Cold War Dbq Essay

During the cold war, both nations built up massive stockpiles of nuclear weapons to achieve nuclear supremacy over the other. Both the soviets and the US hoped to use nuclear weapons as leverage against each other by assuring Mutually Assured Destruction, or MAD.

The armed race pushed both nations against each other, this is shown in document 4, along with a graph that demonstrates the number of warheads, “Both superpowers developed technology and used their nuclear power to build as many weapons as possible. This nuclear buildup led to a “balance of terror...But others feared the use of these weapons. These charts show the buildup of nuclear warheads during the Cold War.” This document shows how both countries fought in the arms race which impacted the Cold War with new military technologies. The two nations would not have caused the Cold War without the race of arms. The Iron Wall cartoon in document 7 also shows how the 3 allies, the United Nations, France and the U.S, tried getting information from the Soviet Union and attempted to “attack” them, and figure out what technological powers they possessed. In the cartoon, it shows the U.S telling the United Nations to try and lift up the Iron Wall and see what it on the other side and try to cross. The United Nations is struggling to lift up the wall, while the U.S and France are standing behind her not helping. This cartoon shows how the new technologies closed the countries off from one another making it a “Cold War”. No actual combat preparations were used against each other, and both countries blocked off one

During WWII the United States and Great Britain began work on the Manhattan project, a plan to develop an atomic weapon to use in the war against Germany. At the time, Hitler was also creating plans for an atomic weapon but ended research in 1942 (Holloway). The fear that Germany would develop a bomb first lit a flame under The Manhattan Project and pushed it forward. This ultimately led to the U.S. developing two bombs by 1945. During the same year, the Soviet Union increased work upon their atomic bomb program after learning of the U.S. advancements (“Soviet Atomic Program - 1946.”). Thus, the tense arms race of the Cold War began forming between the two nations.

The arms race was throughout the cold war, which lasted about 45 years. During this time, The United States of America (USA) and The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR) were both creating and stockpiling military weapons to use against each other. The belief was “the more nuclear weapons you had, the more powerful you were”. This lead to the development of many extremely dangerous bombs and weapons, which could destroy life on earth. The Cold War was established on the fact that neither side wanted to engage in a nuclear war that could destroy much of the civilized world.

The Cold War, basically a gigantic nuclear arms race, was built on suspicion and tension between the two major power brokers after World War II: The United States and the USSR. Speculation of what perpetuated it has many veins; however, three major ideologies contributed. Fear of communism become an international reality as the main governing polity, making an enemy out of the USSR. Second is the Russian response to invasion across their borders in the past wars, and thus fear drove them to it. The USA and the USSR have different political cultures and interests which intensified fear of dangerous conflict and confrontations a reality. As one can see, these ideologies have a very real threat in common, worse than any arms race… fear.

The period of tension between the world's two superpowers following the Second World War is known as the Cold War. This period was full of tension and fear that the United States and the USSR would destroy each other and the world with their arsenals of atomic weapons. The seeds of this rivalry were planted nearly a quarter of a century before its actual commencement with the Revolution of 1918 in Russia. The Cold War Rivalry would manifest itself in everything from sports in Olympic competition to science and the Space Race. The Cold War did not only take place in the political, athletic and science realms but also heated up in wars and deputes all over the world from Europe, East Asia and the Middle East to South America and off the

After the end of World War II, the world was left with the two global Superpowers, the U.S and the the Soviet Union. Having completely contradicting government ideologies, these two countries desperately fought each other over foreign influence, inspiring what is known as the Cold War. Named for it’s lack of military action, the Cold War was hardly a war at all but more an arms race between American democracy and Russian Communism. Though it never felt the heat of battle, this altercation between the two Superpowers (the U.S. and the Soviet Union) included one of the quickest advancements of military technology in global history. Inspired by fear of parity, the United States’

The post World War Two nuclear arms race can arguably be seen as the defining event of the Cold War. For the first time in history a weapon had been created that had the potential to end humanity as we knew it, a weapon with such power that one single use could decisively change the course of war and reduce a potent enemy to an impotent conquest. Yet it is because of the magnitude and influence of this weapon that the nuclear arms race began and then grew, and ultimately remained just that – a race: two competing blocs chasing nuclear supremacy over the other, without ever committing to its use. The post-war nuclear arms race is therefore defined as the competition during the Cold War between the United Sates and the Soviet Union for nuclear weapon supremacy. Allies of these two countries were aligned in opposing blocs and did pursue their own nuclear weapon programmes, however none engaged in warhead production on the same scale as the US and the USSR.

Nuclear arms can easily be classified as weapons of mass destruction, as they destroy all ecosystems that come in contact with it in a matter of seconds, this fairly new and evolving breed of warfare is continuously becoming a bigger threat to society due to the fact that; the government can turn to nuclear power if opposing countries do not comply with their needs. The Cold War was essentially defined by nuclear weapons and the nuclear arm race between United States and the Soviet Union. A high degree of anxiety existed between the two superpowers and millions of citizens around the world were put to risk by nuclear arm race. The use of these nuclear weapons were exceedingly destructive and the consequences were so enormous that the protection of human rights were questioned. However the use of these weapons were merely to prevent their use by others. In other words nuclear weapons were devices of deterrence not warfighting. There was a mutual nuclear weapon ownership with both states possessing nuclear weapons, therefore the odds of war dropped quickly. Both superpowers quickly came to the realization that nuclear war between the two countries could lead to a devastation effect on the world which concluded the cold war. “From 1968 the only universal treaty that stops the spread of nuclear weapons is the Non- Proliferation Treaty (NPT) with about 130 members. China is a nuclear weapon state but not a party to the treaty. Also missing are India, Pakistan, Brazil, Argentina

First, nuclear weapons made the Cold War very dangerous. As seen in Hiroshima and Nagasaki had the ability to kill hundreds of thousands of people. However, with the U.S. and the U.S.S.R. rushing to make bigger and more destructive bombs. There was a breakthrough and Intercontinental Ballistic Missiles were created. These were able to be launched up to 5000 miles away. Not only were the bombs more destructive and bigger, but the quantity of these bombs skyrocketed during the Cold War. Due to the sheer amount of bombs between the two countries, a small conflict could turn into the apocalypse along with a Nuclear Winter. Next, the Cold War was even more dangerous because it was between the two most powerful countries in the world.

Since their invention nuclear weapons consist the most destructive and lethal weapons of the world history. But having a nuclear weapon stockpile does not necessarily provides an ultimate immunity against security threats. Despite its theoretical deterrence, using one of them is a highly contested issue. Even under extraordinary circumstances, such as massive terrorist attacks or conventional wars which are more likely than any other security threat, deciding to use nuclear weapons would have more serious consequences.

Strategic discourses tend to discuss about nuclear weapons, and it is generally linked to superiority or inferiority, or again parity between the hegemons or powers in competition; it is linked to emulation and even conflict in the world. The concept of parity stays unclear while it is evoked by different administrations within the US as a perfect way to arms race and also negotiations on reductions or removals of arms . This concern is not necessarily shared by the other powers: the USSR has always been boasting or looking for a kind of weapons superiority, at least throughout the European continent, on the other side, China ignores that power and other countries rather seek a nuclear sufficiency which ensures a real deterrent. The moment when this concern is most highly expressed, informally or formally, is, however, not only on arms but in international negotiations where each party tries to define for itself and its opponents-level partners powers, often calculated based on settlements and discussed the powers of armaments.

The two World Wars had brought detrimental effects to countries involved in the wars. Not only was landmarks and buildings destroyed, but the World Wars also brought fear and insecurity within the world. Tensions of the Cold War could be linked to before the World War I, where the ideology of supreme power and maintaining control over another has been present for a long time. World War I leads to the World War II, as allies rise to power to unstable Germany and his political party. The Second World War was even more devastating and unstable, instilling greater fear and insecurity within countries, especially on those with the lesser power. Many thought that with the defeat of Germany, peace and unity would eventually keep up. However, insecurity has built up over time, causing even allies to have insecurity with one another, which eventually lead to the Cold War. The United States and the USSR were allies during the Second World War, but had been wary of one another. This resulted in the Cold War, whereby each worshipped their nuclear weapons, increasing their defense, in order to maintain the balance of power. The nuclear arms race during the Cold War truly reflected the value of the security dilemma, and the distortion of the balance of power, which could trigger war.

Eventually the allied powers triumphed and defeated Nazi Germany and Japan dividing up Europe between the communist influence of Joseph Stalin's government and the democratic principles of the United States. The arms race originated at the end of World War II between Russia and the United States. Atomic weapons and nuclear warfare instilled fear in people, and greatly affected cold war tensions. When World War II ended it kicked off an arms race between Russia and the United States for world dominance. “The United

As Albert Einstein said in 1946, “The unleashed power of the atom has changed everything save our modes of thinking and we thus drift toward unparalleled catastrophe” (Harris and Bender, 12). The development of nuclear weapons shook and is still shaking the international system down to its core. Never before has there been a weapon developed that could effectively obliterate if not the world, an entire state, with a few clicks of a button. Above the issues of nationalism and great power conflict, nuclear weapons are the greatest threat to global stability in the near future because of the possibility of accidents and misunderstandings between nuclear states, a deterrence system based on instability and bluffing, and the chance that nuclear weapons will land in the hands of terrorist organizations.