Gather the facts
On December 7th, 1941 Pearl Harbor, Hawaii was the target of an unannounced military attack by the Japanese Navy. This resulted in the United States entry into World War II. After almost 4 years of war, 400,000 US casualties, 6 months of air strikes on Japanese cities and an impending defeat of Japan, an ultimatum was delivered to Japan by the United States: surrender or be destroyed.
On August 6th, 1945 the United States military dropped the first atomic bomb as an act of war on the Japanese city of Hiroshima. 3 days later, the second and last to date, atomic bomb was dropped onto Nagasaki, Japan. Under the direction of President Harry Truman, the atomic bombs were dropped in response to the disregarded ultimatum …show more content…

In the event of an effective atomic bomb detonation, the consequences for the Japanese were the catastrophic loss of life, property and resources. They were also faced with the decision at that point to retaliate or surrender. The United States faced potential consequences of unknown retaliation tactics from the Japanese, an Axis Power or another country or organization. The detonation of the bomb could also achieve its goal to end the war and present the Allied Powers with the victory.
In the event of an ineffective atomic bomb delivery, the United States could face ridicule by other nations, a worldwide loss of respect as a military power, or retaliation by Japan or other countries. The consequences for the Japanese in the event that the bomb failed would be the value of not having one of its large cities destroyed. These 2 parties would share the consequence of losing more soldiers and civilians as the war continued. In the event of a decision to not drop the bomb, the consequences for the United States would be the potential loss of more soldiers in combat, the potential of another attack on US soil as the war continued. There was also the potential that the intervention of the Russians would end the war. The Cold War may very well have never happened in the event that the Atomic Bomb was not dropped during World War II. The