On Thursday April 23, 2020 from 11 AM to 12 PM, I attended the webinar series lecture titled “OPCSN: First use of nuclear weapons: Key issues for educators in understanding the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki August 6 and 9, 1945.” I had the privilege of hearing Dr. Tanya Maus discuss the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki during World War II, including what went into the United States’s decision to drop the bombs and the events that occured with nuclear warfare following the bombings.
In the discussion, I learned more about what went into the decision to the United States developing nuclear weapons in the Manhattan Project. During the discussion, I learned that the original goal of the Manhattan Project was to attack Germany instead of Japan. The United States was concerned that Germany would develop their own nuclear weapon, but then decided to turn their focus to Japan as the war continued on and the German Reich was falling apart. Once the United States decided to focus their attention to Japan, the next phase in the plan was choosing targets to drop the nuclear weapons on. The people in charge of deciding on which Japanese cities would be the targets were looking for cities with dense urban populations, industry, and a large military capacity. At first, Kyoto was the number one target because of its large urban population. Bombing Kyoto would hit the heart of Japanese cultural and historical developments, likely leading to a quick end to the war. However, they ultimately decided upon Hiroshima and Nagosaki due to the industry there and their large military capacity, not for their dense urban population.
Another interesting fact that I learned from the discussion was throughout the night before the bombing on Hiroshima took place, the United States was conducting aerial bombings on other Japanese cities. Many people argue that the United States could have continued with these bombings and the Japanese would have eventually surrendered, leaving no need to use the nuclear weapons. However, why the United States decided to drop the weapons involves multiple factors. Firstly, because of the large momentum and budget for the Manhattan project, there was a large push for the use of them. Secondly, the American public was growing wary of the war and the administration wanted it to end and many worried that the war would continue raging on if they were not used. Lastly, if the United States decided not to use the weapons and the American public found out, the Truman administration would face harsh backlash and they did not want that.
I am glad that I had the opportunity to and attended this discussion. I learned a great deal about what went into the nuclear bombings of Hiroshima and Nagosaki. Learning about the use of nuclear weapons can be applied to today’s times as countries around the world are trying to denuclearize North Korea and limit Iran’s nuclear weapon capability.