Question

what do some historians believe was the real reason to use the atomic bomb?

a. to test the new technology to see its effects on people in war.
b. to see how powerful the weapons were on working cities.
c. to scare the soviets into submission.
d. to show the world that if you go to war with the u.s. that we are not afraid to use these weapons.

Explanation:

🆕 New Concept Discovered: Cold War Diplomacy and the Atomic Bomb
Using atomic weapons to influence postwar geopolitics

Step 1: Analyze the historical debate

While the official reason given by the U.S. government for dropping the atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki was to force an immediate Japanese surrender and save American lives, many historians argue there was a secondary, geopolitical motive.

This school of historical thought (often called "atomic diplomacy") suggests that the United States wanted to demonstrate its military supremacy to the Soviet Union before the postwar peace negotiations began, hoping to make the Soviets more manageable in Eastern Europe and Asia.

Step 2: Evaluate the options

• a. To test the new technology to see its effects on people in war. While scientists studied the effects afterward, this was not the primary strategic or political "real reason" argued by revisionist historians.
• b. To see how powerful the weapons were on working cities. Similar to option A, while the physical destruction was analyzed, this does not capture the major historical argument regarding geopolitical strategy.
• c. To scare the Soviets into submission. This aligns directly with the historical theory of "atomic diplomacy." Historians like Gar Alperovitz argue that the bomb was used as a political tool to intimidate the Soviet Union and limit their expansion at the start of the Cold War.
• d. To show the world that if you go to war with the U.S. that we are not afraid to use these weapons. This is too broad and does not target the specific rival (the Soviet Union) that dominated U.S. foreign policy planning at the end of World War II.

Answer:

c. To scare the Soviets into submission.