Download Bryce Kennedy Atomic Bomb World War II The Atomic bomb is the

Bryce Kennedy
Atomic Bomb
World War II
The Atomic bomb is the most significant effect of the World War because it
ended the war and out of all the weapons in the war killed the most people
as well a brought a new way of fighting in the war.
1) Primary
source
"I thought that it would be a mistake to disclose the existence of the bomb to the world before the
government had made up its mind about how to handle the situation after the war. Using the
bomb certainly would disclose that the bomb existed." According to Szilard, Byrnes was not
interested in international control: "Byrnes... was concerned about Russia's postwar behavior.
Russian troops had moved into Hungary and Rumania, and Byrnes thought it would be very
difficult to persuade Russia to withdraw her troops from these countries, that Russia might be
more manageable if impressed by American military might, and that a demonstration of the
bomb might impress Russia." Szilard could see that he wasn't getting though to Byrnes; "I was
concerned at this point that by demonstrating the bomb and using it in the war against Japan, we
might start an atomic arms race between America and Russia which might end with the
destruction of both countries.".
Two days later, Szilard met with J. Robert Oppenheimer, the head scientist in the Manhattan
Project. "I told Oppenheimer that I thought it would be a very serious mistake to use the bomb
against the cities of Japan. Oppenheimer didn't share my view." "'Well, said Oppenheimer, 'don't
you think that if we tell the Russians what we intend to do and then use the bomb in Japan, the
Russians will understand it?'. 'They'll understand it only too well,' Szilard replied, no doubt with
Byrnes's intentions in mind."

Szilard quoted in Spencer Weart and Gertrud Weiss Szilard, ed., Leo Szilard: His Version
of the Facts, pg. 185; also William Lanouette, Genius In the Shadows: A Biography of
Leo Szilard, pg. 266-267.
2) primary source:
"Prof. Albert Einstein... said that he was sure that President Roosevelt would have forbidden the
atomic bombing of Hiroshima had he been alive and that it was probably carried out to end the
Pacific war before Russia could participate."
Regarding the 1939 letter to Roosevelt, his biographer, Ronald Clark, has noted:
"As far as his own life was concerned, one thing seemed quite clear. 'I made one great mistake in
my life,' he said to Linus Pauling, who spent an hour with him on the morning of November 11,
1954, '...when I signed the letter to President Roosevelt recommending that atom bombs be
made; but there was some justification - the danger that the Germans would make them.'".

Axelrod, Alan, and Charles L. Phillips. "Soviet Denunciation of the Pact with Japan." Encyclopedia of
Historical Treaties and Alliances: From the 1930s to the Present, vol. 2. New York: Facts On File,
Inc., 2006. Modern World History Online. Facts On File,
Inc. http://www.fofweb.com/activelink2.asp?
ItemID=WE53&iPin=treaties00181&SingleRecord=True (accessed March 22, 2010).
3) Secondary
Source
“At 8:15 A.M on August 6, 1945 the United States dropped an entirely new type of
bomb- the atom bomb- on the city of Hiroshima in Japan. About 70,000 people were
killed instantly, and thousands more would die over the following weeks: Within days,
the Second World War finally ended.”
Lawton, Clive. Hiroshima the story of the first atom bomb. Cambridge: Candlewick Press, 2004.
Print.
4) Primary
source
“Some recent work by E. Fermi and L. Szilard, which has been communicated to me in
medicated to me in manuscript, leads me to export that the element uranium may be
turned into a new and important source of energy in the immediate future. Certain
aspects of the situation which has arisen seem to call for watchfulness and, if necessary,
quick action on the part of the Administration. I believe therefore that it is my duty to
bring to your attention the following facts and recommendations: In the course of the
last four months it has been made probable- through the work of Joliot in France as well
as Fermi and Szilard in America – that it may become possible to set up a nuclear chain
reaction in a large mass of uranium, by which vast amounts of power and large
quantities of the new radium- like elements would be generated. Now it appears almost
certain that this could be achieved in the immediate future.This new phenomenon
would also lead to the construction of bombs, and it is conceivable – though much less
certain- the extremely power- full bombs of a new type may thus be constructed. A
single bomb of this type, carried by boat and exploded in a port, might very well destroy
the whole port together with some of the surrounding territory. However, such bombs
might very well prove to be too heavy for transportation by air.”
Lawton, Clive. Hiroshima the story of the first atom bomb. Cambridge: Candlewick
Press, 2004. Print.