1.3 The Cold War Intensifies: The Arms Race 1950-58 and Hungarian Uprising Flashcards
What was the situation in Europe by 1949?
Europe was divided into two camps because of disagreements over how Germany should be governed. The USA supported Western Europe and the Soviet Union supported its satellite states.
How did the tension between the superpowers increase in the 1950s?
Tension increased because both the USA and USSR tried to win military supremacy, which resulted in an arms race that meant each side having such powerful weapons that they could destroy the planet many times over.
Timeline Question 1: When did the USA develop the first atomic bomb?
1945, it was tested before the Potsdam conference and used several days after the conference on Hiroshima.
Timeline Question 2: When did the USSR develop their first atomic bomb?
The first Soviet bomb was detonated on August 29, 1949, shocking the entire world.
Timeline Question 3: When did the USA successfully test the first hydrogen bomb?
November 1952, code-named “Ivy Mike”.
Timeline Question 4: What happened in January 1952?
Eisenhower became US President.
Timeline Question 5: When did Stalin die?
March 1953
Timeline Question 6: When did the USSR develop the first hydrogen bomb?
August 1953
Timeline Question 7: What happened in May 1955?
The German Federal Republic (West Germany) joins NATO.
Timeline Question 8: When did Krushchev (new leader of the USSR) make a speech criticising Stalin?
February 1956
Timeline Question 9: What happened in November 1956?
The Hungarian Uprising was crushed by the USSR.
Timeline Question 10: When did the USA launch its first ICBM (Inter-Continental Ballistic Missile)?
June 1957
Timeline Question 11: When did the USSR test its first ICBM?
August 1957
What consequence did the USA’s successful testing and use of the atomic bomb have on relations between the USA and USSR?
It started an Arms Race and massively increased tension between the superpowers. Initially, it gave the USA the upper hand, but the Soviet Union used spies to get the secret science behind atomic weaponry and so the full nuclear arms race had begun.
What was the effect of the development of hydrogen bombs by both superpowers from 1952-53?
This made the potential effects of a war even more terrible. The hydrogen bomb was 1,000 more powerful than the atomic bomb and so both superpowers could now destroy the entire world. This served to increase tension, not only between the USA and USSR, but across the entire planet.