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Essay about the evolution of nuclear weapons
Development of atomic weapons
Essay about the evolution of nuclear weapons
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Following Germany’s surrender to the Allied powers on May 7, 1945, Americans were hoping that Japan would surrender as well. However, after the Yalta Conference and promising the USSR many conditions if they helped America beat the Japanese, the Americans knew that they had to bring the Japanese to surrender before the Russians joined the war in two or three months. Then on July 16, 1945, the first atomic bomb, a weapon that could guarantee Japanese surrender, became a reality when it was tested in the New Mexico deserts successfully, was revealed publically to Russia and Britain at the Potsdam Conference, and was used publicly just one month later on August 6 and 9 on the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Although some would argue …show more content…
that the atomic bombs were dropped as a purely militaristic measure to bring Japanese surrender, many agree that the bombs were dropped to intimidate the Russians, both to scare off communism and to prevent Russia from entering the Japanese war.
One of two reasons that we dropped the atomic bombs was to scare off communism that both existed in the United States and that we feared would spread from Russia throughout Europe. Many Americans knew we would win the war within six months, however as James Byrnes argues, weeks before becoming the US Secretary of State, the spreading of Russian influence in Europe was much more concerning (Doc F). Leo Szilard, a brilliant physicist working on the Manhattan Project, published his recollections of the Manhattan Project for the American public to know the true intentions of the US government in dropping the atomic bombs. The purpose of his writings was to show the public what was going on behind closed doors (Doc F). General H.H. Arnold agreed with Leo in that …show more content…
the end of the war was near before we dropped the bombs. General Arnold argued that, with the use of our B-29 planes and bombs, we had already made it impossible for Japan to carry on a large-scale war, saying that with or without the bomb the Japanese would have surrendered (Doc B). The point-of-view of the General was of someone who wanted to end the war and was only concerned with the fighting that was currently happening and not future wars, meaning he was unbiased towards the Russian intimidation and agreed that the atomic bombs were unnecessary (Doc B). Many Americans felt that the bombs were justified, considering the Japanese had butchered 2,335 Americans at Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941, however many Americans knew that the Japanese could not continue the war and the American were bound to win regardless. These points show that although many knew the war with Japan would not last much longer, America dropped the bombs to make Russian influence in Europe more controllable. The second reason we dropped the bombs on Japan was to prevent Russia from joining America's war with Japan. The Red Army was ready to continue to show the world why it was becoming a global superpower, and what better way to do that than to come in and help finish a war that was already ending. Dwight D. Eisenhower advised President Truman that there was no way that the Soviets would stay out of the war unless victory was achieved before they could get in (Doc C). The historical context of what Eisenhower said is that the Soviets and Stalin were trying to spread communism throughout Europe, trying their best to show the world that communism was best and influencing other nations to become communist (Doc C). Another reason the Russians wanted to get into the war was because of the agreements made at the Yalta Conference, which gave the Russians land in Sakhalin, a jointly operated Russian-Chinese railroad, and the commercial port of Dairen if they helped the United States defeat Japan (Doc D). The purpose of the Yalta Conference and the agreement between the Big Three, Stalin, Truman, and Churchill, was that Russia could help free China from Japan while America continued fighting in the Pacific Theatre and invaded Japan (Doc D). However, as America grew more weary of the Communists, we revealed our successful atomic testing at the Potsdam Conference to intimidate the communists. Churchill recollected that the United States did not want Russian participation in the war against Japan, which would lead to a much more peaceful prospect in Europe with Russian intervention (Doc E). The intended audience of Churchills recollections were the citizens of both the nations of Great Britain and America to see what ideas were really behind the choices to drop the bombs on Japan (Doc E). Churchill was as afraid of communism as Americans were, hoping the Americans would end the war swiftly so that he wouldn’t have to worry as much about communism in Europe spreading. For these reasons, we dropped the bombs on Japan to keep Russia from getting involved in the war. Although the main cause of the dropping of the bombs was to intimidate the Russians, a benefit of the bombs was to save American lives.
In one report from a scientific panel, they agree that some of the scientists worked on the Manhattan Project to save American lives with the use of the bombs (Doc G). Harry S. Truman told the American public that we used the bombs as payback against the country that attacked us with our defenses down at Pearl Harbor while we were neutral and abandoned the international laws of warfare by torturing Americans while they were POWs, breaking laws made in the Geneva Conventions of Prisoners of War (Doc H). Truman told Americans they were shortening the war and saving thousands of Americans, only stopping when Japan would surrender (Doc H). These things were said in one of Truman's radio addresses to the American public to gain national support for the dropping of the bombs. Secretary of War Henry L. Stimson argued that if we didn’t end the war with the atomic bombs, it was projected that the war would last until late 1946 and would cost over a million casualties in American lives, on top of the thousands of Americans that had already died (Doc A). However, many US generals believed that although the Japanese did have many soldiers left, they were too poorly supplied to continue fighting. Although the saving of American lives was a nice bonus in the dropping of the bombs, many scientists and generals agreed that the bombs were dropped to
intimidate the Russians. The bombs were dropped to intimidate the Russians, both to scare off communism and to prevent Russia from entering the Japanese war. Without the swift end to the war, the Russians would have entered the war during the end, reaping the benefits from their agreements in the Yalta Conference and growing the pretense of communist superiority in Europe and the world. Instead, America ended the war and kept the Communists from expanding their presence. The ending of the Japanese war and our intentions in ending it swiftly is much like America's current war on terrorism. America was brought into the war against terrorism by 9/11, much like Pearl Harbor dragged us into the war against Japan. Americas use of bigger and better bombs and sending more troops to countries like Syria and Iraq are intimidation techniques to both scare off terrorists and prevent further terrorist organizations from growing. America views terrorists today as Americans viewed communists in the 40s through the 60s, as evil humans who seek to end prosperity and who fight democracy, and America uses the same tactics on terrorists as it did on the Soviets.
The war was coming to a victorious conclusion for the Allies. Germany had fallen, and it was only a matter of time until Japan would fall as well. Secretary of War Henry L. Stimson was at the forefront of the American war effort, and saw atomic weaponry as a way out of the most monumental war ever. As discussed in Cabell Phillips’ book, The Truman Presidency: The History of a Triumphant Succession, Stimson was once quoted as saying that the atomic bomb has “more effect on human affairs than the theory of Copernicus and the Law of Gravity” (55). Stimson, a defendant of dropping the bomb on Japan, felt that the world would never be the same. If the world would change after using atomic weapons, could it possibly have changed for the better? One would think not. However, that person might be weary of the biased opinion of White House personnel. He or she should care more for the in depth analytical studies done by experts who know best as to why America should or should not have dropped the atomic bomb. As more and more evidence has been presented to researchers, expert opinion on whether or not the United States should have dropped the two atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki has also changed. More and more researchers seem to feel that the atomic bomb should never have been used (Alperovitz 16). Despite several officials’ claims to enormous death estimations, an invasion of Japan would have cost fewer total lives. In addition, post atomic bomb repercussions that occurred, such as the Arms Race, were far too great a price to pay for the two atomic drops. However, possibly the most compelling argument is that Japan would have surrendered with or without the United States using the atomic bomb. In defiance of top...
In 1945, the United States was facing severe causalities in the war in the Pacific. Over 12,000 soldiers had already lost their lives, including 7,000 Army and Marine soldiers and 5,000 sailors (32). The United States was eager to end the war against Japan, and to prevent more American causalities (92). An invasion of Japan could result in hundreds of thousands killed, wounded and missing soldiers, and there was still no clear path to an unconditional surrender. President Truman sought advice from his cabinet members over how to approach the war in the Pacific. Although there were alternatives to the use of atomic weapons, the evidence, or lack thereof, shows that the bombs were created for the purpose of use in the war against Japan. Both the political members, such as Henry L. Stimson and James F. Byrnes, and military advisors George C. Marshall and George F. Kennan showed little objection to completely wiping out these Japanese cities with atomic weapons (92-97). The alternatives to this tactic included invading Japanese c...
The United States entered WW II immediately following the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941. The U.S. entry was a major turning point in the war because it brought the strongest industrial strength to the Allied side. The Americans helped the Allies to win the war in Europe with the surrender of Germany on May 7, 1945. However, the war in the Pacific continued. The war with Japan at this point consisted primarily of strategic bombings. America had recently completed an atomic bomb and was considering using this weapon of mass destruction for the first time. The goal was to force the “unconditional surrender” of the Japanese. Roosevelt had used the term “unconditional surrender” in a press conference in 1943 and it had since become a central war aim. Truman and his staff (still feeling bound by FDR’s words) demanded unconditional surrender from the Japanese. Consequently on July 26, 1945 Truman issued an ultimatum to Japan. This ultimatum stated that Japan must accept “unconditional surrender” or suffer “utter devastation of the Japanese Homeland”. This surrender included abdication of the throne by their emperor. Japan was not willing to surrender their dynasty and ignored the ultimatum. On August 6th and August 9th, atomic bombs were dropped on the cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki respectively.
In discussion of the atomic bombs dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, one controversial issue has the dropping of the atomic bombs being justified. On the other hand others believe that there were other ways of getting Japan to surrender and it was not justified, the only way we could get Japan to surrender was to invade them. Our strategy was to island hop until we got to Japan. Many more lives were at steak when doing that. Not only would just Americans would die, but a lot of the Japanese would have died as well, and the death toll would have much greater. 199,000 deaths came after the dropping of the atomic bombs. However, many American lives were saved, what the Japanese did to Pearl Harbor, and the treatment of our American soldiers while
The super bomb in which America and Russia were trying to build was in fact the Hydrogen Bomb. This bomb had an unlimited blast potential and for the country who possessed it unlimited power. The A-bomb’s explosion was based on the principal of fission (the splitting of atoms), however the H-bomb’s explosion was base on fusion (the coming together of atoms). In August of 1945 Russian President Stalin, turns up the nuclear project in Russia. He put Barria whom was in charge of the secret police, to head the Russian Nuclear program. An American scientist named Edward Teller solicited the American government to build the H-bomb. He was born in Hungary and had learned to fear the communists and the Russians. In April of 1946 the Super Conference was held. Klaus Fuchs was a scientist that worked for Teller at Los Alamos, he told the Russians how to build the A-bomb, and also about Tellers ideas of the H-bomb. He was arrested for spying for the Russians. By chance the Americans found out that there were traces of radioactive material in the air over Russia. They pieced together that Russia had the A-bomb they decided to go ahead with plans to build the super bomb. President Truman came to the conclusion that no matter how bad of a weapon the H-bomb was if was better if we had if first. America had lost some of its power and wanted to gain a new edge. General Curtis Lamay was put in charge of Strategic Air Command to protect America from the threat of nuclear war. Lamay was the ranking Air Force General over the Skies of the pacific and was the man for the job. His strategy was to have an abundant amount of bombers ready to strike every major city in the Soviet Union. He wanted everyone in the Army and Air Force to act as if war was not far away.
World War II played host to some of the most gruesome and largest mass killings in history. From the start of the war in 1939 until the end of the war in 1945 there were three mass killings, by three big countries on those who they thought were lesser peoples. The rape of Nanking, which was carried out by the Japanese, resulted in the deaths of 150,000 to 200,000 Chinese civilians and POW. A more well-known event was of the Germans and the Holocaust. Hitler and the Nazi regime persecuted and killed over 500,000 Jews. This last country may come as a surprise, but there is no way that someone could leave them out of the conversation. With the dropping of the Atomic bombs the United States killed over 200,000, not including deaths by radiation, in the towns of Nagasaki and Hiroshima and ultimately placed the United States in the same group as the Japanese and the Germans. What are the alternatives other than dropping the two A-bombs and was it right? The United States and President Truman should have weighed their opting a little bit more before deciding to drop both atomic bombs on the Islands of Nagasaki and Hiroshima. In the case of dropping the atomic bombs the United States did not make the right decision. This essay will explain through logic reasoning and give detailed reasons as to why the United States did not make the right choice.
The United States was unaware the Soviet spying about the bomb project because we were in the thought of the Soviet would promise to end the Pacific war. However, it was not the case, Soviet acknowledged about the atomic bomb and wanted to create many as possible so they could yield the control not only the Pacific, but the Eastern Europe. In the word of former US senator from South Carolina, James F. Byrnes, claimed “the bomb provided a unique opportunity to check Soviet control of Easter Europe and Asia in the postwar years, and he very much wanted to delay or avert the entry of the Soviet Union into the war with Japan” (59). In the Potsdam Declaration on July 26, all the Allied countries, except Soviet, stood together on preparing the end the World War 2. President Truman, learned the success of the Manhattan project, and understood that he must make a choice to whether drop the atomic bomb or not; turned out to be the most difficult decision make on his life. They came up with decision to make Japan “unconditional surrender” (59) but they afraid the Japan would not step down and refused to give up their fight. There was a debated on the use of atomic bomb or waited for the Soviet to stepped in the Pacific. Thus the Allied finally commanded the “unconditional surrender” to the leadership in Japan, turned out to what the Allied expected. The Japan emperor rejected the request, but there was a point where the Japan could conditional surrender as
...or both sides; casualties were increasing. This was what mostly led to the U.S to drop the atomic bomb. The Japanese surrender did not occur until after the first bomb dropped of the atomic bombs on Hiroshima and a second on Nagasaki. The atomic bomb was the result of a top secret experiment called the Manhattan Project (The Americans. Reconstruction to the 21st Century) the war was finally over when Japan surrendered on August 14th.
President Truman's decision to drop the atomic bomb on the cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki were the direct cause for the end of World War II in the Pacific. The United States felt it was necessary to drop the atomic bombs on these two cities or it would suffer more casualties. Not only could the lives of many soldiers have been taken, but possibly the lives of many innocent Americans. The United States will always try to avoid the loss of American civilians at all costs, even if that means taking lives of another countries innocent civilians.
On August 6, 1945, the U.S. dropped the world’s first atomic bomb over Hiroshima. Three days later, a second bomb was dropped on Nagasaki. On August 15th, the Japan announced unconditional surrender in World War II. To this day historians still discuss why the U.S. decided to use the atomic bombs. Orthodox historians argue that the decision to drop the bombs was a military one designed purely to defeat the Japanese.
“The atomic bomb certainly is the most powerful of all weapons, but it is conclusively powerful and effective only in the hands of the nation which controls the sky” (Johnson 1). Throughout World War II, the war was in pieces. The Germans were almost at world domination along with their allies, the Italians and Japanese. The Japanese and United states had remained at combat with each other since the bombarding of the Pearl Harbor ("U.S. Drops Atomic Bomb on Japan "1). There was abundant controversy as to whether the United States should have used the atomic bombs or not. There were many factors as to the argument relating to the atomic bombs leading to the United States final decision. Many people had arguments for the bombing and others had arguments against the bombings but it is still not determined if the United States made the right decision.
The attack at Pearl Harbor was the event that caused the U.S. to decide to be involved in the war. After this incident, the U.S. was trying to find a way to retaliate and counterattack against Japan. Some thought that the only way to do so was by using atomic bombs. People like, General Dwight Eisenhower, Harry S Truman, and a group of scientists believed that the use of the bomb would do good, and finally end everything. Eisenhower believed that because the use of the atomic bomb was successful in New Mexico, it would also be successful in Japan as well. Harry S Truman thought that even the atomic bomb was the most destructive weapon in the history of the world, it could be made the most useful. He stated that, “it was ...
The dropping of atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Japan were ethical decisions made by President Harry Truman and the United States government. By the time of the atom bomb was ready, the U.S. had been engaged in military conflict for over four years and lost over 400,000 soldiers. Truman claimed, "We would have the opportunity to bring the world into a pattern in which the peace of the world and our civilization can be saved" (Winkler 18). The bomb was aimed at ending the war immediately and avoiding prolonged battle in the Pacific Theater and the inevitable invasion of Japan. President Truman hoped that by showing the Japanese the devastating weapon the U.S. possessed, that the war could be brought ...
There are many people who oppose the use of the atomic bombs; though there are some that believe it was a necessity in ending the war. President Truman realized the tragic significance of the atomic bomb and made his decision to use it to shorten the agony of young Americans (“Was the Atomic Bombing”). The president knew of the way the Japanese fought. They fought to the death and they were brutal to prisoners of war. They used woman and children as soldiers to surprise bomb the enemy. They made lethal weapons and were taught to sacr...
When it come to be publicly acknowledged that the United States government planned on using atomic bombs to fight the war against Japan, a group of scientists who had worked on the atomic bomb for many years, felt the need to protest the idea. Leo Szilard who was a head of the group of scientists came up with a petition for the president for his associated scientists to look over. In his petition he asked the President “to rule that the United States shall not, in the present phase of the war, resort to the use of atomic bombs” (Szilard, par. 1). Szilard’s thoughts mentioned in the petition sought the strength and persuasion needed to sway the President that the use of the atomic bomb was uncalled for because of the shortage of facts presented, their poor reasoning found in the writing, and the failure to communicate the significance that their arguments held in the decision.