lecture 7 The Korean War and NSC 68 Korean invasion suddenly validated even the most extreme of NSC 68s conclusions 1 Confirmed all interests had become equally vital 2 Confirmed NSC 68 argument that the soviet union might resort to war by proxy even in the face of nuclear superiority o should assume behind any war anywhere else their was a soviet hand 3 Invasion confirmed NSC s 68s notion that existing US forces were inadequate 4 Invasion validated NSC s 68s call for developming and stockpiling of thermonuclear weapons Impact of the Korean war On USSR o In world of increase tensions made it impossible for any agreements between US and USSR over shared territories On the US o See US starting to support French in Indochina Vietnam Truman saw himself between a rock and a hard place colonialism and communism On Europe o French tried to flex miliarty arms in Vietnam and lost huge surprise o Europe was chestboard for Cold War once US got more involved it was hard for Europe not to be seriously effected Cold war arms race Decision to return US troops to and station ground troops Establishment of position of Supreme Allied Commander for Europe SACEUR first was Eisenhower US army in 1951 currently Admiral Stavridis first US navy admiral to become SACEUR Decision to start research on thermonuclear weapons in jan 1950 In 1950 decided to form integrated military command combo of US and European armies against the east Realized at some point west germany would have to be armed because they were on front line of cold war o Welcomed back into NATO in 1959 with resistance from French ECSC euro coal and steal community In may 1950 Schuman proposed combining coal and steal production of french and west germany under one authority Founding members france west germnay italy Benelux Precursor to treaty of Rome march 1957 which turned the ECSC into the EEC which became the EC and finally the present day EU ECSC had both econ and political aspects nascent executive body parliamentary assembly court of justice Motivation bind west germnay to its neighbors ensure that it has a self interest in not causing conflict Eisenhower The guiding question of his presidency How can the US live with Thermonuclear weapons o John Foster Dullace secretary of state Thermonuclear era First successful US detonation 1 nov 1952 called mike First successful Soviet detoniation 12 august Exceeded expectations 4x more powerful Nuclear weapons vs Thermonuclear weapons o Thermonuclear developed surprisingly quickly from nuclear First fission bomb explodes the primary LOOK IT UP Performed on an island in the pacific and radioactive matter effected 300 miles and killed a Japanese sailer 90 miles away rendered 1 of the earths atmosphere uninhabitable Over 2 decades after end of cold war the US and Russia still retain stockpines of about 10 000 nuclear weapons each Theory committed to reduce stockpiles to about half that number by end of 2012 SORT and New Start o Us and Russia committed to reduce stockpiles by end of 2012 when strategic offensive reductions treaty SORT census ate was to occur o Treaty language reduce so that by December 31 2012 the aggregate number of such warheads does not exceed 17002200 for each US and Russia SORT replaced by New Start this year Nuclear states US USSR and successor states UK France China Confrime or probable tests India Pakistan N Korea ISreal Iran en route to capability o S Africa Ukraine were nuclear states but decided to give it up Fading efforts to fight proliferation o There are growing concerns about a loss of momentum in the nuclear disarmament process additional states acquiring nuclear weapons and the possibility of nuclear terrorism Highly enriched Uranium o Global stockpile is about 1600 metric tons plus minus 300 tons uncertainty about Russian supply Eisenhower s farewell address jan 17 1961 the conjunction of an immense military establishment and a large arms industry is new in the American experience we must never let the weight of this combination endanger our liberties or democratic processes Eisenhower on Thermonuclear weapons o We are creating more bombs bc we don t know how to protect our security European reactions Open questions Would US really use thermonuclear weapons to fullfill article 5 obligations In case not Euro counties need own nuclear deterrents British and French nuclear programs begin Europe in the 1950s o March 1953 STALIN DIES o Feb 1956 Khrushchev stalins successor criticizes Stalin in secret speech 4hours long calling him a criminal Didn t stay secret long Israeli spies gave it to the US and there was a brief hope that communism totalitarianism was done in Russia o 4 nov 1956 USSR invades Hungary 5 Nov 1956 Britain France jointed Israeli invasion of Egypt to produce the Suez canal crisis 16 11 2011 03 32 00 16 11 2011 03 32 00