Arms Race

Question 1

Define the Arms Race

Answer 1

The development of Nuclear weaponry across superpowers, causing competition for superiority

Question 2

Context of the Arms Race

Answer 2

Began around 6th August 1945 - America secretly develops atomic bomb technology in New Mexico (Manhattan Project) culminating in the dropping of the atomic bomb in Hiroshima

Question 3

Factors for the causes of the Arms Race

Answer 3

The growth of international tensions
National and personal considerations
Domestic factors

Question 4

Factors for the Impact of the Arms Race

Answer 4

CMC = ‘hotline’ and Test Ban Treaty 1963
MAD
Impact on conventional arms
Important civilian consequences

Question 5

Key events of the arms race

When abouts did the Arms Race begin

Answer 5

6th August 1945

Question 6

Key events of the arms race

What year did the UN fail to control development of atomic weaponry = distrust on both sides

Answer 6

1946

Question 7

Key events of the arms race

When did the Russians test their own nuclear weaponry?

Answer 7

1949

Question 8

Key events of the arms race

When did the USA and USSR develop their lithium bombs?

Answer 8

USSR = 1953, USA = 1954

Question 9

Key events of the arms race

When did the Space Race begin and what launched to mark the start?

Answer 9

Sputnik launched by the USSR in 1957

Question 10

Key events of the arms race

When was Sputnik II and Laika the Dog launched? (month and year)

Answer 10

November 1957

Question 11

Key events of the arms race

What decade did spy technology become developed?

Answer 11

1950s

Question 12

Key events of the arms race

When was the Cuban Missile Crisis and why did it happen?

Answer 12

1959-1962
Occurred when Fidel Castro assumes power and openly aligns Cuba with the Soviet Union and its policies - Khrushchev vs. JFK

Question 13

Key events of the arms race

When and how did the Cuban Missile Crisis end?

Answer 13

October 18th 1962 - Khrushchev announces over Radio Moscow that he’d agreed to remove the missiles from Cuba. US agrees to remove missiles in Turkey - ending CMC

Question 14

Causes of the Arms Race

Growth of international tension

Answer 14

> Arms viewed as a necessity to safeguard interests - as destructive power increased, so did feeling of vulnerability
Influences that made the USA develop the atomic bomb:
1. Soviet challenge over Berlin in 1948-1949
2. Communist takeover in China in 1949
3. Korean War in 1950
Convinced that nuclear superiority was the only way of guaranteeing defensive needs

Question 15

Causes of the Arms Race

National and Personal Considerations

Answer 15

> Both sides –> Arms Race = opportunity to raise national prestige
BY 1950s both sides were trying to impress the third world in an attempt to benefit communist/capitalist support - therefore they could not be viewed as inferior

Question 16

Causes of the Arms Race

Domestic factors

Answer 16

> Created opportunity for economic benefit due to lucrative orders
Incentive for both sides to continue
Attempts to cut arms threatened power of military
USA’s military Industrial Complex
- Concerns expressed by Eisenhower
- Economy was becoming reliant
- Anti communist propaganda became a necessity

Question 17

Impact of the Arms Race

Cuban Missile Crisis (immediate Result)

Answer 17

> Kennedy able to prove he was able to fight communism - propaganda-wise it was a success in the US
Khrushchev saw it as successful despite it being a military humiliation - seen as the first to back down (contributing factor for his dismissal as Soviet leader in 1964)
‘Hotline’ (1963) = used to prevent misunderstandings in a crisis - used by Brezhnev and Nixon during the India-Pakistan war
Test Ban Treaty (1963) = Signed by USA, UK and USSR - similar attempts rejected by USSR in 1961

Question 18

Impact of the Arms Race

MAD - restrained direct, armed confrontation

Answer 18

> By Early 1960s; both sides possessed enough missiles to destroy the other and effective counter-strike systems
Both sides recognised limitations of all-or-nothing response-decided on more flexible strategies
‘counterforce’ = smaller targeted missiles to provide the option of using a more limited action to achieve specific objective

Question 19

Impact of the Arms Race

Impact on conventional arms

Answer 19

> Conventional arms remained central to military strategy - due to unimaginable devastation of nuclear weaponry if deployed
Both Eisenhower and Khrushchev attempted to reduce conventional arms - thought nuclear was a cheaper alternative
Korea and Vietnam Wars were fought using conventional arms and highlighted the importance of keeping a numerical advantage
This allowed each side an alternative to nuclear missiles - a strategy Kennedy referred to as ‘flexible response’

Question 20

Impact of the Arms Race

Important civilian consequences

Answer 20

> Innovation it prompted led to computer and space technology - significant civilian applications
Vast economic cost of Arms Race = strain on both populations
Civilian sectors of their respective economies were held back
The development of nuclear arms was to become a weapon by which the economic resources of the opponent could be stretched to breaking point