Nuclear Weapons During The Cold War

Nuclear weapons are one of the most destructive weapons in the world. Nuclear weapons were born from scientific discovery during the Second World War and later became one of the centerpieces for the Cold War. During the Cold War there was many tests of nuclear weapons to display might. The power the weapons displayed showed the world that one nuclear armed state could assure destruction to its enemies, two nuclear armed states would mutually assure destruction to each other. The closest the world has been to nuclear war was during the Cuban Missile Crisis, when the Soviet Union tried to arm their new ally, Cuba, with nuclear intercontinental ballistic missiles. The ongoing pollution from the radioactive fallout created in nuclear tests and

Today the threat of nuclear weapons is not as big as it was during the Cold War, but there are still 9 confirmed nuclear armed states with the top two states in possession of 92 percent of the world's nuclear arsonal. The origin of nuclear weaponry can be traced back to the same place where new technologies are born, from the hard work and research of scientists. The work of Max Bodenstein on chemical reactions laid the groundwork for the development of the atomic bomb. The first nuclear fission reaction was discovered by Leo and Albert Einstein. On August 2nd. 1939, Albert Einstein and Leo wrote a letter to US president Franklin D Roosevelt requesting that the United States began research into the possibility of the atomic bomb. The first nuclear reactor was successfully tested in the United States. After that there was the Manhattan Project. The Manhattan Project was a top secret weapons development project that aim to produce an atomic bomb before the German. On July 16th 1945 in Los Alamos, New Mexico, tested the first atomic bomb. At the time

From July 17th to August 2nd 1945 the heads of state, military leaders, diplomats of the three major allies of the war, the United States, United Kingdom, and Soviet Union convened in Potsdam, Germany to negotiate the post-war terms and plan the endgame for Japan. During the Conference at Potsdam, Truman informed Stalin that the United States had successfully tested a new super weapon in hopes of mitigating potential Soviet distrust of the United States in the future Cold War. On July 26th, 1945, US President Harry Truman, UK Prime Minister Winston Churchill, and Republic of China Chairman Chiang Kai-shek issued an ultimatum to Japan to surrender unconditionally or face “prompt and utter destruction”. Japan refused to surrender to the terms of the Potsdam Declaration which meant they would have to face “prompt and utter