Anyone here alive in the 195o's?

Johnny Cash's comment on political polarity just about sums up emotions regarding meddling in Vietnam in the sixties.

Hi Gracie,

Yes, they are different, but they are also similar in some ways.

Both bombs are technically considered to be "atomic" bombs because they derive their power from altering the structure of atoms. But there are two ways to release the energy bound up in atoms, one way is to split the atom and the other way is to fuse the atom.

Splitting the atom releases scary amounts of energy.
Fusing atoms releases truly awesome mind-blowing scary amounts of energy.

Splitting the atom was the first thing they learned to do in weapons development and it produced a bomb so powerful that some scientists thought if one was detonated that it would ignite the atmosphere and incinerate the entire planet. But that didn't happen. None the less, the explosive power of even the first bombs were enough to shock people.

But then came the next generation of atomic weapons, the H (Hydrogen) bombs. Hydrogen bombs are also an "atom" bomb, but they derive their power from fusion rather than fission and their explosive yields eventually dwarfed the explosive power of their predecessors.

Atomic weapons also have the nasty habit of releasing lots of radiation which can be blown around in the wind and can last for a long time (decades or more), so if the blast radius of these types of weapons wasn't already nightmarish, the extended effects from them could be much worse. Radiation is also a nasty way to die, and people were scared of it (still are).

I wasn't around in the 50's and my memory of the 60's consisted of catching frogs and finding fossils in the creek, so I didn't experience much of this directly.

It's been fun reading the experiences of other people who were around in the 50's.

an atomic bomb is needed to set ooff a hydrogen bomb so both are packed in the casing like a roll of twizzlers.

I remember the OScar Myer Weinermobile driven by this little dwarf who would come riding into our town for a big demo at our local chain of markets called "Food Fair". Maybe he was the one that started my fear of clowns. There was another clown in our town , named "Cecil B D Clown" (That name has been copped by several generations but the first guy was from Allentown Pa ).

I remember getting sick in my dads Oldsmobile. I almost didnt make it to the door before I hadda puke. My folks would be smokin up a storm in the front seat as I got sicker and sicker. I was about 7 or 8 cause my mom took me to the docs with an order that I was not a healthy kid ,I was always throwing up. My family doctor sat there smoking away with my mom in hios office and the smell of smoke just gagged me.
That was the 50's I recall

I remember Fourth of July parades, with the Spanish War veterans (eventually only one) riding in the back of a convertible. They were followed by the color guard, made up of veterans of the First World War (such as my grandfather). The veterans of the Second World War, being nothing but young punks, got to walk along behind the Great War veterans. Of couse, i remember fireworks in the park, which seemed to go on and on. Before that, though, there was a fish fry put on by the Lions Club, and the women of the town brough covered dishes and desserts. Kids were allowed to pretty much run free, although any adult was also allowed to bring them up short with a round turn, provided they didn't hit them. Dogs were in heaven, and ate like kings, by their own standards.

They also use (or used) spherical configurations to force the implosion/fusion. I've lost track of which particular devices used which configuration. I'm sure their design is far more elegant and efficient than in the early years.

I Like Ike was about all I remember from the 50's as far as politics goes. I was too busy watching "Hit Parader" and listening to Sun records and wanting to be Elvis to worry about anything else.

I asked my teacher today about why some people call the Cold War, WWIII when it's not and I asked her why she said that no one fought in the Cold War when there 'was' fighting.

She said that In order to be a 'world war' governments have to declare war on other governments. Proxy wars don't count because the government isn't officially declaring war on another government.

In World War II the Allied forces and Axis powers declared war on each other. It was those governments going against other governments that made it a World War.

The US government and the Soviet Union didn't declare war. So according to my teacher and my AH textbook, I was right. The Cold War was NOT the 3rd World War.

I understand about World Wars. I know that the 'whole' world isn't really at war. There were neutral county's like Switzerland. Switzerland is always neutral. And Norway was neutral and Spain and other countries.

Be careful here, Gracie. Yes, Switzerland and Sweden remained neutral in WW II. So did Portugal. But Norway was invaded by the Germans early in the war due to the collaboration of some pro- Nazi elements in the Norwegian government led by a man named Quisling. After the war, for many, many years the name Quisling was in general use even in the English language to designate anyone considered a traitor. And Spain, while it remained offcially neutral, had a government that was clearly allied to Hitler's philosophy and more friendly to the Germans than the Allies. (But that's 1940s, not '50s. )

Good for you Gracie.

I'm afraid your teacher is a pendant ( please google it) and not the best of teachers.

There is no accepted definition of World War.

Her definition is hers which is fine, but she shouldn't be telling you or your fellow students that her's is "correct."

If you have a test on this and the question comes up, answer it based on her definition so you get credit, but understand that she is not testing your knowledge and comprehension, she is testing how closely you have listened to her.

Check this out for an alternative definition (which is no more official than your teacher's)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_war

Then please let me know what you think.

There certainly is a definition of 'World War'.

The term was first used in 1814 by Friedrich Ludwig Jahn (in German), later more specified by August Wilhelm Otto Niemann in 1904. Since Niemann's book was translated to English, "world war" became an English word in 1909.

Among historians it's accepted that there are two world wars: WWI and WWII.

If she did google it--and i doubt that she needs to google pendant--she probably wonders what the hell you're on about. Of course, had you said pedant, it would have made a good deal more sense. But given that she can't do anything about her teacher, this is just so much typical Finn bullshit.

You are right, Gracie, the Cold War was not World War III. Finn likes to shoot his mouth off, but he doesn't know as much as he seems to think he does.

You can, no doubt get all the instructions and fusionable materials over the internet. Getting the fissionable materials for the main trigger is more difficult. Youd have to contact Iran .

Gosh, Gracie, for a 13-year old, you're really skilled at stimulating online discussions and picking hot topics
-like the cold war (lol)- way to go!

You know, there are places you can visit where cold war memorabilia
are maintained as tourist attractions. If you're in the neighborhood,
a place worth a visit is the
Ronald Reagan Minuteman Missile State Historic Site,
in North Dakota,for a feel of being on the front line at the time.

Ho Hum

Yes, you always have been a coward about backing up your bullshit.

Gracie

As you can tell, Setanta doesn't like me every much. This is fine because I'm not fond of him either, but I'll allow you to form your own opinions about us.

He is right about the misspelled word though - sorry about that.

I've told you what I believe, but as I've said all along, you need not take my word for anything, nor the word of anyone in this forum.

No matter what you conclude about the subject, your bringing it up in class with your teacher was a great thing to do.

Hum ho

Bye bye, coward.

Gracie's teacher is correct. The cold war only involved shooting wars which were proxy wars. The United States and the United Nations fought the North Koreans and the Chinese, supported by the Soviet Union, but they did not fight the Soviets. The United States, the Republic of Korea and Australia fought the Vietnamese, who were supported by the Soviet Union, but they did not fight the Soviet Union. The Soviets fought the Afghan mujahadeen, who were supported by the United States, but they did not fight the United States.

In the Second World War, by contrast, quite apart from the European nations who fought one another, directly, the Chinese fought the Japanese, with American support, while the United States directly fought the Japanese. Thailand was an ally (probably very reluctantly) of Japan, but they caved in before being invaded. In the Americas, Canada (as a part of the British Commonwealth), the United States and Brazil fought the Germans. Canadian troops briefly fought the Japanese at Hong Kong, but were forced to surrender and were interned. Otherwise, Canadian troops fought in Italy, France and Holland, and the Royal Canadian Navy was a crucial part of the Battle of the Atlantic. The RCN escorted more convoys across the Atlantic than the Royal Navy and the United States Navy combined. By the end of the war, with the destuction of the Japanese Imperial Navy, the RCN was the third largest navy in the world.

When, a few days after the attack on Hawaii, Germany and Italy declared war on the United States, the United States directly fought German and Italy. The Germans had had supply ships interned in Spain at the beginning of the war, but the fascists in Spain didn't try to hard to enforce the internment, and those ships slipped away. (Spanish "volunteers" fought with the Nazis in Russia.) Some of them resupplied German submarines in the mouth of the Amazon river, and German submarines attacked Brazilian shipping. The government of the Brazilian dictator (you can look him up, Gracie, i don't recall his name) was reluctant to enter the war, but the popular feeling was with the Allies and against Germany and Italy, so the government finally declared war on the Axis in late 1942. The Brazilians sent a huge, reinforced infantry division to Italy to fight with the United Nations command, which division was attached to Mark Clark's Fifth U. S. Army. They also sent two fighter groups, flying American aircraft supplied by the United States.

So, nations from all over the world (including Africa--the South Africans--all whites--sent an armored division which fought in North Africa, and then in Italy) fought the Axis powers directly. These were not proxy wars, it was world-wide warfare, which began in China in 1937.

Gracie, your teacher is right, and was not at all being a pedant. She was being sensible, and demonstrated that she knows the history and understands its significance, and the relevant distinctions.