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DBQ After Germany’s surrender on May 7, 1945, the U.S. was able to focus efforts entirely on Japan, the country that had originally spurred its involvement in the war. Up to the use of the first atomic bomb, America had been steadily tightening its grip around Japan. Massive firebomb raids on Tokyo in March of 1945 left over 250,000 buildings destroyed and killed an estimated 83,000 people. General MacArther had conquered the Philippines in July of that year and the Japanese navy had been decimated by the three- day battle at Leyte Gulf. But weakened Japan still did not appear willing to surrender unconditionally. The use of the atomic bomb on Hiroshima certainly had the intention of forcing Japan’s unconditional surrender and it was used with the hope of winning the war before getting help from the Soviet Union. But there is little evidence to suggest that using the atomic bomb on Hiroshima carried any sort of intent to frighten the USSR. The atomic bomb provided the means of ending the war with as little effort and as little risk to American solders as possible. “Here then was a speedy end to the Second World War,” were British Prime Minister Winston Churchill’s thoughts after receiving news on the readine