The first Atomic bomb
The Manhattan Project was established as a top secret program to build the first nuclear weapons. The research and development for the weapons were conducted throughout the United States and Canada. The only people that knew about the extent of the Manhattan Project were FDR, his top advisors, and the leading scientists (such as J. Robert Oppenheimer and Enrico Fermi) working on it. The process of building a weapon of mass destruction is so complex that many of the people manufacturing the parts for it did not exactly know what they were building. Even when people witnessed the atomic bomb being tested in the deserts of New Mexico, they did not know exactly what they saw nor did they understand the extent of the devastation.
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Not even Vice President Truman was made aware of the development of the first nuclear weapon. It was not until FDR died of a cerebral hemorrhage on April 12, 1945 and Truman was elevated to the presidency that he found out about the weapon. Truman grappled with the decision to use this new destructive technology but decided to issue the Potsdam Declaration. This declaration was an ultimatum presented to Japan that stated if they do not surrender unconditionally, they would suffer "the inevitable and complete destruction." However, there was never any mention of nuclear weapons. Emperor Hirohito said that Japan would defend itself at all costs. As a result, President Truman made the decision to attack Japan using nuclear weapons to end the war and ultimately save American lives.
Due to the level of devastation in the bomb's wake, U.S. officials received the unconditional surrender they were looking for from Japan. However, military commanders in the U.S. were prepared to drop 4 more nuclear weapons. Truman accomplished what he set out to do: end the war and save American lives. There are some estimates that would have put the total death toll at over 1 million people total (on both sides) had the U.S. decided to send ground troops.
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By December 1945, the death toll from both sites reached over 150,000 people by December 1945. There are 3 devastating effects of the nuclear weapon: the explosion (blast), thermal radiation (light/heat), and ionizing radiation (radiation fallout). The force of the blast and the heat that was emitted from the explosion were the primary causes of death but the radiation fallout had lasting effects on the people.
The atomic bomb attacks on Japan were the first and only time that nuclear weapons have been used against an enemy in wartime. The U.S. was able to make this decision, in part, because there was less of a fear of equal retaliation with our country being the only one with this technology. Since World War II, a number of countries have developed this technology and this technology has become exponentially more powerful. The threat of mutual destruction has helped to keep countries from participating in nuclear war.