The Hydrogen Bomb and Nuclear Proliferation

With the bombing of Nagasaki and Hiroshima, the full potential of nuclear weapons became horrifyingly clear. No longer were these weapons strictly a theoretical idea, but rather they had now become all too real and all too powerful. With wanton destruction on such a massive scale, the morality of nuclear weapons and the role that they should play in international politics became the prime focus of the world's superpowers.The original debate of whether or not nuclear weapons should even be pursued now expanded into whether or not they should be continued and refined.

As research in nuclear science continued to progress, it became clear that the bombs used in Japan were only the tip of the nuclear iceberg, and that it was feasible to create bombs that were hundreds of times more powerful and more deadly. These discoveries fueled a new debate which was not dissimilar from the previous debate about nuclear weapons. The original motives of the United States during World War II were based on the fear that if such weapons are logistically possible, then someone will build them. If someone is going to build them, we need to make sure that it is us and our allies who build them first in order to ensure that other aggressive superpowers do not acquire them first. This idea is the root of all arms races, and it is what drove the nuclear proliferation machine of the cold war. This inescapable problem has been, and will be true, of every technological breakthrough in military science in history. When there is a more efficient method of killing and destroying your enemy, you are obligated to develop the means to do so. Otherwise you leave yourself vulnerable to the exact same problem.

Teller was all too aware of this inevitable step towards the hydrogen bomb from the earliest stages of its research and development. He knew that if such a weapon was possible, then it would most certainly be built. This attitude however did not pervade thoughout the science community, as there were several who objected to the development of the hydrogen bomb. However most of the objections were of moral basis, and did not quell any fears that a Soviet H-bomb might be built. Therefore as expected, President Truman pushed the project along to ensure that the United States would not be outgunned. He knew that the arms race would force the Soviets to build their own as well, since there was no legitimate form of regulation which would deter them. "“I have directed the Atomic Energy Commission to continue its work on all forms of atomic weapons, including the so-called hydrogen or superbomb Like all other work in the field of atomic weapons, it is being carried forward on a basis consistent with the overall objectives of our program for peace and security. This we shall continue to do until a satisfactory plan for international control of atomic energy is achieved.” The last line of this quote by President Truman is the most telling, and shows why the arms race became so large. Since there was no means of preventing the enemy from constructing these weapons, Truman decided that he was obligated to construct them as well in the interests of peace and national security.

While it may sound absolutely ludicrous to suggest that a weapon capable of killing millions of people and destroying entire cities could somehow be used as a tool for peace, Truman was ultimately correct in his decision. With both sides possessing these devastating weapons, the reality of mutually assured destruction was the only way to ensure that they would never be used. If the Soviets and the Americans were deadlocked in the nuclear arms race, then neither side could actually deploy nuclear weapons without accepting their own demise as well.