Cold War Nuclear Weapons

The North Atlantic Treaty was written to form an alliance between the anticommunist Western European and North American nations. When it was written, in 1949, the twelve nations that would initially make up the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, or NATO, all came to the agreement that if any one of the member countries were attacked, such attack would be taken as an offense to all of the member countries, and a counter assault would certainly take place (North Atlantic Treaty). Because NATO was a defense organization, being prepared to fight back in the event of an attack from the Soviet Union embodied one of its most important requirements. Therefore, much consideration and money went into assembling an array of potent nuclear weapons that could overwhelm the Soviets and inhibit them from triggering a nuclear war (North Atlantic Treaty Organization 4). The main purpose of this protective alliance was to contain communism and thus to prevent it from spreading around

When President Truman authorized the use of two nuclear weapons in 1945 against the Japanese in the cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki to end World War II, the nature of international security was changed irreversibly. At that time, the United States had what was said to have a monopoly of atomic bombs. Soon thereafter, the Soviet Union began working on atomic weaponry. In 1949, it had already detonated it first atomic bomb and tensions began to heat up between the two countries. With the information that the Soviets had tested their first bomb, the United States began work on more powerful weapons1, and a fight for nuclear superiority had begun.

In 1949 the US formed a mutual defense alliance with Western Europe called the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. Truman had a hard time convincing Congress that this organization was necessary on account of American sentiment previously being avoidant of entangling alliances. The NATO charter pledged that an attack on one of the member nations constituted an attack on all of the members. Stalin’s aggressive actions at Berlin accelerated the American effort to use military means to contain communism. So the implementation of this alliance represented Truman’s willingness to disregard the tradition of neutrality. The Soviets also create an alliance called the Warsaw Pact countries that had the equivalent ambitions as the North Atlantic Treaty Organization.

In the aftermath of World War II, tensions heightened between the two dominant powers: America and the USSR. The differences between the ideologies of the communist USSR and the capitalist United States led to a rapid deterioration in relations. The era between 1945, which marked the end of World War II, to 1991, when the Soviet Union dissolved, became known as the Cold War due to the fact that despite the lack of large scale conflict, both sides still feared a nuclear holocaust. Both the United States and the Soviet Union followed the military strategy of mutually assured destruction (MAD), meaning that neither side was willing to risk first attack lest the other nation retaliate massively . The fundamental tenet behind MAD that enabled it to serve as an effective deterrent was the idea of secondary strike capability. In essence, it was the ability of a nation to launch a counterattack and thereby ensure mutual destruction. Submarine launched ballistic missiles (SLBMs) fulfilled this criteria admirably due to their ability to stay submerged for extended periods of time, the difficulty involved with locating a submarine, and their invulnerability to nuclear missile attacks when submerged. As a result, the United States attempted to corner this leg of the nuclear triad.

Since the invention of nuclear weapons, they have presented the world with a significant danger, one that was shown in reality during the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. However, nuclear weapons have not only served in combat, but they have also played a role in keeping the world peaceful by the concept of deterrence. The usage of nuclear weapons would lead to mutual destruction and during the Cold War, nuclear weapons were necessary to maintain international security, as a means of deterrence. However, by the end of the Cold War, reliance on nuclear weapons for maintaining peace became increasingly difficult and less effective (Shultz, et. al, 2007). The development of technology has also provided increasing opportunities for states

“ The atom bomb was no ‘great decision.’ It was merely another powerful weapon in the arsenal of righteousness.” This quote was said by Harry S. Truman the first President who used an atomic bomb. The program that was able to create this monstrous power was known as the Manhattan Project. Creating this weapon was their main priority. The United States was in the midst of World War 2. The atomic bomb is considered to be the main factor that ended that war. It was a race against the multiple enemies of the United States, to be the first to acquire this power and use it when necessary. The Manhattan Project was kept strictly confidential and, created the foundation of the future and more powerful nuclear weapons to come.

Throughout the Cold War, two hostile alliances, the United States and the Soviet Union, were involved in the conflict regarding the Korean War. One of the main radical actions the Soviet Union carried out was the 1949 explosion of an atomic bomb, which terminated the monopoly of the bomb in the United States (“Us Enters the Korean

This legislation called for massive economic aid to Europe and believed that the benefits outweigh the costs. The theory was that by stabilizing Western Europe, the United States would reap the benefits of economic prosperity and increased American influence overseas. Similarly, President Truman also established the North Atlantic Treaty Organization in 1949 to further the union of Western countries. This legislature was not only important because it bound twelve nations under an alliance, but it was also the first time the United States pledged to go to war if another country was attacked. The idea in establishing this was that by creating a unified front, it would dishearten the Soviets from continuing their expansion.

July 16, 1939 began as a rather ordinary day for Einstein. Two former students, now colleagues came to visit. Through this visit Einstein learned that nuclear fission was not simply theoretically possible, but a reality. He immediately recognized the repercussions; both good and evil. He realized that if he did nothing, Germany (Hitler) would be able not only to build an atomic bomb, but also to monopolize all known all sources of the precursor materials. Thus, to do nothing, would be to aid the Nazis. To write a letter, use his influence, to make sure the United States would have access to uranium (from Belgium), he was encouraging the development of a device whose sole purpose would be a weapon more devastating than any other ever imagined.

Australia has had a diverse history with nuclear weapons during the 1950’s and until the 1960’s. During this time numerous senior officials and ministers were coming to the land and started to monitor and investigate the land to see if it was fit for testing nuclear weapons. These weapons were coming from the United Kingdom and United States. A nuclear bomb was then tested at the Montebello Islands just off the coast of Western Australia on the 3rd of October in 1952. As a result of the ministers and senior officials not knowing the result of nuclear bombs they continued to practices many more series of tests off the Emu Fields and Maralinga in South Australia. The bombing in South Australia had left some of the indigenous people of the land

Near the end of WWII soviet Russia and America began installing governments elsewhere in the world, with this and the ultimate untrust between the two powers, the conflict began. Near that time, the Soviet Union violated agreements made at yalta and potsdam, they invaded Germany and started to set up small communist states. The US thought of this as another act of war. On April 4, 1949 The North Atlantic Treaty Organization, or NATO was established by the US. The purpose of this was to counter Soviet armies in central Europe after World War Two. NATO sought to strengthen the Western Allies’ military response to a possible invasion of Europe by the Soviet Union. Ultimately in July 1989, Mikhail Gorbachev, the leader in Soviet Russia, announced that Moscow will no longer be setting up communist governments in central and eastern Europe. After this event, NATO transformed into a political alliance, made to maintain international stability and safety in

First of all, in 1941, The United States decided to create a program that would conduct research on atomic weapons. It

The Cold war dated from 1947-1991. It was characterized by both political and military superiority between United States, which was backed by its NATO allies, and Soviet Union that led the communist side. The cold war was mainly started after the success of the alliance that was formed against Nazi Germany. This competition supremacy on nuclear warfare attracted other countries that also started making nuclear weapons due to the tension that existed in the world. Both sides directed huge sums of money to their military budgets with each side trying to outdo the other.

The development of nuclear weapons helped to end World War II, but in turn created their own war between the United States and the Soviet Union. The development of modified military missiles such as the Intercontinental Ballistic Missile, or ICBM, by Americans and the Soviets, had an impact on the struggle of power of the Cold War. The importance of military involvement in the creation of modified missiles and engines were critical events of the Cold War. Additionally, the steps taken to get to space were a byproduct of this Arms Race and the Cold War. Because the United States and the Soviet Union feared what the other country would or could do with weapons of mass destruction and the thought of the opposing country being able to control

By definition Mutually Assured Destruction (MAD) is a doctrine of military strategy in which full-scale use of nuclear weapons by both sides would effectively result in the destruction of both side. It is not a complicated concept. An elementary school child could understand that the two biggest kids in the class don't openly brawl because both would suffer unacceptable damage as well as put third parties in the danger of the crossfire. The concept of MAD is not the complicated part; it is everything else that pertains to it that has baffled policy makers and theorists for generations. Mutually Assured Destruction is a complex but precarious balance that dominated the Cold War Era. The stability can easily be disrupted by actions taken by