Comment by woeirua
3 years ago
Not sure I would take that lesson away from history. There were quite a few voices in the US military at the end of WW2 that recognized that peace with the soviets was tenuous at best and wanted to push the nuclear advantage right then. The US was unmatched for 4 years until the Soviets had their first nuclear test. Had they chose to use nuclear weapons, they could have become a global empire and no one could have stopped them.
US didn't need nukes to obliterate USSR in 1945. Just cut it off the lend-lease program and attack on European and Pacific theaters at the same time. They didn't do it because US public won't tolerate attack on yesterday's ally against Hitler.
After decades of propaganda on both sides, the period just after World War II where the Western/NATO countries and the Soviet Union both enjoyed very high rates of affection for one another are now totally unknown and alien to people.
Sounds like such a beautiful time. I hope to see it again someday.