Lasting Effects
The lasting effects of the Manhattan Project are undoubtedly greatly significant. The project had both positive and negative effects. The significance of the Manhattan Project was that it put an end to WWII by using weapons of mass destruction and forced Japan to surrender. The negative effects of the Manhattan Project was that it also gave other countries the opportunity to develop nuclear weapons that are more powerful, which could pose a threat on the well being of every human being on the planet.
The project was a desperate effort by the US to beat the Nazis to the development of a nuclear weapon. It was a huge 130,000 people effort, towns such as Oak Ridge and Hanford were literally special built for the project. It cost a huge $2.2 billion dollars which adjusted to today's economy would have cost a huge $24.4 billion.1 It was an effort like none other- the amount of people, the cost and time sacrificed all dedicated to produce technologies that would outpace the enemies. The production of the bombs produced a furious push in the development of science, technology, engineering, military and the whole of society into a new age. It brought out the powerhouse that we see today as the United States of America, a country prior to the beginning of the war which was suffering from the Great Depression and then after the war coming out as the new super power of the world.
The project was a desperate effort by the US to beat the Nazis to the development of a nuclear weapon. It was a huge 130,000 people effort, towns such as Oak Ridge and Hanford were literally special built for the project. It cost a huge $2.2 billion dollars which adjusted to today's economy would have cost a huge $24.4 billion.1 It was an effort like none other- the amount of people, the cost and time sacrificed all dedicated to produce technologies that would outpace the enemies. The production of the bombs produced a furious push in the development of science, technology, engineering, military and the whole of society into a new age. It brought out the powerhouse that we see today as the United States of America, a country prior to the beginning of the war which was suffering from the Great Depression and then after the war coming out as the new super power of the world.
"I knew what I was doing when I stopped the war ... I have no regrets and, under the same circumstances, I would do it again."2
-Harry S. Truman, 1963
-Harry S. Truman, 1963
The legacy is without doubt great, it produced great advances in physics, engineering and is the origins for many areas such as nuclear energy and nuclear medicine. As well as this, a national network of laboratories remain: The Lawrence Berkeley Laboratory, Los Alamos National Laboratory as well as many others.
The justification for whether it was morally correct and necessary to drop the nuclear bombs on the two civilian populations has constantly caused debate even to the current day. Regardless, the project itself is an amazing story of scientific and military development with impacts lasting to the current day. The dropping of the bomb forever changed the meaning of war for all citizens of the world.
I hope this site has provided you with a better view and understanding of the events of the Manhattan Project, an event in modern history that has changed the whole of society for better and for worse.
The justification for whether it was morally correct and necessary to drop the nuclear bombs on the two civilian populations has constantly caused debate even to the current day. Regardless, the project itself is an amazing story of scientific and military development with impacts lasting to the current day. The dropping of the bomb forever changed the meaning of war for all citizens of the world.
I hope this site has provided you with a better view and understanding of the events of the Manhattan Project, an event in modern history that has changed the whole of society for better and for worse.
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1. http://www.brookings.edu/about/projects/archive/nucweapons/manhattan
2. http://research.archives.gov/description/201504
2. http://research.archives.gov/description/201504