Analysis of the Nuclear Arms Race: Post-WWII Superpower Rivalry

This essay examines the Nuclear Arms Race between the USA and USSR following World War II, a period characterized by intense competition for nuclear supremacy. It explores the tensions between wartime allies, the impact of the US atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, and the subsequent testing of nuclear weapons by both nations. The essay also discusses the ideological differences between capitalism and communism, controversies surrounding Germany's division, and the proxy wars that fueled the arms race. Key events such as the Korean Crisis and the Cuban Missile Crisis are analyzed to highlight the escalating tensions and the ever-present threat of nuclear conflict. The concept of Mutually Assured Destruction (MAD) and its role in shaping the Cold War dynamics are also explored. This historical overview provides a comprehensive understanding of the factors that contributed to the Nuclear Arms Race and its profound implications for global politics.

Running head: Nuclear Arms Race
Post World War II Nuclear Arms Race
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author Note

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Introduction:
After the World War II, there was a period of competition for supremacy in nuclear
power and might between the Soviet Union and Russia and their allies, which formed the
crux of the Cold War. During this period, USSR, USA and their allies started developing and
amassing nuclear weapons; however the rate of production of the weapons were the highest
in the superpowers USA and USSR. This period is known as the Nuclear Arms Race (Weir
1983). This arms race was a result of chain of events which was initiated during the World
War II, leading up to the creation of a divide between the post world war II superpowers USA
and USSR, leading up to mistrust, tensions and both countries racing to stockpile nuclear
weapons, to safeguard their territories from any possible external threat (BBC.com 2018).
Discussed below are the series of interrelated events that led up to both countries engaging in
the Nuclear Arms Race.
Discussion:
Tension between Wartime Allies:
A number of factors stressed the alliance between USSR and USA during the World
War II, such as: a) Delay by US to start a second front in France until 1944, fearing that
USSR might try to make a different deal with Germany b) Refusal by USSR to support the
Polish army in the Warsaw Uprising, August 1944 c) Exclusion of USSR in the secret talks
with Germany by the US and British officials to secure the surrender of German troops in
Italy (Gilbert & Mayes 1989).
End of WW II:
In 1945, August, two atomic bombs were detonated by the US over Hiroshima and
Nagasaki, two Japanese cities, in order to force Japan to surrender and avoid another long

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war in the Pacific Region (Rosenberg 2015). US also hoped that such will also put pressure
on USSR to negotiate on Germany and Eastern Europe (Alperovit 1994). However, trust
between USA and USSR started cracking when President Truman failed to inform Stalin
(then an ally of US) of the US nuclear programs and the intent to use nuclear weapon, and at
the same time Stalin gained all the knowledge of US nuclear program, including the design
and technology (which was a top level secret) through a network of spies. Dropping the
nuclear bombs in the two Japanese cities marked the end of the WW II, however, since the
USSR were not involved in the victory of US in the Pacific Region, they did not get any
share of the occupation in the region, which polarized USSR further from US (Gilbert &
Mayes 1989; Hart 2015).
Testing of nuclear weapons:
The first atomic bomb was tested by the USSR in 1949, which started a race with US
to gather the most powerful nuclear weapons and methods of delivering them. By 1953, both
USSR and USA were testing hydrogen bombs, which showed that both the countries had the
technology of Nuclear Weapons of Mass Destruction, and either country were afraid of
falling behind in the research and production of nuclear weapons. However, neither the
countries wanted to use the weapons, and rather use their nuclear might to deter the each
other. This lead to the theory of Mutually Assured Destruction (MAD), which implied that
using a nuclear weapon will automatically lead to retaliation and hence cause destruction of
either nations (Kaplan 2015). This also increased tension between two countries, and both
started militarizing even more initiating the cold war between USA and USSR (Khalturin et
al. 2005; Possner 2014).
Differences in Ideologies:

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By the end of World War II, the conference in Yalta and Potsdam in 1945 were aimed
to decide the fate of Europe, especially that of Germany. The rise of proletariats in Russia
resulted in the set up of communism. In World War I, the Bolsheviks withdrew from the war,
leaving their allies France and Britain. Due to this, after WW I, USA and Britain started
supporting the White Army, who were are group of supporters of the Tsar dynasty, to fight
against the Bolsheviks during a civil war in Russia. This struck the early cords of distrust
between the Superpowers. Also, an incompatibility between the economic system followed
by USA (capitalism) and USSR (communism) served to increase their ideological
differences, and both the nations wanted their own economic system to be adopted and
conformed to, by other countries, for their own selfish gains. After the Second World War
ended, these events widened the rift further between USA and USSR (Alperovitz 1994).
Also, the allies were not really sure of where the loyalties of Stalin lied, since he was a
former ally of Hitler in 1939 through the Nazi-Soviet pact (Read and Fisher 1988; Naimark
2015). Stalin also blamed the Allies for delaying the second front against Germany in France,
which allowed Germany to focus its attack against USSR, and he feared that the Allies were
trying to weaken and destabilize USSR by leaving them to fight against Germany on their
own (Maddox 2018). This triggered Stalin to step up their national security programs, setting
up a buffer zone of ideologically similar countries of Eastern Europe and provide protection
from any aggression of the Western Superpowers. This zone included the lands that were
invaded and captured by the Soviet Red Army during their march to Berlin. This upset the
US, who wanted a democratic system and free trade in that region, and thus wanted
strengthening of the presence of US and their economic system. The suspicion and mistrust
between the US and Soviets further increased due to disagreements in the Postdam and Yalta
conferences (Hart 2015).
Effect of the Ideological Differences:

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A great vacuum was created after the world war two after the power of the UK
declined. This triggered the US to give up their tendencies to remain isolated and neutral to
European affairs to change their s\political involvement in the continent (Keegan 2014). In
1947, UK announced that they won’t be able to support Turkish and Greek governments
against the communist uprising in those regions, due to economic problems in the country.
Also, President Truman (US) clarified the US policy of containing the spread of communism,
which later was known as the Truman Doctrine. It was based on the view that the Soviets
were encouraging the dictatorial regimes in the world and thus systematically destroying
world economy (Canterbery 2014). The US then adopted the policy of Marshall Aid, which
was aimed to provide support to European countries to resist and fight against the communist
spread. The ideological differences thus lead to the creation of two different alliances, the
Warsaw pact and NATO, each aimed to counter each other’s strategies and expansions
(McCauley 2015).
Controversies regarding Germany:
After the Postdam conference in July 1945, the Allied nations agreed to segregate
Germany into four parts until it was secure enough to be re-unified. Each zone was controlled
by each of the four allied powers (US, UK, France and USSR) (Jansohn 2015). USSR was set
to receive the maximum payment from Germany due to losses they suffered in the hands of
Nazi Germany. However, USSR intended to cripple the economy of Germany, while their
western Allies wanted Germany to recover, and gain economic stability, so that they can be a
contributor to world economy and trade. Under the rule of Stalin, the part of Germany under
the control of USSR stopped trades with the other zones, while the zones under the control of
western allies saw free trade and rebuilding of the nation. Moreover much of what was
produced in the soviet controlled Germany was promptly confiscated, and sent to USSR. IN
1947, the western allies created the Deutschmark to boost the German economy in the zones

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they controlled. Stalin considered this as attempt to weaken the Society presence in Germany,
and weaken its control, and hence he introduced a new currency Ostmark in East Germany
(Dornbusch and Wolf 1994). This also contributed to the divide between USA and USSR. In
1948, the Soviets set up a blockade in Berlin, preventing access of the Western allies in that
region, in the hope that the Western Allies will surrender control of Berlin (Harrison 1988).
However, the Allies started providing support to Berlin, air lifting supplies and food
and tensions increased when airplanes of the Marshall Aid program were targeted by the
soviet red army. But on 1949, the blockade was lifted by Stalin. However, this soon became a
cause a major discord, as Stalin’s fear of Germany unified caused more rifts with US policies
that wanted Germany to be economically stable. This pushed either nations towards the Cold
War and the Nuclear Arms Race (LaFeber 1985; Betts 2017).
Proxy War:
By the end of the world wars, most of the countries realized that war was a very
expensive venture, which only resulted in more economic burden. At the same time, the
increasing ideological divide between the capitalist West and the communist East resulted in
lack of trust, and mutual fear against each other’s military and strategic capabilities. Even
though neither Nations wanted to engage each other in a direct act of war, the fought each
other’s presence and influence over other countries, thus waging a ‘proxy war’ against each
other (Bar-Siman-Tov 1984). The nuclear arms race was a key element in the Cold War era,
allowing both the Superpowers to amass huge stockpiles of nuclear weapons to show their
nuclear might, deter the ‘opposing’ superpower, and establish dominance in other nations.
This only increased the polarization of the two nations, and enabled the Nuclear Arms
race/Nuclear Proliferation to continue during the Cold War. Two significant events which

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accelerated the progress towards a nuclear arms race were the Korean Crisis and the Cuban
Missile Crisis (Stone 2014; Lowe 2014; Scott 2016; Jervis 2015).
Korean Crisis:
Korea was under Japanese occupation during the Second World War. However with
the end of the war, Japan was defeated, and Korea was divided along the 38th parallel. North
of the divide, a communist control developed under the leadership of Kim Il Sung, while
south of the divide, a democratic power developed, headed by Syngman Rhee. Communism
also saw further growth in the Far East, with China becoming a Communist Nation. This led
to US trying to contain as well as ‘rolling back’ the spread of communism, based on their
‘domino theory’ (which meant that if a nation became communist, it will influence other
nations to do the same). In retaliation, Russia supported North Korea to invade South Korea
and conquer it. This involved the US to support South Korea, to topple the North Invasion,
and by September, almost all of North Korea was captured. IN 1950, the balance shifted
again as China supported North Korea to reclaim North Korea and move towards the South.
The clash continued until 1953, US offered peace while still threatening China of the use of
atomic bomb, if they refused to accept the peace treaty. This created a few frontlines which
alienated US from the communist nations (Stone 2014; Lowe 2014).
Cuban Missile Crisis:
This was the most serious confrontation that occurred between US and USSR in 1962.
The Cuban Crisis marked the peak of the tension between US and USSR, and that of the
Nuclear Arms race. The US became increasingly worried and concerned due to the presence
of USSR in the communist Cuba, and the subsequent positioning of Soviet nuclear missiles in
the country. This triggered the US to set up naval blocks to prevent the passage of Soviet
ships transporting the missiles. In October 22, 1962, US set their military on high alert, while
Fidel Castro mobilized all the troops of Cuba. By 24th of October, the Soviet ships reached

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the quarantine zone, with the backup of a Soviet Submarine, and US President Kennedy
concluded that invasion of Cuba can lead to nuclear retaliation of US targets. By 26th
October, Cuba started urging the Soviet to lead the first strike on US, if Cuba was invaded.
However, by the end of October, USSR decided to remove the Soviet missiles in Cuba. This
was the first step towards the dissipation of the tension between the two superpowers, and
thus put in motion another series of events which helped the end of Cold War (Scott 2016;
Jervis 2015).
Conclusion:
The Nuclear Proliferation of Nuclear Arms race between the superpowers USA and
USSR was triggered by a series of interconnected factors, which led to both the nations
alienating and estranging each other, causing their partnership (set up during the world war)
to fray. A combination of ideological differences in the economies of either nations, the past
affiliation of the soviets with the Nazis, and a mutual attempt of both USA and USSR to
establish themselves as the new dominant power led to a show of military might and strategy,
through the continuous stockpiling of nuclear weapons, and systematic ‘proxy warfare’
fought to counter the influence of either nations over other countries. Moreover, the
controversies that started at the end of the world war resulted in a mutual sense of distrust
between USA and USSR resulted in USA keeping their nuclear program a secret, and USSR
using their spy networks to find out the secrets. With both nations no longer able to trust each
other, they embarked in an attempt to outpace each other in the creation of stronger and better
nuclear weapons as well as technologies to deliver the weapons to the target efficiently. Soon
both the countries realized that they were on a path of Mutually Assured Destruction, and the
grave risks it put everyone in, that helped in both countries taking active measures to stop the
nuclear proliferation and put an end to the MADness.

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