Recommended: Atomic weapons of the cold war
Overall, the work is worth reading and is recommendable for students and scholars with interest in the Truman administration, atomic warfare and weapons, the second world war, relations between the US and the Soviet, and those curious of knowing the reasons that led to Truman’s decision to use two atomic bombs on
This book talks about when the United States almost started a full nuclear war because of a few soviet missiles flew into the states allegedly. They flew B-47s and B-52s as air fleets for 40 years of this international problem between the Soviet Union and the United States. In the year 1945 America ended World War 2, as the head nuclear power in the world. Even though the U.S. was the nuclear power, they did not have any nuclear bombs. The whole point of this “cold war” was to maintain a peace among uneasy times, which did not work.
Slide 1 Cold War Task 5 By: Cristina Prince Slide 2 The Soviet Union and the United States rose as superpowers, and the world progressed towards bipolar politics, a state in which two rather equally matched sides confronted one another. The United States strengthened much of Europe through the Marshall Plan, giving $12 billion dollars in aid to Western Europe after WWII. Resulting in implementing of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), a defense agreement meant to organize opposition to the Soviet Union and China, both politically and militarily.
Have you ever wondered what it would be like to live during a time when nuclear war was always a threat? That was the time during the Cold War. Around every corner lurked the threat of nuclear war, and it was scary. Many people feared what would happen to their country if nuclear tension got too high. Truman, Eisenhower, and Kennedy used the idea of containment, each in their own ways.
In the context of the Cold War, the fight for power and the establishment of the strongest nation were reflected over several ambits, one of them being the capacity of armament or military power of the nation. Therefore, the military-industrial complex is not only exhibited on the foreign relationships among nations, but the growth of the military power itself. For instance, after World War II ended, the United States, as the strongest nation in military power due to the drop of the two nuclear bombs in Hiroshima and Nagasaki that ended the war, decided to keep short the Soviet Union and stop the spreading of the communist ideas, not only in their own nation, but to keep it from spreading in Europe and Asia. And by doing so, the United States needed to create military alliances with smaller nations, offer them protection from external threats, and secure them with an increase in weaponry. So, the United States needed to expand their own military and weaponry industry, thus applying the concept of military-industry complex, where the government increased the investment for national defense and arms production.
We know from history that when planning a re-division of the world, the imperialist powers have always lined up military blocks.”. Furthermore, they also used alliances to block each other off and defend themselves. These alliances are listed as NATO and Warsaw Pact in Document 5. One last weapon in the arms race, this was a time of building up nuclear weapons and the threat to use them if necessary. But for some, it was a reason to avoid war.
As tensions between the USSR continued to heighten, containment became necessary in protecting weaker nations that felt the affects of the Soviet’s disregard for plans outlined in the Yalta Conference. Eventually this policy would support involvement in wars such as
Throughout the years of 1945 and 1991, the U.S. and the Soviet Union were involved in what is today is identified as the Cold War. During this dark time many lived in fear due to the newest weapon that would be used in war, nuclear weapons. These weapons caused fear throughout the whole world because of their capability to kill thousands with just one. Today many debate over the abolition of nuclear weapons in the United States. Some argue that the U.S. should abolish nuclear weapons, while others say nuclear weapons should not be abolished in the United States.
Alliances : Nuclear Myths and Political Realities by. Stephen M. Walt The work from Stephen M. Walt starts off by pointing out how the failed understanding of the concept of 'deterrence' has made the general public more uncomfortable with nuclear deterrence than before and that the leading individuals is failing to understand a nuclear weapon's strategic implications even after 40 years since the first practical use of an atomic bomb. For this reason it is focused on applying nuclear reasoning to military policies and contrasting the logic based on conventional weapons and nuclear weapons.
In this book, Waltz present his neorealist arguments that nuclear weapon will enhance global stability and prevent war cause the more state that possess nuclear weapon will make the world more safer. In this issue, Waltz take a Cold War as an example to show how fear of mutual assured destruction (MAD) reduced conflict between United State and Soviet Union. In the past third of a century, conflict
The Allied victory in World War Two did not create a lasting peace as tensions arose between different ideological views. The Cold War became a period of extreme ideological challenges which attempted to enforce a new economic and political structure on the world. It is clear through Winston Churchill’s ‘Iron Curtain Speech’ that imperial struggle still existed in the world as the West saw the Soviet sphere of influence as an issue to “the safety of the world.” Stalin attempted to justify the military and USSR influence in Eastern Europe as a safety net to prevent external imperial influence. Russia’s satellite countries also allowed for the spread of imperial influence and ensure a similar event to World War Two would not occur near the USSR
III - The Origin of Nuclear Deterrence Presidents, Secretaries of Defense, Generals and scholars alike have studied and debated deterrence theory extensively since the birth of the atomic bomb. From 1945 until 1949, the U.S. was the only country to possess nuclear weapons, but the Soviet Union was significantly stronger from a conventional weaponry and force structure standpoint. In 1949, the Soviets detonated their first nuclear device. This was the first evolution in deterrence as it made the battlefield more evenly matched. It was the beginning of what would be later termed as “a stable balance of power” and it also presented “the threat that leaves something to chance” for both sides as stated in Thomas Schelling’s book Arms and Influence.
Nikolai Novikov brings up these weapons by stating, “For this purpose broad plans for expansion have been developed and are being implemented through diplomacy and the establishment of a system of naval and air bases stretching far beyond the boundaries of the United States, through the arms race, and through the creation of ever newer types of weapons” (“Telegram Regarding American Postwar Behavior”). Equally important, the Soviet Union had gained power from World War II. They had created weapons for their advantage also. Novikov explains, “At the same time the USSR’s international position is currently stronger than it was in the prewar period. Thanks to the historical victories of Soviet weapons, the Soviet armed forces are located on the territory of Germany and other formerly hostile countries, thus guaranteeing that these countries will not be used again for an attack on the USSR” (“Telegram Regarding American Postwar Behavior”).
Especially since Eisenhower believed in massive retaliation, which was funding the stockpiling of nuclear weapons and less funding to the army. Eisenhower’s policy had backlash from both conservatives and liberals. As stated in Document E, “...whether a policy accepting the first blow may be the best one.” People believed that massive retaliation was not the best way to avoid nuclear war. Document E serves the purpose of showing the faults of massive retaliations and how in the grand scheme it isn’t a sufficient way to keep away from a nuclear war.
While there are an estimated 15,000 nuclear weapons are still in commission, the world has kept its nuclear peace since the two bombs were dropped on Japan in 1945.12 Even through conflict the world has continued to push for a world of nuclear stability. In 1969, representatives from the Soviet Union and the US met in Helsinki, Sweden to conduct the first Strategic Arms Limitation Talks, or SALT. Both nations agreed to limit the amount of ICBMs, Intercontinental Ballistic Missiles, weapons capable of delivering nuclear payloads across the planet, that each nation could possess. These talks were the beginning for the reduction of nuclear weapons that continue to this day.13 This reinforces the idea that the Manhattan Project, the first known program devoted to the development of nuclear weaponry, was a force for good not
