Hiroshima
Was the invention of the atomic bomb the creation of just another weapon, or the creation of a doomsday device? For over fifty years, the controversy over whether or not it was necessary to drop the atomic bomb to conclude World War II has continued to question America and the rest of the world. In war, there is no sanction on how big and bad a weapon can be. Weapons are made to kill. And kill they do. For if the United States had not dropped the atomic bomb and finally closed World War II, the world might be a very different place today.Since the start of World War II, America had been in a race with Germany and the Soviet Union to build the first atomic bomb. On August 2nd 1939, Albert Einstein sent a letter to American President Franklin D. Roosevelt promoting the study and invention of an atomic bomb, and, in 1941, Roosevelt initiated the Atomic Bomb Project in hopes to win the nuclear race which would give the United States more leverage against non-allies. Also known as the "Groves Project," due to the fact that General Leslie Groves was the project leader; or the more popular name, the "Manhattan Project," it was decided to keep efforts in making the bomb a secret from most cabinet members, all of the United States Congre
The atomic bomb was ultimately used against Japan, but it was built as a response to a German threat. What started with America's use of two atomic bombs in World War II has escalated into hordes of deadly weapons. "As American-Soviet relations deteriorated, Hiroshima and Nagasaki rose as symbols of a new American barbarism, and as explanations for the origins of the cold war" (Sherwin 238). America had just gone through a bitter experience at Okinawa (the last major island campaign when the United States lost more than 12,500 men killed and missing and the Japanese more than 100,000 killed in eighty-two days of fighting). The decision to drop the atomic bomb was a difficult one that would affect the rest of the world for years to come. Also around this time, Truman insisted to the American public that the atomic bomb would be solely used on military targets, but the truth of the matter was that neither Hiroshima nor Nagasaki were "purely military" targets, and Truman led the American public to believe that they were. Just because the Soviets did not actually have the actually weapon in their hands, they had limited information and could get jealous and start their own project for building an atomic bomb. A second conference, the Potsdam Conference was held from July 17, until August 2, 1945, to converse about postwar procedures. Truman was sworn into office within 3 hours after the death of Franklin D. "The technology of war was already being hailed as the symbol of peace, and it was becoming increasingly clear that instead of promoting American postwar aims, wartime atomic energy policies had made them more difficult to achieve" (Sherwin 238). The United States had killed 100,000 people in Tokyo in one night of (conventional) bombs, and it had had a seemingly no effect whatsoever. At that point, the reality of the atomic bombs power would have overwhelmed the Japanese and they would have no choice but to surrender. The Soviet Union had already gained European land through secret agreements at the Yalta Conference held from February 4, until February 11, 1945.
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Acceptance Essays
