Unconditional Surrender, Culture, and the A-Bomb

This work discusses why the U.S. needed to drop the atomic bombs on Japan to achieve their objectives in the Pacific Theater of World War II. The Allies insisted on unconditional surrender of the Japanese and were unrelenting in their pursuit of this end. However, surrender was foreign to the Japanese culture and did not convey the important characteristic of honor. Additionally, since the Japanese viewed their Emperor as a living god, they were willing to fight incessantly for his survival as evidenced routinely throughout the battles of the Pacific. To prevent an invasion of the Japanese homeland islands, President Truman turned to the atomic bomb for the answer in order to end the war quickly, save lives, and achieve an acceptable, enduring post-conflict situation.