The one who invented the atomic bomb did not even imagine what tragic consequences this miracle invention of the 20th century could lead to. Before this superweapon was experienced by the inhabitants of the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, a very long journey was made.
A start
In April 1903, his friends gathered in the Garden of Paris of the famous physicist of France Paul Langevin. The reason was the defense of the dissertation of the young and talented scientist Maria Curie. Among the distinguished guests was the famous English physicist Sir Ernest Rutherford. In the midst of the fun, the lights were out. Marie Curie announced to everyone that there would be a surprise. With a solemn look, Pierre Curie introduced a small tube of radium salts, which shone with a green light, causing unusual delight among those present. In the future, the guests heatedly discussed the future of this phenomenon. Everyone agreed that thanks to radiation the acute problem of lack of energy will be solved. This inspired everyone to new research and future prospects. If they were then told that laboratory work with radioactive elements would initiate the terrible weapons of the 20th century, it is not known what their reaction would be. It was then that the story of the atomic bomb began, which claimed the lives of hundreds of thousands of Japanese civilians.
Anticipation game
On December 17, 1938, the German scientist Otto Gann obtained irrefutable evidence of the decay of uranium into smaller elementary particles. In fact, he managed to split the atom. In the scientific world, this was regarded as a new milestone in the history of mankind. Otto Gunn did not share the political views of the Third Reich. Therefore, in the same year, 1938, the scientist was forced to move to Stockholm, where, together with Friedrich Strassmann, he continued his scientific research. Fearing that fascist Germany would be the first to receive terrible weapons, he writes a letter to the president of America warning him about this. The news of a possible lead greatly alarmed the US government. The Americans began to act quickly and decisively.
Who created the atomic bomb? American project
Even before the outbreak of World War II, a group of American scientists, many of whom were refugees from the Nazi regime in Europe, was entrusted with the development of nuclear weapons. Initial studies, it is worth noting, were conducted in Nazi Germany. In 1940, the United States government began funding its own nuclear weapons development program. An incredible amount of two and a half billion dollars was allocated for the project. Outstanding physicists of the 20th century were invited to implement this secret project, among which there were more than ten Nobel laureates. In total, about 130 thousand employees were involved, among whom were not only military, but also civilians. The development team was headed by Colonel Leslie Richard Groves, Robert Oppenheimer became the scientific adviser. It is he - the man who invented the atomic bomb. In the Manhattan area, a special secret engineering building was built, which is known to us under the code name "Manhattan Project." Over the next few years, scientists from a secret project worked on the problem of nuclear fission of uranium and plutonium.
Non-peaceful atom of Igor Kurchatov
Today, every student will be able to answer the question of who invented the atomic bomb in the Soviet Union. And then, in the beginning of the 30s of the last century, nobody knew this.
In 1932, academician Igor V. Kurchatov was one of the first in the world to begin studying the atomic nucleus. Gathering like-minded people around him, Igor Vasilievich in 1937 creates the first cyclotron in Europe. In the same year, he and his like-minded people created the first artificial nuclei.
In 1939, I.V. Kurchatov began the study of a new direction - nuclear physics. After several laboratory successes in the study of this phenomenon, the scientist gets at his disposal a secret research center, which was called "Laboratory No. 2". Today, this secret facility is called Arzamas-16.
The target area of this center was serious research and development of nuclear weapons. Now it becomes obvious who created the atomic bomb in the Soviet Union. In his team then there were only ten people.
Atomic bomb be
By the end of 1945, Igor Vasilievich Kurchatov was able to assemble a serious team of scientists of more than one hundred people. The best minds of various scientific specializations came to the laboratory from all over the country to create atomic weapons. After the Americans dropped the atomic bomb on Hiroshima, Soviet scientists realized that this could be done with the Soviet Union. Laboratory No. 2 receives from the country's leadership a sharp increase in funding and a large influx of qualified personnel. Lavrenty Pavlovich Beria is appointed responsible for such an important project. The huge works of Soviet scientists have borne fruit.
Semipalatinsk training ground
The atomic bomb in the USSR was first tested at a training ground in Semipalatinsk (Kazakhstan). On August 29, 1949, a nuclear device with a capacity of 22 kilotons shook Kazakh land. The Nobel laureate, physicist Otto Hanz, said: “This is good news. If Russia has nuclear weapons, then there will be no war. ” It was this atomic bomb in the USSR, encrypted as product No. 501, or RDS-1, that eliminated the US monopoly on nuclear weapons.
Atomic bomb. Year 1945
In the early morning hours of July 16, the Manhattan Project conducted its first successful test of an atomic device - a plutonium bomb - at the US Alamogordo test site in New Mexico.
The money invested in the project was not wasted. The first atomic explosion in human history was carried out at 5.30 a.m.
“We have done the work of the devil,” Robert Oppenheimer later said, the one who invented the atomic bomb in the United States, later called the “father of the atomic bomb.”
Japan does not capitulate
By the time of the final and successful testing of the atomic bomb, Soviet troops and allies had finally defeated Nazi Germany. However, there was only one state that promised to fight to the end for supremacy in the Pacific Ocean. From mid-April to mid-July 1945, the Japanese army repeatedly carried out air strikes on allied forces, thereby inflicting heavy losses on the US Army. At the end of July 1945, the militaristic government of Japan rejected the Allied demand for surrender under the Potsdam Declaration. In it, in particular, it was said that in case of disobedience, the Japanese army is waiting for quick and complete destruction.
President agrees
The American government kept its word and launched a targeted bombardment of Japanese military positions. Air strikes did not bring the desired result, and US President Harry Truman decides on the invasion of US troops in Japan. However, the military command discourages its president from such a decision, citing the fact that the American invasion will entail a large number of victims.
At the suggestion of Henry Lewis Stimson and Dwight David Eisenhower, it was decided to use a more effective way to end the war. James Francis Byrnes, a big supporter of the atomic bomb, said that the bombing of Japanese territories would finally end the war and put the United States in a dominant position, which would have a positive effect on the course of events in the post-war world. Thus, US President Harry Truman was convinced that this is the only right option.
Atomic bomb. Hiroshima
The small Japanese city of Hiroshima, with a population of just over 350 thousand people, located five hundred miles from the capital of Japan, Tokyo, was chosen as the first target. After arriving at the US naval base on Tinian Island a modified Enola Gay B-29 bomber, an atomic bomb was installed on board the aircraft. Hiroshima was supposed to experience the effect of 9 thousand pounds of uranium-235.
This hitherto unprecedented weapon was intended for civilians in a small Japanese town. The bomber commander was Colonel Paul Warfield Tibbets Jr. The US atomic bomb was cynically called "Baby." On the morning of August 6, 1945, at about 8 hours 15 minutes, the American "Kid" was dropped on Japanese Hiroshima. About 15 thousand tons of TNT destroyed all life within a radius of five square miles. One hundred forty thousand inhabitants of the city died in a matter of seconds. The surviving Japanese were dying a painful death from radiation sickness.
They were destroyed by the American atomic "Baby." However, the devastation of Hiroshima did not cause the immediate surrender of Japan, as everyone expected. Then it was decided about another bombing of Japanese territory.
Nagasaki. The sky is on fire
The American Fat Bomb was installed aboard a B-29 aircraft on August 9, 1945, all in the same place, at the US naval base in Tinian. This time, Major Charles Sweeney was the commander of the aircraft. The initial strategic target was the city of Kokura.
However, weather conditions did not allow to carry out the plan, a lot of cloudiness prevented. Charles Sweeney entered the second round. At 11 hours 02 minutes the American atomic "Fat Man" swallowed Nagasaki. It was a more powerful destructive air strike, which in its strength was several times higher than the bombing in Hiroshima. Nagasaki tested an atomic weapon weighing about 10 thousand pounds and 22 kilotons of TNT.
The geographical location of the Japanese city reduced the expected effect. The thing is that the city is located in a narrow valley between the mountains. Therefore, the destruction of 2.6 square miles did not reveal the full potential of American weapons. The atomic bomb test in Nagasaki is considered a failed Manhattan Project.
Japan surrendered
At noon on August 15, 1945, Emperor Hirohito announced the surrender of his country in a radio message to the inhabitants of Japan. This news quickly spread around the world. In the United States of America, celebrations began on the occasion of the victory over Japan. The people rejoiced.
On September 2, 1945, an official agreement to end the war was signed aboard the American battleship Missouri, anchored in Tokyo Bay. Thus ended the most brutal and bloody war in the history of mankind.
For six long years, the world community has come to this significant date - from September 1, 1939, when the first shots of Nazi Germany in Poland sounded.
Peaceful atom
In total, 124 nuclear explosions were carried out in the Soviet Union. It is characteristic that they were all implemented for the benefit of the national economy. Only three of them were accidents resulting in the leakage of radioactive elements. Peaceful atom programs were implemented only in two countries - the United States and the Soviet Union. Atomic peaceful energy also knows an example of a global catastrophe when, on April 26, 1986 , a reactor explosion occurred at the fourth power unit of the Chernobyl nuclear power plant.