Course Details

A poll of journalists and scholars at the turn of the millennium found that their choice of the most important story of the twentieth century was the decision to drop the atomic bomb on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. The decision was perhaps the most controversial decision any president has made. Japanese and Americans see this decision in very different ways. In 2015, on the occasion of the 70th anniversary of the end of World War Two, the Pew Research Center carried out a joint opinion poll which found that 79% of Japanese said the bombing was “not justified,” while 56% of Americans considered it “justified.” Japanese believe that Japan was defeated and on the verge of surrender, while a majority of Americans hold that the use of the bomb was necessary in order to avoid a costly invasion.

This seminar course will consider the many aspects of this set of events, including: the origins of the Manhattan Project, Roosevelt’s unconditional surrender policy, American planning for the invasion of Japan and the use of the bomb, the Potsdam Declaration, Soviet entry into the war, Japan’s internal struggle over the decision to surrender, the continuing controversy among Japanese and American historians in interpreting motivations and responsibility, the Japanese sense of victimhood, issues of morality in warfare, and the consequent reflections on war and human nature in Japanese and American literature.

Historical controversy over the use of the atomic bomb has revolved around many issues including:

1.Was it necessary: was not Japan already defeated and on the verge of surrender?

2.Were there not viable alternatives such as a demonstration of the bomb or a naval blockade or modification of unconditional surrender policy or waiting for Soviet entry?

3.Was the second bomb on Nagasaki necessary?

4.Did use of the bomb save lives by averting an invasion?

5.Were the bombs morally justified?

This course offers the student an opportunity to see how historians and other social scientists dealing with the same sequence of events have come to a wide range of interpretations of its meaning. The course will consider the reasons why historians often differ in their interpretations, such as difference in motivation, selectivity in emphasis, generational and national perspective, bias, academic discipline, levels of analysis, and appearance of new materials of historical evidence. By its nature, the Hiroshima and Nagasaki decisions have been subject to the use of counterfactuals, i.e. questions of “What if…?” The course will consider the value of these questions and of assertion of alternative courses of action and “missed opportunities” to avoid the way in which the war terminated.

Ultimately, the course will force the student to grapple with achieving her/his own interpretation. It is not a course for the faint hearted. Rather, it is for the student who wants a challenge in order to improve her/his thinking, debating, research and writing ability.

The course will have no examination but each student will choose a topic of particular interest on which to do extensive research, to make an oral presentation to the seminar and to write a paper on the findings of the research. The approximate length of the paper is 15 pages. The paper will constitute 50% of the course grade. The oral presentation and participation in the seminar discussion will constitute the remainder of the grade.