4. Race for the H-bomb
2020 ◽
pp. 39-59
Keyword(s):
America’s monopoly on atomic weapons was shorter than expected. ‘Race for the H-bomb’ details the development of the hydrogen bomb and the political developments surrounding it. The Soviet Union developed an atomic weapon faster than worst-case scenarios had predicted. Stalin appeared at first to dismiss the bomb, but it is likely that his understanding was more nuanced. What else could America have done with their short window of opportunity? Some argued for preventive war, but this went against the national character. The development of the hydrogen bomb took war out of the realms of logic and human control altogether, and anti-nuclear movements began to gather force in the 1950s.