USA HISTORY

The Allies thought about invading Japan, but they worried that too many soldiers would die. President Harry Truman made a very difficult decision to use new ____ against Japan.

(A) kamikaze warfare

(B) United Nations

(C) ** atomic bombs

(D) air power

Concept note-1: -He argued that the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki forced the Japanese to surrender quickly, thus avoiding an invasion that would have cost the lives of thousands of Americans. “I’d do it again, ” Truman often said. Truman’s advisers had focused mainly on the choice between an invasion and dropping the bomb.

Concept note-2: -President Truman authorized the use of the atom bombs in an effort to bring about Japan’s surrender in the Second World War. In the days following the bombings Japan surrendered. The Manhattan Project was the US government program during World War II that developed and built these first atomic bombs.

Concept note-3: -In recent years historians and policy analysts have questioned President Truman’s decision to use the atomic bomb against Japan. For President Truman, the decision was a clear-cut one. In 1945, America was weary of war.

Concept note-4: -Supporters of the bombings generally believe that they prevented an invasion of the Japanese mainland, saving more lives than they took by doing so. Opponents contend, among other arguments, that the bombings were unnecessary to win the war or that they constituted a war crime or genocide.