This historical study will define the major effects of the atom bomb in the threat of mutual assured destruction, the development of nuclear energy, and the problem of radioactive pollution in the 20th and 21st centuries. The discovery and invention of the atom bomb define the reconstruction of human warfare within the context of mutual assured destruction. The bombing of Japan by two atom bombs in 1945 on Hiroshima and Nagasaki define the extraneous effects of environmental radioactive pollution and the long-term health ramifications of nuclear power. The advent of harnessing nuclear fission reactions is also part of the legacy of pollution that nuclear plants represent in the Chernobyl incident and the current destruction of environmental
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In the late 1930s and into the WWII era, the Manhattan Project allowed the U.S. government to enrich uranium and to then create a bomb, initially called The Gadget”, that could destroy an entire city with the immense power it released. During this period in human history, it now became possible for a single bomb to annihilate the cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. More so, the radioactive aftermath of these bombings took a heavy toll on the overall health of human environments, which did not discern between civilian and military actors within the context of war. The invention of the atom bomb defined a horrifically new level of human weaponry, which challenged the ethical and moral role of the United States as a first world power after the defeat of the Japanese. During this time, David Lilienthal, the director of the Atomic Energy Commission in the 1940s, defines the effects of the use of atom bomb right after the war had ended:
Then we burned Tokyo, not just military targets, but set to wipe out the place, indiscriminately. The atomic bomb is the last word in this direction. All ethical limitations of warfare are gone (Selden & Selden, 1989, …show more content…
Certainly, the threat of mutual assured destruction was the foundation of the atom bomb’s appeal as a weapon, but more importantly that it could there was a weapon that could destroy the entire planet if a nuclear war should ensue between the U.S. and the Soviet Union. These factors define the effects of the atom bomb as a major change in the view of “world war” and the holistic view of the power of nuclear energy that would prevent human beings from using these weapons under these circumstances. No longer could any single nation wage a war against another nation because of the total destruction that the atom bomb would bring to the world. Therefore, the Cold War Defined the era of mutual assured destruction, which is still an extremely relevant way to understand how nuclear weapons are viewed in the context of war and geopolitical
In the late 1930s and into the WWII era, the Manhattan Project allowed the U.S. government to enrich uranium and to then create a bomb, initially called The Gadget”, that could destroy an entire city with the immense power it released. During this period in human history, it now became possible for a single bomb to annihilate the cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. More so, the radioactive aftermath of these bombings took a heavy toll on the overall health of human environments, which did not discern between civilian and military actors within the context of war. The invention of the atom bomb defined a horrifically new level of human weaponry, which challenged the ethical and moral role of the United States as a first world power after the defeat of the Japanese. During this time, David Lilienthal, the director of the Atomic Energy Commission in the 1940s, defines the effects of the use of atom bomb right after the war had ended:
Then we burned Tokyo, not just military targets, but set to wipe out the place, indiscriminately. The atomic bomb is the last word in this direction. All ethical limitations of warfare are gone (Selden & Selden, 1989, …show more content…
Certainly, the threat of mutual assured destruction was the foundation of the atom bomb’s appeal as a weapon, but more importantly that it could there was a weapon that could destroy the entire planet if a nuclear war should ensue between the U.S. and the Soviet Union. These factors define the effects of the atom bomb as a major change in the view of “world war” and the holistic view of the power of nuclear energy that would prevent human beings from using these weapons under these circumstances. No longer could any single nation wage a war against another nation because of the total destruction that the atom bomb would bring to the world. Therefore, the Cold War Defined the era of mutual assured destruction, which is still an extremely relevant way to understand how nuclear weapons are viewed in the context of war and geopolitical