The Atomic Bomb

By: Luke, Ben, Alex, and Brittany

The Manhattan Project

Overview Program to develop atomic weapons

Code Named: The Manhattan Project Began December 1941 & ended in 1946 Was discreet and kept extremely secret

Project Origins Letter written from Albert Einstein

inspired FDR to research the uses of uranium

Led to creation of “Uranium Committee” under National Research Defense Council

Later modified into Manhattan Project Approved by FDR with out direct

knowledge of Congress Funds came from secret Presidential

accounts

Goals and Tasks1) Research the nature and capabilities of atomic

energy

2) Use this energy to create first atomic bomb

Directors Army Corps of Engineers’

Manhattan District controlled bomb construction

Supervisor: General Leslie R. Groves

Head of Scientific Team: Physicist J. Robert Oppenheimer

Workers and Expenses Cost $ 2.2 Billion Employed more than 600,000

people Involved US and foreign

scientists from universities & industrial sites Variety of scientists who worked

in different fields

Facilities Main Facility: Los Alamos,

New Mexico Other Sites: Oak Ridge,

Tennessee & Hanford, Washington

Research conducted in university laboratories Colombia and Berkley

Development Constructed nuclear

reactors to extract uranium from fossils and convert it into plutonium

Resulted in fission weapons that compress the plutonium so that a chain reactions occur and create explosive power

Results First atomic bomb created

Tested on July 16, 1945 at New Mexico facility

Produced the two bombs that were used against Japan “Little Boy” bomb dropped

on Hiroshima “Fatman” bomb dropped on

Nagasaki Became part of Atomic

Energy Commission (AEC) after World War II

Peace Before The Bomb In April 1945 a new Japanese cabinet formed

Prime Minister Baron Kantaro Suzuki Foreign Minister Shigenori Togo Army Minister Korechika Anami

New Cabinet decided to try and create a peace accord with the US

Japanese Peace Proposal Anami insisted that Japan make a plan that created

peace but did not say that Japan had been defeated This proposal would allow

Japan to keep possession of a fairly large empire Would allow for their army to withdraw from over sea

territories Retain some oversea territories Would have no Americans regulating what they did No war crimes would be punished

Why the US Said No Allowed Japan to keep their weapons and troops Did not want Japan to be like Germany after WWI Japan wanted to dodge their way out of defeat

Meaning that they just want to recover, rebuild and try again War Crimes

Japanese committed horrible crimes against the US and Korean prisoners Infecting them with diseases torture, starvation Overall most of the prisoner camps were just as bad if not worse as

the Holocaust camps in Germany

Wanted the people responsible to be held for trial

Pros To Using The Atomic Bomb•At this point in World War 2, mass killing had become almost acceptable due to the enormous amount of casualties

•It would strike fear in the Nazis and Soviet Union

•Assured complete surrender of the Japanese

•The Japanese had refused to surrender and instead wanted to reach a peace agreement in which the Japanese would be able to rebuild their army and maybe attack again later

•The U.S. thought that Japan deserved punishment for the acts that they committed toward other countries, for example the Rape of Nanking

Cons Could be seen as immoral It would kill thousands of innocent lives Some thought that Japan’s defeat was inevitable and

it could be found without the use of the atom bomb Using this weapon would remove Americans “clean

record” Other alternatives were not tried thoroughly before

the use of the atom bomb Although Japan would not accept defeat, they had

started trying to talk to U.S. officials about peace

VJ Day The formal surrender took place on August 15th,1945

in Tokyo Bay U.S. used island hopping in central and south west

pacific in 1944 to gain victory over Japan First stage taking back of Leyte in December of

1944 Next liberation of Luzon January 2nd-8th 1945 US

attacked Two battles were the final stages of liberation in the

Philippines, invasions in Iwo Jima and Okinawa Suffered severe casualties due to kamikaze attacks

Manila Battle for Manila began in early February ended on

March 4th Key strategic island for the rest of the invasions in

the future US took Manila Bay on April 17th US took Yamashita August 15th Total casualties US 33,000 Japan 190,000 and

10,000 captured

Iwo Jima February 18th land on shore to end of March 1945 Strategic land, for US bombers to resupply and to

make emergency landings 22,000 Japanese defended the island December 8th 1944 bombers started an on going

attack on Iwo Jima for 72 days 500 warships 75,000 Marines U.S. casualties 6,000 dead 17,000 wounded the

Japanese all dead except for 216 prisoners

Okinawa Japan 77,000 people US 1,200 warships 500,000 men Attacked in April Japan - Casualties 127,000 dead including civilians

400 warships sunk U.S. - 7,400 dead 32,000 wounded The battle was so fatal it is sometimes referred to as

the “Typhoon of Steel”

Atomic Bomb First atomic bomb named little boy, destroyed 4.5 miles, 66%

of building in a 9.5 mile radius were destroyed Dropped on august 6th Target Hiroshima 71,000 died 68,000 injured Second bomb Fat man Dropped on august 9th Target Nagasaki Killed 40,000 Injured 25,000

An Atomic Bomb Test YouTube - Atomic Bomb Explosion

North Korea and Weapons of Mass Destruction In 2003 North Korea withdrew

from the Nuclear Non-proliferation Treaty due to their intentions try and create nuclear weapons

This treaty was a pact among most countries that said that no making or research of nuclear weapons would be attempted

North Korea’s Current Status In April of 2009 North

Korea was announced as a fully fledged nuclear power due their first successful test

Since April they have now made a total of six to eight nuclear weapons

Conflict Critics of the US government think

that the US is being hypocritical due to the fact that the US has many more nuclear weapons than any other country in the world

These people say that North Korea should not be criticized so heavily for trying to widen their defense

Possible Consequences The US Government

thinks that North Korea becoming a nuclear power threatens the peace of the world

They also think that if their leader Kim-Jong Il is not dealt with correctly then this threat could lead to nuclear war