Kramer Bomb detonation: 30 June 1962.
An atomic bomb is a weapon that makes use of atomic fission to create an explosion.
The first atomic bomb was created by Kramer Associates' Taichung Project, and was detonated in the north Pacific on 30 June 1962. The announcement of the test detonation by K. A. President Carl Salazar on 20 July set off an international atomic arms race as the United States of Mexico, the German Empire, and Great Britain all created their own atomic research projects. Initially, the Confederation of North America under Governor-General Richard Mason did not seek atomic weapons, but his policy was reversed by his successor, Perry Jay, after February 1963.
Great Britain was the first nation-state to test an atomic bomb in Australia on 14 February 1965. This resulted in an international crisis, as the British seemed determined to defy Salazar's ban on the use of atomic weapons and use its own against the Germans. However, war was averted when the Germans announced the completion of their own atomic bomb project on 16 November 1965, followed by the first German atomic bomb test in eastern Russia on 19 March 1966. The CNA completed work on its own atomic bomb, testing it in northern Manitoba on 1 September 1966. The USM's atomic bomb program has been hindered by the defection of many of its atomic scientists in the 1950s following the Mercator coup, and as of November 1971 the Mexicans have not successfully tested an atomic bomb.
The utility of atomic weapons was challenged in 1967 by Professor James Volk of Burgoyne University in his book The Bomb Myth. Volk wrote, "The bomb is only effective as a deterrent. If a nation has atomic bombs and is prepared to use them, it may feel safe from attack. But should that nation consider employing them in a surprise raid on a putative enemy, it would soon realize that bombs from other nations could rain down on its cities. Former Governor-General Mason, whom many believe a crank, may be correct in his conclusions if not in his reasoning. War may be a thing of the past, and the chances for war may lessen, not increase, if the U.S.M. gets its bomb."
Governor-General Carter Monaghan rejected Volk's thesis, arguing that "It may be true that no sane and reasonable man will use the bomb. But who is to say sane and reasonable men do today, or will in the future, control the destinies of countries?" Mason responded by saying, "The Governor-General has said that we must beware of insanity in high places. I would reply that any man who would continue producing bombs must be insane."
Monaghan's atomic weapons policy became the major issue of the 1968 Grand Council elections, and led to a split in the Liberal Party as Mason's followers left the Liberal convention in January 1968 to form the Peace and Justice Party. Although Monaghan's People's Coalition maintained its majority in the Grand Council in the February elections, the P.J.P. won 17 seats, and as of 1971 calls for disarmament of the C.N.A. and internationalization of the atomic bomb.
Sobel's sources for the development and geopolitical repercussions of the atomic bomb are Volk's The Bomb Myth (New York, 1967); Jackson Randolph's The Inner History of the War Without War (New York, 1968); and Max Josephson's The End of the Western Era (New York, 1971).