GERARD C. SMITH

With the successful Chinese Communist Revolution, the Nationalists were driven off the mainland of China and occupied the island of Formosa (Taiwan) and had a small garrison of soldier on two tiny islands off the Chinese Coast, Quemoy and Matsu. The communist Chinese government wanted control of all three of the Nationalist held islands. U. S. Military doctrine at the time planned for nuclear retaliation against China for an attack on either of these two tiny islands which had no resources and no population other than a garrison of nationalist Chinese troops. This was the first time that American officials came to grips with a problem that nuclear weapons were so powerful a weapon that it was practically impossible to use them on a limited basis. The threat by any of the nuclear powers of nuclear attack for minor problems simply became not credible. No country would risk a nuclear war for two uninhabited islands in this case and Smith was one of the first leaders to perceive this.

With the successful Chinese Communist Revolution, the Nationalists were driven off the mainland of China and occupied the island of Formosa (Taiwan) and had a small garrison of soldier on two tiny islands off the Chinese Coast, Quemoy and Matsu. The communist Chinese government wanted control of all three of the Nationalist held islands. U. S. Military doctrine at the time planned for nuclear retaliation against China for an attack on either of these two tiny islands which had no resources and no population other than a garrison of nationalist Chinese troops. This was the first time that American officials came to grips with a problem that nuclear weapons were so powerful a weapon that it was practically impossible to use them on a limited basis. The threat by any of the nuclear powers of nuclear attack for minor problems simply became not credible. No country would risk a nuclear war for two uninhabited islands in this case and Smith was one of the first leaders to perceive this.