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The most important reason is that if the Allies had not developed the atom bomb first, then the Axis powers would have done so. It was a race.

Shortly before Britain and France declared war on Germany, a letter was written by Albert Einstein (after prompting by some other physicists) for the attention of President Roosevelt of the USA detailing the possibility of using nuclear fission as a weapon. This letter stressed the urgency that this was developed before Nazi Germany did so and was actually delivered to the President after war had erupted in Europe.

It was eventually acted upon by the US government and the 'Manhattan Project' was set up. The very next day the Japanese attacked Pearl harbor and America was at war.

Once the atom bomb had been developed it was used to spare the lives of Allied soldiers who would have otherwise had to mount an invasion of the Japanese homeland to force their surrender (which would most likely have cost a large number of lives on both sides). Its use forced a speedy surrender by Japan and a resolution to the war. It can clearly be argued that this therefore actually saved many lives.

Of course the atom bomb was also used to demonstrate beyond all doubt to the world that the West now had a new weapon of immense power (but one would hope, and there is certainly no reason to believe otherwise, that the first reason was the primary one and that this second reason was merely a by-product). Of course, now the Russians saw the need to develop their own nuclear capability and so began an arms-race.

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13y ago

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