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One World or None is a powerful post-World War II animated educational film addressing the dangers of nuclear weapons in the early Atomic Age. Released in 1946, this short film presents a strong warning about the destructive potential of atomic bombs and the urgent need for global cooperation to prevent future catastrophe.

Through simple yet impactful animation, the film reflects the fears and hopes of a world standing at a crossroads after the war. It remains an important historical piece for viewers interested in WWII history, early nuclear awareness campaigns, and vintage educational cinema.

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Transcript
00:12The End
00:54Through the years, the scientists of the world
00:57have freely exchanged their knowledge.
01:00This worldwide search for truth
01:02has led to the greatest of all discoveries, atomic energy.
01:06No one scientist or nation is responsible.
01:10The periodic law of the elements
01:12was discovered by relativity by Einstein, a German.
01:17The atomic nucleus by Rutherford, a New Zealander.
01:22Atomic structure by the Dane, Niels Bohr.
01:26The positron by Anderson of the United States.
01:31The neutron by Chadwick of Great Britain.
01:37Artificial radioactivity by the Jolios of France.
01:42Uranium was transmuted by Fermi of Italy.
01:47The mesotron theory was developed by Yukawa in Japan.
01:52Barium was derived from uranium by Hahn of Jernan.
01:57Uranium was split by Meitner of Austria.
02:01This pooling of knowledge is shared by all.
02:04There is no secret.
02:06When a neutron strikes, the atom is split.
02:09Released neutrons split other atoms.
02:12The result is atomic energy.
02:20Shall the people of the world use this energy
02:23for the destruction or the betterment of mankind?
02:28The United States used this power to destroy Hiroshima.
02:46A flash, a blast, the release of deadly radioactive rays.
02:52And in a matter of seconds, downtown New York
02:55would be a mass of ruins.
03:00Throughout the entire lower end of Manhattan,
03:03most people would be dead.
03:05All buildings from Washington Square
03:07to the Battery would be destroyed.
03:11In Chicago, from Halsted Street to Lake Michigan
03:15and from Chicago Avenue to Roosevelt Road,
03:17the city would lie in ruins.
03:22In San Francisco, devastation would be complete
03:25from Pacific Avenue to Townsend Street
03:28and from Van Ness Avenue to the Ferry Building.
03:44One atomic bomb did this to a city and its people.
04:12Even the most ruthless aggressors of the past
04:15had no such weapon.
04:17The soldier of Alexander with one spear
04:20killed one.
04:26Napoleon's cannon in one firing
04:31killed 12.
04:37The Kaiser's big brother
04:42killed 88.
04:47Hitler's B-2
04:58killed 168.
05:02Japan's war against the United States
05:04ended after a B-29 dropped one atomic bomb
05:09that killed close to 100,000.
05:35The deadly power can be exerted at great distances.
05:38The first atomic bomb was dropped on a round trip
05:42of 3,000 miles on August 1945.
05:46On November 20th of that year,
05:49the effective range was extended to 8,000 miles.
05:53The United States had demonstrated
05:54that an atomic bomb could be launched
05:57to reach any country in the world.
06:00A grim reminder to all nations that had the bomb
06:03and this plane been in possession of the Axis powers,
06:07they could have conquered the world.
06:17There would have been no defense
06:19against this weapon.
06:21A single plane could have broken through
06:24to destroy the heart of London.
06:30V-2s with atomic warheads
06:33could have destroyed England.
06:39At the moment of surrender,
06:41Hitler had in the blueprint stage
06:43trans-oceanic rockets,
06:45which could have destroyed our city.
06:52U-boats could have surfaced off our shores
06:55and launched atomic rockets against vital targets.
07:14The fifth column would have had
07:16an even more insidious means of destruction.
07:19Parts of bombs could have been smuggled in
07:21and under the cloak of darkness,
07:23infernal machines could have been assembled by saboteurs.
07:35It is therefore an imperative necessity
07:38that all the nations of the world unite
07:41to avert catastrophe.
07:48The United Nations must establish
07:51a worldwide control of atomic energy
07:54and of other weapons of mass destruction.
08:09Representatives of the peoples of the world
08:11must together make laws which will abolish war,
08:15laws which will hold the individual in all lands
08:18responsible for crime against world peace.
08:27Only through proper control of atomic energy
08:31can we answer the question
08:32how this great force may be used
08:34for the benefit of mankind.
08:38Atomic energy, freed from the menace of war,
08:41can be for all people in all nations
08:44the great fusing force of one world.
08:50the choice is clear.
08:53It is life or death.
08:55You must say it's clear.
09:05That is almost every other life.
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