Research Paper On Robert Oppenheimer

As World War II was coming to an end during 1945, the creation of one of the most destructive weapons known to humanity occurred within the United States. This weapon, known as “the atomic bomb,” was used on the two Japanese cities: Hiroshima and Nagasaki, resulting in a death toll unprecedented by any military weapon used before and an immediate, unconditional surrender. Some historians believe President Truman decided to drop the atomic bomb in order to intimidate the Soviet Union whereas others believe it was a strictly military measure designed to force Japan’s unconditional surrender. In the Report of a Scientific Panel of nuclear physicists, some scientific colleagues believed the atomic bomb was a “purely technical

The atomic bomb was powerful enough that one of them could cause devastating threats and end the war. Two atomic bombs were dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki in Japan in August 1945. These atomic bombs took away the lives of all 20 million people at one time, and Japan immediately declared surrender in August 15th. During the Second World War, in May 1945, Germany surrendered to the Allies, and the battle is over. But, Japan had showed no signs of surrender to the Allies in the fight against the Philippines. Thus, President of United States decided to drop the atomic bombs on Hiroshima to beat the Japan. (854, 863-864,

Oskar Schindler grew up in a prosperous Catholic family with all the privileges money could buy. He grew up to be a German industrialist, spy, and a member of the Nazi Party, who outwitted Hitler and the Nazis to save more Jews than any other from the deathly events of World War॥. With the help of his wife, Emilie Schindler, Oskar Schindler saved the lives of 1,200 Jews during the Holocaust by employing them in his ammunition and enamelware factories, spending millions bribing the SS, and eventually risking his life to rescue the Schindler-Jews (“The Oscar Schindler Story”)

“We believe that . . . an early unannounced attack against Japan inadvisable. If the United States were to be the first to release this new means of indiscriminate destruction upon mankind, she would sacrifice public support throughout the world, precipitate the race for armaments, and prejudice the possibility of reaching an international agreement on the future control of such weapons. Much more favorable conditions could be created if nuclear bombs were first revealed to the world by a demonstration in an appropriately selected uninhabited area.” The initial test for the atomic bomb was dropped in Alamogordo, Mexico with experts observing more than 20 miles away. The explosion was estimated to be a blast of about 10,000 tons of TNT. The Atomic bomb’s intense and destructive power frightened many scientists who were working on the Manhattan Project (Knebel 78). Including the father of the atomic bomb, J. Robert Oppenheimer. Oppenheimer felt as if he had created something that would bring forth destruction to the world, instead of using his brilliant scientific mind to improve and usher the world into an era of peace like he intended to. In fact, many scientists within the Manhattan Project were shocked and against using such a powerful weapon as the atomic bomb against other humans, so much that a group of scientists and

“We have to protect our Earth, so our children and grandchildren will never suffer like that,’ she said. And she looked ahead. ‘Maybe nuclear weapons won’t be abolished while I’m alive,’ she said. ‘But I will never give up.” (Hanley, NBC News). August 6, 1945 at 8:16 in the morning, the United States dropped the world's first atomic bomb on thousands of unsuspecting people in Hiroshima, Japan. Not only did this catastrophic event kill thousands of civilians, but it also resulted in other nations obtaining and learning how to create these deadly weapons, weapons that we still have today. In the book Hiroshima by John Hersey he gives readers a new look at that day, through the eyes of six victims who survived the horrific attack on Hiroshima, he shows how the entire city of Hiroshima suffered, and were left alone to fend for themselves.The book Hiroshima by John Hersey, sheds light on the immense dangers of nuclear warfare, and the government's responsibility for its people, affected by a war they aren’t fighting in.

Before the bombs were set off over Nagasaki and Hiroshima, a test bomb was detonated in the desert lands of New Mexico. The scientists involved in the research and fruition of this weapon were holding their breaths to see if it worked. They were not concerned with how many potential lives their creation could end, they were only interested in seeing if all of their hard work and two billion dollars in funding would pay off. Dr. J. R. Oppenheimer was credited with the idea of using the atomic bomb as a military weapon. If the bomb worked the intention was to use it to end lives, but as they watched in anticipation to see if the

The first atomic bomb that Japan was to get a glimpse of was on August 6th, 1945, during World War II in the city of Hiroshima. The explosion annihilated 90 percent of the city; without hesitation killed 80,000 people. More than tens of thousands of people would have eventually died due to radiation exposure. Within three days of the attack, a second B-29 dropped another A-bomb in another location known as Nagasaki, killing an estimation of 40,000 people. Hirohito, Japan’s emperor announced his country’s unequivocal surrender in WWII in a radio address on August 15th, in allude to the calamitous power of “a new and most cruel bomb.” President Truman had to make one of hardest pre arrangements that he had ever faced. Truman based this decision off of the results of to justify the cost of the Manhattan project, in response of

The use of an atomic bomb is something that has lingered in the conscience of many Americans since the American B-29 Enola Gay dropped the first atomic bomb ever used on August 6, 1945. The United States was urging Japan to surrender, when they refused to comply with these terms, the bomb was dropped and 100,000 people were killed. Two professors of American History, Robert James Maddox and Tsuyoshi Hasegawa, share their opposing views on weather the atomic bomb was necessary to end World War II. Maddox claims that the atomic bomb forced the Japanese army to agree to surrender, which significantly saved more lives than would have been lost. Hasegawa asserts that the Soviet invasion of Japan was a more prominent reasoning for surrender in

A month later, project Manhattan, project to construct a nuclear bomb, was finished. Then on August 6th, 1945 the first atomic bomb, “Little Boy”, was dropped on Hiroshima. This was an attempt to get Japan to surrender, but they did not. Therefore, the U.S. dropped another nuclear bomb, “Fat Man”, on the Japanese city of Nagasaki prompting the Japanese to surrender. This ended World War Two.

At the time of the United States decision to drop the atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, World War II had been waging for six years. Both Japan and the US had lost tons of supplies and resources, millions of dollars, and thousands of troops. The decision that finally ended the war was taken by the U.S on August 6, 1945, when the American bomber Enola Gay dropped the very first atomic bomb on the city of Hiroshima. Three days later, the second atomic bomb was dropped on Nagasaki, and Japan finally surrendered. However, Japan's surrender was not the intent of the United States when dropping these bombs- this was a diplomatic measure taken by the government to warn the Soviet Union against their growing influence in Europe. Dropping the atomic bombs was an unnecessary decision which cost the lives of over 300,000 innocent people and has detrimentally affected the health of generations to come.

September 1, 1939, marked the beginning of World War II. The war was long fought involving the three axis powers and several allied powers. Among those were Japan and the United States following Japan’s surprise attack on Pearl Harbor in 1941 (Praino, 2015). Hundreds of thousands of lives were lost amongst the battles from each side of the war. In 1939, Albert Einstein and Enrico Fermi fled to America and informed the elected officials that Germany had discovered new outbreaks in splitting atoms, which was one step closer to the creation of destructive weapons for the Axis power. With that news, American facilities launched a program that would later be codenamed “The Manhattan Project” which was the birthplace of the first nuclear atomic reactions. After the first reaction was created, it was a vicious cycle from there that continued to escalate. With the war reaching an all-time high in casualties, Truman was faced with a big decision as the programs had finally experienced breakthroughs to the atomic bomb. He could choose to remain in conventional war tactics and continue to prolong the war until Japan was ready to surrender, or attempt to save the lives of many American soldiers and citizens by dropping the atomic bombs onto two major cities in Japan (Praino, 2015). By choosing the latter, an estimated 225,000 Japanese lives were lost (Perkins, 2016) and the ethical merits of Truman’s decision are still questioned today while some views remain confident in the choice.

The death of thousands in a moment, this was the power of the weapon the United States held in their possession. It was nearly the end of World War II. With Germany defeated and the Allied Forces ready for the cease-fire, only the Axis power of Japan stood in the way of the end of the World War. Worried about Nazi Germany’s technological advances earlier in the war, the United States began to research atomic energy and the possibility of creating an atomic bomb (Walker 10). When the bombs were created, the arguments for and against the use of it were gruesome, lengthy, and all understandable in some way. During the decision to drop atomic bombs on Japan, President Harry S. Truman and his fellow politicians had to consider the ethical

On April 12, 1945, President Roosevelt’s death occurred. Harry Truman appropriated the project and the Secretary of War brought him up to date since he was always unaware of the task at hand. President Truman convened with Winston Churchill and Joseph Stalin and the Potsdam Declaration was written. This declaration offered Japan the opportunity to surrender or risk “prompt and utter destruction” Japan declined and President Truman was left with the decision to release nuclear destruction on Japan. On August 6, 1945, “little boy” the first atomic bomb was dropped on Hiroshima. Truman had picked the target based on the lack of American civilians in the area. Japan refused to surrender. Three days later “fat boy” the second atomic bomb was released on Nagasaki, the residency of the Mitsubishi factory that produced the torpedoes that bombed Pearl Harbor. The devastation and deaths were felt for months after the bombing. The staggering amount of deaths were reported to be between 90,000-146,000 people in Hiroshima and 39,000-80,000 in Nagasaki. Half of these deaths occurred on the days of the bombings. Japan surrendered to the United States. World War II would be ending.

In 1929 Oppenheimer returned to the United States to take up teaching positions at Berkeley and Cal Tech. During the 30’s, Oppenheimer began to become associated with a variety of heavily left-wing organizations affiliated with Communism. This was mainly due to the repression of several Jewish relatives in Nazi Germany. He married Katherine Harrison in 1940, who was a member of the Communist party and had two children. He also started to distance himself from his former leftist friends and groups. This was probably largely done to make himself more attractive to obtaining the post of head of development for atomic bombs.

With the approval of American President Harry S. Truman, the fates of two Japanese cities, Hiroshima and Nagasaki were sealed. This decision came with heavy hearts, as the United States attempted to end their involvement in World War II by using nuclear power against the nation of Japan. Truman’s primary goal in this form of attack was to discontinue the war as quickly as possible, while also sending a message to the enemy and establish the United States as the leader in atomic energy. Beginning as a secret operation labeled the Manhattan Project, atomic bombs became the new weapons of mass destruction. The evident frontrunner in nuclear technology, the United States was the first country to release atomic bombs on another nation for war