The arms race began in 1945 when the US dropped their atomic bomb on Japan. Not only did this demonstrate the power of the USA but was the catalyst for an age of rapid weapon development, the arms race. This ended with the Cuban Missile Crisis in 1963, an event that bought the superpowers dangerously close nuclear war. A number of factors other than the accumulating advancements in weaponry lead to the Cuban missile crisis, the personalities of the leaders and the national interests of each country all effected how the arms race developed, leading to the inevitable situation where the USA and USSR were left hovering over the trigger. The main aspect that lead to the Cuban missile crisis was the arms development between 1945-1963.
In what ways did spies during the cold war try to gain information? What did they do with this information and was it beneficial to our country? Tension after World War 2 between the Western world and the Communist world. The largest tension was between the US and the Soviet Union. After the debatable “success” of the atomic bomb there was talk of using it again Every country now wanted to know who had one, where it was kept, and when/if they would be using it Causes Differences between the US and the Soviet Union were intensified by suspicions after the war.
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.
One, if not the most prominent way that the nuclear arms race stabilised the cold war was the threat of one being launched, both the USA and the USSR were both already threatened by the ideological capabilities of each other, which is why they feared the nuclear arms race would extend to not just trying to achieve the upper hand over their opponent. The fact that both sides were developing their nuclear weaponry and rapidly gaining a vast amount of nuclear bombs meant that it acted as a defence strategy in warning the up and coming countries who thought they would have an opportunity in joining the world superpowers, such as China. The damage that the weapons could cause were enough to not just warn each superpower of the sheer control that the other had but it warned the world too. An example of how the
How far do you agree with the view that the development of the Cold War between the USA and the Soviet Union in the years 1945-53 was primarily due to traditional great power rivalry? Use sources 7, 8 and 9 and your own knowledge. The development of the Cold War between the USA and the Soviet Union in the years 1945-53 was primarily due to great power rivalry, though this rivalry was only made clear, due to the ideological differences between the two superpowers. The Cold war has been a clash on conflicting ideologies, which fuelled the great power rivalry between the USA and Soviet Union, and these differences led to increasing tensions almost to the extent of nuclear war. Yalta was the first event in the time period, and was where ‘the big thee’, Stalin, Churchill and Roosevelt met and discussed the reorganization of Germany and Eastern Europe after WWII.
The Decision When Harry Truman learned of the success of the creation of nuclear weapons, he was faced with the most difficult decision in history. The capacity to end the war with Japan was in his hands, but it would involve unleashing the most terrible weapon ever known. Truman ultimately had to decide if the gains from ending the war would outweigh the destruction from ordering the bombs and leading the world into the nuclear age. After very careful deliberation Truman made the right decision on ordering the use of the atomic bomb. The decision prevented millions of American casualties, millions of Japanese casualties, and served as a deterrent to the USSR expansion.
The most notable change I believe was the increase of defense spending, which helped fuel the economy and pay for the cost of research to build nuclear weapons, jet plains, satellites, and consumer goods that were often the side products of military research. (Nash 648) Atomic nuclear weapons were first developed by America after Roosevelt had heard that the German’s were researching on making an atomic bomb. The first and only time there was a nuclear war started when America bombed Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Japan. America had boomed Japan to put an end the war, at the end of World War II America was the only country who had nuclear war power. In response to the bombing of Japan, the Soviet Union and Communist China developed their own nuclear weapons.
After multiple ideas along with deep thought, Truman along with the chiefs decided the most efficient, least costly and less bloody approach would to be dropping the atomic bombs on the Japanese home land. The essay states “evidence points to the conclusion that he acted for the reason he said he did: to end a bloody war that would have become even bloodier had invasion proved necessary” pg 175 Readings in United States History. The writer’s purpose of this essay is to educate the readers about the difficulty of this decision. I believe the writer did a fine job explaining the whole process. The Hiroshima and Nagasaki atomic bombing are two greatly important milestones in the United States history, and the essay “The Biggest Decision: Why We Had to Drop the Bomb,” by Robert James Maddox is a perfect essay to be read over and discussed in a class like this.
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.
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.