5. How did the American development of the atomic bomb affect the world in the years after the war?
There can be more than one answer but I’m very unsure. Help please?
A. It began an arms race, as other countries tried to develop atomic bombs.
B. It caused the United States to emerge from WWII as a superpower.
C. It caused the Soviet Union to emerge from WWII as a superpower.
D. It eliminated conflict and promoted peace.
A)
The US having the bomb was a pretty scary thought for most countries. While the Soviets, French, British and Chinese would probably not have used the bomb unless they were attacked first, the US had what is known as a First Strike Doctrine which meant that while all of the other countries considered nukes to be the ultimate weapon of last resort. One that they would only use if their own destruction had already begun, the US reserved the right to nuke anybody and anything at any time (Even today Washington says that it would nuke any country that tries to knock the Internet off line).
This was pretty scary since the post war government in the US was uber paranoid and extremely trigger happy.
Everybody else was afraid that the US would jump at a shadow and obliterate the planet.
Pretty much the only way that anybody could defend against this threat was to build their own nuclear weapons so that if Ameirca nuked them then America would be nuked back. The other countries hoped that fear of retaliation would prevent the US from attacking.
If Russia hadn’t had nukes America might well have nuked to times over by now. The same for China.
It was only the fear of Russian nukes that stopped America nuking North Korea during the 1950s.
November 27th, 2009 at 11:20 pm
A)
The US having the bomb was a pretty scary thought for most countries. While the Soviets, French, British and Chinese would probably not have used the bomb unless they were attacked first, the US had what is known as a First Strike Doctrine which meant that while all of the other countries considered nukes to be the ultimate weapon of last resort. One that they would only use if their own destruction had already begun, the US reserved the right to nuke anybody and anything at any time (Even today Washington says that it would nuke any country that tries to knock the Internet off line).
This was pretty scary since the post war government in the US was uber paranoid and extremely trigger happy.
Everybody else was afraid that the US would jump at a shadow and obliterate the planet.
Pretty much the only way that anybody could defend against this threat was to build their own nuclear weapons so that if Ameirca nuked them then America would be nuked back. The other countries hoped that fear of retaliation would prevent the US from attacking.
If Russia hadn’t had nukes America might well have nuked to times over by now. The same for China.
It was only the fear of Russian nukes that stopped America nuking North Korea during the 1950s.
References :
November 27th, 2009 at 11:56 pm
Actually, none of those answers is correct.
The arms race had been going throughout the war period. The American success at achieving the weapons certainly spurred further efforts in the arms race, but it’s grossly incorrect to say that it began the arms race.
Still, (A) is probably the best answer. The US, by virtue of its industrial capacity and the fact that it had remained mostly untouched by the war, would have emerged as a superpower anyway, as would the Soviet Union. Patently the development of atomic (and then nuclear) bombs did not eliminate conflict nor promote true peace. Instead, it engendered a Cold War which featured a number of arms and technology races, and competition which led to a number of very serious wars, and a number of smaller, more localized conflicts.
References :