The Decision- mking Process of Using Atomic Bomb in Japan

• Main Authors: Yi- ting Jiang, 江宜庭
• Other Authors: Edward I- hsin Chen
• Format: Others
• Language: zh-TW
• Published: 2004
• Online Access: http://ndltd.ncl.edu.tw/handle/10975193710509776833

碩士 === 淡江大學 === 美國研究所 === 92 === Abstract: Since Harry S. Truman became the President of the United States on April 13 1945, to put an end to the Second World War has been one of his primary goals. On August 6, 1945, the United States dropped the first atomic bomb on Hiroshima, Japan. Two days later, the Soviet declared the war against Japan, but there was no any response from Japan. Therefore, the second atomic bomb was dropped on Nagasaki on August 9 in order to destroy Japanese will of fighting and declare the Allies’ determination of ending the war. On August 10, Japanese Emperor accepted the Potsdam Declaration and surrendered unconditionally. Those two atomic bombs ended the World War II. There are many fruitful studies about the use of two atomic bombs against Japan. While most of these studies are historical ones, only a few of them are political ones. Therefore, the main theory I applied in this thesis is Graham G. Allison’s foreign policy theory. There are three models in his theory, namely, Rational Actor Model, Organizational Behavior Model and Governmental Politics Model. Applying these three models, the main purpose of this thesis is to find out how the decision of projecting two atomic bombs is defined, chosen, and then decided by the main actor during the decision-making process. Analyzing on the Rational Actor Model’s view, the value of projecting atomic bomb is the maximum among other options. The use of atomic bomb not only achieved the national interest but also satisfied the actor’s interest. Finally, the rational actor made the decision to drop the atomic bomb. Moreover, as for the Organizational Behavior Model, the War Department played a more important role than the State Department in the decision- making process. Although these two departments differed in their opinions, they made the same decision as it was in their own interests as well as the national interest. Furthermore, the players also attempted to influence the way of thinking of the decision-maker in order to achieve their personal purposes so that their favorite alternative can gain the upper hand over other options in the decision-making process. In addition, under pressures from U.S. allies and the Congress, the decision maker had to choose the decision as a result of pulling and hauling. In this regard, the finding in the thesis is that the decision of projecting atomic bomb is a rational decision. A rational decision ranks the highest in the decision-maker’s payoff function. Among all the alternatives, the use of atomic bomb against Japan was in the interest of the United States with maximal utility.