Arms Race

Question 1

Propaganda: Space Race (5 points)

Answer 1

USA spent money trying to match it
Gaither report 1957 was a response to the fear and almost led to USA spending $30 billion in nuclear fallout shelters nationwide. This fear then can be said to have led to the US campaigns like Duck and Cover and Bert the Turtle

Question 2

Propaganda: Weapons (4 points)

Answer 2

Tsar Bomba - Was impractical to use and weighed 50 megatons
Caused USA to increase defence spending to 15% of GDP
Military industrial complex controlled US politics, emphasised the threat
Khrushchev: Producing missiles like sausages

Question 3

Brinkmanship (3 events, 6 points

Answer 3

Checkpoint Charlie - Both sides reluctant to fire but Khrushchev said “if USA fire then fire back”
Korean War: USSR reluctant to get involved, Maccarthur shocked President Truman when saying they should use nuclear weapons
Cuba: Khrushchev shocked by Castro’s first strike idea

Question 4

Proxy Wars which were fueled by MAD and allowed the rivalry to continue (3 events, 5 points)

Answer 4

Taiwan Straits Crisis: USSR refused to threaten nuclear action on USA and China bombed minor islands
Operation Blue Bat Lebanon: Part of Eisenhower Doctrine, tried to remove Communism from everywhere
Suez Crisis: US refused to help the UK because of threat of nuclear attack, USSR had put money into Egypt

Question 5

Summits (3 events, 4 points)

Answer 5

1955 Geneva Summit: Eisenhower offered the open skies policy but USSR rejected and said that USA were spying for a target
1959 Camp David: Agreed that disarmament was the world’s most important issue
1960 Paris: U2 spy plane led to the issue of ending any new relations but no conflict occurred