atomic bombing of Hiroshima

Japan

is a project primarily pursued on the basis that Russia was our enemy.

As the key individual responsible for both the development of the new weapon and its deployment, Manhattan Project director Groves described the atomic bomb's larger purpose more directly: 'There was never from about two weeks from the time I took charge of this Project any illusion on my part but that Russia was our enemy, and the Project was conducted on that basis.'

is an action that was decided upon against the backdrop of the assumption that an invasion to the Japanese homeland was essential to ending the war in the pacific.

Like Byrnes, General Groves was also a moving force in the Interim Committee. Born in 1896 in Albany, New York, he graduated from West Point and then served in Hawaii and Nicaragua. Groves was appointed to head the Manhattan Project at its inception: he was the man pulling the gearshifts of the huge atomic-research machinery. He thought the atomic bomb should be used against Japan in order to avoid an invasion and bring the war to a quick end. 'Throughout the period when we were planning our atomic bombing operations against Japan,' Groves wrote in his memoirs, 'American strategy was based upon the assumption that an invasion to the Japanese homeland was essential to ending the war in the Pacific.' In his July 18 report on the successful detonation at Alamogordo, Groves wrote: 'We are fully conscious that our real goal is still before us. The battle test is what counts in the war with Japan.

is an action that was carried out at Hiroshima because the city was of such a size that the damaged would be confined within it, allowing us to more accurately determine the power of the bomb.

General Groves gave guidelines for the selection of the target: 'To enable us to assess accurately the effects of the bomb, the targets should d not have been previously damaged by air raids. It was also desirable that the first target be of such size that the damage would be confined within it, so that we could more definitely determine the power of the bomb.'76 Still untouched by the air war, Hiroshima seemed an ideal target.

is an action carried out at that particular location because Hiroshima was not previously damaged by the air raids so the U.S. might assess accurately the effects of the bomb.

Leslie R. GrovesThinkers

Leslie R. Groves