![]() ![]() Although the Japanese had been subjected to months of devastating destruction from the United State's air attacks, Japan refused to surrender. In a time of World War, where there were millions of American casualties, President Truman decided to choose an option that would reduce his countries' loss of life. By 1945 the Pacific War had been going on for four years. As the years pass on, the controversy continues to grow, and many different sources have analysed Truman's decision in harsh ways. The use of atomic weapons on Hiroshima and Nagasaki proved to be one of the most controversial decisions in United States and world history. In the New Mexico desert, tests proceeded and were successful, thus plunging the world in to a nuclear age. By the summer of 1945, the first test bombs were developed and ready. Vice President Truman only found out about the project after he became President. They did not tell anyone who did not need to know, in order to ensure secrecy. Although over 120,000 people were employed to work on the project, only a small group of important scientists and officials knew what the project was. The project was never made public, as they did not want to inform their enemies of their research. New nuclear facilities were built in several states, and over 120,000 Americans were employed by the Manhattan Project. After this breakthrough the project was allocated more funds, and quickly picked up speed. They produced the first controlled nuclear chain reaction. At the University of Chicago in December of 1942, Fermi led a group of physicists to a breakthrough. Research began at a few universities in the United States. The Manhattan Project, was the United States' attempt to develop an atomic bomb. Although Roosevelt did not truly see the necessity of such a program, he slowly agreed. Later that year, Einstein sent a letter to President Roosevelt urging the development of an atomic research program. Fermi unsuccessfully tried to express his concerns to government officials. Einstein and Fermi both agreed that the United States President should be aware of the threats of the Axis powers using atomic technology. Fears soon spread of Nazi scientists using this advancement to develop weapons of mass destruction. Early in 1939, the scientific community of the world had discovered that German physicists had discovered how to split a uranium atom. Scientists Albert Einstein, who fled from Nazi Germany, and Enrico Fermi, who escaped from fascist Italy, both were living in the United States during World War II. ![]()
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