Pretest: World War II 26
Select the correct text in the passage.
Read the following excerpt from President Harry Truman's radio address to the American people on August 9, 1945. Which two lines imply that
the use of the atomic bomb by the Allies was a lesser evil compared to its use by the Axis powers?
I realize the tragic significance of the atomic bomb.
Its production and its use were not lightly undertaken by this Government. But we knew that our enemies were on the search for it. We know
now how close they were to finding it. And we knew the disaster, which would come to this Nation, and to all peace-loving nations, to all
civilization, if they had found it first.
That is why we felt compelled to undertake the long and uncertain and costly labor of discovery and production.
We won the race of discovery against the Germans. Having found the bomb we have used it. We have used it against those who attacked us
without warning at Pearl Harbor, against those who have starved and beaten and executed American prisoners of war, against those who have
abandoned all pretense of obeying international laws of warfare. We have used it in order to shorten the agony of war, in order to save the lives
of thousands and thousands of young Americans.
We shall continue to use it until we completely destroy Japan's power to make war. Only a Japanese surrender will stop us.
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