The Nuclear Age 1945–2011
MOD-NUC is worth about 25 marks out of 100 in recent HSC Modern History papers. Practise 15 exam-style questions (multiple choice, short answer) with instant marking and a worked solution for every question.
START PRACTISINGTopic notes
The Manhattan Project, Hiroshima and the debate over Truman's decision, deterrence and the arms race, testing at Maralinga and in the Pacific, disarmament and proliferation, and nuclear energy from Chernobyl to Fukushima, with how to answer the multi-part Section IV question.
- 1What you need to know
- 2The bomb, 1939–1945
- 3The arms race and deterrence
- 4Testing and fear
- 5Disarmament and proliferation
- 6Nuclear energy
- 7Answering the parts of a Section IV question
- 8Common mistakes
- 9Exam tips
- 10Links to other topics
Example questions
Example 1 · 1 mark · multiple choice
What was the Trinity test of 16 July 1945?
- AThe first Soviet atomic test
- BThe first nuclear explosion, in New Mexico
- CA British atomic test in Western Australia
- DThe atomic bombing of Hiroshima by the B-29 Enola Gay
Example 2 · 1 mark · multiple choice
Why was the Soviet atomic test of August 1949 so significant?
- AIt led immediately to a Soviet attack on Western Europe
- BIt ended the US monopoly years earlier than expected
- CIt was carried out jointly with the People's Republic of China
- DIt was the first test of a hydrogen bomb
Example 3 · 15 marks · short answer
Evaluate the role of nuclear deterrence in preventing war between the superpowers between 1949 and 1991.
(15 marks)
Answers and worked solutions appear when you practise these questions.
Other Modern History topics
- MOD-CORECore: Power and Authority in the Modern World 1919–1946
- MOD-RUSRussia and the Soviet Union 1917–1941
- MOD-AUSAustralia 1918–1949
- MOD-CHNChina 1927–1949
- MOD-INDIndia 1942–1984
- MOD-INDOIndonesia 1945–2005
- MOD-JPNJapan 1904–1937
- MOD-USAUSA 1919–1941
- MOD-IRANIran 1945–1989
- MOD-EURConflict in Europe 1935–1945
- MOD-COLDThe Cold War 1945–1991
- MOD-INDOCHConflict in Indochina 1954–1979
- MOD-PACConflict in the Pacific 1937–1951
- MOD-ARISRThe Arab–Israeli Conflict 1948–1996
- MOD-GULFConflict in the Gulf 1980–2011
- MOD-CRCivil Rights in the USA 1945–1968
- MOD-BURMAThe Pro-democracy Movement in Burma 1945–2010
- MOD-TIANThe Cultural Revolution to Tiananmen Square 1966–1989
- MOD-CWOThe Changing World Order 1945–2011
- MOD-APARTApartheid in South Africa 1960–1994