Arms Race Flashcards
When did the USA develop and use the first ever atomic bomb?
August 1945, during the Potsdam conference.
What was the significance of the USA’s use of the atomic bomb in 1945?
1) WW2 came to an end.
2) Growing suspicion and competition between the USA and the USSR.
3) The USSR built their own atom bomb and the arms race began.
4) The USSR tightened its control over countries it occupied in Eastern Europe, creating more satellite states.
When did the USSR develop an atomic bomb?
1949.
When did the USA develop the hydrogen bomb?
1952.
How many times more powerful was the hydrogen bomb compared to the atomic bomb?
1000x more powerful.
When did the USSR have a hydrogen bomb?
1953.
When did the USA have an ICBM? When did the USSR start testing them?
1) 1957.
2) A few months later.
What range did the USA’s first ICBM have?
4500km.
The weapons produced in the arms race had the potential to destroy the planet. What was their importance?
They led to a change in strategy; previously, weapons had been developed to win wars. Now, they were developed as a threat to prevent the opposition from going to war. They acted as deterrents because of their potentially devastating effects.
What failed to be agreed at a summit meeting in July 1955?
Disarmament: the reduction or withdrawal of military forces and weapons.
When was the summit meeting where disarmament failed to be agreed?
July 1955.
What was the secret speech?
A speech by Khrushchev which announced peaceful coexistence and destalinisation.
Why didn’t peaceful coexistence work out?
The principle was based on cooperation, but there was no question that Khrushchev would do anything to make the USA look bad/weak in comparison to the the USSR.
