You may be right, and these sources to make it less clear. I haven’t looked at the original sources and as with most parts of my report am following the eminent nuclear historian Richard Rhodes, who marshals some pretty convincing evidence that it was accidental. On page 521 of The Making of the Atomic Bomb (which I cited in that paragraph of my report):
…Franklin Roosevelt met with Winston Churchill at Casablanca. In the course of the meeting the two leaders discussed what terms of surrender they would eventually insist upon; the word “unconditional” was discussed but not included in the official joint statement to be read at the final press conference. Then, on January 24, to Churchill’s surprise, Roosevelt inserted the word ad lib: “Peace can come to the world,” the President read out to the assembled journalists and newsreel cameras, “only by the total elimination of German and Japanese war power … The elimination of German, Japanese and Italian war power means the unconditional surrender of Germany, Italy , and Japan.” Roosevelt later told Harry Hopkins that the surprising and fateful insertion was a consequence of the confusion attending his effort to convince French General Henri Girard to sit down with Free French leader Charles de Gaulle:
“We had so much trouble getting those two French generals together that I thought to myself that this was as difficult as arranging the meeting of Grant and Lee — and then suddenly the Press Conference was on, and Winston and I had had no time to prepare for it, and the thought popped into my mind that they had called Grant ‘Old Unconditional Surrender,’ and the next thing I knew I had said it.”
Churchill immediately concurred — “Any divergence between us, even by omission, would on such an occasion and at such a time have been damaging or even dangerous to our war effort” — and unconditional surrender became official Allied policy.
I don’t have time to follow up on all the sources Rhodes used to construct this passage, but it does sound like there is some remaining mystery here. We have direct quotes from Roosevelt and Churchill saying it was accidental, but some other evidence which might contradict that.
Thanks for getting back to me and providing more context.
I do agree that Churchill was probably surprised by Roosevelt’s use of the term because it was not in the official communiqué. Trying to figure out how certain historical decisions were influenced is very challenging.
The way you describe the events strikes me as very strong and requires a lot of things to be true other than the term being used accidentally:
Accidentally called for unconditional surrender of the Japanese, leading to the eventual need for the bomb to be dropped. (p.35)
Based on the available information and until we have better evidence for the claim, I would not want to use this as an example of a simple mistake having severe consequences. And because the Anecdote is incredibly catchy, I worry that policy researchers and practitioners will read it and subsequently use it in conversation.
You may be right, and these sources to make it less clear. I haven’t looked at the original sources and as with most parts of my report am following the eminent nuclear historian Richard Rhodes, who marshals some pretty convincing evidence that it was accidental. On page 521 of The Making of the Atomic Bomb (which I cited in that paragraph of my report):
I don’t have time to follow up on all the sources Rhodes used to construct this passage, but it does sound like there is some remaining mystery here. We have direct quotes from Roosevelt and Churchill saying it was accidental, but some other evidence which might contradict that.
Thanks for getting back to me and providing more context.
I do agree that Churchill was probably surprised by Roosevelt’s use of the term because it was not in the official communiqué. Trying to figure out how certain historical decisions were influenced is very challenging.
The way you describe the events strikes me as very strong and requires a lot of things to be true other than the term being used accidentally:
Based on the available information and until we have better evidence for the claim, I would not want to use this as an example of a simple mistake having severe consequences. And because the Anecdote is incredibly catchy, I worry that policy researchers and practitioners will read it and subsequently use it in conversation.