Martin NB Weapons in WWII and Korean War lecture slides PDF

10/14/2023 Intro to Week 5: Biological and Nuclear Weapons in WWII and the Korean War BA WMD in IP Dr Susan Martin 1 Notes:  In this session, we focus on nuclear and biological weapons in WWII and the Korean War. We cover chemical weapons (from WWI through the Cold War) in week 7.  We may not have...

10/14/2023 Intro to Week 5: Biological and Nuclear Weapons in WWII and the Korean War BA WMD in IP Dr Susan Martin 1 Notes:  In this session, we focus on nuclear and biological weapons in WWII and the Korean War. We cover chemical weapons (from WWI through the Cold War) in week 7.  We may not have time in class to go through all the lecture slides—many of which provide some historical context. They are posted on KEATS for your review. If you have questions or want to explore anything further, please post in the discussion forum on KEATS, send me an email, or raise at the beginning of class next week. 2 1 10/14/2023 Schedule     Today--20 October: Nuclear Deterrence, Revolution, Taboo 27 October: Use and Non-Use: BNW in World War II and Korea 3 November: Reading Week—no class 10 November: Use and Non-Use: Nuclear Crises  Group Assignments on KEATS.  Note-each of you should read all the assigned reading for your group; this should not be divided among you.  Part of the learning aims for this week is for you to engage with more detailed scholarly arguments, going beyond article-length arguments.This is a skill you will need for your dissertations. 3 Schedule, cont.     17 November: Use and Non-use: CW from WWI through the Cold War 24 November: Use and Non-Use: CBN in the Vietnam War 1 December: Limited War: 1950s-1970s 8 December: Term One Q and A Term One Exam: Monday 11 December, 1pm-3pm, K1.28 4 2 10/14/2023 World War II Biological and Nuclear Weapons 5 World War II: Some key dates, 1931-1942       1931 Sept 18: Japan invades Manchuria. 1936 Nov 25: Japan and Germany sign Anti-Comintern Pact (against the Soviet Union). Italy joins in 1937. 1937 July 7: Japan invades China. 1939 September 1st: Germany invades Poland; Britain and France declare war on Germany. 1941 Dec 7: Japan attacks Pearl Harbor; Germany declares war on US four days later. By May 1942, the Japanese have occupied the Philippines, Indochina (Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia) and have also taken control of Burma (Myanmar today). 6 3 10/14/2023 World War , some key dates from 1945  February 2-11:Yalta Conference (US, GB, USSR).  April 12: Roosevelt dies; Truman becomes President of the US.  May 7-8: Germany signs unconditional surrender  May: Allied troops conquer Okinawa, the last island stop before the main Japanese islands.  July 16: First test of a nuclear weapon (Trinity test).  July 17-2 August: Potsdam Conference (US, GB and USSR).  Aug 6: US drops an atomic bomb on Hiroshima.  Aug 8: USSR declares war on Japan and invades Manchuria.  Aug 9: US drops an atomic bomb on Nagasaki.  Aug 14: Japan agrees in principle to unconditional surrender. 7 World War II: Developments in Air Power  Strategic bombing (precision bombing vs area/city bombing—morale)  High Explosive and Incendiary Bombing  V1 and V2 rocket attacks against London  US atomic bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki 8 4 10/14/2023 World War II: ‘Conventional’ Bombing examples     1940 (Sept) to 1941 (May): The Blitz--German bombing of UK cities (Blitz).  43,500 civilians killed over nine months of Blitz.  One of biggest raids was 10-11 May 1941, with 711 tons of high explosives and 2,393 incendiaries; 1,436 civilians killed. July 1943: Hamburg (Operation Gomorrah).  9,000 bombs dropped over a week; firestorm on July 27 with winds up to 170 miles per hour and street temperatures rising to 1,400 degrees. January 1944-January1945: Allied bombers dropped more than 45,000 tons of bombs on German cities. March 1945: US dropped 2,000 tons of incendiary bombs on Tokyo over 48 hours; 16 square miles destroyed, between 80,000 and 130,000 civilians killed. 9 WWII Military and Civilian Deaths by Country https://www.statista.com/statistics/1293510/second-world-war-fatalities-percountry/ Military Civilian USSR 9,750,000 14,250,000 China 3,500,000 16,000,000 Germany 5,533,000 2,167,000 Poland 240,000 5,360,000 Indonesia (Dutch East Indies) 3,500,000 Japan 2,120,000 730,000 India 87,000 2,000,000 Cambodia Laos Vietnam (Fr Indochina) Yugoslavia 446,000 (jump) Philippines 57,000 (jump) France 217,600 (jump) United Kingdom 383,600 Korea (jump) United States 416,800 1,250,000 554,000 750,000 350,000 67,100 425,500 Total 1700 10 5 10/14/2023 BW before World War II Mark Wheelis, “A Short History of Biological Warfare and Weapons”   Some instances in medieval siege warfare—using human/animal cadavers and human waste (disease thought to transmit through air, through smell).  at least two appear to have had some success, though whether spread of plague at Caffa was due to deliberate attempt to spread or just to ‘normal’ contagion is questioned. 1763: deliberate British attempt to spread smallpox to Native Americans through ‘gift’ of blankets, etc.  Smallpox did break out, but role of the blankets is unclear.  Similar attempts made in Brazil against indigenous people (1957-1963) 11 Theories of Disease (Davison 2005, ‘The Role of Scientific Discovery in the Establishment of the First Biological Weapons Programmes’    Understanding of the causes of infectious disease were limited prior to late 19th century  Miasmatic theories  Contagion theory  Theurgic theories Modern disease theory can be traced to second half of 19th Century, with the isolation, culture and identification of bacteria  ‘germ theory’ of disease established as specific bacteria found to be causative agents of specific diseases  Louis Pasteur (France), Robert Koch (Germany) Work on disease prevention by Jenner (smallpox vaccination) and Pasteur 12 6 10/14/2023 Further progress  Work on disease prevention    Immunisation Improved hygiene and sanitation Through further research, identified other causative agents of disease    Rickettsia (type of bacteria) Bacterial toxins Viruses (not fully understood until the mid-20th century) 13 Discovery of microorganisms responsible for various diseases (Davison 2005, Table One).          Date 1876 1880 1882 1883 1887 1894 1896 1909 1912 Disease Anthrax Bacillus Typhoid Fever Glanders Cholera Vibrio Malta (undulant) fever Plague Botulism Clostridium Rocky Mountain spotted fever Tularaemia Francisella Agent anthracis Salmonella typhi Pseudomonas mallei cholerae Brucella spp. Yersinia pestis botulinum Rickettsia rickettsia tularensis 14 7 10/14/2023 BW before World War II, cont. Mark Wheelis, “A Short History of Biological Warfare and Weapons”  Britain in American Revolutionary War   While deliberate inoculation was a protective measure for smallpox, it did give the recipient a mild (contagious) case. The British are reported to have forced inoculation of civilians intending to leave besieged cities in the hope that they would spread smallpox to the Continental Army. WWI German Biological Sabotage (+ smaller French program)  1915-1918 Germans used bacterial cultures of glanders and anthrax in effort to infect animals (horses and mules) that were being shipped from neutral countries to the Allies Sugar lumps with an embedded glass capillary shown to contain spores of Bacillus Anthracis were found in the luggage of Baron Otto Karl von Rosen, when he was apprehended in Karasjok in January 1917. Reported that Berlin had approved a proposal to use B. anthracis against reindeer used for sledging British arms through northern Norway. NATURE | VOL 393 | 25 JUNE 1998 15 After the war  ‘Spanish’   influenza pandemic (1918-19) illness in 20-40% of the world’s population killed over 20 million people 16 8 10/14/2023 Questions? 17 1945 and beyond  The UN and WMD      UN Charter signed 26 June 1945 Trinity test (first nuclear weapons explosion) July 16,1945 Hiroshima August 6, 1945 Nagasaki August 9, 1945 First General Assembly Resolution 24 January 1946, “Establishment of a Commission to Deal with the Problems Raised by the Discovery of Atomic Energy”, was adopted on recommendation by the First Committee on 24 January 1946”     Exchange of scientific information for peaceful ends Controls to ensure only peaceful use Elimination from national armaments of atomic weapons and all other ‘weapons of mass destruction’ Effective safeguards by way of inspections and other means Resolution is available on the KEATS page 18 9 10/14/2023 ‘Weapons of Mass Destruction’    William Safire reports that origin of the phrase may be found in a meeting of President Truman, British Prime Minister Clement Attlee and Canadian Prime Minister Mackenzie King on Nov. 15, 1945. The leaders recommended in a communique that an international commission be set up to make proposals for ‘eliminating from national armaments atomic weapons and all other major weapons adaptable to mass destruction.’ Communique was drafted by Vannevar Bush and others. Bush suggests the phrase ‘and other weapons adaptable to mass destruction’ was there to cover biological weapons See KEATS page for Safire article and the Truman-Atlee-King communique 19 Post war development: nuclear weapons; control/disarmament efforts        US/UK/Canadian nuclear cooperation  Cooperation during war  Quebec Agreement signed by Roosevelt and Churchill 1943 US/UK/Canadian biological cooperation  Cooperation began during work  Continued through Tripartite conferences after the war Soviet atomic bomb: August 29, 1949 US first Hydrogen/Thermonuclear bomb: November 1, 1952 Soviet first Hydrogen/Thermonuclear bomb: November 22, 1955 1946 Baruch Plan (not agreed or implemented) Focus on ‘general and complete disarmament-1945-1960 20 10 10/14/2023 1945 to 1950: The Emergence of the Cold War 1946 Feb: Stalin declares communism and capitalism incompatible. 1946 March: Churchill ‘Iron Curtain’ speech. (next slide) Containment 1947 January: US and UK unify their zones of occupation in Berlin. 1947 March: Truman Doctrine—Truman asks for military and economic assistance for Turkey and Greece, to prevent them falling to communism. 1947 June: Marshall Plan announced—to support economic recovery in Europe and create a bulwark against Communism 21 Churchill in Fulton Missouri delivers ‘Iron Curtain speech’ March 5, 1946  ‘From Stettin in the Baltic to Trieste in the Adriatic, an iron curtain has descended across the Continent.’  ‘I do not believe that Soviet Russia desires war. What they desire is the fruits of war and the indefinite expansion of their power and doctrines. But what we have to consider here to-day while time remains, is the permanent prevention of war and the establishment of conditions of freedom and democracy as rapidly as possible in all countries.’  ‘If we adhere faithfully to the Charter of the United Nations and walk forward in sedate and sober strength seeking no one’s land or treasure, seeking to lay no arbitrary control upon the thoughts of men; if all British moral and material forces and convictions are joined with your own in fraternal association, the high-roads of the future will be clear, not only for us but for all, not only for our time, but for a century to come.’ See KEATS for link to speech 22 11 10/14/2023 Emergence of Cold War, 2 1948 February: Communists take over Czechoslovakia. 1948 June: Berlin blockade begins. 1948: Founding of Western Union (Western European Union in 1954). 1949 April. North Atlantic Treaty signed (NATO). 1949 May: Berlin blockade ends. 1949 September: State of Federal Republic of Germany created. 1949 August: Soviets test first atomic bomb. 1949 October: East Germany created. 1949 October: Mao Zedong takes control of China and establishes the People’s Republic of China. 23 Questions? 24 12 10/14/2023 The Korean War Biological and Nuclear Weapons 25 Korea      1910: Japan annexes Korea; many Koreans flee to China. 1919: Syngman Rhee as president of Korean provisional government in Shanghai. 1932 April: Kim Il-Sung and comrades launch a guerrilla campaign against Japan in northeast China that lasted for 13 years. (This remains the source of North Korean leadership’s legitimacy: revolutionary nationalists who resisted coloniser. 1943: Cairo Declaration: US,GB and China promised independence for Korea ‘in due course.’ 1945: At Yalta, Roosevelt proposed to Stalin a four-power trusteeship (US, GB, USSR and China); Stalin agreed but there no details were worked out. 26 13 10/14/2023 Korea, 2 When Soviets entered the Pacific war, their troops were fighting in Manchuria and northern Korea.  The US drafted surrender terms for Japan in Korea (two Americans drew the line with no consultation): Japanese troops north of the 38th parallel to surrender to Soviets and those south of 38th parallel to the US.  September 1945: US troops land in Seoul. >>two zones in Korea, with Soviets starting to seal off the 38th parallel  In its occupation, US employed former officers in the Japanese military.  1948: US occupation ends, and the Republic of Korea is established.  1948 September: The Democratic People's Republic of Korea is established.  1948: Soviet forces withdraw from Korea.  1949: American forces withdraw from Korea.  1950 January: US Secretary of State Acheson says that South Korea and Taiwan are not part of the American ‘defensive perimeter.’  (If you want to know more, see work of Bruce Cummings on Korea; here I’m drawing on an article in London Review of Books, https://www.lrb.co.uk/the-paper/v39/n10/bruce-cumings/amurderous-history-of-korea) 27 Korea, 3        In South Korea, the border area around 38th parallel under the command of Kim Sok-won, an ex-officer of the Japanese Imperial Army. After a series of South Korean incursions in the North, full-scale civil war breaks out on 25 June 1950. Korean People’s Army advances rapidly and traps South Korean and American troops around the port of Pusan. 1950 June 25: United Nations condemns the attack and UNSCR 82 calls for the end of hostilities and a withdrawal of North Korean forces. [Soviets were boycotting.] 1950 June 27: UNSCR 83 declares North Korean actions were a breach of peace and recommended that UN members provide ROK assistance to repel the attack and restore peace. [Soviets were boycotting.] 1950 June 28: DPRK captures Seoul. 1950 July 7: UNSCR 84 authorizes US to establish and lead a Unified Command (UNC) and authorized it to operate under the UN flag. 28 14 10/14/2023 Korea, 4          US and ROK troops establish ‘Busan perimeter’ preventing DPRK from capturing SK. 1950 Sept: US forces conduct Incheon landing. 1950 Sept: UNC break out of the Busan perimeter and advance into DPRK. 1950 Oct 19: PRC army crosses Yalu river into DPRK and drive back UNC forces. 1951 Jan-April: UN forces pushed back across 38th parallel, Seoul captured by Chinese forces. 1951 May: UNC counterattack and free Seoul. Fighting stalls around 28th parallel. 1951 July: Peace talks begin. 1953 March: Stalin dies. 1953 July 27: Armistice Agreement signed 29 Nuclear Weapons in Korean War      US B-29s (which could be modified to carry nuclear weapons) were striking military targets between Seoul and the 38th parallel four days after invasion. Restraints on bombing—no incendiaries, no area bombing of cities, no bombing of China. US had 300 Mark 4 bombs in stockpile. USSR first nuclear test 1949; first Soviet test that involved airdropped NW is in September1951>>US is the only state that could deliver nuclear bomb to a distant target. July 1950:Truman ordered Curtis LeMay, head of the Strategic Air Command, to send B-29s to Great Britain—within striking distance of Soviet Union. The B-29s were nuclear capable and carried a Mark 4 bomb; the fissile cores remained in the US. 30 15 10/14/2023 Nuclear Weapons in Korean War, 2  1950 August: 10 B-29s with unarmed nuclear bombs moved from US to Guam; 10 more followed.     For first time since WWII, atomic bombs were under military custody. Inchon landing (September) reversed UNC fortunes—by end of October they had taken Pyongyang and were at the Yalu River. Targeting restrictions on conventional B-29 bombing began to recede—at first targets within 50 miles of Yalu river were not to be hit, but soon it was ‘as close to the border as necessary.’ November—Chinese forces enter fighting openly, force UNC forces to retreat. 31 Nuclear Weapons in Korean War, 3 Truman Press Conference November 30, 1950: The President: We will take whatever steps are necessary to meet the military situation, just as we always have. Q. Will that include the atomic bomb? The President: That includes every weapon that we have. Q. Mr. President, you said ‘every weapon that we have.’ Does that mean that there is active consideration of the use of the atomic bomb? The President: There has always been active consideration of its use. I don’t want to see it used. It is a terrible weapon, and it should not be used on innocent men, women, and children who have nothing whatever to do with this military aggression. That happens when it is used.” 32 16 10/14/2023 Nuclear Weapons in the Korean War, 4     1951 April: Truman allows “nine nuclear bombs with fissile cores to be transferred into Air Force custody and transported to Okinawa. Truman also authorized another deployment of atomiccapable B-29s to Okinawa. Strategic Air Command set up a command-and-control team in Tokyo.” MacArthur replaced by Ridgeway, who is given ‘qualified authority’ to use the atomic bombs if he thinks he has to. June 1951: atomic capable B-29s fly home, taking the atomic bombs with them. October 1951: Operation Hudson Harbor conducts mock atomic bombing runs across the war zone. 33 Mao on nuclear weapons, 1957 “We shouldn’t be afraid of atomic missiles. No matter what kind of war breaks out, conventional or nuclear, we will win… If the imperialists unleash war on us, we may lose more than 300 million people. So what? War is war. The years will pass and we will get to work making more babies than ever before.” Mao Zedong to Nikita Khrushchev, 1957 34 17 10/14/2023 Nuclear weapons were not used but war (and propaganda) was savage Bruce Cummings quotes Chris Marker who visited Korea in 1957 (four years after US carpet-bombing ended): ‘Extermination passed over this land. Who could count what burned with the houses?... When a country is split in two by an artificial border and irreconcilable propaganda is exercised on each side, it’s naive to ask where the war comes from: the border is the war.’ Cummings continues, ‘Having recognised the primary truth of that war, one still alien to the American telling of it (even though Americans drew the border), he remarked: ‘The idea that North Koreans generally have of Americans may be strange, but I must say, having lived in the USA around the end of the Korean War, that nothing can equal the stupidity and sadism of the combat imagery that went into circulation at the time. “The Reds burn, roast and toast.”’ 35 Biological Weapons in the Korean War Note: Chinese, DPRK and Soviet/Russia allegations concerning the use of biological weapons by the US began in 1951 and continue today. There are some in the West (e.g. Endicott and Hagerman) who maintain that the US did use BW, but various pieces of evidence (including evidence from Soviet archives) have convinced most scholars that such attacks did not take place. First set of allegations  1951 Spring: Chinese media reported US using chemical weapons and that US was preparing to use BW.  1951 May: First charge of BW use from DPRK, to Chair of UNSC, of US use from Dec 1950-January 1951; DPRK foreign minister states US spreading smallpox. 36 18 10/14/2023 Biological Weapons in the Korean War, 2 Second set of allegations  1952 Feb: DPRK official statement addressed to UN Secretariat alleging biological warfare by US; two days later PRC Foreign Minister Zhou Enlai publicly supports DPRK charges and then enlarges on them in March.  68 occasions with 448 aircraft with germ carrying insects— plague, anthrax, cholera, encephalitis and a form of meningitis, plus animal and plant diseases; 18 different species used as vectors.  Other allegations.  Confessions of 25 captured US pilots. 37 Investigations     International Association of Democratic Lawyers, from 519 March 1952 in Korea and then to China, issued two reports in March and April 1952. Chinese government investigation April 7, 1952 (began studies March 15), presumably gathered evidence. World Peace Council’s International Scientific Commission for the Investigation of the Facts Concerning Bacterial Warfare in Korea and China (ISC), June –August 1952.  Chaired by British scientist, Dr Joseph Needham Investigations by ICRC and WHO, supported by the US, refused by Communists. 38 19 10/14/2023 BW in Korean War, cont.  1953 March: Stalin dies.  1953 April 7: USSR offers to withdraw allegations of BW use if US withdraws its proposal for investigation into allegations. 39 Questions? For next week: Please remember to email your group’s PowerPoint presentation by noon on Friday. 40 20