H-Bomb Development: Decision on the Merits or Political Necessity

Abstract

This monograph employs a historical analysis to review the debate and subsequent decision within the US government in 1949 and 1950 over whether to pursue an accelerated program to develop thermonuclear weapons. The development of the thermonuclear bomb by the United States and Soviet Union in the early 1950s significantly altered the balance of power between nations and cemented the status of the United States and Soviet Union as superpowers. This paper addresses two fundamental questions: what led to the US decision to pursue thermonuclear weapons and how that decision was made.

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
May 23, 2015
Accession Number
AD1009775

Entities

People

  • Nathan D. Parks

Organizations

  • School of Advanced Military Studies

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • Counter WMD
  • Energy and Power Technologies
  • Weapons Technologies

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Congress
  • Department Of State
  • Federal Budgets
  • Foreign Relations
  • Fusion Weapons
  • Geography
  • Governments
  • International Organizations
  • Law
  • Military Budgets
  • National Politics
  • National Security
  • Nuclear Bombs
  • Nuclear Weapons
  • Political Science
  • United States
  • Ussr

Fields of Study

  • Political science

Readers

  • Joint Military Operations and Doctrine.
  • Nuclear Non-Proliferation and International Security
  • Pulsed Power and Plasma Physics.