December 2012

Nuclear Treaties - 4 - Strategic Arms Limitation Talks I

              One of the main points of the 1968 Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty was the requirement that those states which currently possessed nuclear weapons work towards nuclear disarmament. The two world super powers at the time, the United States and the Soviet Union both possessed nuclear arsenals. The U.S. possessed about one thousand inter-continental ballistic missiles (ICBMs) and about six hundred and fifty  submarine launched ballistic missiles (SLBM) in 1969.

Nuclear Treaties 3 - Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons

              Following the Partial Test Ban Treaty and the Outer Space Treaty, the United States, the United Kingdom and the Soviet Union continued negotiating on nuclear issues. The Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT) was drafted and opened for signing in 1968. It went into effect in 1970, recognizing US, the UK, France, China and the Soviet Union as the only officially recognized states openly possessing nuclear weapons.

Nuclear Treaties 1 - Partial Test Ban Treaty

           By 1963, various nuclear powers had conducted multiple tests of nuclear bombs  in the atmosphere, on the ground and under water. The United States was conducting powerful thermonuclear devices during the 1950s and the Soviet Union exploded its first thermonuclear bomb in 1961. International concern over the effects of radioactive fallout out from these tests had been growing during the 1950s.

United States Atoms for Peace Program

          In 1953, United States President Dwight D. Eisenhower delivered a speech titled “Atoms for Peace” to the United Nations General Assembly in New York City. In the speech, Eisenhower  mentioned nuclear warfare but mainly focused on the potential for peaceful used of nuclear energy. He announced new U.S. program to supply equipment and information to institutions and nations worldwide to assist in nuclear research. Eisenhower reassured the world that the U.S.

Nulcear Weapons 26 - Iran

              Iran is an ancient country known for most of its history as Persia. It has existed in one form or another for thousands of years. The original Zoroastrian religion was replaced  by Islam when Iran was conquered in 651 AD. The Iranians are predominantly members of the Shiite branch of Islam.

Nuclear Weapons 25 - Israel

              Israel was founded as a Jewish state in 1948 when the British partitioned lands that it controlled in the Middle East following World War II. There had been tension between the Jews and the Muslims in that area for centuries. Following the creation of a Jewish state, open war broke out between Israel and its Muslim neighbors. The first Israeli Prime Minister was obsessed with nuclear weapons.

Nuclear Weapons 24 - North Korea

           Following the Korean War, the treaty ending the war on July 27, 1953 contained a clause that said that neither North Korea or South Korean would introduce new types of weapons to the peninsula. This was generally understood to mean nuclear weapons. In 1956, the U.S. military decided to deploy nuclear missiles in South Korea and announced that it would no longer be bound by that provision of the treaty that ended the war.

Nuclear Weapons 23 - Pakistan

           Pakistan came into existence as an independent country in 1947 when the British Indian Empire was partitioned between Hindus and Muslims. The United States brought its “U.S. Atoms for Peace initiatives to Pakistan in 1953 and Pakistan’s Foreign Minister said that Pakistan did not have a policy about atomic bombs. Part of the U.S. initiative was a nuclear reactor for Pakistan. Pakistan established the Pakistan Atomic Energy Commission in 1956.

Nuclear Weapons 23 - Pakistan

           Pakistan came into existence as an independent country in 1947 when the British Indian Empire was partitioned between Hindus and Muslims. The United States brought its “U.S. Atoms for Peace initiatives to Pakistan in 1953 and Pakistan’s Foreign Minister said that Pakistan did not have a policy about atomic bombs. Part of the U.S. initiative was a nuclear reactor for Pakistan. Pakistan established the Pakistan Atomic Energy Commission in 1956.

Nuclear Weapons 23 - Pakistan

           Pakistan came into existence as an independent country in 1947 when the British Indian Empire was partitioned between Hindus and Muslims. The United States brought its “U.S. Atoms for Peace initiatives to Pakistan in 1953 and Pakistan’s Foreign Minister said that Pakistan did not have a policy about atomic bombs. Part of the U.S. initiative was a nuclear reactor for Pakistan. Pakistan established the Pakistan Atomic Energy Commission in 1956.

Nuclear Weapons 22 - India

           In 1947, shortly after World War II, the British partitioned their colony of India into the new Hindu nation of India and the new Muslim nation of Pakistan. The largest migration in human history followed as Muslims moved west into Pakistan and Hindus moved east into India. Kashmir was controlled by India although the majority of their citizens were Muslim. Since the partition, India and Pakistan have argued over Kashmir and occasionally fought wars.

Nuclear Weapons 21 - France

          The Curie family carried out some of the original research on radioactive materials in the first decades of the Twentieth Century. By the time of World War II, French research into nuclear energy was well advanced. French scientists kept General de Gaulle informed of American nuclear research and the possibility of nuclear weapons. Following the atomic bombing of Japan and the end of the War, de Gaulle  started the French Atomic Energy Commissariat.

Nuclear Weapons 20 - United Kingdom

           During World War II, two exiled German physicists wrote a paper about the possibility of constructing a “radioactive super-bomb” which was sent to appropriate agencies of the United Kingdom government. A committee was set up to explore building such a bomb and a research program was begun. Eventually, the U.K. entered into partnership with the United States and Canada in the Manhattan Project.

Nuclear Weapons 18 - The Cold War

            After World War II, the United States and the Soviet Union entered into a race to develop nuclear weapons. By the mid 50s, both nations had developed powerful hydrogen bombs. Constant ongoing research, development and testing resulted in the creation of tens of thousands of hydrogen bombs by both sides.

Nuclear Weapons 17 - The Chinese Bomb

            At the end of World War II, the victorious Allied powers divided the Korean peninsula at the 38th parallel. The southern portion of Korea was occupied by the United States which established a democratic government. The northern portion of Korea was occupied by Soviet troops and they established a communist government. As the Cold War took hold, hostility grew between the north and the south Korean governments.

Nuclear Weapons 15 - The Soviet Bomb

              Soviet scientists contributed much to the development of nuclear physics during the first decades of the Twentieth Century. When nuclear fission was discovered in the late 1930s, Soviet scientists understood that theoretically, enormous amounts of energy could be released from the fission of uranium.  Work on fission research in the Soviet Union began in 1940.

Nuclear Weapons 14 - After the War

           In 1945, The United States was pouring resources into the Manhattan Project to create an atomic bomb. Part of the reason that the Manhattan Project was started in the first place was the knowledge that Germany was working on their own atomic bomb project. Werner Heisenberg was heading a team  to develop a nuclear weapon for Germany but the German government failed to invest enough resources for the project to make much progress.

Nuclear Weapons 13 - The Surrender of Japan

           By 1945, the Japanese had been losing the war in the Pacific for two years. They had been driven off the Philippines and other islands that they had occupied.  With the defeat of Germany in the European theater, the Russians deployed major portions of their armies to the Russian Far East. The Japanese merchant fleet which was critical for supplying war materials and fuel to the resource poor Japanese home islands had been destroyed.

Pages