To what extent was the nuclear arms race a stabilising factor in the Cold War between 1949 and 1963? The nuclear arms race was undoubtedly a significant factor is stabilising the relations between the superpowers of the Soviet Union and USA in the period 1949 to 1963. Although the superpowers came close to war on four occasions during this period: the Berlin Crisis, the Korean War, the Taiwan Strait Crisis and the Cuban Missile Crisis. Whilst all these crises indicate major tensions and possibly instability, the fact that the superpowers did not engage in a direct war shows that nuclear weapons created a balance of terror and therefore could be considered a major stabilising factor in the Cold War. Stalin was determined to make the Soviet Union a nuclear power, after the USA created the first atomic bombs during the Second World War, which were tested in the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki in 1945.
Truman made some decisions that ultimately had a huge effect in the build up to the cold war. When plans were made for the division of power after WWII, Truman originally opposed America ganging up against Russia and said he would keep the agreements that were made with them. But Truman wanted to appear decisive and tough and he was not prepared to accept any deal if he could not get the majority of it his way. When Truman went to the Potsdam Conference in July 1945, he went there only to advance American Interest and he believed that the atomic bomb was the way to do this. Though this treat he was able to have his way at the Yalta conference.
The official reasons to enter the Iraq conflict were freeing Iraq people, planting democracy, and destroying the Iraq nuclear potential. The U.S intelligence got the data which said that Iraq has been increasing its nuclear potential through the past decade. American and British governments agreed that letting Iraq, which is a potentially aggressive state, possess nuclear weapon, it too dangerous. Iraq leaders stated they needed nuclear substances and technologies in order to create sources of nuclear energy that could be used for peaceful means. Nevertheless, the elements used for it can also be used for creating nuclear weapon.
I think it could have prevented. One could make it put off if nuclear weapons had not been made. Anther two ways could make it put off if the west hadn’t been such harsh to communism since the beginning. And preventing WWII. During the cold war, U.S and Soviet Union were twos strong powers.
, highlighting that he believed without the use of atomic weapons, the Cold War was not an inevitability. Despite the pre-existing tensions between East and West, the use of atomic weaponry amplified the Soviet’s paranoia causing Stalin to authorise ‘a crash Soviet program to catch up’ , signifying the start of the Cold War which would shape the course of the twentieth century. A key significance of the use of atomic weapons in 1945 was the ethical implications that using such weaponry held. As Stalin stated ‘war is barbaric, but using the A-bomb is superbarbarity’ . Stalin’s view is supported by Admiral D Leahy, who in his memoirs writes ‘we had adopted an ethical standard common to the barbarians of the Dark Ages’ This quote holds a substantial amount of weight to my argument due to Admiral D Leahy’s position as Roosevelt and Truman’s chief of staff, it would be expected for a man of such status to hold a view in support of America’s actions.
After the Soviet Union developed the technology for a nuclear bomb the playing field leveled and in my opinion became policy simply because both nations had leaders and Governments who wanted to be the big boy on the block and hold the nuclear solution as the trump card. For either nation or all nations who had the weapons it kept everyone at bay because we knew now the destructive power and no one really wanted to fire the first shot (probably for fear of retaliation or collateral damage). The only pro to this as a policy is the retaliatory option it offered us in case the Soviet Union decided to launch on us or our allies. perhaps other policy benefits are that it moved forward more advanced surveillance techniques, satellite programs and
The Cold War Between 1945 and 1989, the Soviet Union was in conflict with the United States of America, although the conflict never came to open warfare. Even though both sides wanted to undermine and destroy each other, if it came to open warfare both countries would have been destroyed by the use of their nuclear weapons. The USA “battled for non-communist, capitalist regimes” whereas the USSR was very much a communist dictatorship, however they had one thing in common; both sides believed that they held the key to the future happiness of the human race. There were many causes to the Cold War, although the Potsdam Conference in 1945 was the most influential. In February 1945, the Yalta Conference was held.
The policy of containment meant the U.S. actively prevented the spreading of communism. There were several ways with which the U.S. tried to contain communism some of which were futile and others effective. However, for every move the U.S. made the U.S.S.R. had a retaliation. One way with which the U.S. tried to contain communism was with the use of the atomic bomb.
On each of the sides the threats were usually about using their weapons on the other side. Just because the Cold War wasn’t a real war it was still scary for a lot of people. The threats made everyone worry. An example is when one of the sides was threatening to use a missile on another place that our country supported. The only reason the other side was going to use the missile on a country we supported was because they were threatened by our nuclear weapons.
In order to end the conflict of the World War II, a weapon that surpassed all other conventional weapons of that time would need to be created. In 1939, rumors of Nazi Germany pursuit to manufacture an atomic bomb and insure their victory in the war terrified the scientist that sought refuge in America. It also heightened the urgency for America to create the atomic bomb first. Albert Einstein was the one of those refugee scientists that was alerted to Germany's intent and wrote letters