> The atomic bomb was more of warning and show of force to the Soviets rather than the Empire of Japan.
[citation needed]
This claimed gets brought out every time atomic usage comes up, but are there official US policy documents that date to 1945 that explicitly bring this up as a motivation?
> Significant portion of the field of history is speculation and reading between the lines.
Government decisions and policies, especially in more modern times, runs on memos. If such options were discussed between departments there would be paperwork.
[citation needed]
This claimed gets brought out every time atomic usage comes up, but are there official US policy documents that date to 1945 that explicitly bring this up as a motivation?