| Wartime Diplomacy and the US as Global Power in the Atomic Age (1939-1949) |
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Sections:- Albert Einstein's Letter to FDR (August 2, 1939)
- Stimson's Diary References to the Atomic Bomb regarding the Soviets
- The Trinity Test (July 16, 1945)
- Atomic Scientists Petition to Truman (July 17, 1945)
- Tale of Two Cities
- Atomic Testing
- Big Three Conference
- The Yalta Conference
- Big Three Open Parley Near Berlin
- The Potsdam Conference
- Dumbarton Oaks Conference (August 1944)
- The Bretton Woods Agreement (July 22, 1945)
- UN San Francisco Conference
- Nuremberg Trial Opens
- The Nuremberg Trial
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| Historical Context
As a Jewish refugee from Berlin, Einstein, well aware of the advanced state of German physics, dispatched a letter to FDR warning him of the enormous potential of atomic power and of the grave danger if the Nazis succeeded in acquiring a nuclear weapon.
Attached Document
The letter from Einstein to FDR is included below, along with a photograph of the physicist himself.
Questions to Consider
1. What element is being used as material for a bomb? In which countries is this element located?
2. What is the destructive potential of this weapon?
3. What course of action does Einstein advise?
4. What has Germany done to alert Einstein’s attention? |
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| Historical Context
When Manhattan Project was initiated, British, American and Canadian scientists joined together with refugee physicists and quickly progressed towards the completion of an Atomic Bomb. Nevertheless, many of the Western leaders were reluctant to share Atomic secrets with the Soviets, an ally in the war against Nazi Germany. Among them, Henry Stinson, FDR’s Secretary of War, expressed strong reservations about divulging the Manhattan Project’s advancements. Unbeknownst to many Western leaders was the fact that several Soviet spies had already infiltrated Los Alamos and were relaying information to Stalin.
Attached Document
The attached document includes excerpts from Sec. of War Henry Stimson's diary and papers that have relevance to the atomic bombing of Japan. In these diary excerpts, Stimson is reluctant to divulge information to the Soviets until Stalin becomes more agreeable to Allied wishes. The second document below is Stimson on the cover of Time Magazine.
Questions to Consider
1. In regards to the Soviets, what does Stimson advise Roosevelt?
2. How were the Soviets aware of the bomb program?
3. What is Bush’s proposal for postwar scientific research?
4. According to Stimson, what are the two options available to the President regarding atomic technology?
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| Historical Context
Until the atomic bomb could be tested, doubt would remain about its effectiveness. The world had never seen a nuclear explosion before, and estimates varied widely on how much energy would be released. Some scientists at Los Alamos continued privately to have doubts that it would work at all. There was only enough weapons-grade uranium available for one bomb, and confidence in the gun-type design was high, so on July 14, 1945, most of the uranium bomb ("Little Boy") began its trip westward to the Pacific without its design having ever been fully tested. A test of the plutonium bomb seemed vital, however, both to confirm its novel implosion design and to gather data on nuclear explosions in general. Several plutonium bombs were now "in the pipeline" and would be available over the next few weeks and months. It was therefore decided to test one of these.
Robert Oppenheimer chose to name this the "Trinity" test, a name inspired by the poems of John Donne. The site chosen was a remote corner on the Alamagordo Bombing Range known as the "Jornada del Muerto," or "Journey of Death," 210 miles south of Los Alamos. The elaborate instrumentation surrounding the site was tested with an explosion of a large amount of conventional explosives on May 7. Preparations continued throughout May and June and were complete by the beginning of July. Three observation bunkers located 10,000 yards north, west, and south (right) of the firing tower at ground zero would attempt to measure key aspects of the reaction.
On July 12, the plutonium core was taken to the test area in an army sedan (right). The non-nuclear components left for the test site at 12:01 a.m., Friday the 13th. During the day on the 13th, final assembly of the "Gadget" (as it was nicknamed) took place in the McDonald ranch house. By 5:00 p.m. on the 15th, the device had been assembled and hoisted atop the 100-foot firing tower.
At precisely 5:30 a.m. on Monday, July 16, 1945, the nuclear age began.
Attached Documents
The first two documents are accounts by Enrico Fermi and Edwin M. McMillan, scientists in the Manhattan Project, providing a vivid picture of the first atomic blast and the dawning of a new technological age. The third document below is an image of an atomic explosion. The fourth document is Oppenheimer on the cover of Time Magazine.
Questions to Consider
1. What precautions did Fermi take to shield himself from the blast?
2. How does Fermi describe the blast?
3. How strong, according to Fermi, was the blast?
4. According to McMillan, what was the most interesting part of the blast?
5. According toe McMillan, what effect did the blast have on those who witnessed it? |
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| Historical Context
After the Trinity test where the first atomic blast was successfully conducted, many of the scientists involved in the Manhattan Project felt a moral obligation to dissuade Truman from using it against Japan.
Attached Document
The following document is a letter written from the members of the Manhattan Project to Truman
Questions to Consider
1. Why had the atomic scientists agreed to work in the project? What has changed now?
2. Why, in the opinion of the scientists, is the use of atomic bombs against Japan unjustified? What should be done instead?
3. How realistic is the scientists’ plan for the Japanese surrender without the use of the bomb?
4. What is the ultimate danger, according to the scientists, if the United States is the first country to use the weapon?
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| Attached Document
Now that the bomb had been tested, Allied forces could put it to use. Hiroshima was the primary target of the first atomic bomb mission. The mission went smoothly in every respect. The weather was good, and the crew and equipment functioned perfectly. In every detail, the attack was carried out exactly as planned, and the bomb performed exactly as expected.
The bomb exploded over Hiroshima at 8:15 on the morning of August 6, 1945. About an hour previously, the Japanese early warning radar net had detected the approach of some American aircraft headed for the southern part of Japan. The alert had been given and radio broadcasting stopped in many cities, among them Hiroshima. At 8:16 A.M., the Tokyo control operator of the Japanese Broadcasting Corporation noticed that the Hiroshima station had gone off the air. Military headquarters repeatedly tried to call the Army Control Station in Hiroshima. The complete silence from that city puzzled the men at Headquarters; they knew that no large enemy raid could have occurred, and they knew that no sizeable store of explosives was in Hiroshima at that time. A young officer of the Japanese General Staff was instructed to fly immediately to Hiroshima, to land, survey the damage, and return to Tokyo with reliable information for the staff. It was generally felt at Headquarters that nothing serious had taken place, that it was all a terrible rumor starting from a few sparks of truth.
The staff officer went to the airport and took off for the southwest. After flying for about three hours, while still nearly 100 miles from Hiroshima, he and his pilot saw a great cloud of smoke from the bomb. In the bright afternoon, the remains of Hiroshima were burning.
Tokyo's first knowledge of what had really caused the disaster came from the White House public announcement in Washington sixteen hours after Hiroshima had been hit by the atomic bomb.Three days later, Nagasaki would become victim. Nagasaki had never been subjected to large scale bombing prior to the explosion of the atomic bomb there. On the morning of August 9th, 1945, at about 7:50 A.M., Japanese time, an air raid alert was sounded in Nagasaki, but the "All clear" signal was given at 8:30. When only two B-29 super fortresses were sighted at 10:53 the Japanese apparently assumed that the planes were only on reconnaissance and no further alarm was given. A few moments later, at 11:00 o'clock, the observation B-29 dropped instruments attached to three parachutes and at 11:02 the other plane released the atomic bomb.
The bomb exploded high over the industrial valley of Nagasaki, almost midway between the Mitsubishi Steel and Arms Works, in the south, and the Mitsubishi-Urakami Ordnance Works (Torpedo Works), in the north, the two principal targets of the city.
Attached Documents
The first three resources below are videos exploring the atomic bombings of Hiroshima & Nagasaki along with the interviews with witnesses. The three videos, when played together run 12:02. The fourth resource is a photograph of the crew of the Enola Gay, the plane that carried the bombs to Japan. The fifth resource is a picture of Hiroshima after the bombing. The sixth is a photograph of the mushroom cloud at Nagasaki caused by the bombing. The final document below is an artistic representation of the devastation experienced in Japan.
Questions to Consider
1. According to video #1, why was Hiroshima a target for atomic bombing?
2. What types of buildings were able to withstand the blast?
3. According to the priest in video #2, what was the first thing that he noticed about the blast?
4. According to the priest, what happened shortly after the blast?
5. According to video #3, why was Nagasaki selected as a target? |
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| Historical Context
Attached Document
The following two videos explore postwar testing of atomic weapons. The first video runs 2:49. The second runs 2:48
Questions to Consider
1. What was used in the first peacetime atomic test at Bikini Atoll?
2. How were samples collected in the third test?
3. In video #2, what is one of the main objectives in the use of fissile material?
4. What type of knowledge was gained from the Bikini Atoll test?
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| Historical Context
Attached Document
The following video (2:25) gives an overview of the conferences at Malta & Yalta.
Questions to Consider
1. Where did the Allies meet before going to Yalta?
2. What circumstances surrounded the Yalta Conference?
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| Historical Context
Held from February 4 to 11, 1945, the Yalta Conference was a meeting between the heads of government of the United States, the United Kingdom and the Soviet Union.
Each of the three powers brought their own agenda to the Yalta Conference. The British wanted to maintain their empire, the Soviets wished to obtain more land and to strengthen conquests, and the Americans wanted to ensure the Soviets' entry into the Pacific war and discuss postwar settlement.
Among the agreements were the postwar division of Germany into zones of occupation, the boundaries of Poland, German reparations and the entry of the USSR into the war against Japan.
Attached Documents
The first document presents an overview of the Yalta agreement. The second document is a photograph of Winston Churchill, Franklin D. Roosevelt and Joseph Stalin. The final document shows the partition of Germany by zones of occupation.
Questions to Consider
1. What Soviet Republics are being admitted into the United Nations?
2. What agreement will serve as the basis for postwar Europe?
3. What are the goals for postwar Europe?
4. How is Germany to be divided?
5. Under whose behest will Germany be forced to pay reparations?
6. Whose included in the Polish government?
7. What will happen to Poland’s eastern border? Its western border?
8. What action is expected of the USSR regarding Japan? How is it to be compensated? |
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| Historical Context
President Truman journeyed to Berlin which lay in ruins to meet his Allied counterparts, Churchill and Stalin. Due to the damage to the capital, the Allied leaders met at Potsdam, a suburb of Berlin and the old Prussian capital. In this conference, Britain, the US and the USSR came to a general agreement on postwar Europe. Meanwhile, Truman, who just recently learned of the successful detonation of the first atomic bomb, revealed to Stalin that the United States now possessed a weapon of awesome power and destructiveness. Stalin, however, was already well aware of the success of the Manhattan Project because of the infiltration of Soviet spies deep within the program.
Attached Document
The attached video highlights Truman’s travel to the Potsdam Conference (2:14).
Question to Consider
1. What, according to Truman, are the Americans fighting for? What are they not fighting for?
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| Historical Context
The Potsdam Conference was held in Potsdam, Germany from July 17 to August 2, 1945. The participants were the Soviet Union, the United Kingdom, and the United States. The three nations were represented by General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union Joseph Stalin, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom Clement Attlee, and President of the United States Harry S Truman. Stalin, Winston Churchill, and Truman, as well as Clement Attlee, who replaced Churchill after the Labour Party's defeat of the Conservative Party. The three heads of state gathered to decide how to administer the defeated Nazi Germany, which had agreed to unconditional surrender nine weeks earlier. The goals of the conference also included the establishment of post-war order, peace treaties issues, and countering the effects of war. The western allies, and especially Churchill, were suspicious of the motives of Stalin, who had already installed Communist governments in the central European countries under his influence; the Potsdam conference turned out to be the last conference among the allied leaders. During the conference, Truman mentioned to Stalin about an unspecified "powerful new weapon"; Stalin, who knew of its existence long before Truman ever knew through placing spies inside US borders, encouraged the usage of any weapon that would hasten the end of the war. Towards the end of the conference, Japan was given an ultimatum (threatening "prompt and utter destruction", without mentioning the new bomb), and hastily after Japan had rejected it, atomic bombs were dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki on August 6 and August 9 respectively. Truman made the decision to use atomic weapons to end the war while at the conference.The following photograph shows the "Big Three" at the Potsdam Conference. |
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| Historical Context
The Dumbarton Oaks Conference, held in a Washington, DC mansion, finalized the post-war successor to the League of Nation, the future United Nations. The composition of the UN and which states would be included as members were negotiated. Representatives of the United States, the Soviet Union, the United Kingdom, and the Republic of China attended the conference and discussions included the formation of the Security Council and the right of veto that would be given to its permanent members.
Attached Document
Included in this section is the text of the Dumbarton Oaks Conference.
Questions to Consider
1. What are some of the purposes of the United Nations? What are its principles?
2. What nations are included in the Security Council? What is its purpose?
3. In the event of an international conflict, what procedures are established to restore peace?
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| Historical Context
Inspired by the lessons of the Great Depression, the Bretton Woods System. the first example of a fully-negotiated monetary order intended to govern fiscal relations among several states, was based on the twin pillars of the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund. The victories allies believed that a sound international economic system could prevent the circumstances that led to militarism, fascism and war during the 1930s.
Attached Document
In the attachd document, the founding principles of the World Bank & the IMF are explained. The second resource is a photograph from the Bretton Woods Conference.
Questions to Consider
1. What is Bretton Woods' goal for countries devastated by the war?
2. What are the goals of the World Bank for international trade?
3. What is the purpose of the International Monetary Fund?
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| Historical Context
On April 25, 1945, the UN Conference on International Organizations began in San Francisco. In addition to the Governments, a number of non-governmental organizations, including Lions Clubs International, were invited to assist in drafting the charter. The 50 nations represented at the conference signed the Charter of the United Nations two months later on June 26. The UN came into existence on October 24, 1945, after the Charter had been ratified by the five permanent members of the Security Council — Republic of China, France, the Soviet Union, United Kingdom, and the United States — and by a majority of the other 46 signatories.
Attached Document
The attached video (2:14) explores the opening of the conference.
Questions to Consider
1. Does the balance of power within the UN seem appropriate? Who seems to dominate? |
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| Historical Context
In an unprecedented step, the Allies, as early as 1942, agreed to try top Nazi leaders for war crimes and for crimes against humanity. Conducted by a joint U.S.-British-Soviet military tribunal, the trial began on November 20, 1945 by indicting twenty-four leading Nazis.
Attached Document
The attached videos highlight the opening days of the Nuremberg Trials and the final verdict.Video #1: (1:33). Video #2: (3:41)
Question to Consider
1. According to Robert Jackson, what is the grave responsibility facing the court? Why is it so important?
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| Historical Context
The first of the Nuremberg Trials held from 20 November 1945 through 1 October 1946, the Trial of Major War Criminals prosecuted the most prominent members of Nazi German leadership. Trials for lesser crimes were conducted through 1949.
Attached Document
The attached document is Robert Jackson's closing address at the trial and summarizes the atrocities of the Nazi Germany and why a conviction is necessary and important. The second resource below is a photograph taken during the trial. The final document is a photo of Robert Jackson speaking at Nuremberg.
Questions to Consider
1. Upon what evidence does the prosecution base most of its case?
2. What are the five primary charges against the defendants?
3. What crimes fall under the charge of “subjugating Germany to a police-state?" Should this be included in an international tribunal?
4. How did the Nazis disregard international law?
5. What was the final solution? Against which ethnic group was it directed?
6. What is the Nazi conspiracy?
7. What defense do the defendants use? Why does Jackson reject this?
8. Many argue that the victors will always condemn the defeated, do you agree?
9. Do you think that statesmen should be held accountable for their crimes regardless of whether they won or not? How realistic is this?
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