The Manhattan Project

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During World War II, the Americans fought a two-front war, with pressure from both Japan and Germany. The United States, aware that Germany was threatening to build an atomic weapon, created a secret project to develop the technology first. Under the codename, the Manhattan Project, leading scientists carried out top secret research on fission and the technology needed to create the first atomic bomb. The immediate impact of the Manhattan Project was the dropping of two atomic bombs on Japan, ending the war in the Pacific. However, more important influences of this project can be seen following the detonation of the first bombs. The emergence of the United States as a world superpower following World War II, the tensions derived from the arms race during the Cold War, and current day struggles over the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty are all effects derived from the Manhattan Project.

According to the US Department of Energy, President Roosevelt provided a government organization and mild funding for uranium research, following the release of information that Germany may have the capabilities of building an atomic weapon. The fear of an atomic weapon falling into the hands of Nazi Germany led to fear of the annihilation of the Western World. The Manhattan Project was escalated following the attack on Pearl Harbor, and Roosevelt gave the tentative okay to build an atomic weapon. For the majority of the project, the United States was under the impression that it was a close race to develop the first nuclear weapon, which caused the project to develop quickly. The secretive nature of the Manhattan project was to ensure that other nations could not get information regarding the process behind designing and building uranium and p...

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...The National Security Archive, 27 Apr. 2007. Web. 20 May 2010. .

"The Manhattan Project: An Interactive History." Department of Energy - CFO Home. U.S.

Department of Energy, n.d. Web. 20 May 2010. .

"The Treaty on The Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT)." The United Nations. United

Nations Office for Disarmament Affairs, 2005. Web. 20 May 2010. .

United States. United States Department of Energy. The Manhattan Project Making the Atomic

Bomb. By Francis G. Gosling. Washington, D.C.: History Division, Executive

Secretariat, Human Resources and Administration, Dept. of Energy, 1999. U.S. Department of Energy. Web. 20 May 2010. http://www.mbe.doe.gov/me70/manhattan/publications/DE99001330.pdf

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