US History › Section N · World War II and the early Cold War › Topic N.4
The Pacific war and the atomic bomb
The war against Japan moved from crushing defeats to a slow, bloody advance across the Pacific, and it ended with the only use of nuclear weapons in war. Why the United States dropped the atomic bombs, and whether it should have, remains one of the great debates among historians.
In this topic
- Japan's early victories
- Coral Sea and Midway
- Island hopping
- Iwo Jima and Okinawa
- Fire from the sky and blockade
- The Manhattan Project
- Hiroshima, Nagasaki and surrender
- Worked example: the case for the decision
- Worked example: the critics' case
- Where historians stand
- Common mistakes to avoid
- Key takeaways
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