"In Germany, uranium fission was discovered in 1938 or '39," said Dieter Hoffmann, a researcher at Berlin's Max Planck Institute for Scientific History. a chain reaction, were believed to be possible for nuclear fission, Tens of thousands more would later die from radiation exposure. [5] At the same time, Heisenberg calculated, incorrectly, that the 70, 911 (2002). Germany for a long time was thought to have fallen short of what was required to make an atomic bomb. at the forefront of theoretical and experimental physics pertaining to Unfortunately for the Soviets, the Kaiser-Wilhelm-Institut fr Physik (KWIP, Kaiser Wilhelm Institute for Physics) had mostly been moved in 1943 and 1944 to Hechingen and its neighboring town of Haigerloch, on the edge of the Black Forest, which eventually became the French occupation zone. [5] Meitner and her nephew Otto Robert Frisch confirmed Hahn's conclusion of a bursting and correctly interpreted the results as "nuclear fission" a term coined by Frisch. Astra-Unceta y Cia SA. Heisenberg did however tell Bohr that the German project was underway, and drew a simple sketch, which Bohr thought to be a bomb. Most important was their experimental proof of an effective neutron increase in April 1942. [1] This discovery followed from a set of The program was split up among nine major institutes where the directors dominated the research and set their own objectives. The Germans had even organized a special. [6]. physicist, and Enrico Fermi, working in America, conducted experiments The allegations of sabotage carry little weight. All articles are regularly reviewed and updated by the HISTORY.com team. The press has been even harder on Karlsch. Paul Harteck was director of the physical chemistry department at the University of Hamburg and an advisor to the Heereswaffenamt (HWA, Army Ordnance Office). A concentration of brilliant scientists devoted to the project. [5] This was a significant manpower and intellectual drain on resources. The claims, if true, would mean a rewriting of history, but many have. Here, troops in the 11th Airborne division watch an atomic explosion at close range in the Las Vegas desert on November 1, 1951. quantum mechanics, his uncertainty principle is a fundamental component used to manufacture graphite. stayed in Germany, the lack of interest in pure science by the regime Goudsmit, the chief scientific advisor to Operation Alsos, thought von Laue might be beneficial to the postwar rebuilding of Germany and would benefit from the high level contacts he would have in England. This second Uranverein was formed on 1 September 1939, the day World War II began, and had its first meeting on 16 September 1939. The politicization of the universities, along with the German armed forces' demands for manpower (many scientists and technical personnel were conscripted, despite possessing technical and engineering skills), substantially reduced the number of able German physicists.[3]. The Little Boy exploded with about 13 kilotons of force, leveling five square miles of the city and killing 80,000 people instantly. Karlsch himself acknowledged that he lacked absolute proof for his claims, and said he hoped his book would provoke further research. Its success has been attributed[by whom?] [5] He came to this result due to never By 1944, however, the evidence was clear: the Germans had not come close to developing a bomb and had only advanced to preliminary research. Karlsch also pointed to measurements carried out recently at the test site that found radioactive isotopes. The Manhattan Project was the codename for the secret US government research and engineering project during the Second World War that developed the world's first nuclear weapons. This article is about the World War II weapons project. (Ann Ronan Pictures/Print Collector/Getty Images), Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons, https://www.history.com/topics/world-war-ii/atomic-bomb-history. Precisely how and why German and Japanese scientists managed to dis- 1939 - April - Nazi Germany begins the German nuclear energy project. however, that even with all these advantages, the United States only The play explores three scenarios where Heisenberg discusses his dilemma with Bohr, but leaves the matter for audiences to decide what Heisenberg actually believed and intended to do. May 11, 2019 at 8:00 a.m. EDT One of the 664 two-inch uranium cubes produced in Nazi Germany during a failed attempt to create a nuclear reactor in World War II. personal risk, but he realized the importance of the scientific Germany today is officially an undeclared nuclear state, as it remains the recipient of NATOs nuclear sharing, most recently with the deployment of twenty new B61 tactical missiles in 2015. [5] With the funding would have continued would have been by scientists making claims It includes one of the most detailed presentations of contemporary German knowledge about the various processes of isotope separation, and recommends their combined usage to get to sufficient amounts of enriched uranium. physicist of Jewish heritage who had fled Berlin and took a position in Von Ardenne attracted top-notch personnel to work in his facility, such as the nuclear physicist Fritz Houtermans, in 1940. uranium isotope, formed from resonance capture of U-238. A substantial number eventually came to the United States to work on the Manhattan Project. Furthermore, Speer was reluctant to bring up the bomb project with Hitler himself unless he could produce clear results. Heisenberg would be a value asset to their ultimate objective of The United States developed the first nuclear weapons during World War II in cooperation with the United Kingdom and Canada as part of the Manhattan Project, out of the fear that Nazi Germany would develop them first. He was director of the Physics Department II at the Frederick William University (later, University of Berlin), which was commissioned and funded by the Oberkommando des Heeres (OKH, Army High Command) to conduct physics research projects. personally by Heinrich Himmler, through a relationship between Himmler's August 29, 1949: Von Ardenne had also conducted research on isotope separation. [60][61][62][63][64], From 1941 to 1947, Fritz Bopp was a staff scientist at the KWIP, and worked with the Uranverein. Diebner, throughout the life of the nuclear weapon project, had more control over nuclear-fission research than did Walther Bothe, Klaus Clusius, Otto Hahn, Paul Harteck, or Werner Heisenberg. The group included the physicists Walther Bothe, Robert Dpel, Hans Geiger, Wolfgang Gentner (probably sent by Walther Bothe), Wilhelm Hanle, Gerhard Hoffmann, and Georg Joos; Peter Debye was invited, but he did not attend. While the war in Europe had ended in April, fighting in the Pacific continued between Japanese forces and U.S. troops. [6] Boron atoms absorb about 100,000 times [74] Before the end of World War II, Thiessen, a member of the Nazi Party, had Communist contacts. The scientists knew this to be the case because they were refugees from Germany, a large number of them, and they had studied under the Germans before the war broke out. Manhattan Project physicist Leona Marshall Libby also recalled, I think everyone was terrified that we were wrong, and the Germans were ahead of us. Germany led the civilized world of physics in every aspect, at the time war set in, when Hitler lowered the boom. per man basis, the Allied team was more capable with certain [82][83] By the end of 1941, it was already apparent that the German nuclear weapon project would not make a decisive contribution to ending the German war effort in the near term, and control of the project was relinquished by the Heereswaffenamt (HWA, Army Ordnance Office) to the Reichsforschungsrat (RFR, Reich Research Council) in July 1942. The 98% reduction to today's stockpile reflects the end of Cold War hostilities as well as shifting American defense priorities. In light of the implications of nuclear weapons, German nuclear fission and related technologies were singled out for special attention. "It's clear there was no master plan for developing atom bombs. Within just a few years, however, the U.S.S.R. had obtainedthrough a network of spies engaging in international espionageblueprints of a fission-style bomb and discovered regional sources of uranium in Eastern Europe. were held at a country estate called Farm Hill in Britain. In 1941, however, Germany had just invaded the The group's work was discontinued in August 1939, when the three were called to military training.[9][10][11][12]. In addition to exploitation, denial of these technologies, their personnel, and related materials to rival allies was a driving force of their efforts. The invitees included Walther Bothe, Siegfried Flgge, Hans Geiger, Otto Hahn, Paul Harteck, Gerhard Hoffmann, Josef Mattauch, and Georg Stetter. [3] Due to his intellect and skill, Heisenberg became the Nuclear fusion is another type of reaction in which two lighter atoms combine to release energy. Scientists first developed nuclear weapons technology during World War II. I haven't read the article (I don't like the Japan Times), but surprisingly enough, nuclear weapons have been stored in Japan. a military product should be generated within 9 months. [15][16], The second Uranverein began after the HWA squeezed out the Reichsforschungsrat (RFR, Reich Research Council) of the REM and started the formal German nuclear weapons project under military auspices. if a nuclear weapon would have been developed. in the study and understanding of quantum mechanics. critical mass required for a U-235 nuclear weapon was on the order of a nuclear weapons with an accurate back of the envelope measure of the nuclear program at the beginning of the war, Germany decided Werner A period of nuclear proliferation followed that war, and during the Cold War, the United States and the Soviet Union vied for supremacy in a global nuclear arms race. The most influential people were Kurt Diebner, Abraham Esau, Walther Gerlach, and Erich Schumann. [3] The only way In this situation, the experts decided HISTORY reviews and updates its content regularly to ensure it is complete and accurate. other rights, including commercial rights, are reserved to the [6] Walter Bothe, a German experimental Articles with the HISTORY.com Editors byline have been written or edited by the HISTORY.com editors, including Amanda Onion, Missy Sullivan and Matt Mullen. Japan briefly pursued atomic weapons during World War II, although its efforts came nowhere near matching those of Germany, much less the United States. Building on major scientific breakthroughs made during the 1930s, the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada, and France collaborated during World War II, in what was called the Manhattan Project, to build a weapon using nuclear fission, also known as an atomic bomb. The G-1 experiment[58] performed at the HWA testing station, under the direction of Kurt Diebner, had lattices of 6,800 uranium oxide cubes (about 25 tons), in the nuclear moderator paraffin. Thermonuclear weapons, or hydrogen bombs, rely on a combination of nuclear fission and nuclear fusion. The Allies and Norwegians had sabotaged Norwegian heavy water production and destroyed stocks of heavy water by 1943. It has also been pointed out that the United States employed thousands of scientists and invested billions of dollars in the Manhattan Project, while Germany's "dirty bomb" was allegedly the work of a few dozen top scientists who wanted to change the course of the war. In the It was one of the largest political protests in United States history. The meeting was organized by Kurt Diebner, advisor to the HWA, and held in Berlin. Germany began the war winning everywhere they went. Paul Peter Ewald, a member of the Uranverein, had proposed an electromagnetic isotope separator, which was thought applicable to 235U production and enrichment. They were desperately seeking a "miracle weapon" that could turn the devastating tide of destruction that was descending upon Germany as allied forces closed in from both the east and west. [4] Their article was published on 6 January 1939. After later hearing a 1942 lecture given by Heisenberg to scientists and government officials, Hans Bethe remarked, My first reaction is that Heisenberg knew a lot more than I have always thought the fact he reached many of these conclusions in one evening is most remarkable. Here are a few key dates in the timeline of the nuclear arms race from 1945 to 2022: August 6 & 9, 1945: The U.S. drops two atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Japan, decimating the cities and forcing the country's surrender, ending the Second World War. (2002). [3] Considering the Allies nuclear program had better The industrial firm Auergesellschaft had a substantial amount of "waste" uranium from which it had extracted radium. It could not develop them as war-winning weapons, both because of the demands of. World War II, also called Second World War, conflict that involved virtually every part of the world during the years 1939-45. It was in effect broken up between institutes where the different directors dominated the research and set their own research agendas. It is well known that the Nazis were investigating the development of atomic weapons in the final months of the war. Walther Gerlach refused to print this textbook, but it is preserved as a typed manuscript and it appeared after the War in 1948 virtually unchanged (with just a few additions on the US atomic bomb released in 1945). In 1982, a million people marched in New York City protesting nuclear weapons and urging an end to the Cold War nuclear arms race. Hitler promised that if he went down, he would bring half of world down with him. Following their invasion of Norway in 1940, the Germans assumed control of the Norsk Hydro heavy water plant at Vemork. what the Nobel committee had called, "the creation of quantum [6] It is possible that Heisenberg's error in close Germany was to creating a nuclear weapon. teaching "Jewish physics" or theoretical physics. Updated: November 9, 2022 | Original: September 6, 2017. "I found documents in Russian and Western archives, as well as in private German ones.". . Two days earlier, Joos and Hanle had approached the REM, leading to the First Uranverein. [28] The reorganization was done under the initiative of Minister Albert Speer of the RMBM; it was necessary as the RFR under Bernhard Rust the Minister of Science, Education and National Culture was ineffective and was not achieving its purpose. It turned out their method was not a very good one, and relied on m. American planes then turned toward their secondary target, Nagasaki. spent a significant amount of his time trying to save his students and December 1, 2022. Graphite (carbon) as an alternative was not considered, because the neutron absorption coefficient value for carbon calculated by Walther Bothe was too high, probably due to the boron in the graphite pieces having high neutron absorption. Esau was appointed as Reichsmarschall Hermann Gring's plenipotentiary for nuclear-physics research in December 1942; Walther Gerlach succeeded him after Esau resigned in December 1943. Fearing that the Germans would use the heavy water for their atomic bomb program, Allied forces conducted a series of strategic bombings against the plant. Aside from the Uranverein and von Ardenne's team in Berlin-Lichterfelde, there was also a small research team in the Henschel Flugzeugwerke: the study group under the direction of Prof. Dr. Ing. In September 1939, Heisenberg along with other Also at this time, the Kaiser-Wilhelm Institut fr Physik (KWIP, Kaiser Wilhelm Institute for Physics, after World War II the Max Planck Institute for Physics), in Berlin-Dahlem, was placed under HWA authority, with Diebner as the administrative director, and the military control of the nuclear research commenced. Not only did it result in millions of civilians getting killed as part of Hitler's mass genocide plans, but the war also saw the use of nuclear weapons for the first time. Heisenbergs frustrations were evident when, at Farm Hall, he remarked, The point is that the whole structure of the relationship between the scientist and the state in Germany was such that although we were not 100% anxious to do it, on the other hand we were so little trusted by the state that even if we had wanted to do it, it would not have been easy to get it through.. "The second important finding was the atomic tests carried out in Thuringia and on the Baltic Sea.". To begin with, communications between different areas were extremely poor. "Karlsch has done us a service in showing that German research into uranium went further than we'd thought up till now, but there was not a German atom bomb," he added. National Museum of Nuclear Science & History. Diebner, throughout the life of the nuclear weapon project, had more control over nuclear fission research than did Walther Bothe, Klaus Clusius, Otto Hahn, Paul Harteck, or Werner Heisenberg.[35][36]. heavy water production facility was located in Norway and was easily Although historical records provide limited detail on the German decision to pursue the heavy water approach, it became clear after the war that they had explored that option. In late July, President Harry Truman called for Japans surrender with the Potsdam Declaration. highest official credentialed physicists in Germany during the war. Lise Meitner, an Austrian-born targeted and destroyed by the Allies, the German team did not have the [6] Since the only They also agreed to gradually reduce their stockpiles of nuclear weapons with the eventual goal of total disarmament. Stockholm in 1938, gave the first theoretical interpretation of the Thus, Germany stated the critical error was the army requirement in December 1941 that Robert Furman, assistant to General Leslie Groves and the Chief of Foreign Intelligence for the Manhattan Project, described how the Manhattan Project was built on fear: fear that the enemy had the bomb, or would have it before we could develop it. When Nazi Germany investigated the production of an atomic bomb, a range of options was identified. At times, all parties were heavy-handed in their pursuit and denial to others. In December 1938, German chemist Otto Hahn and his assistant Fritz Strassmann sent a manuscript to the German science journal Naturwissenschaften ("Natural Sciences") reporting that they had detected and identified the element barium after bombarding uranium with neutrons. this error in calculations, there was belief in 1941 that if the war A new book by a Berlin historian claims Nazi Germany built and tested nuclear weapons before the end of World War II. 2023, A&E Television Networks, LLC. [55], With the interest of the Heereswaffenamt (HWA, Army Ordnance Office), Nikolaus Riehl, and his colleague Gnter Wirths, set up an industrial-scale production of high-purity uranium oxide at the Auergesellschaft plant in Oranienburg. On 24 April 1939, along with his teaching assistant Wilhelm Groth, Harteck made contact with the Reichskriegsministerium (RKM, Reich Ministry of War) to alert them to the potential of military applications of nuclear chain reactions. It was a very frightening time.. Targets on the top of their list were the Kaiser-Wilhelm Institut fr Physik (KWIP, Kaiser Wilhelm Institute for Physics), the Frederick William University (today, the University of Berlin), and the Technische Hochschule Berlin (today, the Technische Universitt Berlin (Technical University of Berlin).[69][70][71]. In nuclear fission, the nucleus of an atom of radioactive material splits into two or more smaller nuclei, which causes a sudden, powerful release of energy. few tons instead of the actual value of 15-60 kilograms. At the outset of World War II, Germany far outpaced other countries in atomic research. India was the first country outside of the NPT to test a nuclear weapon in 1974. HISTORY.com works with a wide range of writers and editors to create accurate and informative content. Secret documents reveal Germans tested nuclear bomb in 1944 as doodlebugs pounded London DOCUMENTS unearthed in an American archive suggest that Nazi Germany may have tested an operational. The atomic bomb and nuclear bombs are powerful weapons that use nuclear reactions as their source of explosive energy. The total number of nuclear weapons based in Europe reached an all-time peak of 7,300 during the height of Cold War tensions in 1971. Many top German scientists had left Germany, some of them Jewish migrs fleeing the new laws of German National Socialism. Many Americans became concerned about the health and environmental effects of nuclear falloutthe radiation left in the environment after a nuclear blastin the wake of World War II and after extensive nuclear weapons testing in the Pacific during the 1940s and 1950s. These include lack of nuclear physicists, industrial Schumann was one of the most powerful and influential physicists in Germany. He was also head of the research department of the HWA, assistant secretary of the Science Department of the OKW, and Bevollmchtigter (plenipotentiary) for high explosives. When the American Alsos Mission evacuated Hechingen and Haigerloch, near the end of World War II, French armed forces occupied Hechingen. technologies, mainly rockets and jet aircraft, that could make a more These weapons were deactivated and returned to Russia. manifesto in support of Hitler, which he did at significant personal . number of "transuranics" and distinguished U-239, a beta-emitting [3] A picture of Werner Heisenberg can be seen on This was simply not the case with the German project. In August 1941, they finished a detailed internal survey of the history and potential of technical nuclear physics and its applications (bersicht und Darstellung der historischen Entwicklung der modernen technischen Kernphysik und deren Anwendungsmglichkeit sowie Zusammenfassung eigener Arbeitsziele und Plne, signed by Herbert Wagner and Hugo Watzlawek (19121995) in Berlin. Not only did he save individuals from 2, in Moscow, and included Yulij Borisovich Khariton, Isaak Konstantinovich Kikoin, and Lev Andreevich Artsimovich. lasted a few more years, a nuclear weapon could be developed. Much of the work in the Manhattan Project was performed in Los Alamos, New Mexico, under the direction of theoretical physicist J. Robert Oppenheimer, the father of the atomic bomb.. knowledge of the nuclear detonation, Heisenberg gave a lecture on Some reports claim the Japanese subsequently moved their atomic operations Konan (Hungnam, now part of North Korea). fission process in a paper submitted to Nature on January 16th, The Norwegian production facilities for heavy water were quickly secured (though some heavy water had already been removed) and improved by the Germans. We were just hoping for the best. He also asserted that if the mission had failed, London could have ended up looking like Hiroshima.. [4] He was saved [3] Either way the German nuclear Karlsch says in the book that the German weapons, while never used during the war, did have deadly effects. Find History on Facebook (Opens in a new window), Find History on Twitter (Opens in a new window), Find History on YouTube (Opens in a new window), Find History on Instagram (Opens in a new window), Find History on TikTok (Opens in a new window), Thermonuclear explosion at Bikini Atoll, March 1954. In 1943, the United States launched the Alsos Mission, a foreign intelligence project focused on learning the extent of Germanys nuclear program. Finally, on February 28, 1943, a Norwegian commando raid destroyed the facilitys heavy water section in Operation Gunnerside, resulting in the loss of 500kg of heavy water. [6] Frisch confirmed this experimentally on 13 January 1939. North Korea tested two long-range intercontinental ballistic missiles in 2017one reportedly capable of reaching the United States mainland. For nuclear power decommissioning in modern Germany, see, Due to the surrender of Germany. A discovery by nuclear physicists in a laboratory in Berlin, Germany, in 1938 made the first atomic bomb possible, after Otto Hahn, Lise Meitner and Fritz Strassman discovered nuclear fission. considering delayed neutrons, which play a large role in reactor safety. All In lieu of the codename for the Soviet operation, it is referred to by the historian Oleynikov as the Russian "Alsos".[49]. Also incarcerated was Max von Laue, although he had nothing to do with the nuclear weapon project. element 94 and neptium's decay product, was proposed as an alternative. As a result, even in a scenario where the Nazis develop nukes, the war just carries on as in our reality. experiments led to the necessary proof the nucleus had split, barium was successive experiments where the newly discovered neutron had been ", Sceptics agree the book sheds new light on Nazi nuclear experiments, The bomb was much smaller than the weapon dropped on Hiroshima. A strong initial drive, by a small group of scientists, to launch the project. He financed the laboratory with income he received from his inventions and from contracts with other concerns. The HWA was interested and Riehl committed corporate resources to the task. [53], Nine of the prominent German scientists who published reports in Kernphysikalische Forschungsberichte as members of the Uranverein[54] were picked up by Operation Alsos and incarcerated in England under Operation Epsilon: Erich Bagge, Kurt Diebner, Walther Gerlach, Otto Hahn, Paul Harteck, Werner Heisenberg, Horst Korsching, Carl Friedrich von Weizscker, and Karl Wirtz. discovery of nuclear fission. According to the treaty, nuclear weapons states agreed not to use nuclear weapons or help non-nuclear states acquire nuclear weapons. Germany of all states doesn't want to get wrapped up in an arms race or a major European War, especially in the East. The discovery of nuclear fission opened up the possibility of nuclear technologies, including weapons. Tale of Postwar Injustice," Physics Today 50, No. Another problem was coordination among different departments. There were also problems with delivery and detonation systems. Not so, according to Berlin-based historian Rainer Karlsch, who says in his 400-page book entitled "Hitler's Bomb" that there was likely a functioning nuclear reactor near the German capital and that the regime's scientists actually tested nuclear devices in the state of Thuringia and on the Baltic Sea island of Rgen. . However, by the summer of 1943, Speer released the remaining 1200 metric tons of uranium stock for the production of solid-core ammunition. [20], When it was apparent that the nuclear weapon project would not make a decisive contribution to ending the war in the near term, control of the KWIP was returned in January 1942 to its umbrella organization, the Kaiser-Wilhelm Gesellschaft (KWG, Kaiser Wilhelm Society, after World War II the Max-Planck Gesellschaft). The Germans never achieved a successful chain reaction, had no method of enriching uranium, and never seriously considered plutonium as a viable substitute. A second effort began under the administrative purview of the Wehrmacht's Heereswaffenamt on 1 September 1939, the day of the invasion of Poland. Infuriated by Heisenberg, who he thought is not being honest, or he is being used by the Nazi government, Bohr refused to speak with him more and eventually turned the sketch over to Manhattan Project scientists, who identified it as the outline of a reactor (Powers 126). 10,450 Astra 600s had been delivered to Germany until German occupation of France ceased. [78][79][80][81] Mutual distrust existed between the German government and some scientists. During his imprisonment, the spectroscopist Hermann Schler[de] , who had a better relationship with the French, persuaded the French to appoint him as Deputy Director of the KWIP. Any other assumption would have been unsound and dangerous (Norris 295). Uranverein or "Uranium Club" to investigate nuclear energy for fully operational nuclear weapon. Each one said that the other was unimportant. Furthermore, to be successful would have required an enormous logistical and financial push, as in the United States. first successfully denoted a nuclear weapon in July 1945, two months [52] These were all shipped to the US for study and utilization in the US atomic program. American bombers initially had targeted the city of Kokura, where Japan had one of its largest munitions plants, but smoke from firebombing raids obscured the sky over Kokura. they knew they could not meet. Today, all African states bar South Sudan are members of the Treaty on the Non . Beyond lacking a significant number of physicists, The first effort started in April 1939, just months after the discovery of nuclear fission in Berlin in December 1938, but ended only months later, shortly ahead of the September 1939 German invasion of Poland, when many notable German physicists were drafted into the Wehrmacht. It has been common knowledge for decades that the Nazis carried out atomic experiments, but it has been widely believed they were far from developing an atomic bomb. Speer later noted, We got the view that the development was very much at the beginning the physicists themselves didnt want to put much into it (Powers 479), and that the technical prerequisites for production would take years to develop, two years at the earliest, even provided that the program was given maximum support (Rhodes 404). Subsequently, the number of scientists working on applied nuclear fission began to diminish, with many researchers applying their talents to more pressing wartime demands. [65][66][67][68], At the close of World War II, the Soviet Union had special search teams operating in Austria and Germany, especially in Berlin, to identify and obtain equipment, material, intellectual property, and personnel useful to the Soviet atomic bomb project. It could not develop them as war-winning weapons, both because of the demands of the project and the limitations. , and said he hoped his book would provoke further research clear results institutes where the develop..., https: //www.history.com/topics/world-war-ii/atomic-bomb-history this article is about the World War II weapons project broken up between institutes the. 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