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An Open Letter To The American People
The first atomic bomb destroyed more than the city of Hiroshima. It also exploded our inherited, out-dated political ideas. A few days before the bomb was tried out for the first time in history, the UN Charter was ratified in Washington.
How long will the United Nations Charter last? With luck, a generation? A century? But is it enough to have peace by luck? Everyone knows that the Charter is only a beginning. It does not guarantee peace.
Yet the hopeful and passionate words at San Francisco created one very real danger: that millions of Americans will relax and believe that machinery has been set up to prevent another war. We think it is our duty to warn the American people that this is not true. The Charter is a tragic illusion unless we are ready to take the further steps necessary to organize peace.
For thousands of years men have learned that without government by law, there can be no peace. No human organisation has ever been able to prevent conflict between its own members. To prevent an atomic war, we need a worldwide legal order.
We urge American men and women to read Emery Reves’ book, THE ANATOMY OF PEACE, to think about its conclusions, to discuss it with neighbors and friends, privately and publicly. A few weeks ago these ideas seemed important but perhaps reachable in the future. In the new reality of atomic warfare they are urgently necessary, unless civilization is determined on suicide.
An Open Letter To The American People
Published October 10, 1946, in The New York Times, Washington Post and more than 50 other leading American newspapers as well as in several magazines.
Cabled overseas by Reuters.
…
The first atomic bomb destroyed more than the city of Hiroshima. It also exploded our inherited, outdated political ideas.
A few days before the force of Nature was tried out for the first time in history, the San Francisco Charter was ratified in Washington.
…
How long will the United Nations Charter endure? With luck, a generation? A century? … But is it enough to have Peace by Luck? Peace by Law is what the peoples of the world, beginning with ourselves, can have if they want it. And now is the time to get it.
Everyone knows that the Charter is only a beginning. It does not guarantee peace. Yet the hopeful and passionate words of Dumbarton Oaks and San Francisco created one very real danger: that millions of Americans will relax and believe that by ratification a machinery has been set up to prevent another war.
We think it our duty to warn the American people that this is not so. The Charter is a tragic illusion unless we are ready to take the further steps necessary to organize peace.
…
For thousands of years men have learned that wherever there is government by law there can be peace, and where there is no law and no government, human conflicts have been sure. … No league system ever attempted in human history could prevent conflict between its members. We must aim at a federal constitution of the world, a working world-wide legal order, if we hope to prevent an atomic World War.
It happens that at this anxious moment of our history a small book has been published, a very important book, which expresses clearly and simply what so many of us have been thinking. That book is THE ANATOMY OF PEACE by Emery Reves. We urge American men and women to read this book, to think about its conclusions, to discuss it with neighbors and friends, privately and publicly. A few weeks ago these ideas seemed important but perhaps reachable in the future. In the new reality of atomic warfare they are of immediate, urgent necessity, unless civilization is determined on suicide.
Emery Reves was a Hungarian author and publisher who had also become a British citizen in 1940. He was the friend and literary agent of Winston Churchill. Reves had negotiated book deals for Churchill which had earned Churchill (and Reves) record-breaking amounts of money. Churchill also enjoyed socialising with Reves and staying in his luxury villa in the South of France. In December 1945, he sent Churchill a copy of this letter which endorsed his recently published book, The Anatomy of Peace. Reves ran his own international press syndicate and made sure that this open letter was also published in a variety of American newspapers.
On 26 June 1945, the Charter of the United Nations was signed in San Francisco by 50 countries. The UN was an international organization established in order to prevent another global conflict. Emery Reves wrote The Anatomy of Peace in 1945, discussing the fledgling UN Security Council and its future ability to preserve peace. This ‘Open Letter to the American People’, in which Reves promoted his book, was signed and endorsed by 20 other dignitaries. In his book, Reves made the case for world federalism, arguing that world law was the only way to prevent another war.
Remember we are hoping that this source can be useful to us in investigating whether nuclear weapons made the world a safer place between 1945 and 1951. Sources usually help historians in two ways:
Which of the inferences below can be made from this source?
| On a scale of 1-5 how far do you agree that this source supports this inference? | Which extract(s) from the source support your argument? | |
|---|---|---|
| The signatories to Reves’ letter see the dropping of the Atomic Bomb as a pivotal moment | | |
| The signatories to the letter are opposed to the United Nations being set up | | |
| The signatories to the letter are optimistic about the UN’s ability to maintain world peace | | |
| People are fearful in the wake of the dropping of the Atomic Bomb | | |
| The signatories to the letter argue that the dropping of the bomb has made maintaining world peace a less urgent problem to solve | | |
| This source shows us that nuclear weapons helped to make the world safer | | |
| Reves wanted to sell more copies of his book The Anatomy of Peace | | |
| Reves wanted to impress Churchill | | |
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