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HIS 100 Final Project
369
1
History 100: Final Project
Scott Pyle, Southern New Hampshire University
Looking at historical events gives us a better appreciation and understanding of all that has followed.
This term, I focused on
International Relations
in relation to
The Dropping of the Atomic Bomb
Historical Lenses
2
Various lenses can affect what research is conducted and, more importantly, how that research is presented.
#1
Social Lens
The United States had trouble getting Japan to agree to an unconditional surrender as it was in terms not well translated to their culture.
"The concept of 'unconditional surrender' is foreign to the Japanese nature.
Therefore, 'unconditional surrender' should be definied in terms understandable to the Japanese who must be convinced that destruction
or national suicide is not implied" (Miles, 1985).
#2
Political Lens
There is conjecture that the United States decided to drop the atomic bomb mainly as a power move to prevent Russian influence in the victory over Japan.
"And even if the Russians could not be kept out of the war, at least they
would be prevented from making more than a token contribution to victory
over Japan. In this sense it may be argued that the bomb proved a success,
for the war ended with the United States in full control of Japan" (Morton, 1957).
"...let our actions speak for words. The Russians will understand them better
than anything else ... We have got to regain the lead and perhaps do it in
a pretty rough and realistic way ... We have coming into action a weapon which
will be unique" (Alperovitz, Messer, & Bernstein, 1991).
#3
Ethical Lens
With the number of lives lost and continuing negative (even lethal) effects, an ethical lens might argue whether or not the dropping of the bomb was justified even though it was "successful?"
Historical Narrative
History can be told either by those who were there, by those the first-handers tell, and by anyone down that endless chain of information sharing. Even first-hand accounts can be tricky: memories change over time, biases affect perception, etc. Historians studying and analyzing historical events also hold the benefit of hindsight, which is very powerful. When looking back at a historical event, we have the knowledge of all events that followed, something that those in the moment had no way of knowing. It is hard to be in the mindset of those in the past when we have the knowledge of what every past decision's outcome would be.
Our Lives Today
and
History's Value
Everything has both a cause and effect. We can clearly see effects of decisions, but we do not know the full story until we can also understand the causes.
As a country we have a history of prejudice, racism, and aggression, all of which continue today. By understanding the roots of of these issues and what various groups have been through, we can better understand the need for tolerance and acceptance.
From this course...
It seems that today we often hear about the nuclear power we hold and the concern of nuclear power other countries hold. We must understand the implications of the only use of nuclear warfare and understand that immediately following WWII, we were already concerned about other countries' aquisition of nuclear weapons.
"We may be sure that if one nation has atomic bombs in its armory, all other self-respecting nations will have atomic bombs in their armories as soon as they can get them" (Turlington, 1946).
"Even complete victory over a small country will involve the probable loss on the part of the victor of its major cities and their population . . . It thus tends to make all countries strong, or to make all countries weak, as you prefer" (Viner, 1946).
Does History Repeat Itself?
My Opinion:
No - The statement is too blunt and inflexible. Humanity may show patterns of repetition, but history is not a set cycle only set to continually repeat.
From This Course:
No - after the dropping of the atomic bomb, organizations were put into place and we immediately moved to make sure that atomic warfare would never be used again.
Are citizens obligated
to know history?
We cannot fully understand our present until we understand how things came to be - just as we cannot understand other people until we understand what has shaped them.
If we do not want history to continually repeat, we must understand the great failures and successes of the past.