Nuclear Weapons And Atomic Weapons Essay

“A nuclear bomb is defined as ‘an explosive device that derives its destructive force from nuclear reactions, either fission or a combination of fission and fusion. Both reactions release vast quantities of energy from relatively small amounts of matter.’ “

The Atomic Bomb was the deadliest weapons in the history of war. Throughout World War II one of the most stubborn countries to surrender was Japan who relentlessly fought against the United States of America. After failing to defeat America, Japan was overwhelmed by allied forces. Staying with tradition however, Japan would rather die in battle than to surrender. The Soviet Union also fought against America but that was towards the end of the war. The United States dropped both of the Atomic Bombs in order to intimidate the Soviet Union and to make Japan to surrender unconditionally.

Nuclear weapons pose a direct and constant threat to people. Not even close from keeping the peace, they breed fear and mistrust among nations. These ultimate instruments

On Monday July 16th, 1945, a countdown for the detonation of the first atomic bomb took place near Los Alamos, New Mexico. This atomic bomb testing would forever change the meaning of war. As the atomic bomb was detonated it sent shock-waves all over the world. There was endless research done on the bomb in the United States. The research was called The Manhattan Engineer District Project but it was more commonly known as "The Manhattan Project."

The first use of nuclear weaponry in warfare occurred on the morning of August 6, 1945 when the United States dropped the atomic bomb known as “Little Boy” on Hiroshima, Japan. The result was devastating, demonstrating the true power of nuclear warfare. Since the incident, the world has been left fearing the possible calamity of another nuclear war. Joseph Siracusa’s Nuclear Weapons: A Very Short Introduction explains aspects of nuclear weaponry from simply what a nuclear weapon is, to the growing fear from nuclear warfare advancements in an age of terrorism. The book furthered my education on nuclear weapons and the effect they place on society, physically and mentally.

It was April of 1945 and Harry Truman had been sworn into office following the death of a beloved president, Franklin Roosevelt. President Roosevelt left Truman with the hardest and still most controversial decision of all time, whether or not to drop the atomic bomb on Japan. This decision would determine whether or not the outcome of World War II would be quick or prolonged. The Manhattan project for developing the bomb began with the fear of Germany inventing a type of nuclear weapon. The Allies had just defeated Germany and now, the United States focus was ending war with Japan. America had been in war for four years accumulating 1 million casualties in the process. The United States wanted Japan to surrender unconditionally, as the

Although there have been many interpretations and, some say, the decision was made because there were thousands and thousands of United States military men and women that were killed in the Pacific.

In early August 1945 atomic bombs were dropped on the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. These two bombs quickly yielded the surrender of Japan and the end of American involvement in World War II. By 1946 the two bombs caused the death of perhaps as many as 240,000 Japanese citizens1. The popular, or traditional, view that dominated the 1950s and 60s – put forth by President Harry Truman and Secretary of War Henry Stimson – was that the dropping of the bomb was a diplomatic maneuver aimed at intimating and gaining the upper hand in relations with Russia. Today, fifty-four years after the two bombings, with the advantage of historical hindsight and the advantage of new evidence, a third view, free of obscuring bias and passion,

Purposeful bombing of civilians during war has been a common occurrence, but the ethicality of such a practice has been called into question. Generally, there tends to be a great aversion to intentionally causing harm without reasonable basis, yet this type of strategy is still in use. Is the bombing of innocent people justified if it ultimately brings an end to the war? The dropping of the atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki during World War II clearly exemplifies the ethical question of whether bombing civilians was right or wrong.

Post World War II, fear and anxiety consumed the subconscious of many Americans. Many feared atomic matter and the mystery of what it really was. Under the Atomic Energy Act, all information regarding the matter was classified. “The Big Secret,” as it was called was both a point of interest and pillar of anxiety for many. Everyday life was consumed by thoughts and worries but driven by the curiosity of this new science (Osteen 1994). The ability to split the uranium atom was discovered in 1938 in Berlin, Germany. The energy released when this atom split was remarkable. The fission of this atom could power a bomb and later would be used to do so. There were many issues to solve in regards to how the actual bomb would function. In 1939, President Franklin Roosevelt was informed that the atomic bomb was a strong possibility. With fear of the Nazis building the atomic bomb before the United States, The Manhattan Project was conceived in 1941 (AMNH 2016). On August 6th 1945, American’s learned of the bombing of Hiroshima. This event sent shocks around the world and seemingly unanswerable questions were quickly evolving around the topic of atomic matter.

The Atomic Bomb “The world will note that the first atomic bomb was dropped on

A nuclear weapon is one that possess enormous destruction power derived from nuclear fission which is either a nuclear reaction or a radioactive decay that eventually lead to a massive release of a large amount of energy. Throughout history many nuclear weapons have been developed and used. Over time a simple scientific discovery has manifested itself into a massive and destructive yet very important piece of history that has greatly affected the world today.

August 6th, 1945, 70,0000 lives were ended in a matter of seconds. The United States had dropped an atomic bomb on the city of Hiroshima. Today many argue whether or not the U.S. should have taken such a drastic measure. Was it entirely necessary that we drop such a devastating weapon? To answer that first we must look at was going on in the world at the time of the conflict. The U.S. had been fighting a massive war since 1941. Moral was most likely low, and resources were at the same level as moral. Still both sides continued to fight and both were determined to win. Obviously the best thing that could have possibly happened would have been to bring the war to a quick end with a minimum of allied casualties. Harry Truman’s decision to

The previously accepted nature of war stemmed from the Clausewitzian trinity: war is emotional, an experience wrought with passion, violence, and enmity; uncertainty, chance, and friction pervade the medium of war; however, because war is not an end in itself, and because, as a means, it is subordinate to its political aims, war must be subject to reason (Clausewitz, 89). With the first employment of nuclear weapons, however, strategists and military theorists began to question Clausewitz’s foundational ideas (Winkler, 58). Similarly, Allan Winkler, in agreeing with Bernard Brodie’s thesis, opines that the advent of nuclear weapons fundamentally changed the nature of war. Winkler’s assertion stems from his argument that such a nuclear duel would yield a post-war environment incapable of recovery for any parties involved (62). He further describes Brodie’s realization that “[t]he atomic bomb is not just another and more destructive weapon to be added to an already long list. It is something which threatens to make the rest of the list relatively unimportant.” (62) Ultimately, Winkler abridges Brodie’s assessment in stating that “the United States was caught in the paradox of having to prepare for a war it did not plan to fight.” (63)

Imagine a weapon that can kill 120,000 people in a blink of an eye. A weapon that can produce power of over 50 megatons of TNT. A weapon that not only the impact of it hitting the ground is dangerous but the aftermath of the weapon is just as deadly. And if that’s not enough to make you on edge, what if I told you that this weapon can be detonated from multiple different countries in just a few minutes if they feel like it. Now are you concerned? Well first let’s figure out how and who has this control before we answer if this weapon is a problem. Nuclear energy is the energy that holds neutrons and protons together in the nucleus of an atom. This energy is an effective way that can result in the production of electricity. Whenever one of these physical reactions take place it engenders a slight loss in mass, however this small loss of mass generates a lot of heat energy. This is the same principles that Albert Einstein explained with his famous equation, E=mc2. Nuclear energy, or more specifically military nuclear energy is a “super power” or very special powerful weapon that is seen as really dangerous or defensive in the eyes of the opposing country. How dangerous? Dangerous to the point that an average regular sized nuclear weapon that detonates over a city would burn away 40 to 65 square miles in the blink of an eye. some countries have the privilege or curse of owning nuclear weapons. Some of these countries include: The United States, Russia, The United Kingdom,