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WHISMUN 2017
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Historical Security Council (HSC)
BACKGROUND GUIDE
WHISMUN 2017
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On the Future of Nuclear Weapons
January 1946
Director:
Assistant Director:
Edmund Henry
Vanessa Wiggins
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February 3-4 | Brooklyn, NY
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WHISMUN 2017
THE HIGH SCHOOL FOR
ENTERPRISE, BUSINESS, AND
TECHNOLOGY
1/10/17
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http://www.whismun.org/
Tiffany Delgado
Secretary-General
Dimitri Mimy
Conference Director
Desiree Marmolejo
Chief of External Relations
Dimitri Mimy
Under-Secretary-General
Kevin Whiston
John Heegle
Faculty Advisers
Chris Talamo
Arpita Tashin
EIM Program Managers
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INTRODUCTION
August 6, 1945,World War II (1939-45) is still ongoing, we are all desperate to see this
terrible war end. An American B-29 bomber dropped the world’s first deployed atomic bomb
over the Japanese city of Hiroshima. The explosion wiped out 90 percent of the city and
immediately killed 80,000 people; tens of thousands more would later die of radiation exposure.
Three days later, a second B-29 dropped another A-bomb on Nagasaki, killing an estimated
40,000 people. Japan’s Emperor Hirohito announced his country’s unconditional surrender in
World War II in a radio address on August 15, citing the devastating power of “a new and most
cruel bomb.” This committee is an imaginary historical security council taking place in January
1946, the first month of the security council’s existence, and aims to explore the possibilities,
and dangers, of the nuclear bomb and offer the world some authoritative guidance on its future
use--only five months after its destructive potential was starkly revealed to the whole planet, and
before the Cold War was irrevocably set in motion.
TOPIC HISTORY
Building the Atomic Bomb
The Manhattan Project
Early in 1939, the world's scientific community discovered that German physicists
learned the secrets of splitting a uranium atom. Fears soon spread over the possibility of Nazi
scientists utilizing that energy to produce a bomb capable of unspeakable destruction. Scientists
Albert Einstein, who fled Nazi persecution, and Enrico Fermi, who escaped Fascist Italy, were
now living in the United States. They agreed that the President must be informed of the dangers
of this atomic technology in the hands of the Axis powers. Enrico Fermi traveled to Washington
in March to express his concerns to government officials. Despite this, few shared his
uneasiness.
Einstein penned a letter to President Roosevelt urging the development of an atomic
research program later that year. Roosevelt saw neither the necessity nor the utility for such a
project, but agreed to proceed albeit slowly. In late 1941, the American effort to design and build
an atomic bomb received its code name — the MANHATTAN PROJECT.
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At first the research was based at only a few universities — the University of Chicago,
Columbia University and the University of California at Berkeley. A breakthrough occurred in
December 1942 when Fermi led a group of physicists to produce the first controlled Nuclear
Chain Reaction at the University of Chicago under the grandstands of Stagg Field.
After this, funds were allocated more freely, and the project advanced at breakneck
speed. Nuclear facilities were built at Oak Ridge, Tennessee and Hanford, Washington. The
main assembly plant was built at Los Alamos, New Mexico. Robert Oppenheimer was put in
charge of putting the pieces together at Los Alamos. After the final bill was tallied, nearly $2
billion had been spent on research and development of the atomic bomb. The Manhattan Project
had employed over 120,000 Americans.
Secrecy was paramount. Neither the Japanese nor the Germans could learn of the project.
Roosevelt and Churchill also agreed that Stalin be kept in the dark. Consequently, there was no
public awareness or debate. Keeping 120,000 people quiet would be impossible; therefore only a
small privileged cadre of inner scientists and officials knew about the atomic bomb's
development. Even Vice-President Truman had never heard of the Manhattan Project until he
became President Truman.
Although the Axis powers remained unaware of the efforts at Los Alamos, American
leaders later learned that a Soviet spy named Klaus Fuchs had penetrated the inner circle of
scientists.
By summer, Oppenheimer was ready to test the first bomb. On July 16 of last year, at
Trinity Site near Alamogordo, New Mexico, scientists of the Manhattan Project readied
themselves to watch the detonation of the world's first atomic bomb. The device was affixed to a
100-foot tower and discharged just before dawn. No one was properly prepared for the result.
A blinding flash visible for miles lit up the morning sky. A mushroom cloud reached
thousands of feet, blowing out windows of civilian homes miles away. When the cloud returned
to earth it created a half-mile wide crater metamorphosing sand into glass. A bogus cover-up
story was quickly released, explaining that a huge ammunition dump had just exploded in the
desert. Soon word reached President Truman in Potsdam, Germany that the project was
successful. The world has entered the nuclear age.
Military use of the Atomic Bomb
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Fighting continued throughout the Pacific in 1944 and last year 1945, including major
battles at Leyte, Iwo Jima, and Okinawa. By the late spring of 1945, most of Japan’s conquests
had been liberated, and Allied forces were closing in on the Japanese home islands. As they
neared Japan proper, the Allies began heavy bombing campaigns against major Japanese cities,
including Tokyo. This process continued through last summer, 1945 until finally, in early
August, the United States dropped two atomic bombs on the cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
Stunned by the unexpected devastation, Japan surrendered a few days later.
CURRENT STATUS & BLOC POSITIONS
The explosion in Hiroshima wiped out ninety percent of the city immediately killing
80,000 people and the explosion in Nagasaki, an estimated 40,000 people. Japan’s Emperor
Hirohito announced his country’s unconditional surrender in World War II in a radio address on
August 15, citing the devastating power of “a new and most cruel bomb.”The news spread
quickly, and “Victory in Japan” or “V-J Day” celebrations broke out in the United States and
other Allied nations. The formal surrender agreement was signed on September 2, aboard the
United States battleship Missouri, anchored in Tokyo Bay.
The Allies had won, and there was no immediate, negative reaction to this issue, as many
people did not fully comprehend the use of the atomic bomb, the devastation it brought, and any
future harm that it may cause. The American people as a whole are ecstatic because the troops
are returning home to their families and the threat of an ongoing war was averted. Upon learning
of the destruction in Hiroshima President Harry S. Truman called it “The greatest thing in
history.” John McCloy, Assistant Secretary of War stated, "I am absolutely convinced that had
we said they could keep the emperor, together with the threat of an atomic bomb, they would
have accepted, and we would never have had to drop the bomb." The people in America
themselves are happy for the war to be completely over, however remain largely in the dark. The
USSR have displayed a strong interest in this new technology. Many other countries are either
shocked at the new power, trying to develop the technology, or just content that the war is over.
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COMMITTEE MISSION
*Damage Assessment
How many people have been affected by this bomb? What are some of it’s observed and
projected short-term and long-term effects?
*Inquiry on Nuclear Weapons
Defining and categorizing nuclear weapons. Should they be regulated and if so, how?
How can we limit their future development and usage?.
WORKS CITED
1. http://www.history.com/topics/world-war-ii/bombing-of-hiroshima-and-nagasaki
2. http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/atomic-bomb-dropped-on-hiroshima
3. http://www.atomicheritage.org/history/bombings-hiroshima-and-nagasaki-1945
4. http://www.nucleardarkness.org/hiroshima/
5. http://www.nucleardarkness.org/hiroshima/
6. https://libcom.org/history/1945-us-responses-atomic-bombing-hiroshima-nagasaki