Though the United States was the first nuclear power, it did not stay that way for long. Not only could the Soviets have taken territory from Japan, but they could also have seized territory whilst liberating Manchuria, Korea, and Indo China and worked towards these places being taken over by communist regimes loyal to Moscow. Japanese soldiers were ruthless and would give up their own lives if that meant eliminating a group of Americans. American victory would not be in doubt if Japan was invaded, yet it would have cost possibly several hundred thousand American lives and maybe millions of Japanese dead before that victory was achieved. Without warning, a single nuclear bomb was dropped on the Japanese city of Hiroshima, killing about 90,000 people instantly and injuring many others — who died from radiation sickness soon after. The Soviets and the Japanese were not at war, and were actually adhering to a non-aggression pact signed years earlier. One of Truman’s considerations at the Potsdam Conference was the entry of the Soviet Union into the war against Japan. The Soviets especially were desperate to develop their own nuclear weapons. The city of Nagasaki was attacked with another atomic bomb on August 9, 1945. As nuclear weapons grew ever more powerful and had multiple warheads, the incentives for using them declined even further. Japan's rejection of the demand led to final order to proceed with atomic bombing. The superpowers shared nuclear power generation with some of their allies, yet hoped that these countries would not go on to develop nuclear weapons. Plenty of Japanese people would be willing to fight until the utter destruction of their nation. The Nonnuclear proliferation agreement reached in 1963 meant that nuclear weapons would be held by the superpowers, Britain, France, and China. The British and French regarding being nuclear powers as a means of maintaining their great power status, while the Chinese were seeking to become more powerful and seeking to be free of interference from Moscow. 3. Yet communism would expand in South East Asia as the communists had frequently been the most effective resistance to the Japanese invaders in places like China, Korea, and Indo China. 3. Perhaps more damaging was American support for various factions in Afghanistan fighting against the Soviet invaders. There is always the risk that states like India,  Iran, Israel,  North Korea, or Pakistan could use nuclear weapons, especially if they believed that they could not defend their countries effectively with conventional weapons only. I Yearned To View The World In A Different Perspective. In the past has bombed sites in Iran it believed were taking part in the Iranian development of nuclear weapons. I am sure they will when Manhattan [referring to the Manhattan Project] appears over their homeland.”. The instability of the Middle East in the wake of the Arab Spring led to the emergence of ISIS. ThoughtCo uses cookies to provide you with a great user experience and for our. There were essentially two options, invade and take over, or drop the atomic bomb. The odds were heavily stacked against the Japanese defeating any invasion, yet surrendering was unheard of in their culture. At the time, the Japanese were known for being, what we would call by today’s standards, completely insane. Defense factories tended to be located in or near cities, and would naturally be located not far from housing for many civilian workers. Connect with Google. However, several countries are known to be nuclear powers, namely India, Iran, Israel, North Korea, and Pakistan. Most American citizens believe that bombing Japan was the only option at the time. Though Israel would prefer to defend its borders with conventional weapons, it does have the option to go nuclear if it felt it was the only way to defeat its enemies. The conventional view, going back to the initial press coverage in 1945, was that the use of atomic weapons was justified as it ended a long and very costly war. The Soviets especially were desperate to develop their own nuclear weapons. Atomic bombs are weapons that nobody should want to use again. (“The Decision to Drop the Bomb”) is a conflicting question that the world does not know the exact answer to. By the time the atomic bombs were dropped, the Soviets had only managed to seize the northern Kroll Islands from the Japanese. Dirty bombs are conventional bombs with radioactive materials added. Stalin had his atomic bomb by 1949, courtesy of American scientists leaking nuclear secrets to the KGB.

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