Kennedy Johnson
AP Euro
Mr. Chin
May 26, 2016
The Nuclear Arms Race
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’
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This thermonuclear warhead absorbed a radius over 100 square miles wide and 25 miles high and, “ gave the United States a short-lived advantage in the nuclear arms race with the Soviet Union. Following the successful Soviet detonation of an atomic device in September 1949, the United States accelerated its program to develop the next stage in atomic weaponry,” ("United States Tests First Hydrogen Bomb"). The Soviet Union later replied to this by setting off yet another thermonuclear bomb. Though it did not have the 100 square mile radius of a multi-stage H-bomb, it was small enough to be carried on a plane and was ready for use, unearthing the Soviet Union as a further threat to U.S. Over time, “The U.S.S.R. sought to develop bigger, more powerful bombs to make up for what they perceived to be a disadvantage in the accuracy and reliability of their nuclear delivery systems,” ("Soviet Hydrogen Bomb …show more content…
These missiles were a critical product of the Cold War itself. Following the introduction of the IBM’s, Secretary of State John Foster Dulles coined the policy known as “Massive retaliation” , dictating that any major Soviet attack would be met with a massive nuclear response. Inspired by fear and skeptical assumptions of what the Soviet Union could do, this policy in turn acted as an empty unneeded form of retaliation, attempting to discourage any possible Soviet Union capitalization. But, after all these threats, Dulles acts upon this assumption declaring that “the United States will protect its allies through the “deterrent of massive retaliatory power.” The policy announcement was further evidence of the Eisenhower administration’s decision to rely heavily on the nation’s nuclear arsenal as the primary means of defense against communist aggression,” (“Dulles Announces Policy of “massive Retaliation”). Later, in the 1960’s, the strategic doctrine known as “Mutually Assured Destruction” was developed as a scapegoat in case Russia ever gained superiority over the United States. Declaring that “if Russia attacked the west, the west would make sure that they would suitably retaliate,” (Trueman).This doctrine was declared under the knowledge that “the nuclear firepower of both the US and USSR was capable of utterly
After World War II, only two world superpowers remained: the United States of America and the Soviet Union. The contradictory political regimes of the democratic United States and the communist Soviet Union were believed to be mutually exclusive which increased bitterness between them. Inevitably, the apparent tension between the two superpowers led to the Cold War which lasted about 45 years. It was war without bloodshed or battle, instead it was a metaphorical war where the U.S and the Soviet Union increased their weapons and fought for political influence, one always wanting to excel or maintain within the range of the other. The United States’ desperate need to contain the communist political ideology from spreading any further and meet the Soviet Union’s increased development of nuclear weapons led to the their involvement in the Cold War. The impact the Cold War had on life during the 1950’s and 1960’s can be measured through the creation of the House Un-American
Brands' purpose for writing this book was to inform the reader of actions taken before, during, and after the Cold War. After World War II, the United States and Russia were the only two remaining world powers. Each had a conflicting method of government, which ultimately led to the Cold War. The two superpowers were at the center of attention for the better part of
President Kennedy came to office with warnings of a missile gap. The Soviets had achieved or were achieving a significant advantage in strategic nuclear weapons. Though tensions ran even higher, "Eisenhower’s strategy of massive retaliation made little sense and did not account for the rapidly growing Soviet nuclear arsenal4. Kennedy's nuclear strategy became known as flexible response. The idea was to acquire the military forces that could deal flexibility with varying levels of Soviet Aggression3. The most serious confrontation between Russia and the US was the Cuban Missile Crisis. (Link to Stephanie's page) Soviet leader Khrushchev attempted to place intermediate range missiles in Cuba. Kennedy responded by imposing a quarantine on Cuba. This resulted in the removal of the Soviet missiles and led to Kennedy making the decision to dismantle U.S. missiles based in Turkey. Some analysts argue that the successful outcome was due to the United States’ nuclear superiority, which proved that strategic superiority offered important political advantages5.
The cold war in conjunction with the nuclear arms race raised a countless number of dangers that were new to Americans. One of the most obvious risks raised by the nuclear arms race was the blast of the bomb itself. The bombs that were emerging were only getting colossal, and the effects were reaching potential world destruction. For example, the atomic bombs used on Hiroshima and Nagasaki were minuscule compared to the Hydrogen bomb, which the U.S built to stay ahead of the Soviet Union. But as history has shown itself, the Soviet Union came kept up with the competition and created a Hydrogen bomb as well. Now both countries possessed bombs that could decimate out entire countries.
Harry Truman (1884-1972) was the most influential person in the race for the super bomb. As President Roosevelt’s Vice President, he knew nothing about the development of the atomic bomb. But within months of assuming the office of President of the United States on April 12, 1945, he became the first and only American leader to authorize the use of atomic weapons against an enemy target. Truman’s era only marked the beginning of the race for nuclear weapons. The development of nuclear weapons is still an issue today, decades after Truman left office.
The Cold War was a competition. The US and the Soviet Union raced to become the world’s number one superpower, building up their militaries, improving their arsenals, and developing more advanced weapons. However, weapons in the war were not limited to only nuclear warheads. The weapons used in the Cold War were nuclear warheads, and hope and terror caused by propaganda.
“The Evil Empire” — that is what, at the height of the arms race, United States President Ronald Reagan called the Soviet Union (Rudolph 1). Unsurprisingly, the Soviet Union was similarly upset at the United States. This anger is what fueled the arms race. During the Cold War, due to fears of nuclear attack, the US and Soviet Union designed and deployed thousands of nuclear warheads, each hoping to deter the other from nuclear launch with threat of counter attack (O’Neal 1). This massive arms buildup, however, had many negative effects on the US. To recognize the impact that the arms race continues to have on today, it is crucial to understand not only its causes, but also its immediate impacts on the US economy, society, foreign
After the Second World War, the United States and the Soviet Union emerged as superpowers and subsequently a period of tension and hostility arose, known as the Cold War. During this time, a new possibility of complete nuclear destruction that would claim the lives of many emerged, therefore “the easing or relaxing of tensions” on both sides was needed, this period would be known as detente. Both countries had been guaranteed mutually assured destruction as they had both managed to stay ahead in the development of nuclear arsenals. By the late 1960s the Soviets had surpassed the United States in intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBM) by 1,300 to 1,054. Although the U.S was still ahead
In this paper I will discuss what actions and thoughts added up to cause the cold war. The cold war lasted from September 1, 1945 to about December 25, 1991. That is about forty-five years, which is an extremely long time. The cold war was a global competition basically between two sides, the Free World, which was led by the United States of America, and the Communist World led by the Soviet Union. The struggle took place through indirect military conflict, and direct competition in the areas of economics, diplomacy, culture, space exploration, and political theory. It also involved nuclear stand offs, espionage, and global competition for other nations. The cold war has established the framework for most
The speed of technological development during the Cold War was unprecedented. Both sides utilized thousands of scientists and spent millions of dollars developing new technologies. With this development came new military weaponry for both sides. For example, both the US and Soviet Union produced vasts amounts of missiles. The US
Starting in the 1949 with the explosion of an atomic bomb(RDS-1) in Russia and ending with the dissolvement of the Soviet Union, the nuclear arms race was an extremely tense few decades that forever changed the United States in many ways. The Arms Race is exactly what it sounds like; a race to amass more advance weapons. During these four decades, the Nuclear Arms Race affected Americans socially through instilling a variety of emotions ranging from fear, to awe of the power of the nuclear weapons, economically through enlarging governmental role within the economy and mostly importantly, the political impacts were more involvement required by the U.S government in world affairs and as a force against Russia.
With this book, a major element of American history was analyzed. The Cold War is rampant with American foreign policy and influential in shaping the modern world. Strategies of Containment outlines American policy from the end of World War II until present day. Gaddis outlines the policies of presidents Truman, Eisenhower, Kennedy, Johnson, and Nixon, including policies influenced by others such as George Kennan, John Dulles, and Henry Kissinger. The author, John Lewis Gaddis has written many books on the Cold War and is an avid researcher in the field. Some of his other works include: The United States and the Origins of the Cold War, 1941-1947, The Long Peace: Inquiries into the History of the Cold War, We Now Know: Rethinking Cold War
Following the end of World War Two (WWII), the United States as well as much of the western world was thrust into the escalating crisis which came to be known as the Cold War. As this new threat emerged looming over the United States and its NATO
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
After World War II, the United States had effectively become the most powerful and influential country in the world both militarily and politically. During America’s rise to power, however, hostilities mounted between America and the Soviet Union, resulting in a fierce rivalry. The Cold War, which never involved direct military confrontations between the two nations, involved of the struggle to contain the spread of communism, extreme anti-communist attitudes in America, and a reemergence of the civil rights issue.