The Atomic Bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki

The Atomic Bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki
By Michael-Gabriel Fox

The atomic bombings of Nagasaki and Hiroshima were attacks conducted by the United States of America on Japan, resulting in Japanese surrender and bringing an end to the Second World War. The bombs were first created by America with the purpose of responding to the potential threat of a nuclear attack by Nazi Germany, however with the war in Europe coming to a close and American troops still fighting on the pacific front,   Japan was selected as the first, and to date only, target of an atomic bombing. Many factors led to the construction of the bomb and the idea was first considered when world renowned physicist Albert Einstein published his theory of relativity E=MC2 , showing that large amounts of energy could be created from small amounts of mass, this coupled together with an increased understanding of uranium due to the research of Marie and Pierre Curie led scientists to develop methods of warfare based around uranium & nuclear fission.
During 1939, with Nazi Germany on the brink of war in Europe, world renowned physicists, Leó Szilárd and Albert Einstein became concerned that German scientists were researching and developing an atomic bomb. They sent a message to American president Franklin Roosevelt outlining their concerns and advising that America develop and atomic bomb of their own before Germany, Roosevelt was quoted as saying “If atomic bombs can be made, we must make them first”. Roosevelt set up an advisory council on uranium which started as a small research project until its fission experiments were taken over by the Manhattan Engineering District who began a full scale bomb development program, the project was now given the codename; The Manhattan Project and was kept in complete secrecy from everyone, including the American public. The project itself was not limited to Manhattan island alone however as many new sites were constructed to house large nuclear reactors and...