How do you make huge decisions? How did you decide to come to TGS?
The year is 1945, you are Emperor Hirohito of Japan and you receive this document.
Potsdam Declaration (In Japan it was called the Potsdam Ultimatum)
The year is 1944, you guys are all now the leaders of the United States of America.
What do you do, Invade or Bomb?
5 reasons for Dropping the A-Bomb
- Five Reasons for Dropping the Atomic Bomb…According to J. Samuel Walker in his book, Prompt and Utter Destruction: Truman and the Use of the Atomic Bomb Against Japan, states that Truman justified dropping the bomb with five reasons:
- it would end the war successfully at the earliest possible moment
- it justified the effort and expense of building the atomic bombs
- it offered hope of achieving diplomatic gains in the growing rivalry with the Soviet Union
- there were a lack of incentives not to use the weapons
- because of America’s hatred of the Japanese and a desire for vengeance
- Armed with all of the knowledge that President Truman and his advisors had accumulated, how would you have ended the war in the Pacific.
YOUR TASK: Write a one page blog about your decision and give rationales as to why you did what you did. I am okay with creative new solutions, radical ideas, or the conventional … keep in mind all of the things we have talked about this week. (ie. multi-track diplomacy, casualties of war, mass-murder and atrocities.)
Was it necessary?
Tomorrow we will spend the day at the Hiroshima Peace Park and the Atomic Bomb Dome.