HIST191 Lecture Notes - War Crime, Henry L. Stimson, Potsdam Declaration
6 Mar 2013
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First atomic bomb dropped in wartime little boy . 3 days later, fatman dropped in nagasaki. Half of deaths occurred on death of attacks. New: so much destruction could be accomplished by a single bomb, gave a new sense of fear, mankind had potential to destroy entire world by single button. Harry truman, american president at the time. The only motivation for dropping bombs was to end world quickly and save american lives. Feelings of relief that war was over, led to feelings of guilt over lost japanese lives. They intended to use bomb b/c of high expenses from beginning of research in. Would"ve used it in europe if bomb was finished. Scientists made recommendation to truman to drop bombs on japan in order to end war asap. Urged targets needed to surrounded by houses/other buildings vulnerable to damage (dropping it on inhabitant places, intending there to be victims) Scientists wanted to display power of atomic bomb.
