Changing Nature of Warfare Notes Section 3 1945-1973 Flashcards
Reasons for the dropping of the atomic bomb: 3
Military:
Japanese culture did not accept the concept of surrender in any shape or form. The US tactic of ‘island-hopping’ was proving tedious and resulted in a large number of casualties. If the US attempted to conquer Japan it was estimated that half a million US lives would be at stake and it would prolong the war.
Political:
Truman was aware of the threat posed by the Soviet Union and wanted to ensure that the USSR was aware of its nuclear superiority and its advantage in the arms race.
Economic:
The US wanted to prove that the huge amounts of money that had been poured into the Manhattan project had actually been successful.
Consequences of dropping the atomic bomb 4
The explosions caused winds of 800 kilometres an hour which crushed many people.
8,000 people were instantly vaporized upon impact.
A further 58,000 died in the aftermath from radiation sickness and other.
This sparked the nuclear arms race between the superpowers however, it served as a reminder of the incredibly destructive power of atomic weapons.
Development of nuclear weaponry timeline: (7)
Atomic bomb: 1945
Little Boy on Hiroshima:
16ktons of TNT 3m long and 4 tonnes
Fatman on Nagasaki:
21ktons of TNT
Thermonuclear Bomb: 1952 US
Thermonuclear Bomb: 1961 USSR
Ivy Mike: 10,000 ktons of TNT.
Much more powerful 2500 times than Little Boy.
Smaller with lighter warheads but had larger explosions.
TSAR bomb:
the most powerful hydrogen bomb ever tested.
50,000 ktons
8m long and weighs 27 tons
Nuclear Proliferation Dates 1945-64
Nuclear proliferation:
1945: the US successfully tests atomic bomb
1949: the USSR successfully tests atomic bomb
1952: Hydrogen bomb
1952: Britain tests nuclear device in Australia
1960: France tests nuclear device
1961: USSR develops the Tsar bomb
1964: China test hydrogen bomb
Limitation of developing more powerful nuclear bombs
Limit: There was a limit to how powerful the bombs could be as they became so strong that they could destroy much of the other country’s nuclear arsenal and their allies. More important was the delivery system which could move the bombs around the world.
Dates and Development of Nuclear Bomber Aircraft( 4)
1945: Hiroshima and Nagasaki: The atomic bombs were dropped by a B-29 Superfortress specially modified nuclear bomber.
1952: US developed the B-52- a long range (8000 miles) nuclear bomber which was specifically designed to carry nuclear weapons. It could fly extremely high and very fast which made it harder to intercept and shoot down.
1952: Britain develops the Vulcan Bomber and was used in 1984 to drop conventional weapons on the Falklands Islands.
1952: USSR develops the TU-95 Bear which is a purpose built bomber. But it was slower, could not fly as high or as fast or as reliably as the B-52. Hence it could be shot down by superior American fighters.
Development of land-based missiles (5)
1953: USSR focuses on development of rocket technology as it lacked in its aeroplane strength. Tested the R-7 Semyorka rocket. Range of 8,000 and then later 12000 km. However, extremely unreliable and 6 out of 13 launches succeeded including that of Sputnik.
1957: R-7 rocket placed a soviet satellite into space. This led to the acceleration of the US’s own rocket programme.
1957: Atlas missile tested by the US. It was very unreliable (had a 46% success rate); it was very large, impossible to conceal, vulnerable to aerial attack and very inaccurate.
1962: US develops Minuteman (range of 13,000 km). It was fairly small (54 foot by 10 foot) and therefore could be stored underground in silos. It could also be fired every 30 seconds.
1962: US develops Titan missile with a range of 16,000km. These could fly incredibly high, some could go into low-level orbit, and did not require a highly-trained crew.
Development of SLMBs 2
1959: US launched first submarine capable of carrying SLBMs- the George Washington. It carried 16 Polaris missiles range of 4,600km and could carry multiple nuclear warheads. 4 on each missile so in total had 64 nuclear missiles on board.
1961: USSR launches the K-9 ballistic submarine.
Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty:
When, What was agreed, Limitations
1968: Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty which divided the world into Nuclear Weapon States and Non-Nuclear Weapon States and the NNWS pledged not aquifer any nuclear weapons or technology. Members also agreed to negotiate to reduce their weapons.
Extent of Success:
It was a major failure: China, France, India, Pakistan, South Africa, Israel and North Korea all acquired nuclear weapons between the 1970s to the present day.
SALT1: Strategic Arms Limitation Treaty
When, what was agreed, limitations
1972: SALT 1 froze the number of ICBM launchers at the current number and limited the construction of new SLBMs. Acted to diffuse tensions and both sides certainly did get rid of some of their nuclear warheads and missiles.
Extent of Success:
Again, it left all kinds of loop holes including the US ‘Peacekeeper’, the world’s first. MIRV(Multiple Independently Targetable Reentry Vehicle).
-It is the most powerful nuclear-capable missile.
It can leave the earth’s atmosphere and go into low-level orbit
-Extremely hard to shoot down
-It can launch up to ten smaller missiles each with a range of targets across a huge area
What was MAD?
the idea was that both sides were so strong and knew exactly where each other’s nuclear missiles were that if one started a strike the other could almost immediately retaliate leading to the destruction of the whole world. CAUSED BY CUBAN MISSILE CRISIS
Impacts of MAD 4
-Led to the development of anti missile technology to neutralise the threat of the opponent’s nuclear arsenal and would allow that side to have advantage
-ABMs- these were small and very fast missiles that could shoot down incoming missiles before they hit the target
Safeguard Programme built launch sites around nuclear missile bases in US.
- USSR built the A35 system.
- Neither were particularly effective or had a large success rate to destroy incoming missiles.
What was the Strategic Defence Initiative? Consequences?
Satellites would be placed into orbit with high intensity lasers that could shoot down Soviet Missiles before they re-entered the Earth’s atmosphere. Gave the US a total and unassailable lead in the arms race.
The USSR did not have the technology to compete with this form of missile defence. This contributed to the fall of the Soviet Union. (The USSR was also facing an economic crisis caused by several decades of heightened military spending and the war in Afghanistan)
Extent of success of the SDI:
Purely, theoretical and was far too advanced and expensive to be put into use in reality. Although laser technology was being developed little effective progress had been made however, it managed to deceive the leadership of the USSR
Cause of the Arab-Israeli Conflict
the creation of the state of israel in 1948 (by the UN following ww2 and supported by britain) was not accepted by neighbouring arab countries which led to a series of conflicts.
This was also however a sort of proxy war to the cold war as israel was relying on the usa for financial and military support and the arabs (palestinian, egypt, syria and jordan) were supplied by the USSR
