Why Is Brinkmanship Happened At The End Of War?

Midway through the 20th century, towards the end of World War II, one of the most feared and important weapons was fabricated. The nuclear bomb, also known as the atomic bomb, was first constructed by the United States, with the initial project starting in August of 1942 (“Nuclear Weapons”). The first atomic bomb was dropped on the Japanese city of Hiroshima by the United States on August 6th, 1945, and on August 9th 1945 a second bomb was dropped on Nagasaki (“Science behind”). By dropping two nuclear bombs on the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, the United States forced Japan to unconditionally surrender, which ended World War II. After the world saw the power of nuclear weapons, there has been a scramble for countries to obtain
In the heat of the Cold War, in which the United States and the Soviet Union fought against each-other without any direct battles, and the tensions between the two countries were extremely high. The concept of brinkmanship, which is when both countries are at the brink of war for an extended period of time was exercised. This concept, of brinkmanship, stemmed from the invention of the nuclear weapon, as countries were now able to destroy entire civilizations. One of the most famous conflicts caused by nuclear weapons was the Cuban Missile Crisis (“Cuban Missile Crisis”). In the Cuban Missile Crisis, the Soviet Union brought nuclear missiles to Cuba, which is only 90 miles from the United States (“Distance from”). United States President John F. Kennedy reacted by making a naval blockade around Cuba, and promised not to invade Cuba if the Soviet Union removed the nuclear weapons from the country (“Cuban Missile Crisis”). The United States and the Soviet Union were on the brink of war, until the Premiere of the Soviet Union, Nikita Khrushchev, agreed to remove the missiles (“Cuban Missile Crisis”). A possible nuclear war was averted, and there is no doubt that a nuclear war would have destroyed not only the United States and the USSR, but possibly the world. On October 28th, the missiles were removed, and the conflict concluded. (“Cuban Missile Crisis”). As
In the first World War, millions of soldiers lined up in trenches and fought long, deadly battles. World War II took a similar course, with soldiers and airplanes fighting, with millions of losses. After the surrender of Nazi Germany, the allies, most specifically the United States, were planning an attack to defeat Japan. The two main plans were a mass land invasion, which was projected to cause hundreds of thousands of casualties, and a nuclear attack on the cities of Hiroshima, and Nagasaki. U.S. President Harry Truman decided to drop the two atomic bombs in 1945, ending World War II with 220,000 Japanese casualties caused by the bombs (“Bomb”). The use of nuclear weapons ushered in a new age of warfare. Wars would no longer be primarily fought with soldiers, boats, and planes, and now started to be fought with fear, and threats. Stalin, the leader of the USSR during and after World War II, recognized the new way in which wars were fought, stating atomic bombs are meant “to frighten those with weak nerves” (Holloway, 253). Before the invention of nuclear weapons, it could take months to take over a country, but with a nuclear weapon, whole cities can be obliterated with a push of a button. A chief example of the fear of nuclear war can be seen in the heat of the Cold War. In the 1950’s, the infamous “duck and cover” drills at schools were implemented, and citizens started to construct