The Atomic Bomb John D. Krause American History 212 Dr. Matthew McCabe December 10, 2009 On August 2, 1939, just before the beginning of World War II, Albert Einstein wrote to then President Franklin D. Roosevelt. Einstein told Roosevelt of efforts in Nazi Germany to purify U-235, which might in turn be used to build an atomic bomb. It was shortly thereafter that the United States began the Manhattan Project. Simply put, the Manhattan Project was committed to expedient research and production of a viable atomic bomb. Needless to say, the atomic bomb has been one of the greatest sources of controversy and debate since the two bombs were detonated.
A Response to: The Day After Trinity HIS 262 Ellen Bardo Pennsylvania College of Technology February 13, 2010 The Day After Trinity is the documentation of the development of the atomic bomb, the original weapon of mass destruction, by the United States due to the belief that Hitler and Nazi Germany were pursuing the development of the atomic bomb. This concern, with regard to the possible consequences that would result from the development of the atom bomb by Nazi Germany, justified the entry of the United States into the race to develop the ultimate weapon. Robert Oppenheimer, prominent physicist, joined the research group dedicated to developing the atom bomb in the early 1940’s. The team consisted of Nobel Laureates
During the Second World War the atomic bomb was seen and valued as a potential rather than an actual instrument of policy. Responsible officials believed that its impact on diplomacy had to await its development and, perhaps, even a demonstration of its power. As Henry L. Stimson, the secretary of war, observed in his memoirs: "The bomb as a merely probable weapon had seemed a weak reed on which to rely, but the bomb as a colossal reality was very different." Those policymakers considered these differences before Hiroshima has been well documented, but whether they based wartime diplomatic policies upon an anticipated successful demonstration of the bomb's power remains a source of controversy. Two questions delineate the issues in this debate.
The reading, “The Biggest Decision: Why We Had to Drop the Bomb,” by Robert James Maddox, explains the process taken in for the Americas to decide to drop the two newly discovered atomic bombs over the Japanese homeland cities of Hiroshima and three days later Nagasaki. Americans should be well informed on this information. This is a perfect article for this class because it marks a very important milestone in our nation’s history. The Japanese were a strong powerful enemy of the US during the end of WWII. “The Japanese had more than 2,000,000 troops in the home lands, and were training millions of irregulars” pg.
Why did President Truman decide to drop the atomic bomb in August 1945? On August 6 and 9, 1945, the U.S. President Harry Truman decided to drop 2 atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki on Japan which then ending World War II. It caused a lot of casualties and disasters, killing 90,000–166,000 people in Hiroshima and 60,000–80,000 in Nagasaki. It has remained the only time atomic bombs have ever been used in warfare. The decision by the United States to drop atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki at the end of World War II remains one of the most controversial topics in Japanese history.
In October 1939, just after the outbreak of World War II in Europe, the President of the United States Franklin D. Roosevelt received a letter from physicist Albert Einstein and his Hungarian colleague Leo Szilard, letting him know that a bomb of unprecedented power could be made by tapping the forces of nuclear fission. The two scientists, who had fled from Europe in order to escape Nazism, feared that Hitler-Germany was already working on the problem. They fear this because if the Germans were to be the first to develop the envisaged "atomic bomb," Hitler would have had a weapon in his hands that would make it possible for him to destroy his enemies and rule the world. Einstein and Szilard urged the government of the United States to join the race for the atomic bomb to end this nightmare. Roosevelt agreed to join and for the next four and half years a huge, secret effort was launched in cooperation with the United Kingdom.
soon after word American and British forces joined to work together against Germany, this ends being the Manhattan Project. Many brilliant minds were gathered to work in a lab in Los Alamos, New Mexico. In the summer of 1945 the first plutonium bomb was ready to be tested after two billion dollars of spending. Three weeks later the first Atomic Bomb was dropped on Hiroshima, Japan. The B-29 Bomber dropped the Uranium-235 called Little Boy on the Town.
Hiroshima Questions 1) Berger begins his essay with this powerful sentence; "The whole incredible problem begins with the need to reinsert those events of 6 August 1945 back into living consciousness." What is "the whole incredible problem," as Berger describes and defines it? "The whole incredible problem" as Berger describes and defines it is when his friend from America written a letter to him about the possibility of a third world war and Berger needing to read the book sent to him called Unforgettable Fire. The threat of another world war would be a result of nuclear weapons and due to the bombing on Hiroshima. 2) Berger argues that what happened on August 6, 1945 was "consciously and precisely planned".
In World War two there were many battles fought. One of the most controversial issues for the United States was not even a battle though. It was the use of the atomic bomb on two Japanese cities. I believe that the US was right in using the atomic bombs on Japan. The Japanese planned a secret attack on the United States.
Containment was not new in 1964 and 1965. It originates in the year following World War II. George Kenna’s famous 8,000-world telegram form Moscow to the U.S in February 1946 laid the foundation and had profound implications of U.S strategic thinking. The telegram was extremely well received in Washington because it offered an explanation and rationale for the uncooperative behavior of the Soviet Union (a world war II ally) in Europe. It also provided the guiding principles that United States leaders south as guidance for their actions toward the soviet containment.