Cold+War+Background+Lesson

Today we are starting our new unit on The Cold War. To get us started I want you to read the following "Background" article with your group: You will answer the questions with your group. Read the questions first to help you know what you need to look for in the article. ** Background  ** In August 1945 the United States unleashed a new weapon of mass destruction against the Japanese at Hiroshima and Nagasaki and brought an end to World War II. Unlike conventional bombs, these new atomic bombs killed in two ways. They killed by sheer magnitude of the blast and the resulting firestorm, and they killed by means of nuclear fallout. In 1945 the United States possessed a monopoly on this new dreadful weapon. The exclusiveness was short-lived, however. In 1949 the Soviet Union exploded its first atomic bomb. Although the United States and the Soviet Union had been wartime allies, by this time they had become peacetime enemies with conflicting ideologies and competing global interests. In an attempt to get or maintain an advantage in the power and numbers of nuclear weapons, both nations embarked on an arms race while at the same time preparing their citizens in the event that nuclear weapons were deployed. In effect, a Cold War was being waged, and civilian populations could no longer be shielded from the violence of war. The arms race resulted in nuclear weapons testing. These tests consisted of above-ground and below-ground explosions of nuclear devices. The above ground explosions generated nuclear fallout. With each incremental increase in the level of hostility between the two superpowers, the need to develop and popularize civil defense procedures became more apparent. Of the two outcomes of a nuclear explosion, firestorm and fallout, techniques to defend against radiation poisoning resulting from nuclear fallout had the only real possibility of success. One technique was to shield oneself from the blast by means of a barrier such as a "fallout shelter." Where a "fallout shelter" was not available, virtually any barrier would have to do, even a school desk or a kitchen table. Students practiced drills called "duck and cover" to prepare for the possibility of a nuclear attack. Private homes and public buildings had fallout shelters that were stocked with canned goods and other necessities. Drilling for nuclear war became a part of life's routine in the 1950s and like fire drills today in the schools was taken very seriously.

http://www.archives.gov/education/lessons/fallout


 * Evaluating Primary Sources About Nuclear Fallout**


 * Directions: After reading the Background on the wikipage as a group answer the following questions:**


 * 1) **Go through the reading and write down any words you don’t understand. Record them in the space below and write their definition. You must have at least 10. **


 * 1) **How are atomic bombs different from other bombs?**


 * 1) **What did the** **Soviet Union** **do in 1949 that upset the** **United States****?**


 * 1) **Why did the** **U.S.** **and the** **Soviet Union** **have an “arms race”? What was each nation trying to do?**


 * 1) **Why was defense so important? How did the** **U.S.** **plan on defending itself against nuclear attack?**