By summer 1945, Japan was effectively defeated militarily but had not surrendered. American firebombing of Japanese cities had killed hundreds of thousands of civilians (the Tokyo firebombing of March 1945 killed perhaps 100,000 in a single night). Japan was preparing to defend the home islands against an American invasion.

Atomic bombs: The United States dropped the first atomic bomb on Hiroshima on August 6, 1945, killing approximately 140,000 people. A second bomb destroyed Nagasaki on August 9, killing approximately 70,000. The Soviet Union declared war on Japan on August 8 and invaded Manchuria. On August 15 (announced) and September 2 (formally signed), Japan surrendered. World War II ended.

The atomic bomb debate: The decision to drop the atomic bombs is one of the most debated decisions of the twentieth century. Defenders argue that the bombs shortened the war and saved American (and Japanese) lives that would have been lost in a U.S. invasion of Japan. Critics argue that Japan was already preparing to surrender, that the bombs were unnecessary, that they were aimed in part at intimidating the Soviet Union, or that they amounted to mass killing of civilians. The Regents may present documents from multiple perspectives and ask Maria to evaluate them. Strong answers acknowledge both the military reasoning and the moral weight of killing approximately 210,000 civilians, mostly women, children, and elderly people.

VII. The Holocaust

The Holocaust (Shoah in Hebrew) was the systematic, state-sponsored murder of approximately six million Jews by Nazi Germany and its collaborators during World War II. It was the most extensive genocide in modern history and represents the most extreme expression of Nazi racial ideology. Maria should be able to describe its background, its development, its scale, and its significance for postwar understandings of human rights.