Practice Quiz

Praxis II World and US History

Category - World History

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Which of the following documents encouraged President Franklin Roosevelt to begin the Manhattan Project and develop the first atom bomb, which ultimately featured into the final acts of World War II?
  1. A letter from German émigré scientists who asserted that Hitler was already pursuing the goal and would unquestionably employ the weapon if developed
  2. Personal correspondence between Roosevelt and Winston Churchill in which the two leaders ultimately decided that ridding the world of the Axis powers was their only moral option in the best interest of the human race
  3. Scientific documents acquired through espionage in Poland and smuggled to the United States that detailed the progress German scientists had already made on the building a nuclear weapon
  4. Intercepted communication between Japan and one of its allies in which they discussed attacking the United States with a weapon of mass destruction the havoc of which had never before been seen
Explanation
Answer: A - A letter written by German émigré scientists residing in the United States, including Albert Einstein, encouraged President Roosevelt to begin work on the atom bomb as soon as possible. The scientists were emphatic that Hitler was already attempting the feat and would not hesitate to use the bomb if he ever developed it. After the bomb was ultimately used to annihilate Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Japan, Einstein said that signing the letter was the one great mistake of his life, given that Hitler never managed to develop the weapon for Nazi use.
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