The surprise attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941, thrust the United States into World War II, and thus helped reshape modern warfare. The lengthy, blood stained war reduced all armed forces into barbarous warriors who killed indiscriminately at times. Air raids became a war symbol, as each contending force would bomb "military targets" killing thousands within minutes. Ending the war and rediscovering international peace was not only painstaking, it introduced the world to nuclear warfare and a nuclear arms race.

The strategic bombing used in WWII was largely untested and believed to have the ability to end the war sooner due to its violence and potential to lower enemy morale. The Allies undeniably believed strategic bombing would end the war quicker and save the lives of many soldiers. However, all sides gave the phrase "military target" a wide interpretati

Alperovitz, Gar, Why the United States Dropped the Bomb, in Technology Review, August/September 1990 (24-34).

Takaki, Ronald, Hiroshima, Little Brown and Company, NY, 1995.

On the other hand, Secretary of State James Byrnes and General Groves, both believed the United States should monopolize the nuclear bomb in order to maintain the upper hand after the war. They argued that it would take as much as ten years for the Russians to catch up, which positions the U.S. in a technological lead with tremendous diplomatic power. Byrnes and Groves also insisted that the power of the bomb would make Russia manageable in Europe following the war.

I am convinced that if you, as President, will make a shortwave broadcast to the people of Japan - tell them they can have their Emperor if they surrender, that it will not mean unconditional surrender except for the militarists - you'll get a peace in Japan - you'll have both wars over.

On May 8, 1945 Germany surrendered and the Manhattan Project persisted. Szilard, once again, expressed his concern about the atomic bomb, however this time he was apprehensive about America's bomb project. "But now, with the [European] war won," he stated, "it was not clear what we were working for." In fact, Los Alamos director, J. Robert Oppenheimer, remembered intensifying the project's efforts after Germany's defeat. Finally, on July 16, 1945, the first successful atomic explosion struck Alamogordo, New Mexico.

on during the war, while the intensity and duration of the conflict only added to the problem. The obscurity of the laws at the beginning of the war led to an all-out attack of air warfare, which led to the notorious bombings of London, Coventry, Hamburg, and Dresden. Bombing efforts later included Okinawa and Tokyo. Ultimately, the United States dropped the first two nuclear weapons ever used in warfare on Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

Dower, John, War Without Mercy, 1986.

Some common words found in the essay are:
War II, Thousands Japanese, Instead Soviets, United Nations, Cold War, Declaration Japan, Kantaro Suzuki, Hiroshima Nagasaki, Japan Russia, Potsdam Declaration, atomic bomb, bomb japan, decision drop, arms race, nuclear arms, nuclear bomb, nuclear arms race, war japan, dropping bomb, hiroshima nagasaki, postwar regret, decision drop atomic, dropping bomb japan, japan surrender demonstration, pacific commander chief,
Approximate Word count = 3422
Approximate Pages = 14 (250 words per page double spaced)