Cold War in the Atomic Age

1
Cold War in the Atomic Age
Nuclear test destroys a Pacific atoll

• Section 14.3

2
1949
Capture from clip on creation of hydrogen bomb
3
Describe the public reaction in America to news
of Soviet nuclear power

• Intense fear
• Fallout Shelters constructed
• Underground bunkers constructed out of concrete
  steel
• Supplied with
• canned food, bottled water, medical supplies,
  Radio, Geiger Counter, chemical toilet
• The word atomic becomes part of American
  lexicon
• Atomic Sales (50 off), Atomic Cocktails (make
  your head explode)

Above sign pointing way to official fallout
shelter (most schools built pre-1965 had them)
below, home fallout shelter (see next slide)
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Fallout Shelter Presentation
Photo of a stocked home fallout shelter
5
What was the Federal Civil Defense Administration
(FCDA)?

• Trumans response to the heightened public
  anxiety
• Designed to increase Americans optimism of
  their chances for surviving a nuclear attack
• Called for
• air-raid drills
• evacuation plans
• fallout shelter programs
• Duck and Cover taught to children as a way to
  keep safe in the event of an attack

Above children duck and cover under their
desks in school below cartoon aims to teach
young children about ducking and covering
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Duck and Cover
Blank capture from a clip on duck and cover
7
What was MIKE?

• 1st Hydrogen bomb
• Used fusion instead of fission
• 5xs hotter than center of Sun
• Created 1 mile crater

Right puny cloud from an early atomic test
below crater from a hydrogen bomb (gt 50 times
the explosive force)
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The H-Bomb
Capture from clip on the h-bomb, showing timer on
launch device
9
Describe President Eisenhower

• Background
• Supreme Allied Commander in Europe
• 1st NATO Commander
• Grandfather figure
• Knowledgeable in foreign affairs
• Republican
• trustworthy

President Eisenhower in the Oval Office
10
How did Eisenhower change the Containment policy?

• Called New Look policy
• Downsized military
• Saved 4 billion annually
• Massive Retaliation
• Threatened Soviets with massive nuclear strike in
  NATO was attacked
• Built military bases around the world
• Used U2 spy planes

Above Ike with John Foster Dulles below a B-52
bomber
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The U2
Capture from clip on the U2 affair
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U2 Presentation
Photo of a U2 spy plane
13
The U2 Incident
Second U2 clip
Second U2 clip
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What are the dangers with the New Look policy?

• Leaves only 2 options
• Nuclear war
• Do nothing
• Created Arms race
• Soviets tested 1st H-Bomb 7/1953
• Critics called policy brinksmanship
• MAD (Mutually Assured Destruction)

From early 1960s Kennedy and Khrushchev sprint
neck-and-neck with a bunch of missiles in their
hands
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What is fallout?

• Radioactive ash that falls to the earth after
  nuclear explosion
• Can travel hundreds of miles before landing
• Poisons water, ground, etc.
• Causes leukemia, cancer
• nuclear testing has killed more than 15,000
  Americans
• will cause at least 80,000 cancers

Above artists rendition of nuclear explosion
below, another photo of the yellow and black
fallout shelter sign
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Testing
Capture from another clip on nuclear testing
17
Sputnik Presentation
Close-up of Sputnik, which shook Americans and
convinced many of a missile gap
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What was Sputnik?

• 1st man-made satellite launched by Soviets
• USSR capable of hitting US anywhere with nuclear
  weapons
• ICBM
• US Reaction
• National Aeronautics and Space Administration
  (NASA) formed
• B-52 fleet enlarged
• Submarines equipped with nuclear weapons
• Educational system funding for science programs
  greatly increased

Another close-up of Sputnik
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Sputnik
Missile on the launch pad In the late 1950s, the
US had all kinds of trouble perfecting missile
technology
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Sputniks Impact
Capture from clip on the impact of Sputnik