Effect Of The Us Atomic Bomb

On August 6th, 1945, the first Atomic Bomb was used on Hiroshima and it killed 135,000 people (http://www.atomicarchive.com/Docs/MED/med_chp10.shtml). Then three days later the next Atomic bomb was dropped on Nagasaki and killed another 64,000 people (http://www.atomicarchive.com/Docs/MED/med_chp10.shtml). This made Japan surrender and immediately ended ended one of the most significant of all wars, World War II. The first Atomic bomb was the foundation for future nuclear technologies, it started the Cold War, as well as many controversies that erupted in Iran and North Korea. It may have ended a war but it lead to many problems and harshened many conflicts .

In the 1930’s, many scientist believed if you split the atom in two, it would give off energy. With enough atom splitting it would give off a giant burst of energy. In 1938, Otto Hahn, a German physicist, discovered how to split the uranium atom. But many scientists feared that the Nazis might use it on Europe to further destruction. Then a Hungarian Scientist persuaded Albert Einstein to sign a letter that explained about the splitting of the atom and how it could be used. This letter was sent to Franklin Roosevelt. He responded by giving orders to “The United States Corps Of Engineers” to create the bomb. Jay C. Marshall was ordered to set up a secret project to create the bomb, this was known as “The Manhattan Project”. The project was not considered top priority until 1941, when Japan attacked a U.S. base in Hawaii called Pearl Harbor. Roosevelt stressed that research must have been going at “full steam” since Japan had posed it as a threat. They did the majority of the work in Los Alamos, New Mexico because this is where all of the scientists could gather and work in the same place. After 2 and a half years of hard work, the institution created two bombs. The first one was “Little Boy” which had a bullet design which used Uranium as its nuclear source. The other one called “Fat Man” had a more round design and used plutonium as its nuclear source. The scientists had doubts that “Fat Man” even worked since it used a different element. On July 16, 1945 in Alamogordo, New Mexico they tested a “Fat Man” prototype, this testing was known as the “Trinity Test”. Scientists were shocked to see the huge explosion from the bomb. The effect of the bomb was so powerful that even a blind girl many miles away noticed the flash. General Groves described the explosion “Beautiful but terrifying.” After four years of hard work and 2 billion dollar spent, Truman agreed to use the devices created to destroy mankind. On August 6th 1945, the U.S. dropped “Little Boy” on Hiroshima. Then on August 9th, then they dropped “Fat man” on Nagasaki. Six days after the detonation over Nagasaki, on August 15, Japan announced its surrender to the Allied Powers, signing the Instrument of Surrender on September 2, officially ending the Pacific War and therefore World War II.

The short term effects of the two bombs were tremendous. Nobody would think that one bomb could do so much damage with a force equal to 13,000 tons of TNT. “Little Boy” killed 75,000 instantly as a result of the blast, even more died from radiation sickness and cancer (http://www.world-nuclear.org/info/inf52.html). The radius of total destruction was about a mile. About 90 percent of buildings were damaged or destroyed (http://www.world-nuclear.org/info/inf52.html). By the end of 1945, 135,000 people died from a bomb that weighed only 8,000 pounds (http://www.world-nuclear.org/info/inf52.html). Many people had deformed children or could not even give birth resulting from radiation(http://www.world-nuclear.org/info/inf52.html). The day after the bomb fell on Hiroshima, it was raining pitch black rain that was very cold. “Fat Man” was not much better, it was dropped on Nagasaki and had the power of 17,000 tons of TNT(http://www.world-nuclear.org/info/inf52.html). The explosion gave off heat estimated at around 7000 degrees Fahrenheit(http://www.world-nuclear.org/info/inf52.html). Around 40,000 people died instantly, and by the end of 1945 it reached to about 80,000 deaths(http://www.world-nuclear.org/info/inf52.html). It was said that the survivors from Hiroshima went to Nagasaki for aid but found it was the U.S.’s next target. The two cities were completely destroyed, it was said that some people just dissolved and melted from the result of these bombs. It ended World War II, saved American lives and money but nothing could substitute the amount of death that occurred.

After the war, the Soviet Union felt they were treated unfairly and threatened by the United States. When the Soviet Union was in need of help and troops, America chose Britain over them. The Soviet Union also wanted the power that the Atomic Bomb would give. Stalin thought that Russia would be perceived as a more powerful nation if they had technology that could destroy cities. Stalin knew that he could force other countries into Communism with it. The U.S. thought that they ended the war but instead it started so many other conflicts.

The nuclear technology created in the labs during World War II started a new age, the Atomic Age. A few years later after the bombings of Japan, the U.S. wanted to contain it with International Regulation but Russia rejected this proposal from the United Nations. The Cold War began, it lasted from 1949 to 1991 and it can be considered a unique type of war because instead of fighting with weapons this war attacked the human mind. There was a lot of fraud, paranoia, and suspicion. The Cold War was an nuclear arms competition, where if Russia had a nuclear weapon, we had to get a nuclear weapon but bigger. But then Russia had to have two nuclear weapons instead of one, so then the U.S. had to have three nuclear weapons, and it went on like this for almost 40 years. Both of the countries went through many resources to enhance the capability of the nuclear weapons. People had no idea if they would be bombed by Russia or not.

The nuclear weapons were not the main reason the Cold War occurred but worsened the relations between the two superpowers. Events such as the Iran Crisis where Russian troops (instead of leaving after World War II) stayed in Iran and Stalin demanded access to Iran’s oil supplies. Stalin also helped local Communists in northern Iran to establish a separate government. In August 1946, Stalin demanded joint control of the Dardanelles with Turkey. The U.S. saw this move as another move to take over the middle east, just like Iran.