We only had 2 nuclear bombs in hand—the untested uranium bomb and a plutonium bomb. Had we conducted a demonstration and it failed, the war would have been prolonged—with more Japanese dying from our conventional bombing raids.
Of course the Japanese didn’t know we only had two bombs—they had seen their sky filled with B-29s. Part of the point of using single planes to drop the atomic bombs was to stimulate their imaginations of hundreds of atomic bombs falling on them. As it was, the military wasn’t ready to give even after Nagasaki—the emperor overruled them.
And, of course people forget that the Soviets declared war after the first atomic attack. Strictly speaking they were honoring an agreement to join the Pacific war 90 days after Germany’s surrender. But you know they would have wanted to divide Japan just like Germany and Korea—and we know how well that worked out.
“In May 1945 General George C. Marshall, the Chief of Staff of the Army, revived the idea of using poison gas against bypassed Japanese defenses during the invasion of Japan. He intended to use poison gas on a relatively limited scale against individual bunkers, caves and the like housing detachments of Japanese soldiers who refused to surrender. Marshall apparently did not envision spraying over a wide area. This proposal reached President Harry Truman in June. He vetoed it on the basis that it violated the policy of “no first use” set by President Roosevelt. What might have happened if the U.S. became embroiled in a lengthy and very costly struggle in the Japanese Home Islands is hard to say.”
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/features/general-article/pacific-online-forum/
President Truman used the weapons needed to limit the number of American casualties (which allowed me to be born and be a part of the “baby boom” after the war.)
The fact that the war was scheduled to last into 1948...
(why we had surplus 18” barrel liners for our Battleships to use in Vietnam, Korea, and Ourraq...and surplus .45 ammo on the market until a few years ago...)
Lucky for Japan that we did drop the bombs and that the Ruskies wanted their share of Japan.PERIOD
“Diplomacy is saying nice dogie...
until you find a Big rock.” -Will Rogers
Nice reply! I appreciate your input.