Hydrogen Bomb the 1940s Introduced

Hydrogen Bomb

The 1940s introduced the world to two major developments in weaponized warfare, the atomic and hydrogen bomb. The concept of a hydrogen bomb was first introduced in 1942 by Edward Teller and Enrico Fermi ("The Development of the Hydrogen Bomb"). The development of another type of nuclear weapon would not be without repercussions and less than a decade after the first hydrogen bomb was tested, the United States found itself embroiled in a standoff with Cuba and the Soviet Union, which is referred to as the Cuban Missile Crisis, the October Crisis in Cuba, and the Caribbean Crisis. The development of the hydrogen bomb revolutionized warfare and demonstrated the intense threat posed by countries with the technology to develop these types of nuclear weapons.

Unlike atomic bombs, which were used during World War II and split uranium and plutonium atoms to create a nuclear reaction, hydrogen bombs -- or thermonuclear bombs -- fuse hydrogen atoms to create a nuclear reaction ("The Development of the Hydrogen Bomb"). The development of a hydrogen bomb came to a standstill after World War II as the United States became demobilized and the fact that many of the people working at Los Alamos, where the bombs were developed and tested, "returned to their prewar positions and younger staff left to enter graduate school" (Los Alamos National Laboratory). After the Soviet Union detonated an atomic device in September 1949, the United States recognized that it needed to accelerate research and development of the hydrogen bomb ("United States tests first hydrogen bomb"). The first hydrogen bomb in the world was detonated by the United States on November 1, 1952 at Eniwetok atoll in the Pacific ("United States tests first hydrogen bomb").

A decade later, in October 1962, the United States and the Soviet Union would demonstrate the dangers of nuclear weaponry as the two countries engaged in a tense standoff over nuclear missile facilities that were being built a mere 90 miles from the United States' borders in Cuba. On October 14, 1962, "an American U-2 spy plane secretly photographed nuclear missile sites being built by the Soviet Union on the island of Cuba" ("Cuban Missile Crisis," John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum). After meeting with his advisors over the course of several days, President John F. Kennedy declared a blockade would be put in place around Cuba with the intention of preventing the Soviet Union from supplying Cuba with any more military supplies ("Cuban Missile Crisis," John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum). Shortly thereafter, on October 22, President Kennedy announced, via a television broadcast, the presence of the missiles in Cuba, his decision to "enact a naval blockade around Cuba and made it clear the U.S. was prepared to use military force if necessary to neutralize this perceived threat to national security" ("Cuban Missile Crisis," History Channel). While Kennedy and the United States were unsure of the reaction this televised announcement would have on Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev, both political leaders recognized the threat nuclear war posed and agreed to negotiate a deal ("Cuban Missile Crisis," John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum). However, Kennedy and Krushchev reached an agreement that not only called for a dismantling of weapons sites in Cuba in an exchange for a pledge from Kennedy that stated he would not invade Cuba, but also included an agreement from the United States that declared it would removed its nuclear missiles from Turkey ("Cuban Missile Crisis," John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum). The Limited Nuclear Test Ban Treaty was signed by both countries on July 25, 1963.