![]() ![]() As a result, the Doomsday Clock, that measurement of how close the world is to Armageddon, was moved to two minutes to midnight, the closest it had been in seven years of Cold War." Next the Russians successfully tested their own, codenamed Joe–4, in August 1953. "The Americans had produced their prototype H–Bomb - codenamed Ivy Mike - in November 1952. "1953 was the year in which the world moved a dangerous step forward from the atomic bomb to the new terrifying super bomb - a thermonuclear explosive based on hydrogen fusion, up to a thousand times more destructive than the bombs that destroyed Hiroshima and Nagasaki," Hermiston wrote. By the early 1950s, the development of nuclear weapons with far greater destructive capacity than the first bombs were in various stages of research and deployment, particularly the hydrogen bomb. (Image credit: Getty Images)Īccording to Hermiston, a nuclear arms race between the world's superpowers began in 1953, and prompted safeguards to be put in place. ![]() ![]() Hydrogen bombs can be much more powerful than atomic bombs. signed a joint statement committing themselves to Preventing Nuclear War and Avoiding Arms Races," Hermiston wrote. 3, 2022, the five big nuclear powers - U.S., China, Russia, France and the U.K. ![]() In the 1980s, the hotline was upgraded with fax equipment, and a secure computer email link was implemented in 2008.Īccording to Hermiston, the hotline is a complement to a number of "broad safeguards including reducing the amount of nuclear weapons in circulation, and developing treaties like the Intermediate–Range Nuclear Forces (opens in new tab) (I.N.F.) Treaty in 1987, the Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (opens in new tab) (S.T.A.R.T.) in 1991 and the Strategic Offensive Reduction Treaty (opens in new tab) (S.O.R.T.) in 2002. The circuitry routed from Washington, D.C., through London, Copenhagen, Stockholm, Helsinki, and on to Moscow, while a backup radio line linked the destination points through Tangier, in northwestern Morocco. utilized teletype equipment that was manufactured both in the U.S. The first hotline between Moscow and Washington D.C. governments signed the Memorandum of Understanding Between the United States of America and the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics Regarding the Establishment of a Direct Communications Link, according to the U.S. (Image credit: Getty Images) The Moscow–Washington hotlineĪs early as 1954, the Soviet government suggested the implementation of safeguards against an accidental nuclear exchange, and nearly a decade later, on June 20, 1963, the Soviet and U.S. Kennedy and Nikita Khrushchev pictured together in about 1960. Over the years additional safeguards were put in place, including the 1971 Agreement (opens in new tab) on Measures to reduce the Risk of Outbreak of Nuclear War and the 1972 Agreement (opens in new tab) on the Prevention of Incidents at Sea. This hotline was intended to provide "direct communication between the White House and the Kremlin," Roger Hermiston, author of " Two Minutes to Midnight: 1953 – The Year of Living Dangerously (opens in new tab)" (Biteback Publishing, 2021) told Live Science in an email. One of these safeguards is a communications hotline between the two nations' capitals, which was instituted in August 1963. The potentially devastating outcome of this crisis caused the two nations to create and maintain safeguards to prevent miscommunication and the unintentional or inadvertent outbreak of World War III. Kennedy and Chairman Nikita Khrushchev, according to a paper in the Journal of Global Security Studies (opens in new tab). One of the big challenges facing the leaders of both nations was the slow and unreliable channels of communication between the two leaders, President John F. and Soviet Union came to the brink of nuclear war during the Cuban Missile Crisis, in 1962, according to the Office of the Historian (opens in new tab). (Image credit: Getty/ Roger Viollet / Contributor) Safeguards against World War III ![]()
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
Details
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |