In 1938, a discovery in nuclear physics in a laboratory in Berlin, Germany made the first atomic bomb possible to develop. When atoms split they release immense levels of energy. This process is called nuclear fission and can be used in many ways. Nuclear fission can be used to power large power plants that can supply energy to large cities, but, nuclear fission can also be used as a weapon of mass-destruction.
The first time a nuclear bomb was detonated in war was on the city of Hiroshima, Japan when the United States dropped the “Little Boy” bomb on the city in an attempt to stop the Pacific War with Japan. When Japan refused to surender, another bomb–”Fat Man”--was dropped on Nagasaki, Japan, forcing the Japanese Emperor to surrender, ending World War II.
Although nuclear weapons have not been used since the bombing of Nagasaki, during the Cold War there was a significant threat of nuclear warfare between the United States and Russia. This led to the stockpiling of thousands of nuclear warheads by countries around the world. In 1962, many thought the world would end when the Soviet Union installed nuclear missiles on the island of Cuba. The following 13 days was known as the Cuban Missile Crisis. During this crisis nuclear warfare was threatened and nearly started a handful of times before the Soviet Union removed the weapons from Cuba in an agreement with the United States.
In 1970, many countries around the world agreed to and signed the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons. This separated the countries into two groups–nuclear weapon states and non-nuclear weapon states. Nuclear weapon states included those that possessed nuclear weapons who agreed to not use their weapons or help states without nuclear weapons (non-nuclear weapon states) acquire them. These countries also agreed to gradually reduce their stockpiles of weapons in an effort of total abolishment. Non-nuclear weapon states also agreed to not attempt to develop nuclear weapons. After the fall of the Soviet Union, many nuclear weapons were scattered across Eastern Europe and Central Asia and were deactivated and returned to Russia.
Although nuclear weapons may seem like a curse from the heavens, they have also been the resolutory in near global peace for many years. Many less countries are willing to go to war due to the impending threat of nuclear weapons being used against them. Some argue that the development of nuclear weapons has contributed greatly to everlasting global peace and that their imposed peace will continue in the future. Humankind will just have to wait and see if and when these weapons of mass destruction–and bringers of superimposed peace–will ever be used again.