost, but the achievement of scientific brains in putting together infinitely complex pieces of knowledge held by many men in different fields of science into a workable plan. And hardly less marvellous has been the capacity of industry to design, and of labor to operate, the machines and methods to do things never done before so that the brain child of many minds came forth in physical shape and performed as it was supposed to do. Both science and industry worked under the direction of the United States Army, which achieved a unique success in managing so diverse a problem in the advancement of knowledge in an amazingly short time. It is doubtful if such another combination could be got together in the world. What has been done is the greatest achievement of organized science in history. It was done under high pressure and without failure.
We are now prepared to obliterate more rapidly and completely every productive enterprise the Japanese have above ground in any city. We shall destroy their docks, their factories, and their communications. Let there be no mistake; we shall completely destroy Japan’s power to make war.
It was to spare the Japanese people from utter destruction that the ultimatum of July 26 was issued at Potsdam. Their leaders promptly rejected that ultimatum. If they do not now accept our terms they may expect a rain of ruin from the air, the like of which has never been seen on this earth. Behind this air attack will follow sea and land forces in such numbers and power as they have not yet seen and with the fighting skill of which they are already well aware.
The Secretary of War, who has kept in personal touch with all phases of the project, will immediately make public a statement giving further details.
His statement will give facts concerning the sites at Oak Ridge near Knoxville, Tennessee, and at Richland near Pasco, Washington, and an installation near Santa Fe, New Mexico. Although the workers at the sites have been making materials to be used in producing the greatest destructive force in history they have not themselves been in danger beyond that of many other occupations, for the utmost care has been taken of their safety.
The fact that we can release atomic energy ushers in a new era in man’s understanding of nature’s forces. Atomic energy may in the future supplement the power that now comes from coal, oil, and falling water, but at present it cannot be produced on a basis to compete with them commercially. Before that comes there must be a long period of intensive research.
It has never been the habit of the scientists of this country or the policy of this Government to withhold from the world scientific knowledge. Normally, therefore, everything about the work with atomic energy would be made public.
But under present circumstances it is not intended to divulge the technical processes of production or all the military applications, pending further examination of possible methods of protecting us and the rest of the world from the danger of sudden destruction.
I shall recommend that the Congress of the United States consider promptly the establishment of an appropriate commission to control the production and use of atomic power within the United States. I shall give further consideration and make further recommendations to the Congress as to how atomic power can become a powerful and forceful influence towards the maintenance of world peace.
Potsdam Declaration
Proclamation Defining Terms for Japanese SurrenderIssued, at Potsdam, July 26, 1945
We-the President of the United States, the President of the National Government of the Republic of China, and the Prime Minister of Great Britain, representing the hundreds of millions of our countrymen, have conferred and agree that Japan shall be given an opportunity to end this war.
The prodigious land, sea and air forces of the United States, the British Empire and of China, many times reinforced by their armies and air fleets from the west, are poised to strike the final blows upon Japan. This military power is sustained and inspired by the determination of all the Allied Nations to prosecute the war against Japan until she ceases to resist.
The result of the futile and senseless German resistance to the might of the aroused free peoples of the world stands forth in awful clarity as an example to the people of Japan. The might that now converges on Japan is immeasurably greater than that which, when applied to the resisting Nazis, necessarily laid waste to the lands, the industry and the method of life of the whole German people. The full application of our military power, backed by our resolve, will mean the inevitable and complete destruction of the Japanese armed forces and just as inevitably the utter devastation of the Japanese homeland.
The time has come for Japan to decide whether she will continue to be controlled by those self-willed militaristic advisers whose unintelligent calculations have brought the Empire of Japan to the threshold of annihilation, or whether she will follow the path of reason.
Following are our terms. We will not deviate from them. There are no alternatives. We shall brook no delay.
There must be eliminated for all time the authority and influence of those who have deceived and misled the people of Japan into embarking on world conquest, for we insist that a new order of peace, security and justice will be impossible until irresponsible militarism is driven from the world.
Until such a new order is established and until there is convincing proof that Japan's war-making power is destroyed, points in Japanese territory to be designated by the Allies shall be occupied to secure the achievement of the basic objectives we are here setting forth.
The terms of the Cairo Declaration shall be carried out and Japanese sovereignty shall be limited to the islands of Honshu, Hokkaido, Kyushu, Shikoku and such minor islands as we determine.
The Japanese military forces, after being completely disarmed, shall be permitted to return to their homes with the opportunity to lead peaceful and productive lives.
We do not intend that the Japanese shall be enslaved as a race or destroyed as a nation, but stern justice shall be meted out to all war criminals, including those who have visited cruelties upon our prisoners. The Japanese Government shall remove all obstacles to the revival and strengthening of democratic tendencies among the Japanese people. Freedom of speech, of religion, and of thought, as well as respect for the fundamental human rights shall be established.
Japan shall be permitted to maintain such industries as will sustain her economy and permit the exaction of just reparations in kind, but not those which would enable her to re-arm for war. To this end, access to, as distinguished from control of, raw materials shall be permitted. Eventual Japanese participation in world trade relations shall be permitted.
The occupying forces of the Allies shall be withdrawn from Japan as soon as these objectives have been accomplished and there has been established in accordance with the freely expressed will of the Japanese people a peacefully inclined and responsible government.
We call upon the government of Japan to proclaim now the unconditional surrender of all Japanese armed forces, and to provide proper and adequate assurances of their good faith in such action. The alternative for Japan is prompt and utter destruction.
~~~DWIGHT EISENHOWER
"...in [July] 1945... Secretary of War Stimson, visiting my headquarters in Germany, informed me that our government was preparing to drop an atomic bomb on Japan. I was one of those who felt that there were a number of cogent reasons to question the wisdom of such an act. ...the Secretary, upon giving me the news of the successful bomb test in New Mexico, and of the plan for using it, asked for my reaction, apparently expecting a vigorous assent.
"During his recitation of the relevant facts, I had been conscious of a feeling of depression and so I voiced to him my grave misgivings, first on the basis of my belief that Japan was already defeated and that dropping the bomb was completely unnecessary, and secondly because I thought that our country should avoid shocking world opinion by the use of a weapon whose employment was, I thought, no longer mandatory as a measure to save American lives. It was my belief that Japan was, at that very moment, seeking some way to surrender with a minimum loss of 'face'. The Secretary was deeply perturbed by my attitude..."
- Dwight Eisenhower, Mandate For Change, pg. 380
In a Newsweek interview, Eisenhower again recalled the meeting with Stimson:
"...the Japanese were ready to surrender and it wasn't necessary to hit them with that awful thing."
- Ike on Ike, Newsweek, 11/11/63
~~~LEO SZILARD
(The first scientist to conceive of how an atomic bomb might be made - 1933)
For many scientists, one motivation for developing the atomic bomb was to make sure Germany, well known for its scientific capabilities, did not get it first. This was true for Szilard, a Manhattan Project scientist.
"In the spring of '45 it was clear that the war against Germany would soon end, and so I began to ask myself, 'What is the purpose of continuing the development of the bomb, and how would the bomb be used if the war with Japan has not ended by the time we have the first bombs?".
Szilard quoted in Spencer Weart and Gertrud Weiss Szilard, ed., Leo Szilard: His Version of the Facts, pg. 181.
After Germany surrendered, Szilard attempted to meet with President Truman. Instead, he was given an appointment with Truman's Sec. of State to be, James Byrnes. In that meeting of May 28, 1945, Szilard told Byrnes that the atomic bomb should not be used on Japan. Szilard recommended, instead, coming to an international agreement on the control of atomic weapons before shocking other nations by their use:
"I thought that it would be a mistake to disclose the existence of the bomb to the world before the government had made up its mind about how to handle the situation after the war. Using the bomb certainly would disclose that the bomb existed." According to Szilard, Byrnes was not interested in international control: "Byrnes... was concerned about Russia's postwar behavior. Russian troops had moved into Hungary and Rumania, and Byrnes thought it would be very difficult to persuade Russia to withdraw her troops from these countries, that Russia might be more manageable if impressed by American military might, and that a demonstration of the bomb might impress Russia." Szilard could see that he wasn't getting though to Byrnes; "I was concerned at this point that by demonstrating the bomb and using it in the war against Japan, we might start an atomic arms race between America and Russia which might end with the destruction of both countries.".
Szilard quoted in Spencer Weart and Gertrud Weiss Szilard, ed., Leo Szilard: His Version of the Facts, pg. 184.
Two days later, Szilard met with J. Robert Oppenheimer, the head scientist in the Manhattan Project. "I told Oppenheimer that I thought it would be a very serious mistake to use the bomb against the cities of Japan. Oppenheimer didn't share my view." "'Well, said Oppenheimer, 'don't you think that if we tell the Russians what we intend to do and then use the bomb in Japan, the Russians will understand it?'. 'They'll understand it only too well,' Szilard replied, no doubt with Byrnes's intentions in mind."
Szilard quoted in Spencer Weart and Gertrud Weiss Szilard, ed., Leo Szilard: His Version of the Facts, pg. 185; also William Lanouette, Genius In the Shadows: A Biography of Leo Szilard, pg. 266-267.
Truman Diary Entry
July 25 1945
We met at 11 A.M. today. That is Stalin, Churchill, and the U.S. President. But I had a most important session with Lord Mountbatten and General Marshall before that. We have discovered the most terrible bomb in the history of the world. It may be the fire distruction [destruction] prophesied in the Euphrates Valley Era, after Noah and his fabulous Ark. Anyway we think we have found the way to cause a disintegration of the atom. An experiment in the New Mexican desert was startling--to put it mildly. Thirteen pounds of the explosive caused the complete disintegration of a steel tower 60 feet high, created a crater 6 feet deep and 1200 feet in diameter, knocked over a steel tower 1/2 mile away and knocked men down 10,000 yards away. The explosion was visible for more than 200 miles and audible for 40 miles and more.
This weapon is to be used against Japan between now and August 10th. I have told the Sec. of War, Mr. Stimson to use it so that military objectives and soldiers and sailors are the target and not women and children. Even if the Japs are savages, ruthless, merciless and fanatic, we as the leader of the world for the common welfare cannot drop this terrible bomb on the old Capitol or the new.
He and I are in accord. The target will be a purely military one and we will issue a warning statement asking the Japs to surrender and save lives. I'm sure they will not do that, but we will have given them the chance. It is certainly a good thing for the world that Hitler's crowd or Stalin's did not discover this atomic bomb. It seems to be the most terrible thing ever discovered, but it can be made the most useful.
page 6
At 10:15 I had Gen. Marshall come in and discuss with me the tactical and political situation. He is a level headed man--so is Monuntbalten.
At the conference Poland and the Bolshiriki land grant came up. Russia liked herself to a slice of Poland and gave Poland a nice slice of Germany taking also a good slice of East Prussia for herself. Poland has moved in up to the Oder and the west Nilsse, taking Stettin and Silesia as a fact accomplished. My position is that according to commitments made at Yalta by my predecessor. Germany was to be divided into four occupation zones, one each for Britain, Russia and France and the U.S. If Russia chooses to allow Poland to occupy a part of her zone I am agreeable but title to territory cannot and will not be settled here. For the fourth time I've stated my position and explained that territorial sessions had to be made by treaty and ratified by the Senate.
We discussed reparations and movement of populations from East Germany, Czechoslovakia, Austria, Italy and elsewhere. Churchill said Maisky had so defined war booty as to include the German fleet and Merchant Marine. It was a bomb shell and sort of paralyzed the Ruskies, but it has a lot of merit.
A photo prepared by U.S. Air Intelligence for analytical work on destructiveness of atomic weapons. The total area devastated by the atomic strike on Hiroshima is shown in the darkened area (within the circle) of the photo. The numbered items are military and industrial installations with the percentages of total destruction. (Photo from U.S. National Archives, RG 77-AEC)
1945: Japanese response; backgrounder
Jul 28, 2005, 12:01 am Link by Susan A. Kitchens Category:
· 1945
· History
Where: Tokyo
Who: Prime Minister Suzuki
Local Time: 3:00 pm, July 28
Source: Rhodes (p. 693) Mee (p. 247-248)
Prime Minister Suzuki holds an afternoon press conference to respond to the Potsdam Declaration. He says,
“I believe the Joint Proclamation by the three countries is nothing but a rehash of the Cairo Declaration. As for the Government, it does not find any important value in it and there is no other recourse but to ignore [mokusatsu] it entirely and resolutely fight for the successful conclusion of the war.”
Mee says that some accounts of his statement do not include the final “and resolutely fight for the successful conclusion of the war.” To answer who says what about the phrase, I’d have to go digging into more primary sources.
What does mokusatsu mean? Some translations:
ignore
treat with silent contempt
to kill with silence
“Ignore” is the translation used by the Foreign Broadcast Intelligence Service of the FCC.
Suzuki later [tells] his son that he meant to have it convey the meaning of the English expression, “No comment.”
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