Nuclear war

Theatomic bombmushroom cloud overNagasakion August 9, 1945

Anuclear waris awarin whichcountriesfight withnuclear weapons.Because nuclear weapons are extremely powerful and could cause destruction throughout the world, the possibility of nuclear war has had a great effect on internationalpolitics.

So far,two nuclear weaponshave been used duringwarfare.They were used in theatomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasakiand resulted in the deaths of approximately 120,000 people. Thousands of much more powerful bombs were made in later years. They have not yet been used in war.

History

Nuclearbombswere invented by the United States with Canadian and British help duringWorld War IIto help make that war stop. The destruction ofHiroshimaandNagasakiand theSovietinvasion ofManchuriacausedJapanto surrender. They are still the only nuclear weapons that have ever been used in fighting a war. At that time only the United States had thetechnologyneeded to make these bombs, but within a few years theSoviet Unionhad developed it too. In the newCold War,the United States and the Soviet Union were enemies and each had many nuclear weapons, but they did not dare to use them against each other, either directly or by attacking the other country'sallies.Since either country could be completely destroyed by the other's weapons, nuclear war could no longer be limited to the use of only one or two bombs; if they were used anywhere by one side, the other would attack with its own nuclear weapons, and the fighting would almost certainly become greater. This situation came to be known as the "balance of terror," orMutually Assured Destruction,and stopped conflicts between the two superpowers from leading to a thirdworld war.

Since theend of Communist ruleinRussiaandEastern Europe,tensions between America and Russia have eased and war has become less likely. However, today there is more worry aboutnuclear proliferation.Countries around the world who already have their own bombs includeBritain,France,China,Israel,India,PakistanandNorth Korea;as all kinds of technology tend to become cheaper and easier to get and use, there is a fear that nuclear weapons could become available to countries with unstable governments. There is also the possibility thatterroristsmight be able to capture or build nuclear weapons and use them. the threat of nuclear war is thought to have increased after theRussian invasion of Ukraine,as Russian threatened to use nuclear weapons during the invasion.

Nuclear war in fiction

Ever since the end of World War II, writers, film-makers, and artists have created works offictionimagining how a nuclear war might happen and what life would be like afterwards. Most have pictured widespread death and destruction, and a grim post-armageddonworld where a few survivors struggle to live without power, medicine, or food. Some have picturedcivilizationbreaking down completely, and primitive societies developing; with the past world becoming forgotten.

Related pages

• World War III