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
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. Power was largely shared between the Soviet Union and the United States. As one wanted to dominate the other conflicts were inevitable. Cold and warm Open warfare is referred
Isabella Esposito Doctor Young H6SX 4/16/12 The Atomic Bomb: A True Necessity In 1945, President Truman decided to use the atomic bomb against Japan in an attempt to end World War II. It brought an almost immediate end to the war and hypothetically saved thousands of lives. Without the atomic bombs, the Japanese leaders might have dragged the war out, refusing to surrender. Moreover, the bombings could be seen as falling in line with the concept of “total war.” The decision by the United States to drop atomic bombs on Japan was justifiable based on three factors: the desire to save American and Japanese lives, to end World War II quickly, and to demonstrate the power of the US military. Harry Truman,
In war, you want your country to win. A country will do whatever they need to do to make those two statements a reality. For the United States of America, dropping the two atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki was the way. War is not ideal, so no situation in war will ever be ideal. You must do what you need to do.
The question is to what extent these reasons should e held responsible. It seems that there was a lot of doubt that an actual invasion of Japan was necessary and the decision to use the atomic bomb was more or less already made at the beginning of Truman's term in office in 1945. I have come to the conclusion that the most important factor is the revisionist view that it was the need of the United States to show their newly acquired power to the U.S.S.R that influenced Truman’s decision the most. The war in the Pacific was merely a good opportunity for a demonstration of the bomb’s power, by using the saving of American lives and bringing the war to a quick end as justification, the decision could be made without causing too much discussion at the time. At the same time I think the hatred the Americans held for the Japanese made this decision easier to be made and accepted.
Roosevelt’s decision to remain neutral in World War II changed when Japan attacked Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941, drawing the United States into World War II. President Roosevelt’s decision to involve the United States in World War II started the nuclear arms race, due to the ensuing threat from Nazi Germany. Along with the Nazi threat, the Soviet Union, our then ally, influenced United States policy when President Harry S. Truman learned that the Soviet Union had been working to develop nuclear weapons as well. Another major influence on American policy came when President Truman informed Joseph Stalin, the leader of the Soviet Union, that the United States had been developing nuclear weapons. President Truman was surprised at how calmly Stalin took the news and thought that Stalin had not understood what he had told him.
The people were divided. Both the American people and others around word were soon to find out the horrors of what lay beneath an ash cloud that hung hundreds of miles above the Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Even the scientists could not quite believe and could not imagine the effects that these two bombs would have, even now, more than 65 years later. News of the atomic bombing was greeted enthusiastically in the U.S.; a poll in Fortune magazine in late 1945 showed a significant minority of Americans wishing that more atomic bombs could have been dropped on Japan. The immediate death toll will never be known, but within four months, it was estimated that that the effects of both bombs had claimed around 166,000 people in Hiroshima, and 80,000 in Nagasaki.
After Roosevelt died Truman became the American president. One of the reasons is the dropping of the atomic bomb. During the Potsdam Conference Truman attempted to show he’s authority to other countries by dropping a bomb in Japan. Truman believed that America was one of the most powerful countries in the world and wanted to prove it. Another reason to why America is to blame is after the success of the atomic bomb the members of the Grand Alliance began to see changes in Truman’s behaviour as he started to control the meetings they had and Stalin refused to be bossed around so arguments between Stalin and Truman started, they started.
Devastation, destruction, terror, and straight up fear, is what people would’ve seen if they visited Nagasaki or Hiroshima after the atomic bomb was dropped on those cities. The number of scientists who were involved in the development of the atomic bomb is unbelievable. The bombs were very unique objects, whether it was the size of the bomb, or even the amount of explosives inside. The names of the atomic bombs will forever be remembered for the chaos they brought to Japan. The decision to drop the bombs was one of the most difficult things President Truman had to do during his Presidency.
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. Seeing the fact that during this period the world was brought to the very brink of annihilation in 1962 but in spite of that the world survived that fearful time and has made significant progress in peace from this period of time to the modern day. So it can be said that bizarrely the nuclear arms race didn’t make the world a more dangerous place as one would assume but rather pushed the world to more peaceful times. On the other hand people’s reaction towards the view at the time i may hold some truth as destructive potential of nuclear war never ceased during this period. The horrific power shown by these weapons when used on Nagasaki and Hiroshima didn’t cause others to be fearful of the USA’s weaponry and to stop production of new weaponry but rather ironically increased it.