Massive Retaliation And The Relations Between The Great Powers In 1950s

Massive retaliation is the core of Eisenhower's New-Look National Security Policy. It is the first Nuclear Deterrence Strategy in the history of U.S.A. Though this strategy has been the focus of scholars' research for many years, but it has many aspects which should be worth going on being paid attention to. My main concern was the relation between the strategy and the development of the relations between the great powers in 1950s. It is thought that the former has a significant influence on the latter in this paperThe main body is divided into five parts. In the first part, I sought to discover how and why the 'massive retaliation strategy' came into being and what was the aim of the strategy in the context of the New Look doctrine. According to the strategy, nuclear weapons was used to maintain the status quo ,which had a far-reaching impact on international relations in the 1950s .Other countries all have to make a choice between maintaining the status quo and carrying on the crushing nuclear war .In other parts, I would analyze how the strategy had impact on the relations between America and Soviet Union, China and America, China and Soviet Union, America and its European allies. The Soviet Union determined to maintain the status quo, established the diplomatic route of coexisting peacefully, initiated the peace offensive, which meet American needs, the tense relation between America and Soviet Union was relaxed limitedly. China is not satisfied with the existing state of international society, China and the United States were about to go to the edge of the war twice, the relations between the two countries fell into the rising tension. That China and the Soviet Union' different response toward the massive retaliation made Sino-Soviet relation fall apart. Eisenhower administration endeavoured to educate NATO allies to accept that nuclear weapons were not markedly...