The Use of The Atomic Bomb, 1945: Assignment Model: A2 Coursework AQA History Modern World B by MR RJ Huggins

By Mr Huggins www.SchoolHistory.co.
uk
The Use of the Atomic

Bomb,
1945
Assignment Model: A2
Coursework
AQA History
Modern World B
By Mr RJ Huggins
1
Target: Evaluation of sources for their utility
(AQ 6.2 with AO 6.1)
1. How useful are Sources A and B to explain why President Truman ordered
the dropping of the atomic bombs on Japan in 1945?
Source A: James Byrne, US Secretary of State, speaking in 1945.
Any weapon that would bring an end to the war and save a million casualties
among American boys was justified, and we were talking about people who
hadn’t hesitated at Pearl Harbor to make a sneak attack destroying not only
ships but the lives of many American sailors. I would have been satisfied had
the Russians determined not to enter the war against Japan. I believed the A-
bomb would be successful and would force the Japanese to accept surrender on
our terms. I feared what would happen when the Red Army entered Manchuria.
Source B: An extract from The Roots of European Security by the Russian

historian Vadim Nekrasov, 1984.
Officially the Americans claimed that the bombings on Hiroshima and

Nagasaki was aimed at bringing the end of the war nearer and avoiding
unnecessary bloodshed and casualties. But they had entirely different
objectives. The purpose of the bombings was to intimidate other countries,
above all the Soviet Union. In other words the US decision to use atomic
energy for military purposes was meant to produce a diplomatic and
psychological impact, and this has since involved the world in a nuclear arms
race.
2
Target: Evaluation of sources for their
reliability (AOs 6.1, 6.2 & 6.3)
2. How reliable is Source C to an historian why the Americans dropped the

Atomic Bomb on the Japanese in 1945?
Source C: an extract from Sanity –the voice of CND (the Campaign for
Nuclear Disarmament), 1985.
The Japanese were on the verge of surrender. General Groves, the engineer
director of the atom bomb project was desperate to try the bomb. The military
equipment was available and had been developed at a cost of $2,000 million.
It would have been difficult to justify not using it after such a vast financial
investment. Truman was very impressed with what he heard and believed the
bomb should be used. For some reason the scientists failed to mention the
long-term dangers of radiation.
3
Target: Evaluation of an interpretation for
sufficiency (AOS 6.1, 6.2 & 6.3)
3. ‘Truman was fully justified in dropping the atomic bombs on Japan to end
the war in the Pacific.’ Is there sufficient evidence in Sources A to J
support this interpretation? Use the Sources and your own knowledge to
explain your answer.
Source D: Letter from Truman to Irv Kupcinet, August 5, 1963

HARRY S. TRUMAN
INDEPENDENCE, MISSOURI
August 5, 1963
Dear Kup:
I appreciated most highly your column of July 30th, a copy of which you sent me.
I have been rather careful not to comment on the articles that have been written
on the dropping of the bomb for the simple reason that the dropping of the bomb
was completely and thoroughly explained in my Memoirs, and it was done to
save 125,000 youngsters on the American side and 125,000 on the Japanese side
from getting killed and that is what it did. It probably also saved a half million
youngsters on both sides from being maimed for life.
You must always remember that people forget, as you said in your column, that
the bombing of Pearl Harbor was done while we were at peace with Japan and
trying our best to negotiate a treaty with them.
All you have to do is to go out and stand on the keel of the Battleship in Pearl
Harbor with the 3,000 youngsters underneath it who had no chance whatever of
saving their lives. That is true of two or three other battleships that were sunk in
Pearl Harbor. Altogether, there were between 3,000 and 6,000 youngsters killed
at that time without any declaration of war. It was plain murder.
I knew what I was doing when I stopped the war that would have killed a half
million youngsters on both sides if those bombs had not been dropped. I have no
regrets and, under the same circumstances, I would do it again - and this letter is
not confidential.
Sincerely yours,
Harry Truman
Mr. Irv Kupcinet
Chicago Sun-Times
Chicago, Illinois
4
Source E: An extract from The Collins Encyclopaedia of Military History,
1993.
No one knows how long a fanatical Japan could have continued the war if the
bombs had not been dropped. It is clear that these weapons combined with Soviet
entry into the war, convinced the Japanese Emperor and Government that further
resistance was hopeless.
Source F: An extract from President Truman’s memoirs, 1958.
All of us realised that the fighting would be fierce and the looses heavy. General
Marshall told me it might cost half a million American lives.
Source G: An Allied prisoner of war in Japan speaking after the war – from
The Emperor’s Guest, by Fletcher Cooke, 1972.
There is no doubt in my mind that these atomic bombs saved many more lives than
the tens of thousands that they had killed. They saved the lives of tens of
thousands of Japanese – for, let there be no mistake, if the Emperor had decided to
fight on, the Japanese would have fought to the last man.
Source H: Secretary to the Japanese war cabinet speaking in 1974.
At that time the army felt it would be a great shame to surrender. The A-bomb
sacrificed many people other than military men. This provided us with an excuse –
to stop the war to save innocent civilians. If the A-bomb had not been dropped we
would have had great difficulty finding a good reason to end the war.
Source I: American scientist advising the government, June 1945
A demonstration of the bomb might best be made on the desert or on a barren

island. Japan could then be asked to surrender.
Source J: Henry Stimson, American Secretary for War, writing in 1945.
A demonstration in an uninhabited area was not regarded as likely to make Japan

surrender. There was the danger of the test being a dud. Also we had no bombs to
waste.

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By Mr Huggins www.SchoolHistory.co.

The Use of the Atomic

Source A: James Byrne, US Secretary of State, speaking in 1945.

Source B: An extract from The Roots of European Security by the Russian

Officially the Americans claimed that the bombings on Hiroshima and

2. How reliable is Source C to an historian why the Americans dropped the

Source D: Letter from Truman to Irv Kupcinet, August 5, 1963

Source F: An extract from President Truman’s memoirs, 1958.

Source H: Secretary to the Japanese war cabinet speaking in 1974.

Source I: American scientist advising the government, June 1945

A demonstration of the bomb might best be made on the desert or on a barren

Source J: Henry Stimson, American Secretary for War, writing in 1945.

A demonstration in an uninhabited area was not regarded as likely to make Japan

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