During the waning months of World War II, conflict arose when people advocated different strategies against Japan, including atomic bombs, D-Day-type invasions, or waiting for the inevitable Allied victory. When President Truman authorized atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, all sides were forced into a compromise. The mass destruction and death caused by the detonations forced Japan’s immediate surrender, leading to the defeat of the Axis Powers; today, the effects still linger in the form of nuclear arms races, threats of nuclear war, and once again, a debate over nuclear weapons.
