The Nuclear Inventions During the Cold War

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The nuclear inventions during the Cold War made wars suicidal and indestructible for the first time. Initially, the breaking point of the divergence in the nuclear arms race was when President Truman tried to scare Joseph Stalin with the development of the atomic bomb. The attempts to create the atomic bomb succeeded and President Truman took advantage to frighten Stalin at the Potsdam Conference. As a result, Stalin had spies who notified him of the success of the atomic bomb. This pursued Stalin to create his own bomb (Foreign Relations). The two leaders’ realization of their conflicting political ideologies accelerated the race for nuclear weapons.

The competition to produce and invent new nuclear weapons required knowledge for chemical engineering. The start of this scientifically and mathematically focused direction of nuclear weapons nevertheless influenced education systems in the United States. President Eisenhower implanted the Education Reform, which led the students towards advance science and math applications. This in turn contributed to the nuclear arms race as it prepared the younger generation for a future arms race. So, even children at the time were aware of the Cold War influence.

The major inventions during the Cold War included the Hydrogen Bomb, the Nuclear Powered Submarine, and the Computer Guided Intercontinental Nuclear Missiles. The Hydrogen Bomb was first tested in 1952; it explodes violently when reacted with an intense amount of heat. Unlike the Atomic Bombs used on Hiroshima and Nagasaki in World War II, these Hydrogen Bombs are much stronger with intent to damage anything within a one-mile radius. Moreover, heavy particles of radiation will fall to the ground, affecting the environment and healt...

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...e Soviet Union, United States went into a panic of fear. This critical event was the peak of the war; it was the most tensed and anxious moment as both sides prepared to implement their weapons that they have been producing. For thirteen days, the United States and the Soviet Union were on high alert; the Cold War almost turned “hot”. Perhaps the fear stems from the fact that there is no defense against nuclear attacks. If the missiles placed in Cuba were to be fired, Florida would have had no defense. There is nothing that could stop a powerful missile launching its attack on a set destination. Eventually, diplomatic figures made negotiations and agreed to the 1963 Nuclear Test Ban Treaty (Blight). Despite this treaty however, the world came into fear once again when another communist nation, China, entered the scene before the imminent fall of the Soviet Union.

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