上海交通大学通识核心课程“历史视野下的美国文化”结业论文 Soviet Union entered into the nuclear arms race,developing the first atomic bombs.In order to perfect these weapons of mass destruction,both countries needed to test their products to look for flaws in the general blue prints of the weapons.7 Seeing the success with the atomic bomb,the United States started developing a more destructive bomb, the hydrogen bomb,8 believed to be 1000 times stronger than the atomic bomb.The United States even had their own test site on Nevada test site.Meanwhile,Soviet Union feared of the great destruction power owned by their rival,researched and produced nuclear arms on their own.3 The so-called nuclear arms race in between the United States and the Soviet Union was a competition for supremacy in nuclear weapons during the Cold War. (iv)Personal Hatred The Soviet Union could not forget that in 1918 Britain and the USA had tried to destroy the Russian Revolution.10 Also,Britain and the USA could not forget that Stalin had signed the Nazi-Soviet Pact with Germany in 1939 while Soviet had promised to become allies.11 Don't forget to mention that President Harry Truman had a personal dislike with Josef Stalin.12 (v)Aims Stalin wanted huge reparations from Germany to Soviet,and a 'buffer'of friendly states to protect the USSR from being invaded again.However,Britain and the USA wanted to protect democracy,and help Germany to recover.They were worried that large areas of eastern Europe were falling under Soviet control.This meant that the 'Big Three'found it difficult to get agreement at the Conferences (Tehran,Yalta,Potsdam)13 which outlined the principles of the post-war peace.And it proved impossible to get agreement on the details at the conference meeting where it eventually broke down altogether. 7"Nuclear Testing 1950s."123HelpMe.com.05 Dec 2012. <http://www.123HelpMe.com/view.asp?id=157452> 8"Hydrogen Bomb."Wikipedia:The Free Encyclopedia.Wikimedia Foundation,Inc..5 December 2012. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History of the Teller-Ulam design> 9"Soviet atomic bomb project."Wikipedia:The Free Encyclopedia.Wikimedia Foundation,Inc..5 Dec. 2012.<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soviet_atomic_bomb_project> 10"Russian Revolution:Civil War."Wikipedia:The Free Encyclopedia.Wikimedia Foundation,Inc..5 Dec. 2012.<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Russian Revolution#Civil war> 11魏啸飞，《美国文明史》，北京大学出版社，2008，第238页 12"Causes of the Cold War in 1945."HistoryLearningSite.co.uk.5 December 2012. <http://www.historylearningsite.co.uk/causes%20of%20the%20cold%20war.htm> 13"World War ll Conferences."Historyteacher.net.5 December 2012. <http://www.historyteacher.net/AHAP/Charts/chart-WW2Conferences.pdf> 3上海交通大学通识核心课程“历史视野下的美国文化”结业论文 3 Soviet Union entered into the nuclear arms race, developing the first atomic bombs. In order to perfect these weapons of mass destruction, both countries needed to test their products to look for flaws in the general blue prints of the weapons.7 Seeing the success with the atomic bomb, the United States started developing a more destructive bomb, the hydrogen bomb,8 believed to be 1000 times stronger than the atomic bomb. The United States even had their own test site on Nevada test site. Meanwhile, Soviet Union feared of the great destruction power owned by their rival, researched and produced nuclear arms on their own.9 The so-called nuclear arms race in between the United States and the Soviet Union was a competition for supremacy in nuclear weapons during the Cold War. (iv) Personal Hatred The Soviet Union could not forget that in 1918 Britain and the USA had tried to destroy the Russian Revolution.10 Also, Britain and the USA could not forget that Stalin had signed the Nazi-Soviet Pact with Germany in 1939 while Soviet had promised to become allies.11 Don’t forget to mention that President Harry Truman had a personal dislike with Josef Stalin.12 (v) Aims Stalin wanted huge reparations from Germany to Soviet, and a ‘buffer’ of friendly states to protect the USSR from being invaded again. However, Britain and the USA wanted to protect democracy, and help Germany to recover. They were worried that large areas of eastern Europe were falling under Soviet control. This meant that the 'Big Three' found it difficult to get agreement at the Conferences (Tehran, Yalta, Potsdam)13 which outlined the principles of the post-war peace. And it proved impossible to get agreement on the details at the conference meeting where it eventually broke down altogether. 7 “Nuclear Testing 1950s.” 123HelpMe.com. 05 Dec 2012. <http://www.123HelpMe.com/view.asp?id=157452> 8 “Hydrogen Bomb.” Wikipedia: The Free Encyclopedia. Wikimedia Foundation, Inc.. 5 December 2012. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_the_Teller-Ulam_design> 9 “Soviet atomic bomb project.” Wikipedia: The Free Encyclopedia. Wikimedia Foundation, Inc.. 5 Dec. 2012. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soviet_atomic_bomb_project> 10 “Russian Revolution: Civil War.” Wikipedia: The Free Encyclopedia. Wikimedia Foundation, Inc.. 5 Dec. 2012. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Russian_Revolution#Civil_war> 11魏啸飞，《美国文明史》，北京大学出版社， 2008，第 238 页 12 “Causes of the Cold War in 1945.” HistoryLearningSite.co.uk. 5 December 2012. <http://www.historylearningsite.co.uk/causes%20of%20the%20cold%20war.htm> 13 “World War II Conferences.” Historyteacher.net. 5 December 2012. <http://www.historyteacher.net/AHAP/Charts/chart-WW2Conferences.pdf>