Nuclear Arms Race Make The World Danger

To what extent did the nuclear arms race make the world a more dangerous place in the years 1949-63

The cold war brought about an arms race that increased in pace as the years went on, in this instance we speak of danger to mean having a significant impact on the lives of many people throughout the world through the use of nuclear arms. The world was endangered in many ways by the conflict between the Soviets and the US, as new technology was successfully developed not only did the number of atomic weapons increase but the warheads became more powerful and could reach their targets more effectively. It was however arguable that as a result of this new destructive power that the danger actually abated slightly due to the introduction of Mutually Assured Destruction “MAD” This meant that it became more and more unlikely that either side would actually attack the other due to the effect that it would have on themselves in the form of a counter strike.

In 1945 the destructive power of the atomic bomb was showcased to the world, as well as bringing the Second World War to an end it also demonstrated the might of the US to the Soviets. It sparked a competition for each side to have the edge, feeling threatened, either force strived to outcompete the other and have the majority of atomic weapons of the highest plausible power. They wished to demonstrate their power to the world, more bombs meant an advanced economy and extensive resources. The side with more powerful weapons was therefore the strongest and the most inviting for allegiance. This was crucial as each side strived for influence over eastern Europe and this could be the factor that lead countries to side with them.In 1952 the USA developed the first Hydrogen bomb with the USSR following suit a year after, this bomb was a thousand times more powerful than its predecessor and was indeed highly dangerous, giving off a cloud of highly toxic dust with the ability to drift in any direction for a hundred miles. Further power stemmed from the lithium bomb which fell into the hands of the Russians 9 months after the development of the hydrogen version. These bombs did not necessitate refrigeration and meant that they no longer required a bomber to carry them. Resultantly an increase in range was possible and delivery systems could be developed. Rocket technology made matters worse, in 1957 the first ICBM came into being, this further endangered the world as a bomb could pretty much strike any area that the superpowers so wished with rapid retaliation from the opposition. They would obliterate each other and thousands would have died as a result.

The concept of brinkmanship was certainly to be accounted for in the endangerment of the planet, the willing of Eisenhower and Dulles to go right to the brink of war was both dangerous and foolish, it put enormous strain on the situation and the hard-line approach taken in regards to the Cuban missile crisis shook America, it put millions of innocent American lives in danger within the threatened land when other diplomatic techniques should have been used to alleviate the situation as best as was possible. The fact that nuclear war was risked at all shows precisely that the world was in danger due to the leaders running the superpowers. It would have a massive economic impact on the citizens of both countries, stretching the monetary resources to breaking point did not bode well for the people living in them, many were stricken with poverty making their own countries their enemy.

It was however the fact that each side was so close to annihilation that they now considered every move they made, taking extreme caution in fact so as not to provoke a reaction from the opposition. The dangers were highlighted and by the 1960’s both superpowers possessed enough nuclear missiles to destroy the other. Both sides also completely understood the power that they possessed and that, unleashed, it would have terrible effects. Each country held the power to strike back swiftly and ruthlessly even having been hit first but the devastation caused by nuclear weapons was too horrific to contemplate this meant that thought was instead put into the conventional methods of fighting, proxy wars were fought to assert dominance rather than head to head collisions and Kennedy actively used the strategy known as “flexible response”, an alternative to the use of Nuclear bombs.
The arms race also lead to the construction of defence systems that made the world safer from attack, these would hopefully intercept the missiles and may not ever have been developed had it not been for the arms race. Furthermore much of today’s technology was developed as a result of the race, the space program that stemmed from the arms race has made much technological advancement, inventions such as Velcro for example were developed by NASA. This shows that the world may have been improved by the arms race overall as civilians have benefitted from its bi-products.

In conclusion, it is my thought that between the years 1949 and 1963 the world was indeed far more dangerous than it needed to be. The policy of Brinkmanship was ridiculous and was seemingly deliberately inflammatory. It is surprising that Nuclear war did not occur given how close things came and the development of such unbelievably powerful rockets cannot have had any positive effects on the world whatsoever, had they not been developed then there would not have been such widespread fear and panic nor would there even have been a chance that thousands could die in the blink of an eye. These weapons and delivery systems endangered the environment and the entire planet.