The Cold War & Bomb Shelters
By Seth Heyden
The Cold War
The Cold War was a dispute between the Western Allies and the Soviet controlled Eastern Europe. The name was coined because there was no shot fired directly between the two sides. The war lasted over 40 years but in the 40 years both sides experienced an Arms, and a Space race that would greatly define both of the super power countries of the world.
Beginning of the War
The Cold War began swiftly after the fall of Hitlers Reich. The Soviets and Western Allies had made a division in Germany that left the country divided, literately. The Western Allies and Soviets failed to agree on peace terms and neither side would budge on the argument of giving Germany to the other side. All the time while this was happening, Stalin and the Soviets were influencing Communism in the Eastern European countries that they had seized.
The division of Europe between the Western and Eastern former allies.
The Divison in Germany
Germany was divided between the Western allies which consisted of the US, UK, and France and Eastern Germany was controlled by the Soviets, except Berlin, Berlin being the capital of Germany was under western control and Soviet Control. Like Germany there was a West Berlin (Western Allies) and an East Berlin (Soviets).For a large time people from the communist Eastern side would constantly escape to the democratic West Side, so the Soviets decided to put up the Berlin Wall, it was constructed overnight on August 13th 1961. The Berlin wall divided Berlin and was considered a treacherous thing because it kept two places apart for nearly 30 years. Coincidentally one United States Presidential Candidate wants to build a wall and now everyone seems to think its a great idea.
The division of Germany between the great allies of the war and the city of Berlin also divided between each allied nation.
Domestic Bomb Shelters
Barely 4 years after the surrender of the Japanese in World War 2, U.S. scientists were analyzing seismic activity from inside the "Iron Curtain" of the Soviet Union and came to the realization that there was unmistakably results from an underground Atomic Blast test. This sent Americans all across the country into terror at the Realization that their "Atomic Bomb Monopoly" was over. As the Suburbs were growing, many people thought it was necessary to pay for underground shelters to protect themselves from a Communist bomb threat.
A family living in a very small shelter that possessed only the necessities. ("Design – A N J O U." A N J O U. N.p., n.d. Web. 17 Mar. 2016.)
Connection of Today and Solutions for the Future
In the 1950s, and today there is constant production of Nuclear weapons, not only in Russia and America but 7 other countries have nuclear weapons in their arsenal. In the late 1940sand early 1950s, America was under the belief that they possessed a nuclear weapon monopoly, until they discovered Russia had tested one in 1949. As of 2014 the 9 nuclear countries have over 15000 warheads combined. We see and understand the damage done by a 1945 atomic bomb, but imagine the damage of a missile launched warhead. Nuclear weapons provide a great sense of security but there needs to be tighter sanctions on countries that can produce their own weapon. If the world puts tight sanctions on Iran then why not force sanctions on North Korea which is dictated by an unpredictable leader who has daddy issues. All in all we need to be smarter with any weapon of mass destruction.
The Mushroom cloud over Hiroshima after the drop of the first Atomic Bomb on August 6th 1945. ("Unique Facts about Asia: Atomic Bombing of Hiroshima." Unique Facts about Asia: Atomic Bombing of Hiroshima. N.p., n.d. Web. 17 Mar. 2016.)
Impact of the Decade
The cold war was all over the news in America during the 1950s, both countries waited day in and day out for a bomb to be dropped by either side. Even though the 1950s were a time of prosperity and higher wages there was still a constant fear of what could be. The 1950s would not be the same without the fear of The Cold War.
Refrences
(1996). Cold War. The Reader's Companion to Military History. Houghton Mifflin Company. Retrieved from http://elibrary.bigchalk.com
Baughman, J. S. (2001, November 12). The Cold War: Postwar Tensions. Retrieved March 17, 2016, from http://go.galegroup.com/ps/retrieve.do?sort=RELEVANCE&inPS=true&prodId=GVRL&userGroupName=park99813&tabID=T003&searchId=R1&resultListType=RESULT_LIST&contentSegment=&searchType=BasicSearchForm¤tPosition=1&contentSet=GALE|CX3468301526&&docId=GALE|CX3468301526&docType=GALE