1988 dbq
...ping the atomic bomb on the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki would intimidate U.S.S.R. If the Americans truly considered saving more lives and bringing a quick end to the war in Japan, they would have simply waited them out without the major loss of life seen at both of the devastated Japanese cities. At the Yalta conference, Franklin D. Roosevelt asked Josef Stalin for Soviet support in the war with Japan (Document D). In return for the support against Japan, Roosevelt agreed to terms that helped create more tension between the two countries because it gave U.S.S.R. too much power in world affairs. At the time, Roosevelt did not have confidence that the United States could win the war easily without help from Stalin. He assumed that he had to invade Japan (Document C). After Roosevelt died, Truman took office. As situations developed and progress on the atomic bomb continued to increase, Truman felt that a Soviet invasion of Japanese territory might prove unnecessary. Apparently, the United States did not want Russian intervention once work on the atomic bomb completed. Churchill quoted: “‘It is quite clear that the United States do not at the present time desire Soviet participation in the war against Japan” (Document E). As World War II came to an end, two new superpowers emerged: the United States and the Soviet Union. The United States felt that if they could prove to the world that they had superior weaponry, they could have the most recognition worldwide. Hiroshima and Nagasaki gave them the power to prove that. Because of the troubled relations with Russia, and the confidence that the United States had in the atomic bomb, they used it to intimidate Russia and not to force an end to the war with Japan. Once World War II ended, most of the fascist governments that had dominated Europe during the war and in pre-war times toppled and the two superpowers engaged in a race to occupy Germany and its surrounding countries. The United States and the Soviet Union hoped to influence their government in one particular way. The United States extremely disli...