WWII+Research+and+Symposium+RIJR

WWII Research and Symposium Assignment RIJR

__10 Facts__ 1. On August 6, 1945, an American bomber plane nicknamed "Enola Gay" dropped a 10,000 pound atomic bomb on Hiroshima, Japan at just after eight AM, initially killing 80,000 people.

2. After the second bombing of Japan in Nagasaki, Emperor Hirohito was forced to tell his country to surrender, just like America wanted.

3. In October 1939, a committee of scientists persuaded President Roosevelt into making weapons based off of nuclear reactions.

4. The Manhattan Project was the name given to a secret committee of scientists who tested the effects of a uranium reaction. With beliefs of Germans perfecting a bomb, this committee made the first atomic bomb that was later used in Japan.

5. The atomic bomb was possible because of how top secret it was. When Truman became president, he did not know of the Manhattan Project. After finding out, he was willing to use the bomb, and gave Japan fair warning that if they did not surrender, consequences would come.

6. The United States wanted an unconditional surrender from the Axis powers, and by bombing Japan and taking out two major cities, Japan was forced to do so.

7. Nagasaki was targeted because of the naval base that was located there, and because it was an important port for military supplies. By bombing Nagasaki, the US hoped it could take out some of the military and force a surrender.

8. After the attacks on Pearl Harbor and continous kamizake attacks, Americans were looking for a form of payback to the Japanese. By bombing Japan, we were able to avenge the deaths of the American victims.

9. President Truman predicted that by invading Japan, it would stretch the war longer and cost more lives. He knew that the Japanese would do anything to defend their land. The only way he saw avoiding an invasion was by bombing.

10. Without the research of J. Robert Oppenheimer, the atomic bomb might not have been possible. He was an American scientist who directed the laboratory in Los Alamos, the lab that tested the first bomb. Scientists like Oppenheimer mostly saw the bomb as a way to quickly, and successfully, end the war.

__Primary Sources__ 1. "A Choice between the Quick and the Dead" (June 14, 1946) speech by Bernard Baruch

"Yet terror is not enough to inhibit the use of the atomic bomb. The terror created by weapons has never stopped man from employing them. For each new weapon a defense has been produced, in time."

In this quote from Bernard Baruch's speech, he is explaining the atomic bomb. He says that with each new weapon createrd, it will always be feared. When guns were first created, they were feared, just as the atomic bomb would be. He also states that even though people feared these weapons, it did not stop the armies from using them. They needed to use any means necesssary to win the war. Using the atomic bomb would be necessary to win the war, so they would be used. Eventually, countries would make a defense against these bombs, so this would not be too bad for the country getting hit.

2. Speech on Foreign Policy (September 12, 1946) Henry A. Wallace

"We cannot rest in the assurance that we invented the atom bomb —and therefore that this agent of destruction will work best for us."

In this speech, Wallace is stating that creating the atomic bomb means that it will obviously be used. In his speech, he stressed that only the United Nations should have the rights to atomic bombs. By having these bombs, the United Nations would be able to discourage conflicts between other nations. He was striving for international peace. He was willing to use any means necessary to achieve that.

3. Democratic Party Platform (1948) Democratic Party

"We advocate the effective international control of weapons of mass destruction, including the atomic bomb, and we approve continued and vigorous efforts within the United Nations to bring about the successful consummation of the proposals which our Government has advanced."

In this statement from the Democratic Party, they are saying that they will allow the use of weapons like the atomic bomb. The only way they can use them is if they are used effectively. They also wanted to keep other countries outside of the United Nations from using weapons like this. They figured that by doing so, they could help achieve world peace. They believed that only the United Nations would control the atomic weapons effectively.