The United States continued using the Manhattan Project’s factories. “In postwar years, many Manhattan Project facilities became integral components of America’s nuclear weapons production complex.” (Reed, 5-11). If the United States wanted to be successful in the development of nuclear weapons, uranium is essential. “There has been a long-standing belief among policymakers in the United States that with the success of the Manhattan Project came a hegemony in the field of atomic weapons, especially with respect to uranium enrichment.” (Kemp, 298). The United States were worried that the Russians would soon catch up to their nuclear arsenal, so they needed to continue their development.
However, the United States following the Second World …show more content…
As the two seemed to grow together, nuclear weapons had advanced as well as the usage of deterrence. “This growth continued through the first half of the 1980s to the point when, in 1986, nearly 65000 were available for use; over 98% of these were in American and Russian hands.” (Reed, 5-8). The US and Russia were arming themselves for protection of their countries. However, they wished to avoid using their nuclear weapons. With that being said, nuclear weaponry was an expanding industry. “While there were efforts in the 1960s to move past technology controls and reduce the demand for nuclear weapons among the developed nations of Europe by establishing the Multilateral Force within the NATO security coalition, the problem was, in fact, more global.” (Kemp, 275). The expansion of nuclear weapons to Europe and Asia had added to the fear of nuclear weapons.
The development of these weapons resulted in frightening results and changed the idea of war. “The variety of nuclear actors, the proliferation of cruise and ballistic missiles, thermonuclear weapons, and radical ideologies have transformed the nuclear scene to a considerable extent since the end of World War II.” (Delpech, 9). The possession of these weapons prevented large conflicts between the two …show more content…
“This was proved abundantly during the Cuban missile crisis, where our side we know, and the other side we have good reason to guess, each thought it was looking down the barrel of a strategic nuclear war.” (Miller, 14-15, Must pp). The entire world was nervous about the situation in Cuba. “Among leaders and the public together, nuclear fear reached a higher peak during the Cuban missile crisis than at any other time before or since. As Soviet ships approached the American blockade fleet, a considerable number of people from London to Tokyo thought they might not live to see another dawn.” (Weart, 151.) However, fear of nuclear weapons promoted negotiations to resolve this strife. “In the end the Soviets packed their missiles back home in exchange for American promises to leave Cuba alone and to withdraw missiles placed in Turkey. A great nuclear war had been avoided only by difficult self- restraint—imposed by nuclear fear, the sheer terror of hydrogen bombs.” (Weart, 151). Nuclear fears prevented a devastating conflict off the coast of the United States, which could have potentially ended in global destruction if a nuclear missile had been