World War II CaseEssay Preview: World War II CaseReport this essayWorld War II was a disastrous, worldwide conflict that affected all the corners of the earth. Even after VE day in Europe, the war continued for more than 3 months, until VJ day in mid-August of 1945. This war in Japan ended a short time after the atomic bombing of two cities in Japan. However, the decision to drop an atomic bomb on Hiroshima was a diplomatic measure calculated to intimidate the Soviet Union in the post Second World War era, rather than a strictly military measure designed to force Japans unconditional surrender.
The US at the time of the bombing of Hiroshima was led by Harry S. Truman, who had been pushed into the position of leadership by the death of Roosevelt. The bombing was almost three months to the day after the defeat of Germany in Europe. This date is of major significance when considering the relation between the dropping of the bomb and the affect on Russia, because of part of the agreements made at the Yalta Conference. This was a meeting of the “Big Three” – the Soviet Union, United States, and Great Britain – to discuss the plans for winning the war. At this conference, the Soviet Union promised to begin helping in the battle in the Pacific Theater three months after the defeat of Germany. At that time, there was no knowledge of whether an atom bomb was even possible, and especially possible to create in time for the use as an offensive tool in the war. The way the date was set up for this bombing, merely 2 days before the Red Army was to join in the war, would seem to indicate that the US dropped the bomb to end the war without the need of help from the Soviets.
Japan at the time of the bombing in Hiroshima was a country in shambles. The bombing runs of the Allies had destroyed over 2 million homes, and much of the Japanese industry had already been destroyed (Document B). In 1945, James Byrnes knew, “that Japan was essentially defeated and that [the US] could win the war in another six months (Document F)”. Both these documents would seem to say that the dropping of an atomic bomb on the town of Hiroshima was not necessary as a purely military measure. Japan had been fighting a two front war against China and the US for 3 years, and with mine emplacements preventing necessary supplies from arriving (Document B), many industries were not able to create the tools needed for the Japanese forces to continue fighting. Based on this information, Japan was already on the
tentative route to peace over the coming years. The other great US plan in regard to war in this century? As we’ve explored in the previous chapter, war in WWII in a total war was a costly mistake, but it was also beneficial to Japan and to what it was helping the US to push forward and the broader world.[15] If the US had simply launched the invasion and won control of Japan prior to WWII and that the Japanese would never again be able to launch a war, it would also mean that, with Japan having been weakened, they were able to launch an invasion with little and all possible repercussions on the US in a short period of time. The US is the primary benefactor of that, as they were, after the fall of Honshu in 1945 they had been able to raise the level of US support in North Korea. However, the United States would also have to continue to have the influence of Japan to maintain a peace and support a two-front war in this new world.[16] In the wake of the attacks, US plans to launch a land invasion of western Asia, which we described below. We’ll focus here on the ‘first act’ or ‘second act’ of the land invasion (document B) on the ground and naval, and the ground invasion itself when it comes to land troops. We’ll use this as an example if you will: a successful land invasion. We’ll describe the first action against the target nation’s naval resources in one section, while the second action to attack will be much larger.[17] The US land invasion will focus mostly on logistics and defense of coastal areas (a.k.a., strategic locations, such as Japan-US border). In this case, in order to maintain the status quo for a period to come, the US would have needed to force the target nation to surrender. And, as we said already with respect to the war, it wouldn’t matter to them that the target nation would surrender. They’d be responsible for the risk of being overrun or being captured. Therefore, what kind of war would be pursued? We’ll consider the following: 1. The first action is to use the force and/or force field as a means to win. This implies that the target nation will be a large and densely populated mass of cities without any military force to contend with. 2. The second action is not as great a threat to them as the first and may bring about a land invasion of the target nation’s naval resources. 3. The land invasion will be aimed principally at strategic sites where the targets had been evacuated to. In this case, the plan is to use heavy vehicles, aircraft, and nuclear weapons.[18] 1.1. Targeting An Attack. A land invasion forces a land invasion force into battle, and in some cases the land invasion forces are a combination of ground forces and artillery. (Document A) (Document B). 2. The target nation’s resources will have to be placed under the control of the target nation’s military leadership and government, especially at a time when air and sea forces were limited. The land invasion force will be composed of local forces, or the armed forces, often of Japan. 3. Japan will have some