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Imported_Aussie · 12-30-2010, 10:00 PM

dropping the A-bomb was a "kill two birds with one stone" approach.
1. Force the Japanese to surrender without expense of allied (US and Australian) lives
2. Send a message to the Soviets

A lot of people underrate #2, but the Soviets had reached all the way to Berlin, meeting the Allies in the middle. They were also the growing power in the region and also as a communist state, were the next logical threat to the west, ideologically and militarily. Dropping the A-bomb on Japan said to the Soviets - we can do this to anybody, don't provoke us. The Japanese would not quit, and there was no alternative so swift as the A-bomb. The need to spare lives is part of it, the other part was to avoid prolonging the war whilst the Soviets postured in Eastern Europe and gained more power whilst the US was too distracted to reply. This is why the Cold War ensued after World War II, and a series of proxy wars sprung up, but never the clash of the two titans - the Pacific front was closed both quickly and forcefully in the demonstration of the capabilities of the US atomic program, which set the tone for the next 40-45 years.

12-30-2010, 10:00 PM	#120
Imported_Aussie First Line Centre Join Date: Sep 2008 Exp:	dropping the A-bomb was a "kill two birds with one stone" approach. 1. Force the Japanese to surrender without expense of allied (US and Australian) lives 2. Send a message to the Soviets A lot of people underrate #2, but the Soviets had reached all the way to Berlin, meeting the Allies in the middle. They were also the growing power in the region and also as a communist state, were the next logical threat to the west, ideologically and militarily. Dropping the A-bomb on Japan said to the Soviets - we can do this to anybody, don't provoke us. The Japanese would not quit, and there was no alternative so swift as the A-bomb. The need to spare lives is part of it, the other part was to avoid prolonging the war whilst the Soviets postured in Eastern Europe and gained more power whilst the US was too distracted to reply. This is why the Cold War ensued after World War II, and a series of proxy wars sprung up, but never the clash of the two titans - the Pacific front was closed both quickly and forcefully in the demonstration of the capabilities of the US atomic program, which set the tone for the next 40-45 years. Last edited by Imported_Aussie; 12-30-2010 at 10:04 PM.