The primary objective of the Manhattan Project during World War II was to develop atomic weapons to ensure the United States maintained a strategic advantage in warfare. Launched in 1942, this top-secret project aimed at harnessing nuclear fission to create bombs that could potentially end the war more swiftly. The project brought together some of the greatest scientific minds of the time, including Robert Oppenheimer and Enrico Fermi. The success of the Manhattan Project ultimately culminated in the creation of the atomic bombs dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki in August 1945, leading to Japan's surrender and dramatically altering the course of history.