The Decision To Drop The Bomb
...nuclear bombs on the Japanese mainland in 1945 has been one of the most hotly debated issues of the latter part of the twentieth century. But to fully understand the situation, one needs to look back several years to the beginning of World War II.
During the 1930's some European countries began to reject democracy and embrace fascism and nationalism. This was a result of anger over the unfairness of the treaty of Versailles that was signed after the First World War. The Third Reich came to power in Germany on Feb 22, 1933 led by Adolph Hitler and his National Socialist German Workers Party. The government had a policy of racial, social, and cultural purity and pursued its aims through persecution and killing of those considered impure, targeted especially against Jews, Gypsies, Jehovah's Witnesses, and homosexuals. These unfavorable conditions in Germany and elsewhere in Europe enticed many scientists to immigrate to the United States. These included Jewish scientists Hans Betha, Edward Teller, and most notably Albert Einstein. These immigrant scientists found refuge teaching in American Universities.
In 1939 German scientists Otto Hahn and Fritz Strassmann discovered fission. It had been possible in theory but until that time no one had been able to sustain a fission reaction. This worried many scientists in America because this technology could be used to develop a weapon. This especially worried Leo Szilárd, an immigrant scientist from Hungary. He drafted a confidential letter to Franklin D. Roosevelt explaining the possibility of nuclear weapons and warning that the Nazi's were working on such weapons. He enlisted the help of respected scientist Albert Einstein to sign the letter. Upon receiving the letter President Roosevelt handed the letter off to an aide, General Edwin "Pa" Watson with the instruction: "Pa, this requires action!" On October 11, 1939...
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