DOCUMENT A “It was believed with deep apprehension that many
thousands, probably tens of thousands, of lives of Allied
combatants would have been spent in the continuation
of our air and sea bombardment and blockade. . . . But
the people who would have suffered most, had the war
gone on much longer and their country invaded, were the
Japanese. One American incendiary air raid on the Tokyo
area in March 1945 did more damage and killed and
injured more Japanese than the bomb on Hiroshima.”
—The Atomic Bomb and the End of World War II
by Herbert Feis

DOCUMENT B
“Even without the use of the atomic bombs, the war
would probably have ended before an American invasion
of Kyushu [one of the four main islands of Japan] became
necessary. Conditions in Japan were steadily deteriorating . . .
The destruction of cities from B-29 raids, diminishing food
supplies, [and] decreased public morale fostered enough
discontent to worry the emperor and his advisors. . . . Even
without the atomic attacks, it seems likely that the emperor
at some point would have acted in the same way that he
did in the aftermath of Hiroshima to end the war.”
—Prompt and Utter Destruction: Truman and the
Use of Atomic Bombs Against Japan by J. Samuel
Walker

Which of the historians quoted in
Documents A and B do you agree with most strongly?
Why? Use your knowledge of World War II and specific
evidence from the documents to support your opinion