How did the use of nuclear weapons in World War II influence cultural fears and interests in the decades following the war?
Introduction
The dropping of the atomic bomb in Hiroshima and Nagasaki during World War II is still considered a very controversial topic even today. More than a hundred thousand people were killed by the bombs, with even more being affected by the large amount of radiation left behind. This was considered necessary by the United States government in order to prevent the deaths of potentially hundreds of thousands more, while also ending the war. However, while these instances were the only times in history where a nuclear weapon has been used in any armed conflict, the consequences of these weapons continue to be noticeable long after they were dropped. This can most considerably be seen in the immediate years following their use, where the threat of an all-out nuclear war consumed people across the world. This exhibit looks to explain the different ways people across the world, and more specifically in the United States, prepared for a nuclear war, while also investigating how this paranoia affected the everyday lives of many Americans. The exhibit is composed of four artifacts that are all a direct result of the creation and use of the atomic bomb, with each of them being unique in their own sense. The first artifact, a movie poster, looks at how even though these weapons were still greatly feared, many major sources of cultural influence began using these fears to create a new focus of entertainment. The second artifact, a TV advert, and the fourth artifact, a dog tag, both relate to how the U.S. government looked to prepare citizens for any potential nuclear attack, and how people responded to these precautions. According to an article written by Oline Eaton, TV adverts were especially influential, as “civil defense films encouraged a state of perpetual preparedness, a constant awareness of nuclear threat bound to result in an elevated state of fear and anxiety”.1 Lastly, the third artifact, a newspaper, deals with how different media sources only perpetuated a constant state of paranoia and fear across the United States. Ultimately, these artifacts all attempt to help describe one thing: the cultural and societal impact resulting from the threat of a potential nuclear attack.
Historical Context
The first major attempt at constructing an atomic bomb occurred during World War II, when the United States created the Manhattan Project, which aimed to construct a viable nuclear weapon before the Germans could. After years of development, the United States successfully tested the first atomic bomb in the summer of 1945. Shortly after this test, two atomic bombs were dropped in Japan, which marked the end of World War II and remains the only occurrence of a nuclear weapon being used in any armed conflict. The use of these weapons revealed their existence to the rest of the world, which ultimately then sparked an arms race between the United States and the Soviet Union. Immediately following the war, the United States was the only country in the world that possessed any type of nuclear weapon, but in 1949, the Soviets successfully tested their own bomb. With both sides racing to build as big a nuclear arsenal as possible, fear over an ever-escalating nuclear war begins to build, with the concept of nuclear deterrence taking hold. The concept of nuclear deterrence states that in order to deter any potential nuclear attack, nuclear weapons are required by both sides of any conflict, with the U.S. Department of Defense stating, “The viability of the deterrence is created by an adversary's fear of uncontrolled nuclear escalation”.2 In the article The Cold War Conception of Nuclear Reality: Mobilizing the American Imagination for Nuclear War in the 1950's, author Guy Oakes claimed that in order for deterrence to truly work, “Americans would learn to tolerate the dangers of deterrence and embrace the risks of nuclear war only if they could be persuaded that the effects of a nuclear attack on their own cities would not be too costly”.3 While this fear of destruction did prevent any nuclear escalations, it served as a reminder to the people of the world that any nuclear attack would ultimately result in the destruction of civilization. The fear of a nuclear attack in the United States was also intensified by the Soviet Union's determination to spread communism across the globe, which began to escalate following World War II.
Notes
Eaton, “We Must Be Ready.”
Vergun, “DOD Official Outlines.”
Oakes, “The Cold War Conception."