Arms Race Flashcards
What was the Manhattan project?
Secret military policy by the USA to create Nuclear Weapons completed by a group of scientists
How long did the USA have a nuclear monopoly for?
4 years
When did the USSR develop their first atomic bomb?
29th August 1949 at Semipalatinsk
What happened in Hiroshima August 1945?
The USA dropped an atomic bomb known as Little Boy in Japan
What was the Baruch Plan?
A plan which stated that the USA must share its nuclear knowledge but no other nation would be allowed to develop atomic weapons
When did the USA develop their hydrogen bomb
1950
When did the U.S. test their first hydrogen bomb?
Eniwetok 1 November 1952
What was the result of the hydrogen bomb tested by the USA?
It created in the seabed 60m deep a cloud of radioactive dust that measured 100 miles in diameter
When did the USSR develop their hydrogen bomb?
1951
What did the USSR develop 9months after the U.S. H bomb was tested?
A lithium bomb which could be deployed easier
What did the U.S. test in March 1954?
A lithium bomb
What is the B52 Stratofortress?
1955 - USA develop the first bomber with intercontinental range (delivery system)
What did the USSR respond with in 1956?
TU20 Bear - a delivery system that could deploy bombs with intercontinental range
What was the largest nuclear bomb ever tested?
1961 - TSAR BOMBA 50Megatons
What was the V2 Rocket (Nazi)?
Many Nazi scientists were captured & forced to work for SU.
They launched their first rocket in Kazakhstan 1957.
Why was the V2 Rocket so significant?
It was the first ICBM capable to carrying a thermo-nuclear bomb
What was Sputnik?
1st artificial satellite launched by SU
When was Sputnik I launched?
1957 - created great fear amongst USA
When was Sputnik II launched & who did it carry?
November - carrying Laika the dog into space
Why was America’s satellite nicknamed Kaputnik?
It launched rising half a metre then exploded
What were the Soviet Union the first to do in 1961?
Put a man in Space
What did Yuri Gagarin do?
He was the first to orbit space in the Vostok I
What did historian Gaddis term Khrushchev’s approach as?
Potemkinism - the process of building just enough capability to provide the illusion that there is more behind it
What happened during the Moscow Air Show in 1955?
Numbers of the planes were painted out so that there was an illusion of more flying past
What did the Gaither Report do?
In November 1957 the report from the CIA warned Eisenhower of the missile gap.
Why wasn’t Eisenhower bothered by the Gaither Report?
He placed his confidence in the supremacy of the U.S. Strategic Air Command which coordinated the deployment of B52 bombers
What did information from the U2 Spy plane in 1958 provide?
Information that the USSR were not as far ahead as they claimed
In July 1960 what did the USA develop?
Polaris - worlds first submarine launched ballistic missile
What did Kennedy order (increasing capability)?
The construction of 41 nuclear submarines & expanded the number of Minuteman ICBMs to 1054
What did Kennedy commit the USA to do within 10years?
Landing on the moon
How many warheads did the USA have compared to the USSR in 1962?
USA - 4000
USSR - 220
When was the Cuban Missile Crisis?
1962
When did US begin to influence Cuba?
Since 1898 after Spanish Rule - became the U.S. playground
How was this relationship threatened?
The brutal regime of Batista was overthrown by Fidel Castro in 1959
What did Castro want?
To make Cuba independent of American control
What had happened by 1961?
Many American economic interests in Cuba had been seized & Castro announced his conversion to communism
What was the Bay of Pigs?
Invasion of Cuba by anti-Castro supporters including 1500 cuban exiles supported by the CIA
When was the Bay of Pigs?
1961
What did the USA hope would happen as a result of the Bay of Pigs?
It would lead to an uprising against Castro
What was the result of Bay of Pigs?
The invasion was a disaster & relations deteriorate
What did the USA decide to do to Cuba?
Cut off its sugar trade which would destabilise the Cuban economy
How did Castro react to USA’s sugar trade halt?
He asked SU if they wanted to buy Cuban sugar & appealed for arms
What was Operation Mongoose?
A series of plots devised by the CIA designed to eliminate Castro & his regime
When was the Cuban Missile Crisis?
October 1962
What did the USA discover in 1962?
American spy plane brought back pictures of missile bases under construction in Cuba
How many exiles & Americans were sent to Cuba to blow up lines, destroy crops shops & factories?
10,000 exiles 400 Americans
Why did the USSR send arms to Cuba & build their missile base there?
USA had missiles in Turkey which was on USSR’s land border
What two options was Kennedy faced with?
- Hawks - surgical air strike - Rusk
2. Doves - blockade of soviet ships to Cuba - Bobby Kennedy
What did Kennedy announce Oct 22nd?
A naval blockade & quarantine line 800miles from Cuba
What would happen if Soviet troops passed the quarantine line?
Action would be taken!
U.S. We’re on high alert with 54 bombers 150 intercontinental missiles aimed Polaris submarines 4 nuclear war heads
What did Khrushchev do?
He sent a letter to Kennedy stating that he would remove the missiles from Cuba if the USA removed their missiles from Turkey
What happened the 28th Oct 1962?
Khrushchev publicly announced the removal of missiles from Cuba
Whilst the USA secretly removed missiles from Turkey
How did the CMC affect Khrushchev?
He was left humiliated & the soviet armed forces never forgave him leading to his dismissal in 1964.
When was the Nuclear Test Ban Treaty?
1963
What was the Nuclear Test Ban Treaty?
A step towards controlling nuclear arsenals it banned
1. Tests in atmosphere
2. Tests in space
3. Tests under water
However it still permitted testing underground
What was the Hotline & when was it created?
1963 - a line between the US&USSR intended to umpiring communication between the superpowers to prevent conflict
What was the Explorer 1?
1958- US first satellite
How many strategic bombers did the USA have compared to the USSR in 1956?
USA-560
USSR-60
How many strategic bombers did the USA have compared to the USSR in 1965?
USA-630
USSR - 200
How long did the USA posses nuclear monopoly?
5 years until 1949 when USSR developed ABOMB
What does MAD mean?
Mutually Assured Destruction
Both sides possessing so many nuclear arms & delivery systems that conflict would result in both sides being destroyed
What was Kennedy’s strategy of dealing with communism?
Flexible Response?
What was Eisenhower’s strategy to dealing with communism?
Brinkmanship & New look
What strategy did Kennedy use during CMC?
Brinkmanship
When & where was the first Nuclear bomb tested?
U.S. Tested the first atomic bomb in Alamogordo 16th July 1945
What three impacts did the arms race have on the Cold War?
- Military strategy - both sides restrained & prevented armed confrontation
- Conventional arms - reduce nuclear arms to prevent devastation of war
- Civilian consequences - prompted technological innovation
