II. A Short Chronology or Atomic Control Diplomacy After 



World War II 



A chronological summary of the sequence of early developments 

 aiming toward international controls may be helpful in. setting the 

 stage for consideration of the international negotiations and why they 

 failed. 



Deliberations on U.S. policy in light of the development of the atom 

 bomb had been initiated as early as May 1945, when Henry L. Stimson, 

 the Secretary of War, led a committee which reported to President 

 Truman on the subject. Shortly thereafter, in June, the stage was set 

 for the machinery to handle the international negotiations on the con- 

 trol of atomic energy, with the signing of the United Nations Charter. 

 Two months later the weapon was actually used on Hiroshima on 

 August 6, 1945. 



Once the use of atomic energy for destructive purposes had been 

 demonstrated, the Administration took action to publicize as much in- 

 formation as was judged appropriate to contribute to public under- 

 standing of the weapon and its significance for the United States. An 

 important step in this direction was the publication in August 1945 of 

 the Smyth report, 2 which explained the basic scientific information on 

 the bomb but kept its disclosures within the limits defined by security 

 considerations. President Truman took initial steps to enunciate U.S. 

 atomic energy policy at both the national and international levels in 

 two major addresses in October 1945. 3 



Preliminary Agreements on Nuclear Sharing; U.S. Preparations To 

 Negotiate 



Public attention shifted to international activity during the closing- 

 months of 1945. On November 15, an agreement was concluded by the 

 United States, Canada, and the United Kingdom. Called the "Three 

 Nation Agreed Declaration," this agreement laid a foundation for in- 

 ternational action to control atomic energy. The Soviet Union was in- 

 cluded in this endeavor when the Moscow Declaration was signed the 

 following month, as a result of meetings of representatives of the 

 Governments of the United States, Great Britain, and Russia. In the 

 United States, Assistant Secretary of State Dean Acheson had been 

 appointed earlier in December to head a committee to report to the 

 Secretary of State on U.S. policy for the international control of 

 atomic energy. 



In January 1946, the newly formed United Nations created an orga- 

 nization to deal with the specific problem of controlling atomic energy 

 when it drew up the terms of reference of the United Nations Atomic 



2 Henry D. Smyth. A General Account of the Development of Methods of Using Atomic 

 Energy for Military Purposes Vnder the Auspices of the U.S. Government, 1940—^5. 

 (Washington, D.C. : U.S. Government Printing Office, 1945.) 



3 President Truman delivered a message to Congress on atomic energy on Oct. 3, 1945, 

 and elaborated on U.S. atomic energy policy in his Navy Day address on October 27, in 

 New York. Complete texts of both can be found in Public Papers of the President of 

 the United States, 1945. (Washington, D.C: U.S. Government Printing Office, 1961). 

 pp. 362-366, 431-438. 



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