14. The Arms Race Flashcards
What did nuclear weapons act as?
A deterrent as once both sides had nuclear weapons, each now had the power to retaliate an attack and each side feared retaliation for striking first known as mutually assured destruction (MAD)
What was behind the idea of a country having nuclear weapons?
The country had to have as many nuclear weapons as possible so that they couldn’t all be destroyed if the other side was to attack first
How long was the arms race?
From 1949-1955
What were the reasons for the development of the arms race and creating nuclear weapons?
- with nukes, each side had the power to attack
- the arms race tested a countries strength and capabilities and both the us and su wanted to look better than the other
- nukes were cheaper than convectional weapons and so it was more cost effective than to pay for large standing armies
What was the most important reason for the arms race to have occurred?
The fact that nuclear weapons acted as a deterrent because this later created MAD and so made the possibility of a hot war much less likely
What happened in 1945 August?
The USA tested and dropped the first atomic bomb over Hiroshima and Nagasaki
What began the arms race?
After the dropping of the atomic bomb over japan
What effect did the atomic bomb over japan have over the SU, how they react ?
Made atomic research his top priority pouring massive money into developing them. Towns like Arzamas 16 were created to hous the scientists and engineers.
Scientists pay were trebled too
What happened on 29th August 1949? How did Truman respond ? How did Su respond to Truman’s response ?
The soviets successfully tested their own atomic bomb, shocking us public . Now both sides had it.
Truman increased spending for Defense and ordered h bomb to be made
They increased their spending too
How much did spending increase for both in 1949 to 1953
America more than tripled and Su doubled
Bith 13 in 1049, 50 America and 25 Su in 1953
What did the USA do in March 1954?
Tested biggest ever hydrogen bomb = 15 million tons of tnt level
What did the su do in September 1954?
Don’t need to know btw
Dropped its own smaller test H bomb from a bomber and developed the bison jet bomber and longer range TU-95 bomber which could hit us cities with nuclear weapons bomber gap
How did the USA close the bomber gap?
Why did Churchill describe it as a balance or terror?
President Eisenhower ordered new B-52 bombers to close the gap with the SU, which could wipe out Moscow .
Even though the Su was behind the USA in terms of nuclear missiles they could stil, wipe them out. This k stent threat was a balance of terror.
What misunderstanding did US politicians create?
They claimed the us had fewer nukes than the su when really the su only had around 50 atom bombs in 1953 and didn’t catch up with the USA until 1978 however the su did have a huge convectional army of soldiers, tanks and artillery
Who was winning the arms race between 1945 and 1955?
America
What was Polaris?
A missile developed by the USA by 1960 and could be launched from submarine
What happened in November 1952?
The USA built the first H bomb, 1000x more powerful than the atomic bomb and by 1953, the soviets had done the same
What was brinkmanship?
Where each side would push the other to the brink of using weapons knowing they would eventually back down
In what occasion were nuclear weapons likely to be used?
During the Berlin blockade and Korean War but the Cuban missile crisis of 1962 almost sent the world into destruction
What was a great social significance of the Cold War?
The bomb in popular culture as it made people see the situation as entertainment
What were the impacts of the arms race?
- The ‘ban the bomb’ movement
- preparation for nuclear attack
- the bomb in popular culture
- brinkmanship
- MAD
Give examples of the way the arms race affected popular culture
Inspired many works of literature, film and tv for example the film ‘Dr.strange love’ which points out the danger and absurdity of the situation
Give examples of the way the arms race impacted movements
Ban the bomb protests
What was difference in nuclear power by 1961 (in terms of ICBMs , SLBMS and long range bombers ?)
ICBMs = USA 60, Su 50+
SLBMS USA = 96, Su 0
Long range = as 600, Su 200
Give examples of the way the arms race affected brinkmanship
- any tensions in the 1950s brought fear of nuclear war
- in the Berlin blockade, leaders decisions were informed by knowing of nuclear weapons
Give examples of the way the arms race affected MAD
- On 30 Oct 1961, the su detonated 50 tonnes of dynamite and neither side used weapons for fear of retaliation
- it was the main reason there wasn’t a hot war
How did the ICBM’s show the su and USA’s rivalry?
In 1959, the USA developed their own ICBM systems as Atlas and Minuteman that could reach the SU who had ICBM’s that could reach the USA
How were relations looming by 1961 due to arms race and why were there no signs of Improvements?
As each side felt more and more threatened , alliances were made more and more weapons made.
2) U-2 crisis in 1960 and Berlin events in 1961 stoped any signs of I prove,ent
3) Cuban missile crisis 196, closest 2orld has got to nuclear war
What was one advantage of the arms race in terms of nuclear development?
The fact that conventional development could drips its levels
