Examing the Factors That Led To Dropping the Atomic Bomb...

To fully examine the factors that led to the United States to drop an atomic bomb on the city of Nagasaki, one can look at the event as a result of two major decisions. The first decision concerned the use of newly developed nuclear weapons in lieu of other military techniques to secure a timely Japanese surrender. The second decision was to use several of these weapons instead of only one. Although the Truman administration displayed little hesitation or ambivalence over the decision to use atomic weapons (Walker, 51), it is important to examine what factors contributed to these swift actions. It was believed that dropping an atomic bomb on Nagasaki would resolve a number of problems in a simpler fashion than prolonging the†¦show more content†¦Many of these could have been achieved by using only one bomb, but the United States chose to use two. In the case of Japan, the purpose of the first bomb was to show the destruction that a single weapon could cause. (Walker, 60) The second bomb was intended to give the impression that the United States had an arsenal of these weapons, and that Harry Trumans threat of â€Å"utter destruction† was not an idle one (Walker, 79). *need to come up with a new point for this paragraph. Not only would the use of multiple bombs give the impression of an arsenal to the Japanese, but the rest of the world would be led to believe that the United States had multiple weapons at its disposal (cite). Using multiple bombs showed the rest of the world that the United States developed the technology to create multiple successful bombs (Walker, 56). Regardless of whether the United States had an existing arsenal of nuclear weapons ready to deploy after the bomb was dropped on Nagasaki, the United States possessed the resources and ability to produce multiple weapons for future use. This was particularly important regarding the relationship between the United States and the USSR, because it emphasized the fate that awaited anyone who chose to become an enemy of the United States. Although the United States had certain intentions in mind when the choice was made to use the atomic bombs, the aftermath proved that the use of the bombs did not