The Atomic Bomb: The Only Way to End the War?

In Richard B. Frank’s book, Downfall: The End of the Imperial Japanese Empire, he discusses the options that the American military had to end the war in the spring and summer of 1945. Frank also discusses the issues and influences of the decision-making process. As well as the reason, why the American military actually chose to unleash atomic power as a war-winning weapon when America had already used means that were more “conventional” that drastically reduced the Japanese Empire. Frank’s opinion in his book has led to many controversial debates from many people.

Richard B. Frank states in his introduction of Ending the Pacific War: History and Fantasy that, “In the spring of 1945, the JCS (Joint Chiefs of Staff) forged a military strategy that merged two diametrically opposing visions into an unstable compromise.” The unstable compromise was between the United States Naval leader, Fleet Admiral Ernest King and Unites States Army leader, George C. Marshall. King’s vision of ending the war was through blockade and bombardment. This would follow by strong aerial attack from land and sea, which was King’s area of expertise throughout the war in the Pacific. The reason why King’s vision was this way was also that he believed the Japanese would continue to be able to produce enough armed forces to stop all of the United States ground forces thus resulting in a prolonged war and many unnecessary casualties. Similar to King’s tendencies, Marshall invested all of his vision into his area of expertise that was ground forces and little of his vision of attack through the air. Marshall believed that if he attacked the small chain of islands throughout Japan he would force the Japanese people to retreat and eventually surrender because o...

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...eaders felt the need to use the bombs because the country had invested so much time and money into the development of the bombs and not knowing when the next war America would be in Japan was the only country that we could actually put the bombs to use on.

Works Cited

Frank, Richard B. "Ending the Pacific War: History and Fantasy." Introduction. Ending the Pacific War: History and Fantasy. 2. Print.

Frank, Richard B. Downfall: the End of the Imperial Japanese Empire. New York: Random House, 1999. 206. Print.

Frank, Richard B. Downfall: the End of the Imperial Japanese Empire. New York: Random House, 1999. 209-10. Print.

Skates, John Ray. The Invasion of Japan: Alternative to the Bomb. Columbia, SC: University of South Carolina, 1994. 229. Print.

Frank, Richard B. Downfall: the End of the Imperial Japanese Empire. New York: Random House, 1999. 312-13. Print.