The article proposes an analysis of atomic culture in the United States and Western Europe, during the first 20 years of the Cold War, in the light of George L. Mosse’s work and approach. It shows how ‘habits of mind’ and the ‘general mood’ concerning the atomic bomb and risk of nuclear war were profoundly intertwined with deep-seated representations of the nation. It also exemplifies how the romantic attitudes toward life analyzed by Mosse – the longing for ‘shelter’ felt by men and women the more the world demythologized, and their need for symbols, especially connecting man with nature and its permanence – played an extremely relevant role in shaping attitudes about the ‘atomic age’. The nuclear question is thus ‘framed’ within longer term attitudes and cultural responses to modern war, as well as put in context with Western postwar culture, as investigated by Mosse: a culture marked by a renewed fear of technology, nihilism and widespread fears of alienation, as well as the continued relevance of nationalism and respectability. The article mainly examines two national cases: the USA and France. In the final section, comparison with other European countries is proposed and some general conclusions advanced.

本文根据乔治·莫斯（George L. Mosse）的工作和方法，对冷战的前20年中美国和西欧的原子文化进行了分析。它显示了与原子弹和核战争风险有关的“思想习惯”和“总体情绪”如何与国家的根深蒂固的代表深刻地交织在一起。它还举例说明了摩斯所分析的浪漫的生活态度-世界越去神秘化，男人和女人对“庇护所”的渴望，以及他们对符号的需求，特别是将人与自然及其永久性联系起来，如何发挥极其重要的作用。在塑造关于“原子年龄”的态度时。因此，核问题被“框定”在对现代战争的长期态度和文化回应中，并与西方战后文化相结合，莫斯（Mosse）调查表明：这种文化的特征是人们对技术，虚无主义和对异化的普遍恐惧，以及对民族主义和尊敬的持续关注。本文主要研究两个国家案例：美国和法国。在最后一节中，提出了与其他欧洲国家的比较，并提出了一些一般性结论。