The Manhattan Project succeeds, The atomic bomb forces surrender.
The Manhattan Project was a turning point in World War II because it led to the surrender of Japan and the end of the war. On July 26th, 1945, the U.S. issued the Potsdam Declaration offering Japan to surrender unconditionally. Two days later, Japan rejected the proposal. Japan was the only great force left in the war and Americans realized they were not going to surrender. Physicist Leo Szilard sent letters to President Truman opposing the use of nuclear weapons on Japan because of the casualties. Contrarily, J.R. Oppenheimer sent letters to Truman supporting the attack on Japan with nuclear weapons. Taking the letters and the bombings on Hawaii into consideration, President Truman decided to drop the atomic bombs on Japan.
On August 6th, 1945, Hiroshima was bombed. The second bomb was scheduled for Kokura, however due to poor weather, the "Fat Man" was dropped on Nagasaki three days after. The bombings caused 150,000 casualties. However, Japan did not surrender immediately. Foreign Minister Togo demanded a meeting with Truman discussing the bombings. There were rumors of dropping a third bomb on Japan, but these rumors were shut down when Truman stated that "It is not to be released on Japan without express authority from the President." Japan surrendered on August 15th, 1945 and had a formal ceremony on September 2nd, 1945 that officially ended the war.
The map (right) shows the damage and death caused by the bombings in Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Of these killed, about 3,000 were Americans trapped in Japan by the war. |