1950's : Development of cold war Flashcards
what did NATO stand for
North Atlantic Treaty Organisation
How many original members did NATO have
12 (e.g. USA, Canada, UK, France, Denmark, Italy, West Germany, etc.)
When did NATO form
1949
What was the Warsaw Pact
Stalin’s version of NATO, a military alliance
How many original members did the Warsaw pact have
8 (e.g. USSR, Bulgaria, Romania, Poland, East Germany, Hungary)
How many Soldiers, Tanks and Aircraft did the Warsaw Pact
Soldiers = 5.5 million
Tanks = 35,000
Aircraft = 10,000
How did the formation of NATO and the Warsaw Pact worsen tensions between the USA and USSR
Any conflict between any two countries from either military alliance would’ve lead to all of the countries getting involved and ultimately leading to WW3
When did the USSR successfully test their atomic bomb
August 1949
When did the USA successfully test the first hydrogen bomb - which were up to 1000 times more powerful that the atomic bombs the USA dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki
November 1952
When did the USSR successfully test their hydrogen bomb
August 1953
When did the USSR successfully test the first ICBM (inter-continental ballistic missile) - long range missiles (3000 miles) which did not require a pilot.
August 1957 (after USA failed their’s in June)
When did USA test their ICBM
1958
When did USA develop technology that allow them to launch missiles from land, air and sea (submarines)
1960
When did the USSR detonate the Tsar Bomba - the largest bomb that the world has ever seen (100 times larger that. hydrogen bomb and bigger than all of the bombs used in WW2 combined)
October 1961
What was MAD and how did it potentially make the cold war safer
Mutually Assured Destruction - it was the idea that both sides that they couldn’t launch their nuclear weapons because their knew that they both had enough power to destroy each other 100’s of times over
What were the long-term consequences of the Arms Race
-The cold war never lead to direct fighting between the USA and USSR possibly due to the idea of MAD
-Both sides spent billions of dollars trying to keep with each other, that by the 1980’s the USSR could no longer afford this military spending and was bankrupt
Who died in 1953
Stalin
Who was appointed after Stalin
Krushchev
What was destalinisation
The idea that Krushchev was going to remove lots of damaging institutions to the soviet union - he said “capitalism and communism can co-exist”
Which country protested for greater political and religious freedoms in 1956
Hungary
On what day did Hungarian protestors demand that USSR’s troops leave and even tore down a statue of Stalin
23rd October 1956
On what day did Krushchev take his soldiers out of Hungary
29th October 1956
On what day did Nagy (Hungary’s leader) say that they were going to leave the Warsaw pact
1st November 1956
On what day did Krushchev send back his troops, including 1000 tanks, to attack the protestors.
4th November
How many people were killed in the Hungarian revolution
4000
How many people became refugees in the Hungarian revolution
200,000
Who replaced Nagy after he was arrested after the Hungarian revolution
Kadar
What was the importance of the Hungarian revolution
-The event sent a clear message to other Eastern European countries that the USSR would not let them break free from communist control
