Bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki

In August of 1945, both of the only two nuclear bombs ever used in warfare were dropped on the Japanese cities of Nagasaki and Hiroshima.   These two bombs shaped much of the world today.  

In 1941, The United States began an atomic bomb program called the “Manhattan Project.”   The main objective of the “Manhattan Project” was to research and build an atomic bomb before Germany could create and use one against the allied forces during World War II.   German scientists had started a similar research program four years before the United States began so the scientists of the “Manhattan Project” felt a sense of urgency throughout their work (Wood “Men … Project”).

Serious security measures were set in place to protect the information discovered throughout the life of the “Manhattan Project.”   The Jemez Mountains were chosen for the site of the “Manhattan Project” due to its remote location.   All citizens of the Los Alamos Ranch School area, where the “Manhattan Project” was developed, received the same address so that military personnel could monitor all mail being sent in and out of the city.   Numbers replaced names on all official documents.   As a final precaution, workers knew nothing of the final product they were creating.   Only what was needed to complete their jobs was told to the individuals (Wood “Men … Project”).

Despite all of the security used by the officials in charge of the “Manhattan Project,” soviet spies managed to leak information to the Soviet Union that allowed them to create a nuclear bomb of their own.   Klaus Fuchs, an important scientist to the “Manhattan Project,” managed to move throughout the project and provide crucial information to the Soviets.   David Greenglass also provided the Soviet Union with information though the information he supplied was not nearly as devastating as that of Fuchs’s.   Neither of the men’s actions were discovered until after the war had ended (Wood “Men … Project”).

Through the...