Arms Race Flashcards
Why an arms race?
Both superpowers had national vulnerabilities and leaders were insecure. Nuclear weapons were so destructive that there would be no prospect of destruction.
What encouraged US to develop the first hydrogen bomb?
- Growing hostility between the East and West. Berlin blockade and takeover of China encouraged US to develop hydrogen bomb leading to Soviet development of their own.
Why did national pride inspire an arms race?
- National pride. The two sides tried to impress Third World Countries in the 1950s and leaders were insecure. In April 1956 Khrushchev told the England PM’s wife that Soviet missiles could easily reach England.
How did the arms race affect military spending?
- Eisenhower heard of a missile gap and increased spending despite U-2 photographs confirming no such gap. Kennedy’s spending on military hit $50 billion by 1962.
- In 1964 Khrushchev faced adversity when trying to cut the military’s power and in the US over 30 million civilians were employed to the military-industrial complex.
How did the US start the arms race in 1945?
16 July – US tests first bomb at Alamogordo, New Mexico. Use of atomic bombs in Hiroshima and Nagasaki ended WWII. Baruch Plan by United Nations in 1946 failed, the US attempted to share knowledge of nuclear technology but be only producers of atomic bombs.
How did the USSR catch up with the US in the arms race?
On 29 August 1949 the USSR tested an atom bomb at the Semipalatinsk aided by spies such as Ted Hall and scientist Igor Kurchatov. On 1 November 1952 the US tested a hydrogen bomb at Eniwetok, Pacific. 9 months after the USSR tested a lithium bomb which didn’t need refrigeration.
How did delivery systems develop from 1955-7?
1955 US has B-52 Stratofortress followed by USSR’s TU20 Bear in 1956. First intercontinental bombers but conventional aircraft used vulnerable to being shot and slow. The USSR benefited from Nazi scientists who developed the V2 rocket. In 1957 the first ICBM was launched in Kazakhstan. Capable of holding thermo-nuclear bomb.
Why was Khrushchev too boastful?
Khrushchev used potemkinism, exaggerating the USSR’s lead. In 1955 Moscow air show they had several fly pasts and in 1960 the USSR only had four functional ICBMs.
How did Eisenhower react to the missile gap?
7 Nov 1957, CIA gather report suggests missile gap. Eisenhower placed power in US Strategic Air Command which deployed B-52 bombers for nuclear strike. U-2 spy planes confirmed gap wasn’t real but Eisenhower increased spending and science education.
By 1960 how did the US have a lead?
In 1960 first submarine-launched ballistic missile, Polaris, set in July. Kennedy ordered 41 nuclear submarines, increased Minuteman ICBMs to 1054 and in 1962 the US had 4000 missile warheads compared to the USSR’s 220.
What was the impact of the arms race?
Impact of weapons: both sides attempted to cooperate, the US didn’t use nuclear weapons against China during Korean War; massive retaliation threatened using large numbers of nuclear bombs against communist aggression; counter-force used smaller, targeted nuclear missiles to provide more limited action; conventional weapons relied upon as a flexible response – Kennedy.
