Editing World government (section)

=== Atomic impact ===
The world government movement reached its peak of popularity following the [[Atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki|atomic bombing of Japan]], especially in the West and Japan.<ref>[[Lawrence S. Wittner|Wittner, Lawrence S]]. (1993). ''Struggle against the Bomb: One World or None''. (Stanford University Press), p 39, 55, 66-67.</ref> Particularly evident among American scientists, occurred what the editor of the ''[[Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists]]'', [[Eugene Rabinowitch]], called “the conspiracy to preserve our civilization by scaring men into rationality.”<ref>Wittner, Lawrence S. (2009). ''Confronting the Bomb: A Short History of the World Nuclear Disarmament Movement''. (Stanford University Press), p 9-10, 13.</ref> The editor of "[[World Constitution#Preliminary_Draft_of_a_World_Constitution_(University_of_Chicago,_1947)|World Constitution]]," [[Robert Maynard Hutchins]], saw the atomic bomb as heralding the “good news of damnation” that would frighten people into  world state.<ref>[[Strobe Talbott|Talbott, Strobe]] (2009). ''The Great Experiment: The Story of Ancient Empires, Modern States, and the Quest for Global Nation''. (Simon & Schuster), p 198.</ref> “Splitting the atom means uniting the world,” begins a 1946 review of literature which came to light following the “bomb’s early light.”<ref>[[George Jaffin|Jaffin, George]] (January 1946). “Book Reviews,” ''Columbia Law Review'', vol 46 (1): 162.</ref> People around the world and within the United States shared this sentiment.<ref>Bartel, Fritz (April 2015). “Surviving the years of grace: The atomic bomb and the specter of world government, 1945–1950,” ''Diplomatic History'', vol 39 (2): p 275.</ref>

Written in June 1945 with "Postscript" added after the atomic attacks,''[[The Anatomy of Peace]]'' stayed on America’s best-seller lists for the next six months. A mordant account of the pathology of nations, it becoming the bible of the world government movement. By 1950, it had appeared in 20 languages and in 24 countries.<ref>[[Lawrence S. Wittner|Wittner, Lawrence S]]. (1993). ''Struggle against the Bomb: One World or None''. (Stanford University Press), p 45.</ref><ref>Wittner, Lawrence S. (2009). ''Confronting the Bomb: A Short History of the World Nuclear Disarmament Movement''. (Stanford University Press), p 10.</ref> Drafted on the day of the Hiroshima attack and soon developed into a book, ''Modern Man Is Obsolete'' by one of the prominent [[United World Federalists|World Federalists]], [[Norman Cousins]], went through fourteen editions, appeared in seven languages, and had an estimated circulation in the United States of seven million.<ref>[[Lawrence S. Wittner|Wittner, Lawrence S]]. (1993). ''Struggle against the Bomb: One World or None''. (Stanford University Press), p 69-70.</ref>

In late 1945, [[Manhattan Project]] scientists founded the [[Federation of American Scientists]] (FAS) and published the first volume of ''Bulletin of Atomic Scientists''. Few months later, they published a book, titled ''[[One World or None#One World or None (book)|One World or None]]''. It sold more than 100,000 copies. FAS had reached a peak of 3,000 members in 1946. A substantial number of them, including Einstein, thought the answer lay in world government. The next year, their Bulletin introduced its famous [[Doomsday Clock]].<ref>[[Lawrence S. Wittner|Wittner, Lawrence S]]. (1993). ''Struggle against the Bomb: One World or None''. (Stanford University Press), p 326.</ref>

Between 1946, when it was founded, and 1950, the [[World Federalist Movement/Institute for Global Policy|World Movement for World Federal Government]] grew into a global network with some 156,000 members.<ref>[[Lawrence S. Wittner|Wittner, Lawrence S]]. (1993). ''Struggle against the Bomb: One World or None''. (Stanford University Press), p 163.</ref> By January 1950, Garry Davis’s World Citizens registry, with signers from 78 countries all over the globe, neared the half-million mark.<ref>Wittner, Lawrence S. (2009). ''Confronting the Bomb: A Short History of the World Nuclear Disarmament Movement''. (Stanford University Press), p 18.</ref><ref>[[Lawrence S. Wittner|Wittner, Lawrence S]]. (1993). ''Struggle against the Bomb: One World or None''. (Stanford University Press), p 167.</ref> Drafted by Hutchins and his team at the University of Chicago, "World Constitution" was translated into numerous languages and by 1949 reached a worldwide circulation of 200,000 copies. By 1949, [[United World Federalists]] had 46,775 members. The same year, World Government Week was officially proclaimed by the governors of nine states and by the mayors of approximately 50 cities.<ref>[[Lawrence S. Wittner|Wittner, Lawrence S]]. (1993). ''Struggle against the Bomb: One World or None''. (Stanford University Press), p 70.</ref>

By 1950, the British Crusade for World Government had registered some 15,000 supporters and the French "Front Humain des Citoyens du Monde" 18,000. The contemporary polls in the United States and Australia ranged from 42 to 63% supporting world government. The motto "One World or None!” was endorsed by the president of the Australian Aborigines.<ref>[[Lawrence S. Wittner|Wittner, Lawrence S]]. (1993). ''Struggle against the Bomb: One World or None''. (Stanford University Press), p 71, 95, 104-105, 113.</ref>

Symbolized by the most popular slogan, “One World or None” and by the Doomsday Clock on the front of the ''Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists'', the fear of a nuclear holocaust had played a key part in the world government movement. But, judging from numerous barometers of public sentiment, this fear could not hold. The mood passed. Paradoxically coinciding with the [[H-bomb]] and the Soviet atomic bomb, the terror subsided. In the fall of 1950, when Americans were asked if there was anything in the national or international realm that disturbed them, only 1% spontaneously raised the issue of the atomic bomb. A British civil defense survey in 1951 found that Britons displayed remarkably little knowledge of the atomic bomb or desire to face the issues it raised. A quarter of the women surveyed in the latter poll claimed that they did not know it had been used in Japan.<ref>[[Lawrence S. Wittner|Wittner, Lawrence S]]. (1993). ''Struggle against the Bomb: One World or None''. (Stanford University Press), p 324-325.</ref>

By the early 1950s, world state movements went out of fashion. Gary Davis returned to the United States and applied for restoration of his American citizenship. Despite massive efforts to frighten humanity into world state, the 1949 World Peace Day celebration in Hiroshima was strangely lighthearted by fireworks, confetti, and the appearance on stage of a “Miss Hiroshima."<ref>[[Lawrence S. Wittner|Wittner, Lawrence S]]. (1993). ''Struggle against the Bomb: One World or None''. (Stanford University Press), p 326-329.</ref>