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> The Atomic Bomb and the End of World War II > > A Collection of Primary Sources > > Updated National Security Archive Posting Marks 70th Anniversary of the > Atomic Bombings of Japan and the End of World War II > > Extensive Compilation of Primary Source Documents Explores Manhattan > Project, Petitions Against Military Use of Atomic Weapons, Debates over > Japanese Surrender Terms, Atomic Targeting Decisions, and Lagging Awareness > of Radiation Effects > > New Information Spotlights General Dwight D. Eisenhower's Early Misgivings > about First Nuclear Use > > General Curtis Lemay's Report on the Firebombing of Tokyo, March 1945 > > National Security Archive Electronic Briefing Book No. 525 > > Edited by William Burr > > Originally posted - August 5, 2005 > First updated - April 27, 2007 > Latest update - August 4, 2015 > > For more information, contact: > William Burr - 202 / 994-7000 or nsarc...@gwu.edu > > August 4, 2015 - A few months after the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and > Nagasaki, General Dwight D. Eisenhower commented during a social occasion > "how he had hoped that the war might have ended without our having to use > the bomb." This virtually unknown evidence from the diary of Robert P. > Mieklejohn, an assistant to Ambassador W. Averell Harriman, published for > the first time today by the National Security Archive, confirms that the > future President Eisenhower had early misgivings about the first use of > atomic weapons by the United States. General George C. Marshall is the only > high-level official whose contemporaneous (pre-Hiroshima) doubts about > using the weapons against cities are on record. > > On the 70th anniversary of the bombing of Hiroshima, the National Security > Archive updates its 2005 publication of the most comprehensive on-line > collection of declassified U.S. government documents on the first use of > the atomic bomb and the end of the war in the Pacific. This update presents > previously unpublished material and translations of difficult-to-find > records. Included are documents on the early stages of the U.S. atomic bomb > project, Army Air Force General Curtis LeMay's report on the firebombing of > Tokyo (March 1945), Secretary of War Henry Stimson's requests for > modification of unconditional surrender terms, Soviet documents relating to > the events, excerpts from the Robert P. Mieklejohn diaries mentioned above, > and selections from the diaries of Walter J. Brown, special assistant to > Secretary of State James Byrnes. > > The original 2005 posting included a wide range of material, including > formerly top secret "Magic" summaries of intercepted Japanese > communications and the first-ever full translations from the Japanese of > accounts of high level meetings and discussions in Tokyo leading to the > Emperor's decision to surrender. Also documented are U.S. decisions to > target Japanese cities, pre-Hiroshima petitions by scientists questioning > the military use of the A-bomb, proposals for demonstrating the effects of > the bomb, debates over whether to modify unconditional surrender terms, > reports from the bombing missions of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, and belated > top-level awareness of the radiation effects of atomic weapons. > > The documents can help readers to make up their own minds about > long-standing controversies such as whether the first use of atomic weapons > was justified, whether President Harry S. Truman had alternatives to atomic > attacks for ending the war, and what the impact of the Soviet declaration > of war on Japan was. Since the 1960s, when the declassification of > important sources began, historians have engaged in vigorous debate over > the bomb and the end of World War II. Drawing on sources at the National > Archives and the Library of Congress as well as Japanese materials, this > electronic briefing book includes key documents that historians of the > events have relied upon to present their findings and advance their > interpretations. > > * * * * * > > Check out today's posting at the National Security Archive - > http://nsarchive.gwu.edu/nukevault/ebb525-The-Atomic-Bomb-and-the-End-of-World-War-II/ > > Find us on Facebook - http://www.facebook.com/NSArchive > > Unredacted, the Archive blog - http://nsarchive.wordpress.com/ > > _________________________________________________________ Full posting guidelines at: http://www.marxmail.org/sub.htm Set your options at: http://lists.csbs.utah.edu/options/marxism/archive%40mail-archive.com
