Leiden University Student Repository

Luitwieler, Neal Thomas (2016)

Why did Truman use the atomic bomb?

Bachelor thesis | International Studies (BA)

Truman's decision to use atomic bombs in the Second World War is still supported by the majority of the American people. It is argued that this was necessary to end the war quickly and save hundreds of thousands of lives. In this paper, it is demonstrated that the provided justification is false. Moreover, the author looks at what other reasons Truman had to drop atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, and thereby provides a revisionist account of this important event.

truman

hiroshima

atomic bomb

decision

Author

Luitwieler, Neal Thomas

Faculty

Faculty of Humanities

Supervisors

Vries, Mark Leon de

ECTS Credits

15

Language

en