4 - The Arms Race

Question 1

The dropping of the atomic bomb

Answer 1

1945 - dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki
Forced Japan to surrender

Question 2

What year was the first Soviet atomic bomb finished, and what did it mean for international relations?

Answer 2

1947
It readdressed the power balance, so the USA no longer had such a significant advantage

Question 3

Hydrogen bombs

Answer 3

Created by the USA in 1952, 1000 times more powerful than an atomic bomb
Restored the American military advantage

Question 4

What did the USSR do in response to the USA creating hydrogen bombs?

Answer 4

Developed their own in 1953.

Question 5

Inter-continental ballistic missiles - ICBMs

Answer 5

1957 - USA developed ICBMs, which were missiles that could fire nuclear warheads at a target 4,500km away.
The USSR tested their own a few months later.

Question 6

Why was the development of ICBMs important for the development of the Cold War?

Answer 6

Both sides now had the capacity to strike at targets thousands of miles away with missiles that could carry nuclear warheads.

Question 7

Explain the importance of the arms race for the development of the Cold War (2 points)

Answer 7

1 - the development of highly destructive weapons (A-bomb / H-bomb / ICBMs)
2 - Arms race helped to prevent conflict between the USA and USSR

Question 8

The development of highly destructive weapons - evidence (3 points)

Answer 8

1) Both sides spent lots of money on developing nuclear technology - they believed that they would help deter the other from attacking
2) Arms Race led to the creation of even more destructive weapons: atomic bomb first developed in 1945, hydrogen bomb in 1952. By the mid-1950s, both sides had large stores of nuclear weapons.
3) As time went on, both continued to develop more sophisticated weapons: 1957 USA made ICBMs, USSR just a few months later

Question 9

Arms Race helped to prevent conflict between the USA and USSR - evidence (2 points)

Answer 9

1) It created the MAD principle = both powers reluctant to take action against each other so were forced to find more peaceful solutions to conflict
2) Made conflict less likely because neither side wanted to risk provoking the other because they knew the consequences would be devastating = existence of nuclear weapons helped prevent conflict, e.g. during Berlin Blockade or Cuban Missile Crisis