The world’s first thermonuclear weapon, the hydrogen bomb, was detonated by the United States on Eniwetok atoll in the Pacific.
This test provided the United States with a brief edge in the nuclear arms race against the Soviet Union.
In response to the successful Soviet detonation of an atomic device in September 1949, the United States ramped up its efforts to create the next phase in atomic weaponry—the thermonuclear bomb. Known commonly as the hydrogen bomb, this weapon was roughly 1,000 times more powerful than traditional nuclear devices. Among those opposing the hydrogen bomb’s development was J. Robert Oppenheimer, a key figure behind the atomic bomb. He, along with others, contended that the only outcome would be a hastening of the arms race, as it was expected that the Soviets would soon achieve similar capabilities.
The concerns of the opposers were validated; the Soviet Union detonated its own thermonuclear device the following year, and by the end of the 1970s, seven countries had developed hydrogen bombs.
A significant and alarming progression had occurred in the nuclear arms race.
