Americans in the 1950s still relied heavily on local newspapers for international news. This detailed account of the British reaction to American atomic testing in 1954 shows a growing rift between American policy and British public opinion. The first hydrogen bomb, far more powerful than the weapon that destroyed Hiroshima to end World War II, was tested by the United States in the Pacific Ocean on November 1, 1952. British leaders across the political spectrum expressed concern about the American testing of powerful hydrogen weapons in the Pacific. The “British Jitters” were intensified by statements by the American Secretary of State, John Foster Dulles, who, in January of 1954, had warned of “massive retaliation” by the United States in response to a Russian conventional attack.
Greenfield Recorder-Gazette. “Britain Gets Jitters Over Hydrogren Bomb.” March 25, 1954. Pocumtuck Valley Memorial Association, American Centuries. https://americancenturies.org/collection/l07-019/. Accessed on October 16, 2024.
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