Sylvia Talbott
Period D
February 28, 2008

How the Atomic Bombs Lead to the end of World War Two

	The Manhattan Project was created in August of 1942 to create an Atomic Bomb. Previously, in 1938 fission was discovered in Germany. In December of 1942 the first atomic pile was created, proving that an atomic bomb was “a practical reality”. It was discovered that both Uranium-235 (a rare isotope of Uranium) and Plutonium-239 could be used as fissionable weapons. Uranium-239 is also a known fissionable material today. Fission is when a neutron strikes the nucleus of one of these fissionable materials. When the neutron strikes the nucleus it splits it, and “transforms a small amount of its matter into a large amount of energy”; when this occurs other neutrons are also released, which then collide with other nuclei, creating a self-sustaining chain reaction. When this happens rapidly the combined energy of all the splitting nuclei creates a fission explosion. Originally the Manhattan Project and the creation of atomic bombs began out of fear that Germany might develop this type of weapon first; putting millions of people’s lives in danger; because of this fear no time was spared in developing an atomic bomb. The Trinity Test took place in July of 1945, during this test a bomb was exploded in an Army bombing range in New Mexico. The ‘Big Boy’ plutonium bomb was detonated and 235 miles away windows were blown out. But, as history goes, when the first ever atomic bombs were dropped the war in Europe was over, Hitler was dead, and the bombs were being dropped on Japan. How did the atomic bombings lead to the end of the war?

	In August 1945, less than a month after the Trinity Test, two bombs were dropped on Japan. Franklin Roosevelt, the President of the United States at the time and the creator of the Manhattan Project, felt that the use of the atomic bombs would shorten the length of the war and spare lives. In July of the same year Japan had an estimated 5 million people in their Army, almost no Navy, and a Kamikaze Air Force that caused “real concern to our naval leaders”. Invading Japan would have involved 5 million or more American men, there was also an estimate that a million American lives would be lost, not including allies, and the enemy loses were expected to be higher. “As we understood it in July, there was a very strong possibility that the Japanese Government might determine upon resistance to the end, in all the areas of the Far East under its control. In such an event the Allies would be faced with the enormous task of destroying an armed force of five million men and five thousand suicide aircraft, belonging to a race which had already amply demonstrated its ability to fight literally to the death.” Henry L. Stimson, Secretary of War under President Franklin Roosevelt, in an excerpt explaining what led to the use of the atomic bombs against Japan. So, in theory dropping these bombs saved millions of American, Allied, and Japanese lives…This is only in theory, we have no way of knowing now how many would have died of Japan and been invaded by America. 

	In July of 1945 the Potsdam Declaration was issued to Japan as an ultimatum of surrender, threatening "the inevitable and complete destruction of the Japanese armed forces and just as inevitably the utter devastation of the Japanese homeland", it did not mention the atomic bomb. The Japanese government ignored and rejected this ultimatum. On August 6th, 1945 the Uranium bomb, ‘Little Boy’ was dropped on Hiroshima. It weighed 4000 kg, or more than 8800 lbs! 70,000 people were killed within that one day, fires were started by the 3000F fireball created by the explosion, and 90% of the cities infrastructure was destroyed. By the end of the year 140,000 people died. When the Japanese government heard about what happened in Hiroshima they decided to keep fighting. Then, on August 8th (my birthday ) Soviet forces declared war on Japan and began moving into Manchuria to push the Japanese out as part of the Yalta Conference between the USSR, USA, and Britain. On August 9th a second bomb, this time Plutonium based, the ‘Fat Man’ was dropped on Nagasaki, Japan. It weighed more than 10,000lbs. When it exploded 40,000 were killed instantly, later on, from related causes at least 100,000 people would die in Nagasaki. After this bombing Japan finally surrendered, ending the Second World War. Perhaps 

	It’s up to debate whether or not the atomic bombs brought the end of the war with fewer deaths or not. There are estimates of course, about how many people would have been killed, but there is no way to know for sure. One thing is definitely, the atomic bombs did end the war swiftly, and devastatingly. The extreme loss of life in such a short period is incredible. Those who didn’t die instantly from the bomb were burned severely, suffered from radiation sickness, and the effects of nuclear fallout. Some people feel that even though it seemed like a good idea at the time, and it was not seen as a war crime, that it should be treated like a war crime today. If this was treated as a war crime, aren’t there numerous other events that should also be treated as war crimes? War crimes committed by many countries over the entire span of the war. Yet another point of view is that “Hitler and the Japanese leadership would have done the same or worse, had they been able.” But does that make it any better that we did use the bomb against Japan? Also, how should international laws and laws of war be created and enforced? Some people also hold to their belief that Japan was preparing to surrender, and that dropping the bombs was “a prime example of the declining moral standards of the conduct of modern war.” Either way, the best we can do for certain is learn from the events that happened in early August at Hiroshima and Nagasaki, just like all history. If we learn from the past, and take something away from it, we can only hope that we make good decisions in the future. “There is no alternative to diplomatic solutions to problems such as Iran and North Korea, or building disarmament treaties.” 

	In conclusion, the use of the atomic bomb brought a swift end to World War Two simply by destroying so many lives and structures in such a short amount of time. Fearing more devastation from atomic bombs, the Japanese surrendered. The bomb was created with Hitler in mind and how the same technology in his hands could spell the end for so much of Europe and even the United States. In fact, some of the very people he set out to erase came to the United States and helped to build the bomb. It is debated wheatear or not using the bombs was a good decision; some feel like it was not necessary, or that it was a war crime. As stated previously, all we can really do is learn from the past, mistakes or not, and use this knowledge to better the future of Earth and Man Kind.