A Failure In Diplomacy
By the end of the war in Europe, the U.S. and England were concerned with Stalin's power in Eastern Europe. He was already breaking the Yalta agreement by taking over Poland and they were afraid he would expand further in Eastern Europe. Russia would soon enter the war in Japan and the US didn't want them to have power in Japan. It was a failure of diplomacy on the part of the US to not have reached a better ally agreement with Russia.
Rather than communicating with their ally, Churchill and Truman kept the bomb a secret from Stalin which made him suspicious. Had they been more forthcoming and diplomatic, the use of the bomb might have been avoided. The shaky relationship between the U.S. and Russia was at the heart of the decision to bomb Japan.
Truman had two objectives: ending the war and demonstrating the Anglo-American power to Stalin. He had great pressure to use the bombs rather than brokering a peace agreement with Japan because he had spent 2 billion dollars on its development and if Congress looked into it they would be upset that so much money was spent on a bomb that was not used. In the Potsdam Declaration, an attempted proposal of peace drafted at the allied powers conference, Truman required unconditional surrender of Japan which meant giving up their imperial system. This was incompatible with the Japanese culture. Truman had insisted on an impossible condition from Japan, not offering a viable chance at peace through diplomacy, causing the peace offer with Japan to fail.
Rather than communicating with their ally, Churchill and Truman kept the bomb a secret from Stalin which made him suspicious. Had they been more forthcoming and diplomatic, the use of the bomb might have been avoided. The shaky relationship between the U.S. and Russia was at the heart of the decision to bomb Japan.
Truman had two objectives: ending the war and demonstrating the Anglo-American power to Stalin. He had great pressure to use the bombs rather than brokering a peace agreement with Japan because he had spent 2 billion dollars on its development and if Congress looked into it they would be upset that so much money was spent on a bomb that was not used. In the Potsdam Declaration, an attempted proposal of peace drafted at the allied powers conference, Truman required unconditional surrender of Japan which meant giving up their imperial system. This was incompatible with the Japanese culture. Truman had insisted on an impossible condition from Japan, not offering a viable chance at peace through diplomacy, causing the peace offer with Japan to fail.
Potsdam Conference
