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SCENARIO A: Race for Berlin
SCENARIO A: Race for Berlin
The city of Berlin is the seat of the German government and may be the most important city in postwar Europe. The president of the United States has just completed the meeting with British Prime Minister Winston Churchill and Soviet dictator Josef Stalin at Yalta (see above) in February of 1945. While keeping Poland from Communist influence may be difficult, Stalin has promised to support democracy and free elections for the rest of “liberated Europe.”
American and British armies are preparing to cross the Rhine River, about 300 miles west of Berlin, as the Soviet armies are amassing for a final assault from the Oder River, 45 miles east of Berlin. Considering the losses suffered by the Soviet Union (see Case Studies 3, 4, 11, 14, 15), the Soviet Army will stop at nothing to capture the capital--for both prestige and revenge. Knowing this, some German commanders are fighting the Soviets to the bitter end while some are actively attempting to surrender to American and British forces.
Allied advances into Axis-held territories, 1944-45
Do you take the risk (and potentially higher casualties) and aggressively move for Berlin before the Soviet Union? Consider the role of the Soviet Union in starting World War II and the controversies surrounding the implementation of Communist. Explain.
SCENARIO B: Atomic Bomb on Kokura/Nagasaki
SCENARIO B: Atomic Bomb on Kokura/Nagasaki
The first atomic bomb ever used on a populated city was dropped on Hiroshima on August 6, 1945. Yet, despite the mass destruction wrought by the bomb, the Japanese government has yet to respond to American demands for unconditional surrender.
You have in your possession, one more atomic bomb that could be used on another Japanese city. Fresh on your mind are the potential casualties for an invasion (see Case Study 13) and the atrocities that Japan had committed during the war (see Case Studies 1, 7, 8, 12). Yet you also know that there are other possible ways to end the war, including a continued naval blockade (see Case Study 16) that could deny food and supplies from reaching Japan and/or an intensification of conventional aerial bombardment (see Case Study 5) on Japan's remaining cities.
As a means to end the war earlier, an agreement was made at the Potsdam Conference of 1945 for the Soviet Union to invade Japanese-held possessions in China and Korea. You also want to force a surrender before the Red Army empowers local Communist guerilla fighters (like Mao Zedong in China and Kim Il-Sung in Korea) or increases Communist influence in East Asia. The Soviet Red Army is gaining ground every day and there are rumors that they are planning an invasion of the northern home islands of Japan.
The plutonium "Fat Man" atomic bomb.
The specially-outfitted B-29 heavy bomber assigned to the mission, nicknamed "Bockscar" (above)
Map of the planned "Operation Downfall," the seaborne invasion of Japan
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