What Is The Nuclear Arms Race History Essay

What Is The Nuclear ordnance Race History EssayIn this IA we will try find out how the origin, the peak and the remainder of the nuclear gird race. Thenucleararms racewas a struggle for supremacy innuclear warfarebetween theUnited States, theSoviet uniting, and their respective(prenominal)(prenominal) on the wholeies during theCold War.In addition to the American and Soviet nuclear stockpiles, other countries developed nuclear weapons, though none engaged in shipment manu concomitanture on nearly the same scale as the twainsuperpowers.This topic was chosen because of its enormous weight during the Cold War, as well as being a very famous topic to talk about (especially when it comes to history) and generally due to the preposterous thought that all life on this satellite could fork out been finished just because one nation disliked the other nation.The investigation will focus onThe origin of the race (this will involve the creation of the first nuclear weapon, which kick started the race, as well as shift in the orb powers). A design mention will be made about spy wars during the period.The peak of the race (this will include the peak in the terms of the production and destructive capabilities of nukes e.g. hydrogen bombs, thermonuclear devices and ICBMs). A brief mention will be made about nuclear scare.The end of the race (this will include MAD, the collapse of U.S.S.R and nuclear disarming). A brief mention will be made about the negative affect upon the economy of both superpowers.Note There will be mention of all study nuclear detonations in the world e.g. triplet, RDS-1, Castel Bravo, and Tsar Bomba. This investigation will only include nuclear arms race conducted between U.S.S.R and U.S.A and within the m period of 1945 to 1991.Summary of evidenceSeptember 17, 1942, Manhattan Project1The Manhattan Project was a secret force project created to produce the first US nuclear weapon.July 17, 1945, Potsdam group2The Potsdam Conference, a me eting of the victorious leaders of the Allies in Europe, attempted to confront the delicate balance of power of the argue governmental structures, democracy and communism.July 16, 1945, Trinity3First fission device test, first plutonium implosion detonation.August 6, 1945, Little Boy4Bombing of Hiroshima, Japan, first detonation of an enriched uranium gun-type device, first use of a nuclear device in military combat.August 9, 1945, Fat Man5Bombing of Nagasaki, Japan, and the last use of a nuclear device in military combat.August 29, 1949, RDS-16First fission weapon test by the USSR.November 1, 1952, Ivy Mike7First cryogenic fusion fuel staged thermonuclear weapon, in the main a test device and not weaponized.August 12, 1953, Joe 48First fusion weapon test by the USSR (not staged).March 1, 1954, Castel Bravo9First modify fusion fuel staged thermonuclear weapon a serious nuclear accident occurred.November 22, 1955, RDS-3710First staged thermonuclear weapon test by the USSR (deploya ble).October 31, 1961, Tsar Bomba11Largest thermonuclear weapon ever tested, however was scaled down from its initial 100 Mt (mega tons) design by 50%.Important massesRobert Oppenheimer12 director of the Manhattan project, American physicist Robert Oppenheimer was responsible for collecting, coordinating, and leading the team that developed and detonated the first atomic bomb.Klaus Fuchs13 German physicist, and Communist Party member, was employed by the United body politic atomic energy program during World War II, and was direct to work on the Manhattan Project at Los Alamos.Theodore Hall14 was an American physicist and an atomic spy for the Soviet Union, who, during his work on US efforts to develop the first atomic bomb during World War II, gave a detailed descriptionNikita Khrushchev15 led the Soviet Union during part of the Cold War. He served as First Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union from 1953 to 1964, and as Chairman of the Council of Ministers, or Pre mier, from 1958 to 1964Theodore Roosevelt16 was the 26th chair of the United States of America.Harry Truman17 was the 33rd President of the United States.Joseph Stalin18 was the Premier of the Soviet Union from 6 May 1941 to 5 March 1953.Evaluation of SourcesSpartacus Educational, s. v. Nuclear Arms Race, accessed May 18, 2012, http//www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/COLDnucleararms.htmEstablish by John Simkin, in September 1997. Spartacus Educational website provides a series of historical encyclopedias. Entries usually include a narrative, illustrations and primary sources. The textbook within each entry is linked to other relevant pages in encyclopedia. In this way it is possible to research individual people and events in spacious detail. The sources are also hyper-linked so the student is able to find about the writer, artist, radicalspaper and organization that produced the material.Youtube, s.v. The Truth Game, accessed May 21, 2012, http//www.youtube.com/watch?v=wjLgbeUwK_cJ ohn Pilgers documentary film which looks at world-wide propaganda surrounding the nuclear arms race. When the two American atomic bombs were dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki in 1945, they were code-namedFat ManandLittle Boy, and President Truman announced aft(prenominal) the eventThe experiment has been an overwhelming success.These, says Pilger,were words used to describe the awful and horrific carnage of nuclear war. By using reassuring, even soothing language, this new kind of propaganda created acceptable images of war and the illusion that we could live securely with nuclear weapons.AnalysesThe originBetween the divisions 1941 and 1945, Robert Oppenheimer began the production of what was known at the time the Manhattan Project, the verbalism of a weapon that would create a fission reaction and have catastrophic affects. During this time, war time ally, the Soviet Union was weary of US actions and sent Klaus Fuchs and Theodore Hall to spy on any activity that might be consi derate suspicions. What they uncovered was the Manhattan Project. Stalin was informed of the project before Theodore Roosevelts death. President Truman was in fact unknowing of the project up until his presidency. When Truman told Stalin of the atomic bomb, at the Potsdam conference, he had no idea that Soviet Union and Stalin had known about the bomb before he had.The atomic bomb was first utilized on august 6, 1945 when the bomb, code named Little Boy, was dropped on Hiroshima, Japan. Three days later on August 9 1945, President Truman gave the order to drop the bomb, code named Fat Man, on Nagasaki. The world was shocked. Oppenheimer resigned after the dropping of both bombs, having said Now Ive become death, destroyer of worlds. umteen things changed in the world after that, the county of Japan was crippled, the balance of power had been disturbed and USSR had opened its eyes in regards of growth nuclear weapons.US estimated that USSR would not have nuclear weapons program up and running up until later half of 1950s. This was based on the belief that there was scarcity of uranium in the world and that US had the monopoly on that. However thanks to research gathered by spies and new resources coming from the satellite states the USSR got a bomb a decade before than anticipated.RDS-1 was detonated by the USSR, for the second time in four years the balance was again disturbed in the world and the global panic ensued. The US and USSR worn out(p) the coming years stockpiling weapons and resources in the effort for both countries to be more prepared than the other.The PeakDevelopments of hydrogen enriched bomb began 1952, in November that year the US detonated the first of these (Ivy Mike). This was responded a year later with USSRs true hydrogen bomb (Joe 4). At this point in time espionage was not working for USSR and so national research began on new developments.During this time the goal was to fire nukes from respective countries that would be able to reach the other nations and thus the research into ICBMs (Intercontinental ballistic missiles) started. The throw of satellite Sputnik, in 1957, would prove US that USSR could launch a missile that would hit anywhere in the world. This would start the era know as quadriceps race.By the late 1950s a growing tensing between the two nations was forming, due to the idea that both the attacker and the defender will be destroyed if a nuclear war ever happened, thus the idea of MAD (mutually assured destruction) was conceived.This period spawned a lot of social change in respective countries. US started the campaign of Red Threat. Videos in schools across North America instructed children to duck and cover in case if they got attacked. The Soviet Union responded by attack the US way of life and putting up propaganda against capitalist ideals.Nikita Khrushchev succession of Stalin, in 1953, showed much promise for a move towards peace between the two nations. Khrushchevs peaceful co-exis tence doctrine was however rejected by the US and forced the USSR to continue stockpiling weapons in fear of being bombed.Thou many of their weapons were more powerful than those dropped on Japan, the US began to move from kiloton bombs to megaton bombs. Castle bravo would prove to be the most powerful nuclear weapon the US would ever detonate. It was detonated on March 1, 1954 and yielded fifteen megatons of power. The thermonuclear ability of the bomb made it much more powerful than most conventional bomb at this time. However the USSR was developing a megaton bomb of their own, codenamed the Tsar Bomba (king bomb) it was nuclear weapon that held a hundred megatons of power, however due to impracticality of the bombs production and size it was reduced to half of the explosive effect. The results were notwithstanding gargantuan. Tsar Bomba was detonated on October 31, 1961. It was a single most destructive force unleashed on earth by man.The EndThe production of nuclear weapons wa s a major hit to both economies, both had focused so much time, and resources, towards their projects that their economic situations were beginning to feel the heat. The US moved from anti-Soviet movement to a peace and disarmament movement. This would lead to both nations starting an era of nuclear weapon disarmament. During this period many treaties were singed to stop the production of new nuclear weapons, however the goals of the Treaties were only partially successful due to control maintained by both super powers in space. Where the treaties succeeded in limiting production, they would fail when it came to disarmament.Like many thing that year the arms race ended in 1991, with collapse of Soviet Union and mass disarmament occurred around the world.ConclusionIn conclusion it can be said that nuclear arms race was a competition for supremacy innuclear warfarebetween theUnited States and theSoviet Union to contact dominance over the other nation as well as the production of nucl ear weapons and capabilities to be able to unleashing destructive power of nuclear armaments upon the opposing nation. However this would prove useless to both sides, since both side had the capability to retaliate if the other attacked and would lead to MAD. Additionally it can be mentioned that the nuclear arms race was a way for US to keep U.S.S.R producing and spending more money to eventually win in the long run, which US did.