Question

Explain the U.S. reasoning behind the decision to firebomb Japan?

Answer 1

President Truman's reasoning behind bombing the cities, Hiroshima and Nagasaki, was to ultimately end the devasting war. He wanted to put an end to the agony that it had cause.

I do not agree with the decision to drop an atomic bomb on two (very populated) cities, however, it was not my decision to make, and was far before my time.  

The atomic bombs "Little Boy" and "Fat Man" resulted in approximately 105,000 fatalities, and 95,000 causalities.

There were four other alternatives to dropping the atomic bombs:

- Offer the Japanese conditional surrender by lifting some of the terms

- Wait for the Soviets to attack Mancharia and Korea (which were occupies by the Japanese)

- Naval blockade

- Invade the Japanese "home" islands

Unconditional surrender was discussed during the Casablanca Conference in 1943, and the US demanded for unconditional surrender in the Potsdam Declaration in 1945.