Download While at Potsdam, President Truman learned that an atomic device

“I have become death, the destroyer of worlds.”: Ending the War in the Pacific
It is May 31, 1945, Nazi Germany surrendered in May, and you have been serving as a part of President Truman’s Interim
Committee. This group is comprised of military leaders, scientists, and politicians and is charged with discussing the
options regarding ending the war in the Pacific against the Japanese. You will be participating in a roundtable debate on
what to do to end the war in the Pacific. As you prepare for your meeting to discuss the options for ending the
war in the Pacific, remind yourself of the five main issues facing the United States:
1. American Military Casualties: By late July of 1945, U.S. forces in World War Two have already suffered
more than one million casualties (killed+ wounded+ missing in action). American prisoners of war (POWs)
being held by the Japanese are being starved and tortured. American patience is running thin as events such as
the surprise attack on Pearl Harbor, the bloody Battan Death March, and vicious fighting on Islands like Iwo
Jima, Pelieu, Okinawa have led to thousands of American Deaths. The Japanese government has announced its
intention to execute all Allied pilots it captures. The potential for a massive increase in casualties is
dramatically higher if the United States must invade the Japanese home island. The chief advocate of the
invasion was the Army's chief of staff, General George C. Marshall. He believed that democracies could not
endure long wars, and that the best way to end this one quickly was to occupy the Japanese capital. President
Truman met with the Joint Chiefs and other senior advisers in June 1945 to review the initial invasion plans.
Estimates for U.S. losses on Kyushu ranged from as low as 31,000 for just the first thirty days, to a total of
about 280,000-2 million casualties.
2. American Policy of Unconditional Surrender: The United States and its allies have demanded that
the Axis Powers (Germany, Italy, and Japan) surrender without any terms. Germany and Italy have done so,
and the same is expected of Japan. The demand for a surrender without conditions was desired to reassure the
Soviet Union that Britain and the United States would not negotiate a separate peace with Germany, to
persuade the American people that the war was a struggle between good and evil—and no compromise would
be made with evil—and to avoid the failed Treaty of Versailles that ended the Great War.
3. Managing emerging problems with the Soviet Union: The uneasy wartime alliance with the Soviets
has begun to unravel. The United States and the Soviet Union are battling over the fate of many Eastern
European nations such as Poland and Germany. Also, the Soviets promised to join the war against Japan three
months after Germany was defeated, but now the Truman administration was worried that the Soviets might
sign a separate treaty with Japan or demand land in Asia. This could result in a communist influence in the
region.
4. Negotiations: The Japanese entered into negotiations with the Soviet Union hoping to either keep them
out of the war or to secure favorable surrender terms allowing them to avoid post-war occupation and to keep
their emperor. In addition, Americans were negotiating with the Japanese. The issue was over retention of the
emperor. The United States has demanded an unconditional surrender, but the Japanese demand that they be
allowed to retain their emperor as the nation’s leader.
5. Uphold the decisions at Potsdam: In July of 1945, President Truman met with Soviet Premier Joseph
Stalin and Prime Minister Winston Churchill of England. They met in Potsdam, Germany to discuss issues
related to the end of the war. The result of this meeting was the Potsdam Declaration which:
 Reiterated the desire for the unconditional surrender of Japan
 The Soviet Union pledged to intervene in the war in Asia, and will declare war on Japan on August 8th
and launch an attack on the same day.
 Japan would be occupied by the allies, their government reconstituted, and its military disbanded
 Ordered the Japanese to accept unconditional surrender or suffer "prompt and utter destruction"
While at Potsdam, President Truman learned that an atomic device had been successfully detonated in
the New Mexico desert. The Manhattan Project, begun in 1942, was led by scientist J. Robert Oppenheimer
and General Leslie Groves. It employed 600,000 Americans in Washington, Chicago, New Mexico, and
Tennessee, and spent $20 billion on the development of the technology. The entire project was completed
secretly, and was even hidden from President Truman when he was FDR’s Vice President.
Option 4:
“Operation DOWNFALL”: A Full Scale Invasion
of the Japanese Homeland
The Japanese people have not yet been defeated militarily. The Japanese have fought a
merciless war of aggression and they neither deserve nor expect mercy. In light of the sneak
attack on Pearl Harbor, the Bataan Death March, and the torture and executing of allied
prisoners, no Japanese leader can be considered willing to compromise or surrender. As a
nation we must defeat the Japanese on the field of battle and accept their unconditional
surrender.
The main American strategy has been to hop from island to island (called, islandhopping) in the Pacific, defeat the Japanese and force them to retreat to their home island.
This series of defeats would force the Japanese to either defend their island from invasion or
surrender unconditionally. In the spring and summer of 1945, the United States took the war
to the main island of Japan utilizing a newly developed weapon: napalm. The incendiary
bombs were filled with napalm -- gasoline in a jelly form. When the bombs hit their targets
the napalm spread quickly, causing fire after fire. Japanese cities were mostly made out of
wood and paper, so the fires created infernos Escape was difficult, if not impossible.
Incendiaries targeted Tokyo for more than two hours. On March 10, 1945, flying in darkness
at low altitudes, more than 300 B-29s dropped close to a quarter of a million incendiary
bombs over Tokyo. Sixteen square miles of the densely populated city had been reduced to
ash. From 83,000 to as many as 100,000 Japanese civilians perished in the firestorm. We
have taken the war to the shores of the Japanese home islands and it is now time to finish the
job by invading.
By November 1945 the United States military will be able to launch an invasion of the
Japanese Home Islands. The invasion of Japan, known as “Operation Downfall”, includes two
planned invasions (Olympic and Coronet), and is scheduled for November 1, 1945 (X-Day).
Planning for the invasion began earlier in the year before the successful test of the atomic
weapon. Operation Downfall would be the largest amphibious effort of the war that is
expected to last at least three months and involve anywhere from 15,000 to 1,00,000
American casualties. If Phase one of the plan does not force the Japanese to surrender
unconditionally, then in March of 1946, phase two (Operation CORONET) would carry out an
invasion of Tokyo and the industrial heart of Japan. Only through direct military invasion can
the United States defeat the Japanese empire. We must not risk any further delay.
Negotiations are endless; the atomic bomb technology is untested. Invasion is the only
reliable and effective method for securing the unconditional surrender of the Japanese.
It is too late for negotiations. The emperor of Japan must not be allowed to remain as a
divine symbol of Japan’s military conquests. The Emperor must be removed from power and
be replaced with a more democratic form of government. Because the Japanese government is
divided between the militarists that want to fight to the end and the more moderate factions
that are suing for peace, negotiations could drag on for months.
Memo
TO: POTUS
FROM:
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RE: Ending the War in the pacific
DATE: May 1, 1945
I have reviewed the 4 options available to the United States. Here is a short summary of each option:
Option1:
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Option2:
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Option3:
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Option4:
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It is my conclusion that the United States should ____________________________________________.
The reasons I think this option is a good idea are:
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The reasons this option is better than the other options are:
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