The Allied Victory

<h1>Text Preview</h1> <p> <P>On April 12, 1945, President Roosevelt died suddenly. Harry S. Truman, vice president for less than three months and untutored in foreign affairs, entered the White House. Truman told reporters that he felt "as if the sun, moon, and the stars" had fallen upon his shoulders, but he was determined to follow through on FDR's vision of a United Nations. Secretary of State Stettinius met in San Francisco with delegates from nearly 50 nations, and signed the U.N. charter on June 26. Unlike the League of Nations, organized following the First World War, the Senate overwhelmingly approved American participation in the United Nations by a vote of 89 to 2. </P> </p> <p> <P>The Allied leaders, including President Truman, gathered for a final time at Potsdam, near Berlin, following the surrender of Germany in early May. On July 17, the first day of the conference, President Truman received a report of the successful testing of the atomic bomb. Several days later, he informed Stalin that the United States had a new weapon of "awesome destructiveness," and the Soviet premier replied that it should be used against the Japanese. In the middle of the conference, Winston Churchill was replaced by Clement Attlee, whose Labor Party won the parliamentary elections. Ernest Bevin succeeded Anthony Eden as foreign secretary.</P> </p> <p> <P>Potsdam was Truman's first meeting with Stalin. The president, with the atomic bomb as his "ace in the hole," vowed to "state frankly what I think." Truman used similarly blunt language in describing the Soviets as "pig-headed." He and his newly appointed secretary of state, James F. Byrnes, no doubt expected to use "atomic diplomacy" to sway the Soviets. The development of the atomic bomb, however, did not guarantee success at Potsdam for the Americans. Stalin, for example, had already arranged with the communist-dominated government of Poland to move the nation's boundary further west to compensate for territory annexed by the Soviet Union. </P> </p> <p> <P>Final plans were drawn up at Potsdam to divide Germany into four zones of occupation, but Truman succeeded in allowing each of the victorious Allies to exact reparations only from their sector. Furthermore, the partitioned nation was to be treated as "a single economic unit," ensuring that a revitalized Germany would contribute to the recovery of war-torn Europe. The Allied leaders agreed to remove all vestiges of Nazism from post-war Germany and hold war crime trials "to bring these criminals to swift and sure justice." Lastly, the Council of Foreign Ministers (including representatives from France and China) was established to settle unresolved territorial issues and draft peace treaties with the defeated powers.</P> </p> <p> <P>On July 26, Truman, Churchill, and Jiang Jieshi (Chiang Kai-shek) signed the Potsdam Declaration, which repeated the call for the unconditional surrender of Japan. Stalin did not participate because the Soviets were not yet a belligerent in the Pacific war. Without mentioning the atomic bomb, the Declaration warned that the "alternative [to surrender] for Japan is prompt and utter destruction." Thousands of leaflets subsequently were dropped over Japanese cities calling for unconditional surrender, but military commanders held out hope that the Soviet Union could be persuaded to arrange a diplomatic settlement. </P> </p> <p> <P>President Truman viewed the Japanese diplomatic maneuvering as a rejection of the unconditional surrender terms, and on his journey back to the United States, gave the final order to drop the atomic bomb. Truman was certainly aware of the political ramifications of atomic warfare. Attacking Japan enabled the United States to demonstrate the awesome force of the new weapon and keep Soviet military participation in the Pacific theater negligible, ensuring American domination of the peace negotiations. Truman also considered the surprise attack on Pearl Harbor in making his decision. </P> </p> <p> <P>On August 6, 1945, four days after the Potsdam Conference ended, the <i>Enola Gay</i>, a B-29 captained by Colonel Paul Tibbets, lifted off from Tinian with an atomic bomb nicknamed "Little Boy." The five-ton bomb was released over Hiroshima, Japan's eighth largest city and headquarters for the Second General Army. The destruction was devastating; about 80,000 people were killed and "the whole city was ruined instantaneously." Three days later, Nagasaki was virtually destroyed by the second atom bomb and another 35,000 were killed. Between the two bombs, precisely three months after Germany's surrender, the Soviet Union declared war on Japan and marched troops into Manchuria. </P> </p> <p> <P>On August 10, after conferring with Emperor Hirohito, the Japanese government agreed to surrender although they insisted on retaining the emperor's role following the war. Secretary of State Byrnes ambiguously replied that "the authority of the Emperor" would be decided in surrender terms dictated by the "Supreme Commander of the Allied powers." The formal surrender took place on September 2, in Tokyo Bay aboard the battleship <i>Missouri</i>. General Douglas MacArthur presided over the ceremonies. As the Supreme Commander of the Allied occupation forces, MacArthur was instrumental in guiding Japan through the establishment of a constitutional democracy in which women—as well as the emperor—played significant roles.</P> </p> <p> <P>The controversy over the decisions made by the Allied leaders at the Yalta and Potsdam Conferences intensified as time passed, but President Truman's decision to drop the atomic bombs immediately drew mixed reactions. Critics argued that he should have pursued other military options, including waiting for the Soviet Union to join the fight and implementing a naval blockade of the home islands. Others claimed Truman should have demonstrated to Japanese observers the destructive force of the new weapon in a staged exhibition on a remote target. <br></P> <P>Supporters of the president's decision to drop the bombs argued that the alternatives were not realistic. Japanese hardliners would never surrender as long as they could resist, as evidenced by the <i>kamikaze </i>tactics employed late in the war. Additionally, there was only enough material to build two bombs, and a demonstration might not work as planned. Ultimately, an invasion of the home islands would be launched with a horrific loss of life on both sides. Truman's military advisers estimated that American casualties would be in the hundreds of thousands, in addition to the 100,000 prisoners of war held by the Japanese. Total casualty figures, including Allied and Japanese losses, were estimated as high as one million. </P> </p> <p> <P>Truman ultimately authorized the bombings based on what he perceived as military necessity. He was convinced the Japanese would fight fanatically—like "savages"—to protect their homeland. He later declared that he viewed the "bomb as a military weapon and never had any doubt that it should be used." Nonetheless, President Truman understood that the impact of atomic warfare far exceeded its geographic targets. The nuclear age had dawned. </P> </p> <p id="TextCopyright">Copyright 2006 The Regents of the University of California and Monterey Institute for Technology and Education</p>