Did Nuclear Weapons cause the Cold War? This question has been debated for decades. Both the United States and the Soviet Union accumulated massive nuclear arsenals, and it looked like they were bound to end the Cold War in an all-out nuclear battle. However, the Cold War ended without any use of nuclear weapons. Here’s what we know so far. This article will attempt to answer this question. Let’s start with a historical perspective.
The Soviet Union developed the first ICBM in 1957, and in 1958, they launched the “Sputnik” satellite. After the launch, the United States began limited ICBM operations. At that time, nuclear-tipped missiles from either side could hit their target within a matter of minutes. Neither side could defend themselves, which led to the era of “mutual assured destruction.”
In August 1953, the Soviet Union announced the development of a thermonuclear bomb. The first Soviet hydrogen bomb was codenamed Joe 4 by the Americans and represented a dramatic increase in the Soviet’s destructive capability. That month, President Eisenhower addressed the United Nations General Assembly and urged nuclear-armed nations to provide their nuclear material to the IAEA (International Atomic Energy Agency). The IAEA was established to help prevent the proliferation of nuclear weapons and promote the widespread use of nuclear electricity.
The postwar organization of atomic energy occurred against the backdrop of increasing tension between the United States and Soviet Union. Both countries had been increasingly distant since the 1917 Russian revolution. The Soviet Union imposed non-democratic communist governments in the nations under military control. This triggered a nuclear arms race that defined the rest of the Cold War. The two superpowers began a race to develop the most advanced weapons of mass destruction and deploy them most effectively.
While both sides developed nuclear weapons, their inventors disagreed on how many. In 1955, the U.S. and Soviet Union each had slightly more than 3,000 nuclear warheads. By the late 1960s, both sides had reached an astounding 47,000 nuclear weapons inventory, with the U.S. holding almost 35,000 warheads. By the late 1980s, the Soviets had a total of 39,000 strategic weapons.
The US and Soviet Union were constantly escalating tensions between them, and even a single accidental blunder could cause global catastrophe. This shared fate led both sides to put safeguards into place and negotiate major arms reduction agreements. In the end, the Soviet Union collapsed and the threat of nuclear war significantly diminished. The question, then, is: Did Nuclear Weapons cause the Cold War? If so, how did nuclear weapons actually cause the Cold War?
In 1991, the United States and Soviet Union signed the Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (START). The treaty set limits on strategic offensive weapons, such as nuclear weapons. It also imposed limitations on the number and type of missiles in both countries. With these restrictions, the Cold War ended. There are two main ways to answer this question. The United States and Soviet Union are now working towards a nuclear arms reduction.
Amid the Cold War, the Soviet Union began building atomic weapons. While their efforts were limited during WWII by a lack of uranium, new supplies were discovered in Eastern Europe. During the 1950s, the Soviets developed a domestic source and deployed their first bomb. This first bomb was named “First Lightning” by the West. It was more or less a replica of Fat Man. Strategic bombers were the primary means of delivery for nuclear weapons during the first phase of the Cold War.
However, there are other factors that contributed to the Cold War. The proliferation of nuclear weapons led to the development of new targets. Initially, both nations hoped to develop a weapon so lethal that war would no longer be necessary. However, these weapons had a negative effect on society. They were also perceived as a more efficient use of resources. This exacerbated tensions between the two sides. When you consider that the Soviet Union had a significant number of nuclear weapons, the Cold War began as a result of the development of these weapons.
The debate over whether nuclear weapons are worth the cost of maintaining and developing a nuclear arsenal, the answer is no. Nuclear testing peaked in the 1950s and early 1960s. The year 1962 was a critical year for nuclear testing because it marked the height of the Cold War threat. In that year, the Soviet Union detonated the largest nuclear bomb in history, which was roughly 4,000 times more powerful than Hiroshima.