Causes Of The Arms Race

In addition to the desire to end the war and thus the casualties to the American troops, Truman had other reasons for considering the approval of the atomic attacks. Truman was enlightened by Secretary of War Henry L. Stimson in a meeting on April 25, 1945 on the capability of the bomb, and the enormous expense incurred in developing it. This was one reason that Truman’s conclusion was to use the bomb against Japan, as there had to be a justifiable explanation for the expense incurred. Also, if he had not employed the use of the atomic bomb, he would not be able to justify to the American people why he had chosen not to do so, as there were so many American lives lost. It was alleged after the

President Truman's decision to drop the atomic bomb on the cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki were the direct cause for the end of World War II in the Pacific. The United States felt it was necessary to drop the atomic bombs on these two cities or it would suffer more casualties. Not only could the lives of many soldiers have been taken, but possibly the lives of many innocent Americans. The United States will always try to avoid the loss of American civilians at all costs, even if that means taking lives of another countries innocent civilians.

When President Truman authorized the use of two nuclear weapons in 1945 against the Japanese in the cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki to end World War II, the nature of international security was changed irreversibly. At that time, the United States had what was said to have a monopoly of atomic bombs. Soon thereafter, the Soviet Union began working on atomic weaponry. In 1949, it had already detonated it first atomic bomb and tensions began to heat up between the two countries. With the information that the Soviets had tested their first bomb, the United States began work on more powerful weapons1, and a fight for nuclear superiority had begun.

In a memorandum to President Truman from Secretary of War Henry Stimson in an eye opening statement said; “Within four months we shall in all probability have completed the most terrible weapon ever known in human history, one bomb which could destroy a whole city.” Did Truman not have a heart, knowing those that would be caught up in the collateral damage of war would be non-combatants? Is it adventitious to think Truman would have entertained other venues of peace with the delivery of such a statement? Not only did Secretary Stimson think that the proposed dropping of the bomb was not within the moral arena of thought, others too voiced their opinions on the subject to the President. General Groves Secretary of the Army painted a bleak picture that predicted a desolate civilization to Truman in a statement he made. “Atomic energy if controlled by the major peace-loving nations

The decision to drop the atomic bomb, made by President Truman, was largely influenced by political factors rather than military factors. Traditionalist historians argue from the military perspective that the bomb was used to end the war as quickly as possible and with as minimal causalities as possible. Revisionist historians, on the other hand, argue the political perspective where they believe that the bomb was dropped as a diplomatic tool to intimidate the rising superpower that was the Soviet Union. In 1945, there was little reason to doubt the traditionalist perspective; however, in retrospect, with the evidence now gathered and available, it was very likely there were other strategic reasons that played a larger role in the decision Truman had made. By observing the historical timeline, the Cold War began shortly after World War II. Truman was aware of the rising power of the USSR and the threat of the spread of communism into Europe and Asia. The fear of this threat was what likely influenced him and Congress to use the bomb more so than the desire to end the war more efficiently.

The last way that we were affected by the Cold War was the fear of losing. When the Soviet satellite, Sputnik, was launched we poured our education funding into science and math to catch up to Russia in the Space Race. We hoped that this would help us win the Space Race (document 6). When the Vietnam war started, we created a draft to put every eligible man over the age of 18 in a draft. This was to help us assure a win in the war with more manpower (document

After WWII, the United States had devastated Japan by unleashing two atomic bombs. The shock and fear these weapons invoked in countries such as, Russia, caused a panic. The United States started an “arms race”. The Soviets had the fear of America using the devastating weapon on their home country; creating new weapons to rival the United States (Document A). With this new threat, American leaders started a global mission to end communism. The Soviets made attempts to spread its communism to developing countries, allowing them to have access to new resources. The United States formulated plan to extend military force and financial aid to other European countries (Document D).

“The Evil Empire” — that is what, at the height of the arms race, United States President Ronald Reagan called the Soviet Union (Rudolph 1). Unsurprisingly, the Soviet Union was similarly upset at the United States. This anger is what fueled the arms race. During the Cold War, due to fears of nuclear attack, the US and Soviet Union designed and deployed thousands of nuclear warheads, each hoping to deter the other from nuclear launch with threat of counter attack (O’Neal 1). This massive arms buildup, however, had many negative effects on the US. To recognize the impact that the arms race continues to have on today, it is crucial to understand not only its causes, but also its immediate impacts on the US economy, society, foreign

After the Second World War, the United States and the Soviet Union emerged as superpowers and subsequently a period of tension and hostility arose, known as the Cold War. During this time, a new possibility of complete nuclear destruction that would claim the lives of many emerged, therefore “the easing or relaxing of tensions” on both sides was needed, this period would be known as detente. Both countries had been guaranteed mutually assured destruction as they had both managed to stay ahead in the development of nuclear arsenals. By the late 1960s the Soviets had surpassed the United States in intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBM) by 1,300 to 1,054. Although the U.S was still ahead

It was the Cold War, causing the space race and the arms race between America and Soviet Russia since 1947. In its midst the Cold War changed the United States dramatically, ranging from political to social problems all around the country.

After experiencing this Truman ought to have been more restrained regarding the use of the weapon; particularly when he stated it would be detonated on a military target not a civilian target. However, it was obvious that both targeted cities Hiroshima and Nagasaki were industrialized cities with large populations that would lead to many civilians being killed (Fogelman, 145). In addition, the United States did not look at the treat that the radiation from the bomb posed on civilians.

Shortly after Truman was put into office, he dropped two separate bombs on Japan, specifically on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. The war in the ETO was already finished but the US had to end the war against Japan, who wouldn't surrender as it would cause their people to feel dishonoured in their government but if they didn’t surrender, they would lose everything to an unconditioned surrender. The past can’t be changed but that doesn’t change whether Truman was justified on dropping the bombs on Japan.

When Russia detonated its first atomic weapon, America advantage of having war was over because the fears over the consequences of nuclear conflict. Later West Germany was

President Truman's decision to drop the atomic bomb on the cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki were the direct cause for the end of World War II in the Pacific. The United States felt it was necessary to drop the atomic bombs on these two cities or it would suffer more casualties. Not only could the lives of many soldiers have been taken, but possibly the lives of many innocent Americans. The United States will always try to avoid the loss of American civilians at all costs, even if that means taking lives of another countries innocent civilians.

World War II end it, while the Cold War just started. As an old realist like Niccolò Machiavelli would say “the end justifies the means.” The thinker would had agree with President’s Truman decision if only Japan would had been stronger and ready to keep on fighting and a an outcome of understanding would had come out. The poor excused, if payed attention, if Japan does not provide absolute surrender, although its people have sworn loyalty to the Emperor at that time, they would be attack. United States officials Byrnes and Baruh influenced Truman in using Japan, although he denies it, as an experiment arena for the atomic bombs. David McCullough wrote a biography of Truman and he mention how the Secretary of State, Stettinius was truly not an expert of foreign policy and did not know what he was doing.