The main aspect that lead to the Cuban missile crisis was the arms development between 1945-1963. The competition between the USA and USSR lead to bigger and more dangerous weapons, the increased threat these weapons bought created great tension that could only end with firing upon one another or a significant reduction of nuclear arms. In 1949 the USSR had matched the USA with the development of their own atom bomb. This sparked the battle for dominant power with the rapid development of hydrogen bombs, inter-continental ballistic missiles and huge advancements in satellite and missile delivery systems. These developments changed the US policies of brinkmanship and massive retaliations, as these methods only worked while the USA remained militarily superior.
A large army, navy, air force and weaponry were maintained and each party aspired to be more powerful with the bigger military force. America established the first nuclear bomb in 1945. When Stalin heard of this at the Potsdam conference the race began. By 1949 the USSR also had a nuclear bomb. America then created the Hydrogen bomb.
The Cold War changed American culture in a number of important ways. Fear of communism greatly increased due to rising tensions with the Soviet Union. Politicians of both parties often tapped into that fear and ran for office based on how strong they would be against communists. And fighting communism always involved the threat of nuclear war since both the U.S. and Soviet Union had nuclear weapons trained on each other. President Dwight Eisenhower's military plan relied on nuclear stockpiles rather than land forces.
In response to the bombing of Japan, the Soviet Union and Communist China developed their own nuclear weapons. This marked the beginning of the Cold War, the conflict between the Soviet Union and the United Sates was due to the fact that both countries wanted to become the sole superpower of the world, and they also disagreed on what the world should look like postwar. The Cold War lasted for several years and had many period of heightened tension such as the Korean War, Vietnam War, and the Cuban Missile Crisis. World War II impacted America in many ways the GI Bill helped stimulate the economy which led to development and expansion into the west. Due to the financial securities family sizes increased and gave us the baby boom era.
In October 1939, just after the outbreak of World War II in Europe, the President of the United States Franklin D. Roosevelt received a letter from physicist Albert Einstein and his Hungarian colleague Leo Szilard, letting him know that a bomb of unprecedented power could be made by tapping the forces of nuclear fission. The two scientists, who had fled from Europe in order to escape Nazism, feared that Hitler-Germany was already working on the problem. They fear this because if the Germans were to be the first to develop the envisaged "atomic bomb," Hitler would have had a weapon in his hands that would make it possible for him to destroy his enemies and rule the world. Einstein and Szilard urged the government of the United States to join the race for the atomic bomb to end this nightmare. Roosevelt agreed to join and for the next four and half years a huge, secret effort was launched in cooperation with the United Kingdom.
Duck and Cover Duck and Cover Jenny Tweedle History 145 – Danny Mullen Duck and Cover What would it have been like to live under the threat of nuclear war? While I can’t know for sure, what living with the fear of nuclear war was like, I can only imagine it was a scary and nervous time for the citizens of the United States. The fear of the Atomic bomb, the unknown of if and when will it happen, if it does happen, what will become of the United States? What will become of The World? Is it possible to survive to such an attack, and if so, what kind of world will it be then?
With this amount of casualties projected, a land invasion would have trumped the death toll of D-Day. Also, more civilians and more cities would have been destroyed because of the strict Japanese leadership and stubbornness to surrender, especially when they know that they are in an un-winnable war. Another negative one could claim is that these events lead to the arms race. If the bombs were not dropped, there would have still been the arms race. Urgent use of the bombs portrayed to the world of the bombs potential and prevented future use when stockpiles were much
Zinoviev’s Letter Munich agreement September 1938 Appeasement policy Conclusion v Regardless of the war, a Cold War scenario was inevitable due to Political, economic and ideological differences. v WW II only intensified a previously existing problem Word Count: 1974 Karan Agarwal 12 E The era post World War two saw great dominance by the USA and the USSR as they possessed greater economic and military might than any other countries in the world at the time. Britain, France and Germany, the pre-war powers lay in ruins at the end of 1945, therefore allowing their dominance and power to shift to the USA and USSR. Bernard Baruch coined the term ‘Cold War’ during a congressional debate in 1947 stating that the situation was just
The Atomic Bomb John D. Krause American History 212 Dr. Matthew McCabe December 10, 2009 On August 2, 1939, just before the beginning of World War II, Albert Einstein wrote to then President Franklin D. Roosevelt. Einstein told Roosevelt of efforts in Nazi Germany to purify U-235, which might in turn be used to build an atomic bomb. It was shortly thereafter that the United States began the Manhattan Project. Simply put, the Manhattan Project was committed to expedient research and production of a viable atomic bomb. Needless to say, the atomic bomb has been one of the greatest sources of controversy and debate since the two bombs were detonated.
The nuclear arms race made the world a more dangerous place 1949-63 During the course of history many Arms races have developed, however this one was different. These nuclear weapons possessed an incredible amount of destructive power which meant that both superpowers, the USA and USSR, found themselves in a situation where doing everything to intimidate their adversary by being the more superior superpower to prevent direct nuclear warfare was vital. It is for this reason that this stage of the cold war is seen by some as the most key stage as well as a pivotal turning point. From what looked like initially a simple issue at first with more of these weapons being produced therefore the world would become a more dangerous place it can be assumed. This isn’t case with as this arms race progressed it became clear about the catastrophic dangers nuclear warfare would bring if the weapons were ever deployed.