Truman and the A-Bomb

The alternative was an all out invasion of Japan with continued bombing raids. In July 1945, an invasion was being planned by all of the allies. The plan included the United State's Navy whose role was to impose a blockade on Japan to try to strangle them economically into surrender. Then on July 16 the A-bomb was successfully tested. Truman then made his decision to use it unless Japan surrendered. On July 26 Truman, Churchill, and Chiang Kai-shek issued an ultimatum demanding the unconditional surrender of Japan. Japan chose not to surrender at that time. Feelings of a British scientist P.M.S. Blackett were a bit different. He wrote a book titled Fear, War, and the Bomb, in which he said that the United States wanted to end the war with Japan prior to Russia's entrance. Blackett felt that the USA wanted all of the credit for defeating Japan and that we were hoping to deter Russia from invading other lands in an effort to suppress Communism. He feels that the dropping of the bomb was 'the first major operation of the cold diplomatic war with Russia. Also an American historian, Gar Alperovitz, wrote a book titled Atomic Diplomacy. His book contains a diary entry from 28 July 1945 by U.S. Secretary of the Navy James Forrestal that describes Secretary of State James F. Byrnes as 'most anxious to get the Japanese affair over with before the Russians got in'. Also Byrnes' assistant Secretary of State, Walter Brown, has a diary entry that suggests that Truman and Byrnes saw the bomb as a way to reduce Soviet political influence on Asia, particularly China. This was basically saying that in order for Americans to have an advantage over the Russians in getting China that a quarter of a million Japanese had to die. Most of the deceased would probably be women and children. When discussing the decision-making process many people had opinions in favor of the use of the bombs. A secret government advisory group called the Interim Committee on June 1, 1945, recommended to President Truman "that the bomb should be used against Japan as soon as possible; that it should be used on a war plant surrounded by workers' homes; and that it be used without prior warning.