1940s: The Development and Diplomatic Relations of Nuclear Weapons from 1945 to 1990

1940s

Following the US’s detonation of the world’s first nuclear weapon, the USSR felt the need to compete, conducting its first nuclear test almost 4 years later. During the time between these tests, a man named Bernard M. Baruch proposed that all atomic energy be internationally controlled, and all atomic activities be licensed; the Baruch Plan was quickly dismissed by the USSR. The end of the 1940s brought with them the creation of COCOM, which was established by the noncommunist nations of the world, to prevent “the transfer of militarily useful technology to the communist world” (Mendelsohn, Grahame, 61).

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