In 1864, twelve nations signed the first Geneva Convention, which guaranteed neutrality to medical personnel. Such conventions have grown into a set of internationally recognized principles.
The 1945 meeting betwen the Allied partners underlined the differences between them, and set the stage for a post-war "cold" war that would be waged in the coming decades between two global superpowers.
Although the League of Nations and other international meetings had used simultaneous interpretation prior to the trials at Nuremberg, its successful use there in 1945 gave the method new importance.
Science and the military converged under a cloak of secrecy at Los Alamos National Laboratory. As part of the Manhattan Project, Los Alamos — both its very existence and the work that went on there — was kept from Americans during World War II.
The film offers insights into social studies topics including World War II, the Manhattan Project, the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki and the end of the war, the Cold War and anti-communism, arms control, the nuclear age, the relationship between the military and the scientific establishment, and more.
